Chilly Float

Scott Smith and I floated yesterday near Pinedale looking for some trophy spring Browns. We left Jackson about 6:30am in fair conditions, and by the time we got south of Bondurant (which is only about 25 minutes from here), we found snowpacked roads and 16 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a very cold morning! The fishing was slow the first half of the day but finally came alive mid-afternoon. Here's a great shot of Scott with the fish of the day, a 21" Brown Trout. Louie, the Jack Russell, was on point a good part of the day looking for sippers, but none were found. It was a streamer day. The weather forecast is all over the place right now and the runoff is currently on hold. More soon!

Where Did Spring Go?

Rachael, Charlotte and I just returned late last night from New York City visiting family. When we left last week, the weather was gorgeous. It had become so warm by last Tuesday, that many of the tributaries, and even the Snake, began to turn to a dirtier color. While we were gone, it cooled down again. We actually got a little snow last night! It is now cool again, and looks like more of the same for the week ahead. Flying in last night, the river looked quite clear. I talked to Scott Smith this morning, and he said fishing has been pretty good. Small dries and nymphing has been productive on the Snake, and it sounds like nobody is around. I'm hoping that this is the last of the cool weather...we need to get this runoff started. There is still a tremendous snowpack just above the valley floor. Not much else to report. Jackson is in full "off-season" mode. Very little traffic and many businesses are temporarily closed. Don't miss all of the new 2009 fly patterns from Montana Fly Company (as well as some of their older proven patterns!). I was just on their site, and they look great! http://www.montanafly.com/ I'm hoping to wet a line as soon as tomorrow...stay tuned.

River Towns

One of the great joys of fly-fishing for me is the chance to spend time in the towns that lie near the banks of the wests' greatest trout streams. Whether you are in Pinedale, Wyoming or Craig, Montana, the feel of these places is unmistakable. The unique fly shops, bars, restaurants and local characters that make up these places are just as enjoyable to experience as the rivers themselves. Melrose, Montana is no different. Spending time in our cabin, or at the famous Hitchin' Post Bar and Restaurant was as important and fun as launching our boat each day. If you are ever in Melrose, don't miss the Sunrise Fly Shop, the Hitchin' Post or the Sportsmans Motel!

Skwalas!

I've just returned from a four day fishing trip in southwest Montana on the Big Hole River. My good friends Chris Stump of Jackson, and Campbell Hough of Boulder, Colorado, embarked for Melrose Montana last Wednesday and floated for four days. This trip had been planned for a couple of months, with much anticipation. Prior to leaving, I had been checking streamflow data and weather reports daily, wondering what to expect. Spring fishing is always a roll of the dice. This area of Montana had been enjoying the same weather that we had in Jackson for much of late March...cloudy, cold and wet. We arrived the first day to find a low (550 cfs), clear river, with good reports from the previous day. The main hatch that anglers chase this time of year is the skwala stonefly...and we hit it perfectly! The first three days yielded excellent results using dry skwala patterns. Twitching big dries in fishy water got tons of fish up. By Saturday night, the skies cleared and the temps warmed up. Arriving on the river Sunday morning, we found a much higher, dirtier stream. Unfortunately, the river is now completely blown out...it's running over 2000 cfs as of today. Cool weather this week should bring it back down. What a great way to start the season! More stories from the trip in the next post. Enjoy!

Two Passions

Living in the mountains, I see the calender year as being divided into two seasons: summer and winter. We have virtually no spring to speak of, and the fall season goes so quickly that it is just a quick extension of summer, with great colors and cooler temps. What really defines the seasons here are the activities that we do. Summer means fly-fishing, and winter means skiing. There are days in the middle of the summer, while casting large dry flies to big trout, that my eyes wander to the mountains, and my mind wanders to thoughts of skiing. Conversely, while riding chairlifts and skiing here all winter long, my mind drifts towards fly-fishing. By this time of year, I am usually thinking only of the coming fishing season. Over the past two weeks, we have had three large spring storms come through here that have dumped an incredible amount of snow in the mountains. It's been some of the best powder skiing of the year this past week! (And there is nobody here right now). Our snowpack has received a very large spring boost, which is great news for the rivers. It looks like we'll be fishing some of our rivers a little later than I would have guessed even a month ago. We're leaving for Montana next week to fish the Big Hole...hopefully it warms up! It's interesting skiing powder all day, and coming home to organize trout flies for a trip only a week away! I think I enjoy planning and daydreaming about upcoming fishing trips as much as I enjoy the actual trip.

Back With A Vengence

Winter returned to Western Wyoming (and most of the Western US) this past week. As of this morning, the mountains have picked up almost 4 feet of snow since Wednesday, and the valley has been blanketed as well with about a foot. Our snowpack and water equivalent is now well above average. Many areas should now be out of any drought danger and should see great fishing conditions this summer...great news! Much of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming has been enjoying all of this wet weather. The Jackson Hole Mountain resort has just one week of operation left for this season, and may surpass the 500" mark if this week's forecast holds true. Ahhh...powder skiing!

Warming Up Fast

The weather has turned to spring very quickly this week, with valley temps in the mid 50's. It is spring skiing conditions from the top of the tram all the way down to the valley. This should get area fish really moving now! Leaving work tonight, I crossed the Wilson bridge on the Snake and saw a couple of boats pulling out. This is a great time of year to float when we get nice weather like this. Local guiding legend Paul Bruun writes a weekly column in our local paper, and treated us this week to a great story about This Is Fly, the online fly-fishing magazine that is all the rage. Check the article out at http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=4368&pid=news. Also, my buddy Chris Jensen has just started a blog out of the Lodge at Palisades Creek on the South Fork, it looks pretty good! Check it out at http://tlapc.wordpress.com/ for the latest news from the South Fork of the Snake. Here is a shot of a typical South Fork cutthroat taken last fall...what a beauty.

Valley Rain

There's a very wet weather system moving into Western Wyoming today, bringing snow to the mountains and heavy rain to the valley. Still good news for skiers and anglers. The water content in the snowpack is still on the rise, while we are losing valley snow to the rain. As the valley snow recedes, boat ramps on the Snake will begin to open. Not long now until we are able to float! Although I have not wet a line yet this spring, I am still getting good fishing reports from Southeastern Idaho. Nymphing has been successful for hungry browns and rainbows. Here is a shot of Jack Dennis store manager Chris Jay with a nice Snake River Cutthroat taken below Moose bridge last April on the day they cleared the boat ramp to open.

In Like a Lion

The month of March entered western Wyoming like a lion this week, with ample snowfall and high winds for the mountains. The skiing has been great...plenty of windblown powder and cold temps at the higher elevations. The snowpack continues to grow...good news for the rivers. It's this time of year that fly-fishing starts to creep back towards the front of my mind. The valley temps are slowly rising and with the evenings staying lighter much longer, my thoughts drift to pre-runoff spring fishing. Some of the best trout fishing that the west has to offer takes place in the next few months. Blue-Winged Olives and Midges will make an appearance on area streams soon, and streamer fishing will turn back on...there are some hungry fish out there ready for the end of winter! A much anticipated trip to the Big Hole in southwestern Montana is just around the corner. I have a trip planned with an old friend from my days in Colorado who will be joining me on the Big Hole in early April. An avid and accomplished angler, he has yet to fish Montana and I cannot wait to introduce him to it. Here is a typical Big Hole River Brown trout and a great scenic shot of the river near Melrose.

Spring on the Way!

March is finally here, which psychologically gives anglers around here some hope that winter will actually relieve its grip soon. It has been a very average winter here in Western Wyoming, which means we have had many days of mountain and valley snowfall with very cold temperatures. The water content in the snowpack around the valley is still looking very good. The days are starting to get noticeably longer and warmer, which means water temps should start to slowly rise. As this happens, resident fish will start to move just a little more to take a fly. Although it is still a little cold to be out on the Snake, the fishing on the Henry's Fork right now has been improving. At its lower elevation, the Henry's Fork warms earlier and gets fish moving sooner. One of my favorite fisheries to visit in early spring is the upper Big Horn River in Thermopolis, Wyoming. As it swiftly flows out of the rugged Wind River Canyon, the river actually changes name midstream at a site called the "Wedding of the Waters", where flows slow and the river becomes known as the Big Horn. The water that slowly meanders through the town of Thermopolis holds large numbers of Rainbow, Brown and Cutthroat. This part of Wyoming is known as a "Banana Belt", often staying much warmer and drier throughout the winter. Early spring is a great time to target these fish with wets and dries. Although wading access is limited, floating is very easy. Here is a great scenic shot of the Big Horn...note the dry environment. This rainbow fell for a size 18 BWO dry fly in early April a few years back.

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.