Blog - Page 17 of 30 - Teton Fly Fishing -Jackson Hole

Big weekend of Fly Fishing

May 7, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

Had the pleasure of fishing with long time friend, Kurt, the
past couple days. After a long hiatus, Kurt managed to sneak
out for a long weekend. We divided time between the Dubois
area and Jackson. While many area waters are blown out due
to spring runoff, we had a few tricks up our sleeve. The best
day by far was on the Bighorn, where Kurt experienced some
fine tailwater fishing. The wind proved challenging on some
other waters, but we managed a few fish here and there,
making the most of our three day fishing adventure.

Here’s Kurt showing off a nice brown he caught just hours
after touching down in Jackson…

Kurt on the lake

Our day on the Bighorn was beautiful. A lot of fish were
caught subsurface, but by late afternoon, fish were rising all
over the river. Kurt decided to hop out of the boat after seeing
several sizeable browns feeding in this eddy.

Wading the Bighorn

Releasing a nice brown

Bighorn release

Rainbow that fell for a grey Ray Charles…

Kurts rainbow

On the drive back to Jackson, we swung up to the oxbow
in hopes of seeing a Grizzly bear that’s been out and about.
Timing is everything, and we got to watch the bear feed
amongst the willows. His tracks were fresh…

on the trail of a grizz

Overall we had a great time and good to get out on the
water and catch up. Hopefully we can do it again next year. In
the meantime, I’m headed down to CO tomorrow to visit
friends and meet the newest member of their clan. Word is
there’s a few feeder streams that are fishing well. We’ll see….

Management of Yellowstone Lake Fisheries

April 30, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

Last night, fisheries biologists from Yellowstone National
Park and members of Wyoming Trout Unlimited gave a great
presentation on the Parks ongoing efforts to save and restore
native cutthroat trout populations. As some of you know, the
park has been waging an aggressive campaign to save the
Yellowstone lake cutthroat by killing invasive Lake Trout.

Lake Trout (mackinaw) were illegally introduced to
Yellowstone lake somtime in the ’80s and have dramatically
reduced the native cutthroat trout in the lake over the years.
Fortunately the Park is making progress fighting the invasion,
killing more and more Lakers over the years. Unfortunately
there’s a lot of misinformation out there waged by a select
few folks who like catching lake trout and have a surplus of
time on their hands. It’s clear that Lake trout are killing
Yellowstone cutthroat and wreck havoc on the entire
ecosystem; an ecosystem that depends on the Yellowstone
Lake cutthroat to thrive. I for one am glad the Park and its
supporters are working so hard to save and protect this
amazing fishery.

Also, the Park is in the process of restoring native
Grayling, Yellowstone and Westslope Cutthroat to a few select
streams in the park. Check out the link below to learn more
about the Parks management plan and learn facts about their
battle.

http://wyomingtu.org/wp-
content/uploads/2014/03/Science-Supporting-Management-of-
Yellowstone-Lake-Fisheries.pdf

Here’s a recent article by Ted Williams that appears in this
springs “Fly Rod and Reel Magazine”:

http://www.flyrodreel.com/node/25415

Simple

April 27, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

Turns out, simple CAN be better. A few days back I ran
over to Dubois to do a little preseason work on the cabin.
Since the weather was lousy and I was planning to only spend
a night, I didn’t take my fishing gear with me. Once there
though I started thinking about fishing; turns out the weather
wasn’t quite as bad as predicted and Jamie told me to stay
and she’d come over with some friends at the end of the
week. With an unexpected free day, thinking
about fishing turned to going fishing. The only
problem was that my gear was at home. Fortunately I
remembered having a 4wt bamboo rod at the cabin as well as
a cheap reel with embarrassingly old fly line on it. Combine
those with one fly box of random patterns and a few spools of
tippet, and I was in business!

So off I drove, determined to make the most of my day.
To make a long story short, the wind was better than expected
and I found fish rising occasionally to emerging midges. For
the better part of the morning and early afternoon I had a
blast trying to control angry brown trout with my uber-slow,
soft tipped 4 wt rod.

stoneflies, midges and hungry trout

April 18, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

As many folks know, spring fishing in Jackson can be exceptional, with hungry fish, hatches of various insects and sunshine. For those willing to brave varying temperatures, they can have water to themselves and catch some of the biggest trout of the season.

I snuck out yesterday for a few hours on the water in between a laundry list of tasks. Fishing was good and I caught a bunch of cutthroat trout on various dries, including a big foam Skwala pattern and small black stoneflies and parachute adams. Riffles proved the best, with numerous yellow cutts slashing the surface, feeding on midges.

Nice heathly cutthroat; first of the season caught with foam and rubber legs

One of many spunky fish from a productive riffle…

Spending a day on the water in ID

April 10, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

Embracing the sunny skies, Jamie and I made a run to the
Henry’s Fork on Tuesday, hoping to find some willing trout and
warmer weather. I’d say overall we were successful.
Temperatures were warm enough to leave puffy jackets in the
car, although water temps made it clear we aren’t out of the
woods yet. We took turns fishing nymphs and a few dries.
Despite the occasional riser, all of our fish were caught
subsurface. After the wind kicked up, we packed up and headed
home. Along the way, our friend Joe and his wife invited us to
stop by their house in Victor for a beer. We did and it was
glorious. After that, Jamie and I decided to round things out with
a stop at Big Hole BBQ in Victor.

Lander, Thermop and the Bighorn

April 7, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

on the open road; headed to Lander, WY without
company….

Last week my friend Jeff, picked up his new drift boat in
Idaho Falls. After arriving back home in Lander, WY, Jeff
invited me to come out and join him for the inaugural float.
With an open schedule and already being nearby in Dubois, I
threw some gear in the Pathfinder and headed east, arriving in
Lander with just enough time to hit up the Popo Agie with Jeff.
We had a great time fishing nymphs and streamers, picking up
a few trout and enjoying the relatively warm weather. After
the sun dipped behind the red hills,we celebrated our
afternoon with a trip to the Lander Bar for burgers and beer.

The next day we hooked up Jeff’s new Clacka and headed
north to Thermopolis to fish the Big Horn. The Bighorn is the
Wind River; name changes upon coming out of the Wind River
Canyon (courtesy of the white man…). Along with Jeff’s sweet
black lab, Cora, we took our time floating and fishing the river.
While we got into some fish subsurface, the highlight for me
was when BWO blanketed the water and brought fish to the
surface. We opted to take their challenge, fishing size 20 BWOs
on fine tippet, connecting with several nice browns and
rainbows. Jeff rounded out the day, catching a feisty ‘bow on a
streamer.

A nice rainbow falls victim to the red worm…

abundant midges and trout

March 30, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

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

Idaho Steelhead

March 26, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

After years and years of talk, we finally did it. Jamie and I traveled to Challis, Idaho, spending four days casting relentlessly for steelhead on the famed Salmon river. I’ll be the first to admit it wasn’t easy, in fact much of the time felt like we were receiving a thorough beat-down, with the occasionally hooked sucker adding insult to injury. Flies were lost on underwater boulders, and we began wondering if these fish even existed, let alone would bite our flies.

We knew going in that the odds were stacked against us. Why would fish that have traveled some 800+ miles inland from the Pacific Ocean want to eat strike our flies? Do fish even make it this far inland? If they do, will the hordes of camo clad lawchair fishers fool them first? These are the things that run through your mind as you cast again and again to seemingly perfect water. Fortunately as dumb luck would have it, I managed to hook and land two fish while tight-line nymphing a fast seam on our last day.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, I felt honored bringing these fish to hand. Amazed at their perservience; traveling amazing distances, eluding predators, navagating countless dams, rapids, etc. I couldn’t help but wonder what this river must have been like 100 years ago when the steelhead and salmon runs were so thick, folks harvested them with pitchforks….

A view of the Salmon river from our base of operations….

Find Nate. I’m doing my best to blend in with the surroundings…

One of many hotsprings in the area. Jamie and I relaxed in this one after long days of fishing

At last, a steelhead on the fly!

Close up of one of two fish that graced us with its presence

March is for midges

March 9, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

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

to the desert and back

March 7, 2014/0 Comments/in /by testing

We’re rolling into spring around here and there is a subtle excitement in the air. All of a sudden days are longer and snow in the valley is melting. It’s possible Jamie and I ushered in this change; afterall, we did just return from Arizona.

Our trip was bittersweet; part vacation and part celebration of life for my uncle Don, who passed away just before Christmas. Overall the trip was great. We met up with my folks and family, caught up with friends, saw some live music and paid respects to a sweet dude who epitomized rock n’ roll. I won’t go into details except to say that the three day marathon celebration was one of legendary proportions and we probably drank and ate way more than we should have. Special thanks to the Band News Blues Band, Lori McDonald and Hans Olson for some awesome rock and blues music.

After spending four days in Bisbee, we drove north and spent two days bumming around Tucson. In the desert southwest, trout waters are few and far between and I’m sorry to report that no fishing was done. We did get in some cool hikes; seeing ancient petroglyphs and climbing a mountain. Here’s a few photos from the trip. Hopefully I’ll have some fishing pictures soon (with temperatures forecast to be in the 40’s it’s time to get out and capitalize on the midge hatch).

Hiking in a dry gluch, we saw plenty of prickly things as well as some cool petroglyphs.

A native..

Close up of some of the petroglyphs we came across.

Jamie helping to put things to scale..