Fish The Fly Guide Service and Travel Blog

The Jackson Hole One Fly event was this past weekend and was a great success.  Warm, sunnier weather prevailed which meant that fishing larger stonefly and hopper type patterns was in order.  Plus people can see them all day!  The Snake in Jackson fished well with Moose-Wilson scoring the highest closely followed by Deadman’s-Moose, both in GTNP.  Stoneflies scored well, but so did smaller mayfly patterns, especially for pickier fish.   From Wilson Bridge down, mayfly patterns like Hecubas or Mahogany Duns produced more consistently.  Basically the idea is to show them something they haven’t seen before…

Over on the South Fork in Idaho, the Upper stretch from Palisades Dam to Spring Creek Bridge scored the highest.  Riffle fishing with mayfly cripples brought the biggest fish to the net.  Foam bugs that represented the Mutant Stone did well for those that were able to twitch them close to bank structure.

The weekend was great fun and raised alot of dollars for regional fisheries improvement projects.  Special thanks to Under Armour, Coors, Frontiers Travel, and Hyde Drift Boats for sponsoring this year’s event!

Snake River

Fly fishing on the Snake River in Jackson Hole is on fire right now!  Our Cutthroat are fat and happy after a long runoff and are looking to the surface to get fed.  Stonefly attractors, PMD’s, Yellow Sallies, and Caddis are all producing at the moment, both wet and dry.  Fishing heats up around 10am and has been going strong through the afternoons and into the evenings.  If you are on the river early or late, strip some streamers and hunt for the big cutties.  All stretches of the Snake are fishing right now and seeing larger trout on top.  Give us a call to book a guided fly fishing trip on the Snake River! – 307-690-1139

Best Flies: #8-10 Chubby Chernobyl, #16 Yellow Stimulator, #14-16 Lime PMX, #16 PMD Cripples, #6 Black Leech, #6 Olive/White Silvey’s Sculpin

Backcountry Creeks

Wow, has fishing in the backcountry been fun lately!  The average size of Cutthroat seems to have increased on all of our streams, and these fish are happy.  We have seen some really nice fish to 18″ on our recent trips.  A short hike will get you into the best fly fishing, and typically all we use are dry fly patterns.  These fish are less pressured than most others in the area, so 4x tippet is the norm. Check out it fly fishing the Wyoming backcountry and give us a call to book a trip!

Best Flies: #12-14 Parachute Adams, #12-14 Yellow PMX, #14-16 Elk Hair Caddis, #10-12 Schroeder’s Parahopper

The South Fork fished well this week.  Flows were above 13,000 cfs and the water clarity is still about 2-3 feet but the fish were eating!  Streamers and nymphs were the ticket.  Black or brown streamers worked best as they give a great silhouette for trout to key in on.  Nymphing is still producing alot of whitefish, but there are some nice trout in the mix as well.

As of today, flows have been reduced to 12,000 cfs. Some of the riffles should show up now and dry fly fishing will improve.  Bring it on!

The Snake River here in Jackson Hole is starting to fish finally!  Cutthroat are being caught in the side channels and slower water where the clarity is best.  There is about 2 feet of visibility currently and the water is a milky green color.  Streamer and nymph rigs are the best bet right now.  Flows at Moose are 5870 cfs and dropping.  As these flows get below 5000 cfs, the fly fishing will improve greatly.

We are now running fly fishing trips on the Snake River , so give us a call at 307-690-1139!

The Upper Green River near Pinedale, WY continues to fish well, especially in the mornings.  Getting to the river early is key as the fishing slows down around noon.  If you can put on at daybreak in the BLM campgrounds sections and fish the Gray Drake hatch.  Spinner patterns are deadly until about 8am and then switch to emerger or cripple patterns.  Golden Stones are a hoot to fish at anytime during the day, especially on the sections below Warren Bridge.  Nymphing has still been productive with Yellow Sally nymphs, San Juan worms, and CDC Pheasant Tails being the best flies.

With these flows, we should be able to float the Green for weeks to come, which is unusual for this time of year!

The South Fork is showing some promise!  Flows are being reduced out of Palisades Dam from 26000 cfs recently on their way to 15000 cfs for the remainder of the summer.Currently they sit at 19,500 cfs.   Guides are catching fish in the side channels and slow back eddies on nymph rigs fished deep.  Rubberlegs, San Juan Worms, Lightening Bugs, and small North Fork Specials have produced decent numbers of fish, a mix of both trout and whitefish.

The trout in this great river will begin to come to the surface soon with lower flows.  We can’t wait!

The Green River near Pinedale,WY has begun to fish with some consistency recently.  Flows are dropping fast and currently sit at 1760 cfs.  This is the first time this river has been below 200 cfs in over a month!  All of this great news for fishing on this fine river.  Nymph rigs are the name of the game with Rubberlegs, San Juan Worms, flashback PT’s, and Prince Nymphs producing some nice trout.  The fish here are fat and happy!

There are numerous bugs hatching currently – Gray Drakes, Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, Caddis, and PMD’s.   Whitefish can be found feeding off the surface in some slow back eddies and soon the trout will join them!

Fly fishing on the Snake River has been pretty much non-existent so far this summer due to high flows from snowmelt. River flows are dropping like a stone on all of our tributaries currently and we expect to be floating the Snake by Aug. 1st.  The BuRec has begun dropping flows out of Jackson Lake Dam and they are on their way to 2800 cfs for the remainder of the summer.  This is going to mean excellent fishing conditions and happy fish!

Got Caddis?  Well, you should be fly fishing both the the Firehole and Madison Rivers in Yellowstone Park!  Evening caddis action on both these rivers has been great, from about 6pm until dark.  Midges are the morning ticket on the Firehole and then try adult Damsel Fly patterns through the day.  Yellow Sallies are hatching on the Madison, so be prepared with #16 Yellow Stimmies as well there.  Look for Gray Drakes around Talus Slide and Nine mile hole. These bugs have made for great fishing on the days they pop, typically with our afternoon thunderstorms recently. My favorite is the #12 Foam Gray Drake Spinner, for the bigger, pickier fish.

Don’t forget off the beaten path places like Grebe Lake!  This lake holds beautiful Grayling and Rainbows that love to eat Damsel Fly nymphs and adults….

Fly fishing on the Green River near Pinedale is still a bit slow with flows hovering around 3500 cfs.  This is huge for the Green! Water clarity is marginal, but it does look like flows are starting to drop.  Fishing will likely improve fairly quickly as this happens, as the fish in this river, especially brown trout, will eat nymphs and worms readily in off color water.  Bring it!