March fishing on the Snake river here in Jackson Hole can often be good. Yesterday it was great. Midges were hatching in abundance, bringing lots of eager trout to the surface. The cutthroat kept me on my toes though; feeding on dries, then switching to emergers and nymphs (weird, you’d think it’d be the other way around…) Here are some shots from the day.

Check out the midges. This extended 10+ feet down the seam in the river

this guy couldn’t resist a well presented midge emerger

One of many Snake river cutthroat trout brought to hand

Took advantage of the sunshine yesterday and went fishing
with my friend Matt. We couldn’t have asked for nicer weather
and the time on the water was good for the soul. Around here,
fly anglers embrace March for its abundant hatches of midges
and small stoneflies. During our three or so hours on the water,
we saw a ton of midge activity as well as some small stoneflies.
Naturally some fish were rising too.

this guy fell for a well presented Griffiths Gnat; good
way to kick off spring

A view from below Jackson Lake Dam

Matt casting to a large rising cutthroat trout

Options for fly anglers and what to expect…. Below: Snake River cutthroat from a March midge hatch.

As February comes to an end, those of us fly fishermen can’t help but think about spring. So too do folks looking to come out to the Jackson Hole and greater Yellowstone region to do some fishing. Many folks ask me if it’s possible to fly fish around here in the spring. And while area runoff certainly makes some waters unfishable, my answer is always, “of course, …. you just have to be flexible and know where to go”. Here’s what I like to fish and some ideas of where you could expect to be guided when fishing with me in the spring:

March- April: This is a fantastic time to cast a fly out here in Jackson Hole. Rivers are low and clear, and as the days get longer and warmer, bug activity picks up significantly. The Snake, Green and Wind rivers can be tremendous, both from a wade-fishing and float-fishing perspective. Many days, hatches of stoneflies (both small black and brown and larger Skwalas), BWOs, midges and march browns, will make dry fly fishing outstanding. For times when fish aren’t rising, nymphing and streamer fishing can be really productive.

Area lakes are FUN in the spring!

May: As April comes to an end, so do much of our fishing possibilities on the rivers mentioned above due to runoff. This however does not mean fishing halts. May is the time I like to fish small area lakes; both by drift boat and on foot. After ice off, our lakes are a blast to fish, as trout (cutthroat, rainbows, browns and lakers) are often found cruising the shallows, searching for food and preparing to spawn. Fly fishing from a drift boat allows anglers to target these cruisers with streamers and nymphs. Similar to flats fishing, anglers often wait to see a fish and then cast ahead hoping the trout will give chase. As the end of May comes, even more great fly fishing becomes available. Memorial Day weekend begins the fishing season in Yellowstone National Park. This is not to be missed. Waters like the Firehole, Madison, Gibbon and other smaller streams in the southwestern part of the park fish well and experience huge hatches of PMDs, BWOs and stoneflies. In addition to fishing these great hatches, nothing beats casting along active geysers and geothermal features while Bison roam across the river.

Yellowstone offers a variety of waters for fly anglers…

June: Fishing options expand even further around here, both in Yellowstone and elsewhere in June. As mentioned above, the Firehole, Madison, Gibbon, etc. all continue to fish well. Additionally, Lewis Lake and river come into their own offering anglers a chance at catching some really nice brown trout on the fly. June too means that the upper Green River is becoming fishy. Often by mid June I’m taking anglers down to the Green to fish some great hatches of Grey Drakes, Stoneflies and caddis. Area lakes continue to fish well too, making it a tough decision for some anglers as to wear they want to fish.

So that’s the skinny on fishing Jackson Hole waters in the springtime. I encourage folks to give me a call and book some fun days on the water… Here’s a quick summary of where I like to fish in the spring months:

March/April: Snake, Green and Wind rivers

May: Area lakes, Yellowstone National Park

June: Yellowstone National Park, Green, Area Lakes, select small streams

As some of you who occasional check the Wyoming weather know, it’s been cold and wintery lately. Tonight (sunday) we’re riding out the tail-end of a powerful winter storm that has dumped a lot of snow around here. Prior to its arrival on Friday, we experienced some bone-chilling cold temperatures, reminding us all that we’re still a long way off from spring. I was over at our cabin working on some paintings last week and experienced several days in the proverbial “ice box”. Below is a quick picture I took of the thermometer upon waking up on Wednesday. So much for the bananabelt. Brrrrr.

Just returned from the annual Bennett/Daly Flaming Gorge
fishing trip. My friend Matt and I started going down to Utah a
few years back, partly to fish the beautiful red canyon walls of
the Green river during uncrowded times, and partly to escape
the wintery weather in Jackson.

This year, we lucked out and had some great weather;
sunny skies and warm temperatures in the afternoons meant
fishing without jackets and gloves. Most of the time fishing,
we relied on nymphs and streamers, although we did have an
opportunity to fish a brief (30 minute) midge hatch that
seemed to bring every fish in the river up. As with any proper
fishing trip, there were moments of glory; Matt hooking a
beautiful Brown on a streamer, sight fishing size 22 midge
patterns to large, slow rising brown trout.

There were also moments of frustration; a thorough beat-
down I received on Sunday, when I hooked much more green
aquatic moss than fish. And lets not forgot the giant rainbow
hooked in a fast mid-river seam that eventually came off
(yes, I do believe it would’ve been the largest trout of my
career). Perhaps the finest moment came in the 11th hour,
shortly before we needed to head north back to Jackson. A
fantastic midge hatch erupted, bring fish up to the surface all
over the river. I watched a beautiful brown rise deliberately
just feet from the bank, eventually fooling him with a
homegrown midge pattern. Then, I watched Matt hook up
several times down from me (the aerial brown trout
acrobatics were a dead giveaway).

After the hatch slowed, we hiked out of the canyon
agreeing that we couldn’t have asked for a better end to
another great trip!

Back here in Jackson Hole we are bracing for a winter
storm. Looks like the valley will get a couple inches, while
snow in the mountains could be measured in feet. Let’s hope
so. Snow translates to water, which keeps trout (and anglers)
happy.