2013 - Page 2 of 4 - Teton Fly Fishing

Notable fish from the past few weeks…

September 4, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

Lots of fishing’s been going on around here lately, hence
the lack of blog posts. Days have been long, starting early
with coffee and some quick flies being tied for the upcoming
day, continuing to time on the water with clients and finishing
with preparations being made for the next day. Rest will come
this winter. For now though, fishing is the top priority. The fly
fishing’s been good; most trout have been fooled with dry flies
or dry/dropper setups. Although most of my time has been
spent floating on the Snake River here in Jackson, I’ve also
had quite a few days guiding folks on Flat Creek and more
remote waters over around Dubois, WY. Below are a few
pictures from the past few weeks.

Kevin with a nice Snake River Cutthroat trout. He and his
son Kory spent a week with me fishing area waters; great folks
and a great fish!

Derek hooks up on the Wind River outside of Dubios, WY…

Area Brook trout are starting to display brillant colors in
preperation for the spawn. Here’s one taken on a backcountry
stream in the Shoshone National forest.

wade trip 8/4 flat creek

August 5, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

here is a post on-
http://gardenstatetrout.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?
f=3&t=6771 -a nj trout fishing message board about my
morning with nate.

finally got out to wyoming and fished this morning. i took a
wade trip with nate bennent of teton fly fishing on flat creek. it
was outstanding. flat creek is a small windy meadow stream
with undercut banks and is very senic.

i was fortunate to start off catching some rocky mountain
whitefish, 2 of which were around 20 inches, on a double
nymph rig. this was imprtant because i am, at best, a novice
fly fisherman. i felt my confidence go up when the trout
started feeding. nate spotted a big cutthroat, plus 20 inches,
rising.

the big trout took a swipe at my dry fly only to have me swing
and miss with my hook set. tough one to swallow. the next
hour was spent casting to intermittently feeding fish that
showed no interest in anything i threw. very discouraged we
stalked upstream without finding anything.

nate suggested casting the nymph rig to an undercut bank
even though he didn’t see anything. luckily i made a good
cast, the indicater paused, i set and the fight began. it wasn’t
easy keeping the fish from disapearing under the banks on
either side of the stream. luckily, i managed well enough to
get the 18-19 inch cutthroat to the net. first cutthroat ever,
pretty psyched.

the rest of the day went equally well with one more cutty on a
nymph and 2 on a hopper. flat creek is great water but very
tough to land a fish with it being so narrow and all the
undercut banks. the real challenge is making a good
presentation. it took a rookie like me about 3 hours to get it
right but it was worth it.

a huge thank you to nate bennent for offering his patience
and expertise.

a taste of the Green…

July 31, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

Had the pleasure of taking Jamie and Taylor fishing on the
Green the other day. Here’s a recap…

Different waters, different fish..

July 21, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

I’ve been fortunate to fish some great folks on several
different waters over the past couple weeks. For those looking
for a challenge and the potential for a big catch, the upper
Green has been hard to beat. We’ve hit the road early,
ensuring that we get fishing before the heat of the day slows
the activity. Hatches of Grey Drakes, Yellow Sallies, PMDs and
caddis allowed clients to fish dries in many of the riffles,
surprised to find how high up fish will lie in the shallows,
picking off bugs. When smaller dries faded, we switched to
larger attractors or short-lined various nymph patterns. While
the fishing could be challenging, the solitude and calm, clear
waters made the Green a fun destination.

Other folks wanting to stay closer to home have been
fishing the Snake with me. And while flows out of Jackson
Lake have made the river higher than normal, the fishing has
been pretty darn good. Most of the fish we’ve been catching
have been in slower side channels and in shallow riffles. The
fish haven’t been huge, but their spunk and hard charging
attitude makes up for their size. We have started to see
bigger fish though, including a monstrous Cutt that ran my
client into his backing, eventually breaking off down stream,
and a big yellow-belly who rose along a fast bank to inspect a
foam creation yesterday. This is a great sign and hopefully
each day on the Snake will yield more and more bigger fish….

Additionally, I had some folks wanting to get off the
beaten path and chose to fish with me over near Dubois, in
the Shoshone National Forest. There, I put them on a favorite
small stream of mine, where brook trout and Yellowstone
cutthroat rose without hesitation to various attractor patterns
and we didn’t see a sole all day. Now that July is almost
finished, I expect to fish more hopper- type patterns. Hoppers
are buzzing along the banks, and with some windy afternoons,
the resident fish will start keying in on them. Flat Creek on the
Refuge also opens soon (Aug. 1) and it’ll be fun to take folks
out and stalk the weary, trophy cutthroat that feed selectively
along its banks. Hope everyone is getting out and enjoying
summer.

One of John’s Dubios trout…

A Brown from the upper Green…

July’s heating up

July 7, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

The past week offered up some great fishing around here in Jackson Hole despite the near record-breaking heat. Additionally, Forth of July festivities brought TONS of folks to Jackson, eager to fish, raft, hike and enjoy the great concert and fireworks display.

Lately I’ve been spending a fair amount of time fishing clients on the Green, pursuing its resident trout with dries and nymphs. Small, grey stimulators proved to be the dry fly of choice, doing a good job mimicking the smaller stoneflies hatching down there. Additionally, we picked up some nice fish in slower pools with Grey Drake spinners.

The Snake continues to run higher than normal due to increased releases from Jackson Lake dam. Idaho irrigators own the water rights to the water stored in the lake, and with another dry winter in their neck of the woods, they need water and are doing their best to draw the lake down as low as it’ll go. Ah, all for the love of potatoes….. That said the Snake is starting to fish well, particularly in the side channels and slower backwaters. Caddis, PMDs, and Stoneflies can all be seen buzzing around and I’ve seen the first hoppers of the season along the banks. As we get into the height of the summer, grab your attractor patterns and take advantage of the great dry fly fishing that this area is known for.

Chris and his lady, Sassy, fished the Green like champions and were rewarded with some good fish via dry flies……

Fly-Rodding Texans in Dubois

June 23, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

This past week I had the pleasure of hosting Andrew and Brian, friends from TX, for a few days of fishing at my cabin in Dubois, Wyoming. Andrew’s been out here before, experiencing some great fly fishing on the Snake. This time, he was interested in more remote waters and brought his friend Brian along. I think it’s safe to say they weren’t disappointed. We fished some tributaries and lakes, catching cutthroats, rainbows and browns on everything from dry flies to streamers. Overall, I don’t think they could’ve asked for better fishing, and I couldn’t asked for cooler guys to spend time on the water with. Below is a few pictures from our days fishing…

Lakes, Rainbows and Bears

June 16, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

The past week proved to be a great week of fishing for
some adventurous clients of mine. We fished some great
remote rainbow waters, catching fish from the boat and also
on foot. Nymphs and streamer were the name of the game;
leeches working in the lake, while princes and pheasant tails
dead drifted fooled stream run fish. Scott did a fine job
detecting the subtle strikes on Wednesday, while Sal and
Ashley stripped flies like champions. We also got a special
treat Thursday, getting to see 3 Grizzlies just as we started
our ascent of Togwotee Pass! More fishing on the books this
week….

Here’s Scott working in a strong backcountry Wyoming
Rainbow Trout..

Nice Fish!

Mama and the Cubs..

Weekend with Friends

May 29, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

It pays to have friends in nice places. This past weekend,
Jamie, Sage and I headed south to visit our good friends
Brandon and Rachelle in Clark, CO. Naturally, fishing was on
the agenda, but the real reason for the journey was to catch up
with old friends and meet the newest member of their family,
Wyatt, a strong 11 month old.

The Martins reside in Clark, CO, a beautiful area just north
of Steamboat Springs. Brandon recently joined Vista
Verde Ranch, tasked with running their fishing program
and guiding guests on the many great trout waters around
Clark. Fishing conditions were far from ideal during our visit,
but Brandon had a few tricks up his sleeve and introduced me
to some cool fish; including browns, rainbows, vibrant
Colorado cutthroat trout and Grayling. Fighting through an ugly
hangover courtisey of locally made bourbon, we got hiking,
eventually finding a big, nasty riffle that held several
archetypal Brown trout. The following day we tested out the
ranches new float tubes, fishing a nearby lake and meeting up
with the ladies for a picnic lunch. I had the pleasure of
catching Colorado cutthroat and grayling, two species I seldom
get to pursue. In addition to Brandon and I hooking some fish,
both wives also hooked a few fish, making it a memorable
Memorial Day!

Below you’ll find a few pictures from our lake outing. Many
thanks to Brandon, Rachelle and Wyatt for a great time! If
anyone out there is looking to spend some time at a cool dude
ranch with great fishing, look up Brandon at Vista Verde!

Me and a cutthroat..

Brandon showing a grayling’s dorsal fin

Brandon put his lovely lady, Rachelle on her first fish with
a fly rod…

King of CO, Brandon shows off a Grayling

upclose and personal; these pictures don’t capture the
subdle iridescent colors..

Mud!

May 17, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

The last week brought beautiful spring days to the Tetons. This
weather kicked the spring runoff into full gear, trashing area
waters and putting fly fishing the Snake and its tributaries on
hold for a few weeks. Because it’s been so sunny and warm, I’m
thinking rivers will clear and start fishing earlier than first
thought. Despite this, there are still plenty of places to wet a
line; the most obvious being area lakes.

Many of our lakes fish best in the spring and offer anglers the
chance to sight-cast to cruising trout. In fact, while we were
fishing a sand flat last week, I couldn’t help but feel like we were
fishing for bonefish; casting in front of moving fish and getting
their attention with a twitched fly. Very cool! Expect the lakes to
fish well for a while, with smaller, higher altitude lakes becoming
a destination once snow melts and ice comes off.

Fly fishing around Wyoming and the find of the year!

May 8, 2013/0 Comments/in /by testing

As of today, many area rivers are rising and turning brown
thanks in large part to sunny skies and temperatures pushing
into the high 60s. While this puts some stretches of water on
hold for the next month or so, it also gives area lakes top
billing for the foreseeable future. Jackson Lake’s shores are
mostly ice-free and it’s a good time to take some streamers
and sinking line up there in search of hungry cutthroat, brown
and lake trout.

I’ve been fortunate, having spent the past couple weeks
wading and drifting various drainages with a good amount of
luck. Matt and I pulled together a quick camping/ fishing trip,
hitting up the “Mile” during a two-day stretch of nice weather
and pretty good fishing. We ended up ditching the tent in favor
of sleeping under the stars, not far from several productive
riffles where rainbows fell for our flies. Matt may very well
have hooked the fish of a lifetime. Unfortunately, an explosive
line-spooling run down river resulted in his line and leader
coming back missing a fly….

Jamie and I spent a few days lake fishing from the new
boat. Fortunately we didn’t have to over think things; black
wooly buggers were the ticket and the rainbows attacked them
often enough to keep us busy for the better part of the day!

In related fishing news from Teton Fly Fishing world
headquarters, my neighbor and his wife were walking their dog
yesterday morning when they spied what appeared to be a rod
tube sticking out of a nearby dumpster. Upon saving it from
the approaching trash truck, they took out the contents and
discovered a fly rod, and not just any run of the mill import
graphite stick, a beautiful……… wait for it ……..BAMBOO rod!!!
Could be the find of the century, and I must admit to being a
little envious. Congrats you two!

Archive for year: 2013