The Upper section in Swan Valley is fishing well too.  This is mostly a nymphing affair with Mysis Shrimp, eggs, and San Juan worms producing the best. Trout are stacked below Palisades Dam and the Rainbows are spawning.  Remember that if you catch any of these ‘bows to harvest them to help out the Cutthroat!

Flows out of the Dam are steady at 10,500 cfs and look to remain there for the near future.  Water clarity is 3-4 ft right below the Dam. Palisades Creek is dumping muddy water and clarity below there is 2-3 ft in green water, plenty for the fish to see.

Best Flies: #10-12 Bullethead Skwala, #16-18 BWO Cripples, #14-16 Pruett’s Mysis, #16 Eggs, #12-14 Rock Worms, #6-10 Rubberlegs

The sun begins to set on Table Rock in the South Fork Canyon.

Water clarity is 2-3 ft and the trout are eating nymphs and streamers.  Rubberlegs and San Juan worms (pink, red) are producing.  If you like to throw meat, try Black Leeches or White Bow River Buggers. remember to go low and slow as water temperatures are still a bit chilly.

Look for this river to really get going in the next couple of weeks and be fishing by Memorial Day weekend! Check it out what fly fishing the Green River is about, or give us a call at 307-690-1139 to book you trip today!

The Snake should clear in June at some point and will be very good with Stoneflies, Caddis, and Grey Drakes.  Give us a shout at 307-690-1139 to book a trip today!

Best Flies – #10 Bullethead Skwala, #10 Purple Bruce, #10 Royal Stimmie, #10-12 Rubberlegs, #16 Black Copper John, #18 Red Zebra Midge

Little Black Stoneflies on the water

Fat 18 incher that ate a Skwala pattern

This flow drop will not affect the fishing, it might even make a bit better.  Deep nymphing has been the name of the game recently with most trout still holding in their winter lies.  Double nymph rigs with the fist fly 9′ down have been the ticket.  Stonefly imitations like #6-10 Rubberlegs followed by #16-18 Black or Olive Copper Johns have been productive.  Throwing streamers on sinking lines has been picking up some larger trout on the lower river below Wolf.  Rust, Olive, and White Bow River Buggers have been good flies to try.

With our warm Spring and relatively low snowpack (80% currently), we are expecting an excellent early season on the South Fork! After the flushing flows subside in May, the Caddis and Skwala Stonefly action should be the best we’ve seen in about 5 years.

We guide out of the Lodge at Palisades Creek in Irwin and they are running a guide trip special of $395 for a full day until June 15th.  What a bargain!  Last falls fish counts reported over 5000 trout per mile, the 2nd highest report since the mid 80’s.  Don’t miss out on the fantastic early season fishing!

Early season nymphing is producing nice trout!

This 18" Cuttie ate a Skwala adult pattern!

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort closed this past weekend and things have quieted down a bit around here.  There are fewer boats out on the Snake, but the fishing remains quite good!

I had a chance to get out for a bit yesterday and was looking to fish some dry flies.  It has been 70+ degrees the past few days, so I figured that our Cutthroat should be looking for bigger bugs like our Skwalas or March Browns. I didn’t see either of these but the trout responded well to both adult and nymph Skwala patterns, so that’s what I fished! I caught a number of Cutties 15-18″ in just a few hours in 3 different holes before calling it a day.

There were a ton of our Little Black Stoneflies (Capnia) crawling on the rocks and flying about and I’m certain that they would have produced as well. Our trout are in prime condition from having good over-winter water flows and are fighting well.  I even had one jump!

We are still running our Spring fishing trip special, so give us a call!

Best Flies: #10 Bullethead Skwala, #12 Boot’s Cripple, #16 Peacock Caddis, #16-18 Black or Red Zebra Midge, #14-16 Prince Nymph, #12-14 Pheasant Tail

Beautiful Cutthroat!

Laura Gangler is all smiles after hooking her first Cutthroat on a dry fly

We’ve been running a lot of guide fly fishing trips on the Snake River recently.  Warm weather and mediocre skiing has folks looking for something else to do and why not? The fishing has been on fire!

The Midge hatches continue to keep our Cutthroat looking up and we’re starting to see some success with March Brown and Skwala patterns as well, both nymphs and dries. Air temperatures reaching in to the 60’s has put these larger bugs on the menu and they should continue to be so for the next month or so until runoff hits…

The Snake below Moose has been the place to be.  We’ve been floating between Wilson and Astoria with great success.  If it’s been above 50 for a few days, the Hoback River will muddy and blow out the river below there…

James Gangler and a great catch!

Best flies: #20 Tridge, #18-20 Black Furimsky’s BDE, #18 Black Zebra Midge, #10 Pat’s Rubberlegs, #12-14 March Brown Cripples

The Snake River is still fishing well!

Today marks the opening of the Snake River tributaries here in the valley.  Rivers like the Hoback, Gros Ventre, and Buffalo are now open for fishing.  Traditionally the Snake wasn’t open to fishing for Cutthroat until April 1st as well, but that changed in 2006 to a catch and release season through the winter.

There are some changes to the WY  fishing regulations for 2012. Tributaries of the Snake are now closed on December 1st instead of November 1st and will open as usual on April 1st of the following year.

Anglers are allowed to keep 3 trout with only one trout exceeding 16 inches and no more than one Cutthroat shall exceed 12 inches.   Basically WY Game and Fish is saying that the streams are holding up to the current level of fishing pressure, but they want to make sure that the Cutthroat is still well protected.

The tributaries should fish well right now and until runoff.  Most of the larger Cutthroat are still in the Snake River and have not begun their spawning migrations, but some of the larger rivers hold some surprises.  Look for Midges, BWO’s, and a few Caddis to be the go to bugs…

With this warmer weather, the Cutthroat have started coming to the surface by 11am and continue to rise until dusk.  There are Whitefish also rising, so it pays to observe before making the cast.  Midges, BWO’s, and even a few March Browns and Skwalas are hatching.  We are seeing adult Cutthroat 14-20″ feeding voraciously! Check out some video of the recent fly fishing on the Snake River.

Best Flies: #16-20 Black Furimsky’s BDE, #20 Zelon Midge, #BWO Comparadun, #12-14 March Brown Cripples, #12-18 Lightening Bug, #14-16 Prince Nymphs, #6 White Zonker

Chandler Minton loves dry fly fishing in March!

It has been warm for Jackson Hole lately – temps in the mid 40’s all week has really given our fishing boost!  Midges are everywhere along the Snake River, from Moose down to the Elbow boat ramp.  Snow is melting daily from the edges of the river, making access easier by the day.  We are still running our Winter wade fishing trips with success. There is some surface activity in the later afternoons after 2pm, but nymphing and slowly swinging streamers has been the most consistent.  Action is coming from the slow water at the ends of runs and slower riffle seams, especially in side channels.

Best flies: #6 Black or Olive Zonker, #18-20 Black Zebra Midge, #14-18 Prince Nymphs, #16-20 Furimsky’s BDE’s – Black

Warm weather is making for great fishing!