The Bureau of Reclamation, regional hydrologists and Jackson Hole old-timers all predicted that we were going to see all of the major rivers and tributaries peak last weekend. They definitely got that one wrong. Bright, hot weather this week, coupled with warm nights caused everything to surge over the past two or three days. Clearly, there is still an incredible amount of snow left in the high country. The Buffalo Fork surged toward 6,000 cfs yesterday, which blew away the previous record for the date. The Green River, near Warren Bridge, topped 4,000 cfs yesterday, which I have never seen. The New Fork River, near Big Piney, is also running at a record level...a muddy 7,600 cfs.
I guided my first South Fork trip yesterday with a father and son visiting from Hawaii. I prepped them for the day, and set our expectations low. The river had been holding steady for over a week at 15,000 cfs. Although the water is still not clear, it had been turning slowly from brown to green. I had received reports of fish being caught on stonefly nymphs. We threw rubberleg stonefly nymphs and streamers hard. Although the banks did not produce any fish for us, the riffles and tailouts were better. We landed 7 trout, and about a dozen Whitefish. The highlight of the day was a 20" Brown that fell for a very large, black streamer in a sidechannel. The day actually exceeded my expectations, although I think these guys may have been slightly disappointed. Either way, it was a fun day.
By late afternoon, we started noticing a lot more debris in the water and the river began to look muddier. When we got to the takeout at Conant, I checked the levels and sure enough, they bumped the river up again yesterday. It came up 2,000 cfs to a total of 17,000 cfs...a huge bummer. This late week surge has put more water into Palisades Reservoir, so they have now compensated by raising the river yet again. Our options our now dwindling again. I'd avoid the South Fork for the next few days at least, unless you are looking to do a booze-cruise. Enjoy a shot of our highlight yesterday...17-year-old angler Luke Memmer with a beauty.
1 comment:
Thanks Mark for a wonderful day. Luke and I had a blast. You worked very hard to put us on fish. We did get to float the Green out of dutch john and had a great day, over 60 fish between us. I hope your streams lcear and I know the fishing will be on fire! Keep up the good work, Don.
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