Peaking Foliage

The weather and scenery over the last few days on the river has been absolutely beautiful. The skies have had abundant sunshine, very calm winds and temperatures in the 80's. Coinciding with this fantastic weather has been an amazing feast for the eyes in the form of fall foliage. All over the region, the Cottonwoods, Aspens, Mountain Ash and Willows have been peaking in color. If you have not been on the river bottom lately, I'd head out soon! The icing on the cake is this: the fishing is fantastic right now! Mahoganies and hoppers are getting the job done still. I've been over on the South Fork the last couple of days; fishing for fun yesterday on the Lower section, and guiding today in the Canyon. The foliage is about one week behind what we are seeing in Jackson, and it is just as pretty. Here's a couple of shots from the past few days. A stunning fall Cutthroat that fell for a streamer on my day off; Scott Smith putting Jon Wylie on to some fish; Scott Smith sight fishing in a quiet side channel. More soon...

The Wind Tunnel

Whether you are fresh or saltwater fly-fishing, some of the best destinations around the world are also some of the windiest. Jackson Hole is no exception. Typically, our windiest month on the river is in August. This season, it seems like it has been blowing non-stop. This past week on the Snake and South Fork were very windy for me and my clients. I'm not sure which is more frustrating: rowing in heavy wind, or casting in it. Trying to hold a steady line with the boat while watching your anglers flail is one of the hardest things in guiding. Yesterday on Moose to Wilson saw some very impressive gusts that blew what few mayflies were hatching all the way to Nebraska. Despite all of this, it was a great week of fishing. Mahoganies ruled the Snake and South Fork in my boat; late-day hopper fishing is also still happening. Now that September is almost gone, local anglers are starting to think about the Fall Brown trout bite. The weather has been very warm and sunny still, so I wouldn't be rushing up to Lewis Lake just yet. I spent my day off Thursday fishing with Scott Smith and Darren Calhoun on the other side of the hill. We traded the oars all day in search of trophies and had a great time. Darren won top rod with this 23" Brown that came in over 5 pounds on a dry fly. Nice one Darren! Here's a few shots from the day...

Friends on the River

A good portion of my guiding clientele these days comes from local sources. I have a number of friends and acquaintances that hire me for themselves, or for their own friends and family that are visiting Jackson Hole. I always look forward to these bookings, they tend to be very fun. I had the chance to guide a handful of friends over the last week or so, and the fishing was great. Great fishing is always a treat, but it is particularly nice when I get to take locals. The Snake and South Fork are in great shape right now. Early fall weather has arrived; clear skies, warm temps and changing colors are making a feast for the eyes on the water right now. Big game is also starting to move near the river. The icing on the cake is that the fish are aggressively looking for flies. Although the nights are getting colder, I've still been finding eager fish on dries in the mornings, particularly on the Snake. The Snake at Moose is hovering at a low 1,400 cfs. Nice fish are still showing up in the main river channel. The South Fork has been turning on later in the day; hoppers and Caddisflies are working well over there. The next couple of weeks looks busy, and then it starts to slow down for me...time to fish! I've got a few great trips planned, more soon on that. I've added a new link on my list below to check out...visit Montana Angler Fly Fishing if you are planning any kind of angling adventure to Big Sky country. Here's a few photo highlights from last week. A nice group of Elk crossing the river in Teton Park; my buddy George Putnam displaying one of many nice fish he caught on his birthday with me; lastly, Al Renneisen with one of the more colorful Snake River Cutties I've seen awhile.

25th Annual Jackson Hole One Fly

I just finished two days of guiding in the 2010 Jackson Hole One Fly event. This was the 25th One Fly Event held to raise money for stream improvement projects on the Snake and South Fork Rivers. Coming into the event late last week, the weather was truly foul; cold temperatures, rain and sleet lasted through Friday night. The skies cleared for the weekend, with bright blue conditions and few clouds. While Saturday stayed a little cooler, Sunday warmed up to the low 70's. Forty teams of four anglers per team float two days, and can only use one fly per day. I fished Deadman's to Moose on the Snake both days. All four of my anglers kept their fly, and had a variety of scores. We fished a couple of small Mayfly attractors, a large Stonefly attractor, and a small Chernobyl ant. By far, the best fly in my boat over the weekend was the Small brown Chernobyl Ant thrown by none other than journalist Tom Brokaw. He fished well, and was a pleasure to guide. Great fishing, along with some fantastic conversation made the day yesterday fly by. The winning team in the event this year was the Worldcast Anglers crew. I've not heard what fly one the event yet with the most points, but local angler Mike Dawes helped carry these guys to victory. The largest fish in the net came off of the South Fork...a 23.5 inch Brown that fell for a Stonefly nymph at the hands of guide Ed Emory. In addition to Tom Brokaw, a couple of other legends fished the event this year. Actor Tom Skerritt, as well as local angler Liz McCabe (at 99 years old) also participated. (Nice job Liz!!) I'm off the river today, letting the fish rest a bit before giving it a shot tomorrow. The leaves are starting to change rapidly, and the thrill of Fall fishing is just about here. Enjoy a few pictures from my day yesterday with Mr. Brokaw.

Wild Weather Again

Over the past few days, I've seen a very mixed bag of fishing results on the Snake River. Monday and Tuesday brought us some beautiful early fall weather, with bright sun, calm winds and pleasant temperatures. Both days also saw lackluster fishing. I had good anglers from Deadman's to Moose each of those days, and we saw a lot of smaller fish on a variety of dry flies, with just a few larger fish acting very shy. I awoke Wednesday to some good cloud cover and fairly warm temps; I headed to Moose to put in and run the 14 mile stretch to Wilson with San Francisco resident Tom Steele. We hammered them. He fished a Parachute Hare's Ear from Moose all the way down to Wilson, and we found nice fish all over the place. Even though there was not much of a hatch, the fish were eagerly looking up. I think they were looking for the Drake hatch, and our fly did the trick. I decided to try it again today. Again, we awoke to good cloud cover, and slightly cooler temps. We put on at Moose and found a few fish, but before we knew it, the skies opened up with rain and sleet. The thermometer dropped to the low 40's and we began to freeze. The wind began gusting toward the 30 mile an hour mark. One storm after another rolled in on us, and my clients opted to row out to Wilson and head home. We cherry-picked a few holes on the way down, and found a couple of fish on small dries. I think if we had stuck with it, the fishing would have produced again. At one point, the clouds lifted a bit, and we could see that some significant snow had fallen above about 8,000 feet. It's pouring rain tonight, and it's still quite cold. We'll see what tomorrow brings. This weekend is the 25th annual Jackson Hole One Fly event. Forty teams will compete on the Snake and South Fork this weekend with one fly per angler, per day. Good luck! I'll have more on this after the weekend. Here's a couple of pictures of my buddy Larry Stephenson, who I guided last week. We had a great day looking for Cutties on dries. After visiting me here, he headed up to Oregon chasing Deschutes River Steelhead. Here's a picture he sent me from his trip...what a fish!! Check out Larry's link off of my list below to see his great artwork. More soon.

A Bittersweet Week

I just wrapped up one of the most consistent weeks of guiding this summer, with fantastic fishing on both the Snake and the South Fork. The cold weather, cloud cover and moisture we saw this week jump-started many of the fish into early fall mode. Drakes, Mahoganies, Hecubas and Hoppers all worked well for the anglers in my boat. Even once the skies cleared, and the hatches cooled down, the fish were still looking up for the Hoppers. There were also plenty of Caddisflies in the mornings, particularly on the South Fork. The tragic news of the accident that took the life of local fishing guide Rob Merrill put a serious damper on the mood on the water, and reminded us of the realities of life and some of the risks in fly-fishing. Rob worked for the Jack Dennis Fly Shop for a lengthy period, in between guiding stints on the South Fork, Henry's Fork and in Russia. Rob was guiding Wednesday on the Upper South Fork, when one of his oars became tangled with his anglers fishing line. While attempting to loosen the line, the boat drifted into a willow and overturned. While both clients made it to shore safely, Rob did not. It was a cold day, and he had waders on. Not sure yet if this played a role in his drowning, but it's likely. One moment, three people were enjoying some great evening fishing, the next moment, an instant tragedy. My thoughts are with Rob and his family right now. While guiding on that same section of the South Fork on Friday, both of my clients (who knew Rob from the Driggs fly shop where he was currently working), and myself were thinking of him all day. The river is obviously very demanding, and even letting down your guard for a moment can have dire consequences. Although the fishing was very good for us that day, it didn't seem as fun...Rob lost his life doing what he loved: trying to put a couple of people onto some fish. I'm sure Rob will be missed on the river. Check out a new link on my link list below. Click on "Troutbugs" to view the blog of Montana angler Joshua Bergen and also don't miss his website. Good stuff. Here's a nice shot of Charlie Howorth from the South Fork with a typical Cutthroat...plump and colorful. Also, a shot sent to me from Dan Beistel from our day on the Snake last week. Nice fish guys!