Grayling on Dries

The days are slowly getting longer and warmer here in Wyoming. Although skiing has been very good, my thoughts are continuing to drift towards spring fishing. I am continuing to hear good reports from the Henry's Fork. Wade fishing with nymphs through winter holes sounds like it has been productive below Ashton. I've not heard much from the Snake or South Fork, so if anyone has been fishing there, leave a comment! Usually by early March, it is finally warm enough here to see good results on the Snake, possibly even with small dry flies. Our snowpack is still looking very healthy, which means we should be out of drought troubles this year. Not much else new to report. I am just starting to plot an early April trip with some of the guys in search of some hungry fish. If weather and water clarity permit, we'll probably hit the Big Hole River in southwestern Montana for a four day stint. The Skwala Stoneflies come off in April, and the fishing could be great. Here are a couple of shots from the Big Hole from April 2005. Here is a typical Big Hole Brown taken on a streamer. The second picture is a shot of my brother-in-law Sean Tufts holding a Grayling that he caught on a dry fly. The upper Big Hole River still holds small populations of fluvial Grayling (maybe as few as 100 fish per mile), and they love dry flies!

2009 Jackson Hole One Fly

I received notice a few weeks ago that I will be fishing in the Jackson Hole One Fly this year. Good friend and fishing client John "H-bomb" Holland put together a team and applied last fall. Along with John Wiley and Peter Chung, they kindly invited me to fish with them. After years of guiding in it, I am thrilled to now have a chance to fish in it! I'm already looking forward to it and cannot wait. We will be team "This Is Fly", partially representing the fabulous online fly fishing magazine. The One Fly is an invitation-only event that raises thousands of dollars each year to put towards local stream improvement projects here in Western Wyoming and Southeastern Idaho. Teams of four fish over two days with the limit of only one fly per day, per angler. Founded by Jack Dennis and Paul Bruun in the 1980's, it has turned into a large foundation for stream improvement and the valley's best know fly fishing event each September. Make sure to visit their website at http://jhonefly.org/ The weather here is slowly getting nicer, with warmer valley temps each day, and less snowfall in recent weeks. Fellow guide Josh Graffam waded on the Henry's Fork a couple of days ago and said he did quite well on nymphs, netting a half-dozen nice rainbows. Here is a nice shot of "one fly" from the Big Hole River, Montana...a nice size 12 mother's day caddis. More soon!

It's Snowing Again!

After a good ten days or so of serious high pressure, it's snowing again in Western Wyoming. We've had at least of foot of dry powder in the mountains over the last day and more is forecast. According to the USGS, the water content in the snowpack in the region is looking very good. It is as high as 140% of normal in the Gros Ventre mountains, which is great news for the rivers and our fish. Lets hope the snow continues! Rachael is out skiing this morning with friends enjoying the fresh powder. I'll be out for the afternoon shift...hopefully it will look like this! (Courtesy of Jeff Diener... http://www.jeffdiener.com/ ).

Nice Fish!

The past week here in Western Wyoming has brought us a large high pressure system with abundant sunshine and dry skies. The skiing has been holding up very well and the mountain has been virtually empty. Temps may actually hit forty degrees this week in the valley with the high pressure forecast to continue through the next seven days. It could be a good week to go wet a line on the Snake, South Fork or Henry's fork, as the warmer temps can get hungry trout moving a little more. Here's a nice shot of good friend, and This Is Fly editor Brian Hodges (aka B-Ho), with a beautiful Argentinian Brown. Brian is wintering in South America this year...at least someone is catching fish these days. More soon!

Crazy Weather

The moisture continues to pound Western Wyoming, but now we are actually seeing some rain. The temperatures have risen dramatically the past few days, providing us with some valley rain, and very wet mountain snow. This should actually help our snowpack, providing more water content in storage for our Cutthroat! Enjoy another beautiful Jeff Diener shot taken a few years ago New Year's Morning on Teton Pass. Note the inversion with clouds filling the valley.

Still Snowing

Well, we are through the retail holiday madness, and it is still snowing here in Jackson Hole. The mountain is getting better and better every day, with soft snow almost everywhere. There is significant snowfall predicted for the upcoming week! (Still great news for our rivers!). I would love to be fishing somewhere warm right now, but I'll have to settle for some powder skiing instead. I'd still like to share some great photos that Jeff Diener has loaned me from some of our skiing adventures over the years. Here is another typical powder run in Western Wyoming. Don't forget to visit his site at http://www.jeffdiener.com/. Stay tuned for the announcement of some great fly-fishing related news. More soon!

Happy New Year!

Hello all, here's to a great 2009! The snow continues to pile up here in Western Wyoming. Good news for skiers and for the river systems. Although the snow depths are increasing almost daily, there is a persistent weak layer of snow near the bottom of the snowpack (a result of high altitude rain in November) that is causing dangerous conditions. In the past week, we have seen an inbounds avalanche fatality at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, as well as numerous other slides occurring at the ski area...one of which damaged the restaurant at the top of the gondola. Be careful out there! Not much to report on fishing...too cold and snowy around these parts. Hopefully, I'll get an update soon from friend Brian Hodges who is spending the winter in Argentina. I love winter here and skiing has been great, but my thoughts are always drifting to fishing and warmer climates. I'd rather be here now...the beach at Boca Paila, Mexico.

Finally, Some Snow!

Well, it finally looks like winter around here. We got a nice little snowstorm Friday night into Sunday morning. The valley is now totally white, and the snowpack in the high country has now grown significantly. They've opened more runs at the ski area and also opened the gondola yesterday. Hopefully, we are now in a snow cycle! My good friend and professional photographer Jeff Diener just sent me some great shots from a ski trip we did last winter over to Grand Targhee Resort. Enjoy the photo, and check out Jeff's website at http://www.jeffdiener.com/; he's one of the best in outdoor/adventure photography around here, including fly fishing shots. More soon!

Snow is Coming

Although it has been a dry few weeks here, it looks like we may finally start picking up some significant snow by this weekend...it's definitely time to start building the snowpack for the skiers and the trout! Scott Smith and I had dinner one night this past week with old friend and local guide/photographer/fly fishing legend Tom Montgomery. It's always a treat. Naturally, we spent hours talking about fishing and photography, reminiscing about the many trips the three of us had taken before, and dreaming about upcoming adventures. Although I'm busy in the ski industry this time of year, my mind is always thinking of angling. Here's a great shot of Tom with a nice Cutthroat Trout from the Green River. As a tradition, the three of us always try to get at least one float together on the Green each summer, typically just after runoff. This was a particularly good day, with many eager fish all over our dry flies. More photos to come!

High and Dry

High pressure has been dominating the weather scene around Jackson lately. The valley is still completely brown; dry with no snow cover. There is a little bit of snow in the high country, but not much to ski on yet. Today actually hit 50 degrees with bright sun...very unusual weather for early December. If I were not so busy getting the ski shop ready for the winter, I would have loved to walk the Snake today, it probably was good. I'm sure the snow will come soon enough. Here's some nice shots taken by Scott Smith from this past season. Pondering over which fly to choose is one of the great joys in fly fishing. When fishing dries, emergers or nymphs, picking the right size, shape and color for the conditions is mandatory. Here, picking just the right streamer can be a challenge. Water clarity, as well as the sunshine (or lack thereof), along with size, silhouette and color, all play a role in streamer fishing. Finding a fish to eat the fly that you've chosen completes the circle.

The Long Winter Ahead

The days around Jackson right now are becoming noticeably shorter and shorter. The temps are becoming much colder and winter is in the air. It's only a matter of time before the ground freezes and the snow really starts to pile up. I am an avid skier and do welcome the winter, but I am constantly thinking of flyfishing. As I commute out to the mountain each morning, my mind drifts to many of the places that I have been fortunate enough to throw flies. It's common to be riding on a chairlift, thinking not only of that big brown that got away on the Missouri, but to envision the scenes of flyfishing that always bring us back. Here is beautiful shot that Scott Smith snapped of me working a nice brown trout on the Owyhee River, Oregon.

Waiting on Snow

Not much to report here firsthand on local fishing. I've heard some decent reports from the South Fork over the past week by wade anglers doing well on top with midges during the midday. The weather has been very clear and sunny, with cold nights. The lows have been dipping into the teens here in Jackson. As an avid skier, this is the time of year that we start to think about the snow that is on the way. We want every day to be a powder day! At the moment, the valley is still dry, but there is a decent snowpack of about 30" above 8500 feet. What will the winter hold? Will we match our record breaking snowpack of last season? Will it be dry? Obviously, nobody knows yet. It's not just the skiers wondering what the weather will bring, but also the local anglers. The winter weather that some love and some dread holds the key to how the next fishing season will be. With a healthy snowpack come springtime,our local rivers and the fish that reside in them will thrive. In particular, we are hoping for high water content in the snow that falls this year. If we get back into a drought cycle, the trout will suffer. This was very evident this year. Coming off of an enormous winter (well over 600" of snow fell above 8000 feet last year), we saw some of the best fishing in years on streams such as the Green, New Fork and Big Hole whose fish have been suffering from recent low water years. Here's to a wet winter! This Green River Rainbow sure loves when it snows!

Back to the Cold

Rachael, Charlotte and I returned last night from an 8 day trip to Sayulita, Mexico. Sayulita is a small surf town about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta. I wish I could report on some fishing, but it was strictly a beach/pool/corona drinking trip. This was our first real vacation since having Charlotte last December. She absolutely loved the water and the food. It was perfect; great food, sunny and hot! We flew into Idaho Falls yesterday and drove back to Jackson passing the South Fork. Their were quite a few empty trailers at the spring creek bridge...I'll bet fishing has been good. Water levels are low (908 cfs at Irwin), and the weather seems like it has been just right...cloudy and wet with cool temps. It's back to the ski shop for me, starting this week. I'll keep my ear to the ground on how fishing has been and what to expect before the deep freeze arrives. My buddy Matt left a comment on the previous post wondering about Joel...he did struggle a bit more on the Missouri. I never got a good chance at a nice picture of him...oh well. Incidentally, it was an Obama boat. Hope everyone got out to vote...no matter what your preference, it certainly was an historic election day. We'll still let you come next year, Matt! (I'm holding you to it). Enjoy a couple of pictures from Mexico!

Warm Weather

Since getting back from Montana, I have not been fishing locally. The weather all week, including this weekend has been splendid. More of the same is forecast for the next 5 days. Bright sun and temps in the high 50's...pretty nice for late October. The word on the Snake and the South Fork has been that fishing for cutties has been great...this is the time of year to hunt the larger fish, and it sounds like some anglers are finding them. Midges, BWO's and even some attractor fishing has been productive. Walking in, as opposed to floating, is probably the way to go in order to work the winter holes. I suspect that fishing for fall browns has been slow given the unusually warm weather...I'm sure that will change soon. I have not heard much from Yellowstone, so if anyone has a recent report, leave a comment! I'm off to Sayulita, Mexico Thursday for 10 days with the girls...time for a real vacation before the winter really starts here. Not sure yet if we will fish or not...we're experienced on the flats, but this will be our first visit to the west coast of Mexico. Here is yet another average Missouri River Bow taken on a streamer and a picture on the way to the MO!

The Missouri River

I rolled in about midnight last night after 4 days of great fishing on the Missouri River with Stan Czarniak and Joel Handschin. It's an annual event that never gets old. Over the four days, we had a mixed bag of weather, with everything from sun and 65 degrees, to thick clouds and 40 degrees. We covered water from Holter Dam all the way down to Prewitt Creek, with very good results. Although we did not bump into the trophy fall brown, the rainbow fishing was at its best. This river holds some of the hottest bows I've ever fished to. We banged the water with woolly buggers and stopped on pods of rainbows sipping psuedos. The crowds were gone and the wind never blew...a blessing! Enjoy some photos from the trip.