Western Wyoming Water Report

I wish that I was able to report more information to my readers on actual fly-fishing conditions lately...instead, this journal has temporarily turned into a "water report". With each day of cold, wet conditions that has passed this week, the snowpack figures have climbed. As of yesterday, the snowpack around Jackson Hole has climbed to a staggering 230% of average for this time of year. Since virtually nothing is melting yet in the high country, the figure keeps climbing. The Snake is still holding at almost 10,000 cfs near Moose, and the South Fork is running a very muddy 21,000 cfs near Irwin, Idaho. The Green River has been fluctuating between 700 and 1,000 cfs this week, and the Henry's Fork is also running huge. I guided on the Green last Monday near Warren Bridge, and had lackluster results. The clarity was about 2 feet, and the fishing was slow. We picked up a couple of Browns in the 17" class on nymphs. Next week looks like it is finally going to warm up and dry out. Bridger-Teton National Forest officials this week predicted that the Snake will not peak in the Snake River Canyon until the fourth week of June; this would be very late. I'm hoping we will at least get better conditions by late June on the Green or South Fork. I would imagine by next week, we will see the Snake river ramping up into the high teens around Moose.

Fishing in Yellowstone National Park opens today. Although the lakes are still under ice, the Firehole is probably fishing nicely right now. Since it's the only game in town, I would be aware of crowds. There's a forecast for snow all weekend in Yellowstone...should spark some good dry fly fishing on the river. I'd love to hear any reports from the weekend if anyone is on the Firehole; I won't make it up there until late next week.

Also, it looks like they are about to get one lane of traffic open through the Snake River Canyon at the site of the mudslide...good news for commuters. Check the WYDOT website for road conditions. Here's a picture from the Green River from this week...a typical scene lately with dark, cloudy conditions.