Not Always About Catching Fish

Anyone who has spent any time fly fishing, whether for trout in the mountains, or for permit on the tropical flats, will tell you that it is not all about catching fish. Planning your fishing trip, travelling to your destination and all of the things that happen along the way are the real adventures and memories of any fishing trip. Around here, wildlife viewing along the river is always a great bonus to our days. Here is a recent shot from the Snake River of a cow moose and her yearling. I've really enjoyed the comments left on the blog so far and all of the emails I have received this summer from prospective clients and people just looking for fishing info. The most recent comment from Chris suggesting that I am becoming "punchy" was great (although I'm not sure what he meant by punchy). The guiding season has actually been flying by very quickly, and in fact feels just the opposite...quite short. Throughout the season, from beginning to end, guides will have anglers that will wonder why they are not successful, yet they have done nothing to prepare for their trip. (i.e. take a casting lesson, etc.). I only commented on it to remind people that guiding is just that. We can row you down the river, feed you lunch, tell stories, listen to stories, tie knots, untangle lines, read water and tell you right where to cast. The rest is up to you. More soon!

Slacker

Sorry I have not posted in so long...I'm definitely a slacker this week! It's been a crazy week of guiding and fishing, and have lost track of time. The Snake River this week has been pretty consistent, with continued good fishing on attractor patterns. The mornings this week have been very cold, and the fishing has been slow to turn on. All of the nicer fish we have been seeing have been in the afternoons. We have also seen some very heavy winds this past week in the afternoons, which has added to the challenge. The most successful anglers have been the ones with the best casting accuracy and the ability to keep the fly on the water. I've had some clients this week really struggle to do well on the river due to a host of problems. Inability to cast in the wind, repeated false casting, and poor line control have all contributed to some lackluster results in my boat this week. It can certainly try your patience when people wonder why they are not seeing any fish on their fly, but they lack any effort to listen to their guides' suggestions on how to improve their chances. Oh well. Only one more week until the Jackson Hole One Fly! More on this later. Here are a few photos from our trip to the Wind River Canyon last weekend near Thermopolis, Wyoming. Dry fly fishing was great, with numerous large browns and rainbows on size 4 Turcks Tarantulas and hoppers. Enjoy!

Beginners

The Snake continues to fish well this week, with consistent dry fly action throughout the day. I've had novice anglers the past few days, so it is sometimes hard to tell exactly how the fishing really is. With novices, only a small percentage of their casts ever seem to make it into the strike zone. I guided a rank beginner yesterday that had a lot of trouble casting any distance, so her fly was consistently out of the zone. She did catch a few small fish, and she also broke off two large fish, which tells me that it probably was a good day of fishing, even though we did not see much in the net. One of the most frustrating aspects of guiding beginners is trying to teach them how to play large fish without breaking them off. It is not easy. I'll be back on the Snake tomorrow, then we are headed to Thermopolis this weekend to fish with Darren Calhoun in the Wind River Canyon. It's our annual hopper event, in search of a trophy brown! Here are a couple of photos from previous Wind River trips.

Early Fall?

All of the mornings this week were very cool, with lows below 40 degrees all over the valley. Are we in for an early fall? I actually kind of hope not, since summer started so late this year. I do think that it helped the fishing a little bit on the Snake this week. The dry fly fishing has been easier on slightly smaller attractors in slower water the past few days. There are definitely fish on the faster banks, but don't ignore the subtle spots and "off" water. Getting out of the boat and working side channels is also very productive right now. I fished on Thursday with great friends Michael and Elizabeth Traverso of Healdsburg, California. If you are ever in Santa Rosa, California, don't miss Traverso's Market, a superb Italian market and wine shop. We had a fantastic day from Moose to Wilson. Here is Elizabeth with a nice 16" Snake River Cutthroat.

English Rods

Fishing remains consistent on the Snake in Teton Park, with decent action on top all day long. The fish are still looking at a variety of hoppers and attractors in a variety of water. There is not much natural insect activity, which is typical for August. The river is still feeling relatively big right now, with flows at 3440 cfs at Moose. There is certainly still an advantage right now to fishing out of a driftboat. Wade anglers will have more difficulty finding water, and are probably better off trying Flat Creek, the Gros Ventre or Hoback rivers. I guided a father and son team from England who comes to visit each year, and they fish very well. It's nice having a couple of good rods in your boat. Here is Daniel Reeve with an 18" Cutthroat fifteen minutes into our float. Nice fish!

Flat Creek

I've been guiding on the Snake the past couple of days on Teton Park stretches and the fishing has been marginal. My clients were decent anglers and a lot of fun to be with, but the fishing just never popped. We caught numerous fish both days, but finding any larger fish was difficult. The weather this week has been warm and very bright, with zero cloud cover. A weather change would do the river good. This past weekend, I took a break off the oars and headed out to Flat Creek on the National Elk Refuge to test my dry fly skills. There's plenty of water left in the river and a tremendous amount of grasshoppers all over the refuge. I fished right through the middle of the day, which can sometimes be slow, but I found a great bank-feeder right as I started fishing. Flat Creek fishes like a typical spring creek (although it is not one, technically). Long, delicate, upstream casts are required only after crawling on your knees to spot your fish. The fish I found on Sunday was a gift. My first cast to him with a small hopper was eaten, but my hook set was junk...I totally missed him. After that, he wouldn't look at the hopper anymore. I continued with small mayfly patterns and actually stung the fish, not once, but twice! After missing him once, stinging him twice, I decided to rest him awhile. After about twenty minutes, he was back up feeding and I grabbed him on a mahogany dun. Sometimes, even on Flat Creek, you can get more than one chance.

Cloud Cover!

Earlier in the week, I guided part-time Jackson resident Charlie Howorth on the Snake, and we had an OK day. He decided to book me again for Friday on the South Fork in hopes of maybe finding some bigger fish, since the canyon section is still seeing some good action in the riffles on PMD's. I checked the weather on Thursday night, and decided to head to the Green instead, since there was a forecast for unsettled weather. By August, we have typically had many days in a row of bright sun, warm temps, and very few clouds. If you are lucky enough to get on the Green early in the morning in August on the first day of some new cloud cover, you could have great fishing, as any weather change this time of year can really get the browns moving. We nailed it! We were on the water by 8 am under very thick clouds and a sprinkle of rain. Almost immediately, there were large fish up on big attractors. We had great fishing until about 1 pm, when the clouds finally broke and the sun popped. Interestingly, there is a notion among the guides this time of year on the Green that you really need to be the first boat down on your section, since the river is running very low (like about 550 cfs). I bumped into another guide who works for one of our competitors at 6 am at the supermarket, and was not happy to hear that I was heading to the same section that he was. He raced down towards Pinedale, passing me in the Hoback Canyon, and put on the river ahead of me. Guess what? We caught very nice fish all day long right behind him...thanks for stirring them up! Here is Charlie with a 21" brown just below the put in...great day Charlie!

Teton Park Fishing Better

I've been guiding on the Snake all week and the river is fishing well overall, with each section fishing a little different than the other. The canyon sections below South Park have actually slowed a little on dry flies...I think that the higher water volume and the amount of boat pressure down there has taken some toll. Dam to Pacific Creek is fishing great, with lots of bugs...caddis and some early tricos are keeping fish looking up. Don't expect larger fish up there, but the chance to catch some numbers of fish is good. From Pacific Creek all the way to Wilson, the river is still rolling along at a nice clip, so accuracy with big flies is mandatory. I don't think that the larger fish have found their summer lies just yet...we're finding them all over the place still. Some in deep water, some in riffles and some on slow flats. Not as many fish yet in the log jams and structure that we usually see on the Snake. The tributaries are still keeping the river somewhat high for this time of year...the longer the river stays a little higher, the better the fall fishing should be. At Moose, it's flowing at 3900 cfs. I guided Jackson Hole One Fly extraordinaire Tom Smith today, with his friend Mark LeBaron from Moose to Wilson. They fished well, attacking the river with large chernobyl ants in all sorts of water. Here is Mark with an 18" Cutty that fell for a chernobyl, just below Moose.

Snake Lookin' Good

The color on the Snake River over the past week has improved dramatically...the river is looking very good. The volume is still a little high, but that should not last much longer with the last of the larger tributaries dropping and clearing finally. The river is definitely fishing better below South Park, which is typical after the runoff ends. The fish are taking a variety of drys and nymphs throughout the day. Sallies, larger stoneflies, caddis dries as well as basic beadhead nymphs have been working well. The park sections are fishing OK, but don't expect as many larger fish just yet. The fishing should improve dramatically over the next week or so on the Snake from the canyon through the park. I spent the day off today on the Upper South Fork with good friends Stan Czarniak and Tyler Hardy. Fishing was pretty slow. The dry fly fishing just never turned on. Despite a good caddis hatch and a few PMD's, the fish never looked up today. The streamers were not much better. The nymphing was mixed. I think we had a record number of whitefish netted, hooked or lost in my boat today...almost forty! On top of the slow fishing, the river was very crowded. Every time we turned around, there was a driftboat, pontoon boat or jetboat on our tail or ahead of us...oh well. Here is great brown Tyler managed to wrangle up in between all of the white owls.

Browns on the Snake

I guided a single rookie angler today on the Snake from South Park to Pritchard just south of Jackson. The dry fly fishing was great all day, with lots of fish ranging from 8" up to about 15". Large attractors worked well on the banks and in the riffles. The main draw on the Snake River is the chance to catch one of the strongest strains of native fish left in the west, the Snake River Finespotted Cutthroat Trout. Once in awhile, however, we stumble across a German Brown in the river, whose population numbers less than 10% in the upper Snake. Here is Eric Olsen with one of the first fish he ever caught on a fly...a fine 20" male brown taken on an Amy's Ant. When we do see browns in the Snake, they are often much smaller than this one...this was a real treat. Enjoy the photo of Eric and myself each holding his fish. Nice fish!

On the Snake

I've spent the past couple of days on the Snake River from Pacific Creek to Deadmans, and it was pretty mixed. On Monday, I had two very good local anglers who wrangled up some nice fish, the largest being 19", on big dry flies. Today, I had a pair of rookies who netted a handful of "Trout in Training" (Fish under 10"). The wind really came up on us today, and these guys just could not get the fly close enough to where it needed to be. Almost all of the fish we found on both days were close to the banks or on large flats. The riffle fishing is just not ready yet, but any day now! The Buffalo River is still a little high, and is putting in some dirty water still. As soon as it clears, the Snake should pop. I did not come up with any good photos from the past couple of days, so enjoy a couple more German Brown trout from the Green last week!

Out of Town

The fishing on the Green this week remained very consistent with great dry fly fishing, particularly in the mornings. Although I have not fished it, the reports from the South Fork from Scott Smith have also been very good...the upper river has also really popped, with good attractor fishing and great fishing in the riffles with fish hammering PMD's. I did guide on the Snake last Monday from Pacific Creek to Deadman's Bar with a local client who wanted to test the waters. We picked up a few nice fish through the day, but overall, it was a struggle. With the water clearing every day and the Buffalo Fork continuing to drop, it really should be any day now for the Snake. The major tributaries are starting to do well also...good reports coming in from the Hoback and Gros Ventre rivers. Only one more week until Flat Creek opens on the Elk Refuge! I'm away for a few days, taking a break off the oars...back on the water Monday. More from the Snake next week!

Browns, Browns, Browns!

Well, the fishing on the Green River continues to be off the charts! The fish are still looking up virtually all day long, taking gray drakes in the mornings and larger attractors in the afternoons. I had a great day off with Josh Graffim on Sunday floating the Green. Click on the link to Teton Trout to see some photos from the day. It was some of the best dry fly fishing I have personally had in some time. I guided again today on the Green on the Seven Mile Ranch and did quite well with just one angler. Here are a couple of photos of me holding some fish caught by John McCormick on dry flies. The South Fork continues to fish well, particularly with PMD's in the afternoons. The Snake should be starting to fish any day now with the levels falling and the clarity finally improving. More soon!

Great Week on the Green

It's been a fantastic week of guiding on the Green River! The river above and below Warren Bridge is in prime shape. The drakes are still pouring off in huge numbers in the mornings, while the afternoon has seen good yellow sally hatches. Try a size 10 or 12 parachute hare's ear behind a larger attractor, like any of the chernobyl ant varieties. The river is hovering around 1000 cfs and is still easily floated. The Snake flows out of Jackson Lake Dam have dropped to about 2400 cfs, however the Buffalo Fork is still putting in a silty 1750 cfs, keeping the river pretty high still. The color at Moose is not too bad with over a foot of visibility, but is still almost 6000 cfs there. I may take a local angler on Monday for an exploratory mission. Here are a couple of fine fish from the Green this week with Amy and Fred Thranhardt, a father and daughter team I regularly guide. Nice fish!

Drakes on the Green

This is probably one of my favorite hatches to fish all summer around here...the gray drakes. I've spent the last couple of days guiding on the Green River near Pinedale, and have seen some excellent fishing. The river is in very good shape...the levels have come down, the clarity is great and the fish are looking up. The gray drakes have been literally pouring off in the mornings, providing some fantastic dry fly fishing. Although the bugs have been tapering off after about 1 o'clock, the fish have been taking attractors quite nicely through the afternoon. I've seen a number of large brown trout in the net the past couple of days on drakes and chernobyl ants. Here is Richard Williams from Maine, with a healthy 21" brown that fell for a tan chernobyl ant. More from the Green soon!