It’s May and I’m getting excited for fishing here in Wyoming! Seems like we didn’t have much in the way of pre runoff fly fishing the past few months. Weather was lousy and then when things got nice, the water came up and dirtied. I did get out a bit, floating some great folks on the Snake before things went down hill. A lot of time over the past month and half though was spent pursuing bonefish in the Bahamas; first on Abaco, then on Andros.

Unexpectedly, I got a last minute invite from a friend to join him and other friends at the Abaco Lodge for 5 days. I jumped at the opportunity and in less than 24 hours was on a flats boat looking for bonefish. I’ve never been on a trip like this- guides every day, meals, drinks, everything taken care of. It was incredible! The best part of the trip was the group of guys I was with; just top notch folk, all appreciative and enjoying the special trip we were on.

The guides and staff at the lodge were fantastic and worked hard to put us on fish. The highlight for me was fishing with Marty Sawyer, a character and expert Abaco guide. Marty was full of stories, area history and fishing passion. His enthusiasm was contagious and my boat mate, Jim, and I had a blast!

Kurt hooked up with the first bonefish of the trip. 

I love the toothy critters! Barracuda are a fun fish to target with the fly rod. This guys ran like hell and jumped like a brown trout!

Nothing better than hooking one of these guys while wading white sand flats

After returning from Abaco, my attention focused on Andros, a trip in the making for a while. Jamie and I flew to Nassau, met up with our good friends Kurt and Kelly, and flew in a six-seat Piper to North Andros. Once there, we settled into island life, renting a house on a protected cove and generally having a blast. Kurt and I fished hard everyday on the vast white sand flats, catching some nice bonefish and other species. We also all went snorkeling and kayaking together, spending the evenings cooking and drinking too much Kalik and Rum.

While always hard leaving the Bahamas, it is nice coming home to Tetons and the many trout waters here in western Wyoming. I can’t wait to get out on them!

Tyler hooked up on the Snake pre runoff. Conditions were good but we had to fight or our fish.

hmmmm. What’s been going on around here at Teton Fly Fishing world headquarter? Well, not too much. I’ve been busying doing a lot of substitute teaching lately. The weather’s been pretty lousy so it hasn’t been bad being inside with high schoolers. So far this winter, snow and cold temps have alluded us. Days have been grey and kind of mild. Fish can be found gorging on midges during the warmer day in slow backwaters. Also tying a lot of flies and booking trips for the upcoming season. Hopefully my friend Matt and I will get out this weekend and scare up some fish.

I took two fine folks from Memphis out yesterday for a few hours on the Snake. I was hoping to get them into some rising cutthroat trout but I think the shift to colder temperatures (single digits) put the fish down. When the sun was out we did see bugs, but not much in terms of feeding fish. Fortunately Bruce managed a whitefish and some other strikes and he and his lady seemed to enjoy themselves.

Bruce hooked up on the Snake

As some of you may know, I’m a bit of a guitar junkie. Always on the prowl for an old instrument to add to the stable, I couldn’t resist a beat up vintage Martin 0-18. The guitar arrived Friday night and I haven’t been able to put it down. Despite being ridden hard and put up wet, this little 1952 Martin sounds FANTASTIC!

The new (old) Geetar! Single 0 body, mahogany back and sides, spruce top, rosewood board… oh how i love thee. Feel free to send any of your old guitars to me….

Holy smokes, 2018! Another new year means new fly fishing adventures here at Teton Fly Fishing. I was fortunately to finish the year strong with a few winter wade fishing trips with folks. The Snake treated us pretty well, allowing clients to hook numerous trout and whitefish. Of course these call came on nymphs; especially a caddis pupa pattern of mine.

Nymphing proved successful!

Now as i mentioned, thoughts have turned to the upcoming season. In addition to guiding, I am putting some trips/ideas on paper. Hoping to get down to Flaming Gorge with my friend Matt in the next few month. We try to sneak down in February or March, taking advantage of the midges and BWOs that hatch and the relative solitude in the canyon. It also looks like we’re gonna head down to the Bahamas in the spring for a little relaxation and bonefishing. It’s always fun planning these trips, giving me something to look forward to during the long winter months.

As far as local fishing opportunities go, I have a few alpine lakes I want to check out on days off. I’ve also become fond of exploring a fishing small cutthroat streams and there are no shortage around here. While I’ve fished plenty over the years, there are always new ones to explore and I can’t wait to take the 3wt out on them! Time permitting, I’ll also squeeze in a car camping/fishing trip or two.

Discovering wild cutthroat in a tiny stream in 2017. Hoping to have more adventures like this in the year to come!

Not a big brown, but one of the prettiest from the past year. Wild, off the beaten path Wyoming waters often yield gems like this.

The weather here in Jackson has been pretty mild- no snow falling and temperatures aren’t too bad. This has me thinking about wetting a line locally. I imagine there are a few trout that would find a drifted nymph irresistible! In the meantime, i’ll continue tying flies and working on paintings.

One of my nymph boxes almost filled. I’m trying to be more deliberate with what flies I tie and fill my boxes with. I don’t know if it’s neccessary to have a ton of different patterns when I always come back to the same ones time and time again. This box has lots of beadhead in my most productive nymphs for fishing Wyoming freestone waters.