After a fairly dry November and early December, we are finally seeing some snow around here. I was out on the water several days last week guiding visiting anglers. While winter fishing is more challenging, it offers folks a fun, unique activity to do while in Jackson Hole. Some days are harder than others, but we can usually fool a fish or two on dead drifted nymphs. If you’re interested in learning more about my guided winter fly fishing trips, click here.
Another good fly fishing season has drawn to a close here at Teton Fly Fishing. Thanks to everyone who fished with me this year. Below are a few pics from the fall.
I went up to Helena MT a few weeks back and picked up a new Adipose Skiff. It’s resting comfortably in the garage awaiting spring. Excited to fish out of it even though it’s essentially the same as my last one.
In the coming months I’ll continue to do a few winter fly fishing trips here and there. The Snake allows for year round fishing and it isn’t uncommon to spend a few hours wade fishing on it and fool a few fish. Additionally, I’m back in the classroom, substitute teaching. It’s nice to see familiar staff and students.
Some days it feels like spring around here and others, still like winter. Such is springtime in the Rockies where one day can be near 60 degrees and sunny prompting thoughts of barbecuing and porch cocktails, only to have those visions crushed by sideways blowing wet snow. Regardless, spring is a great time to fish the Snake river here in Jackson. I see some of the nicest cutthroat trout of the year in late March and April. Fish are feeding readily after a long winter. Midges, small black stoneflies, Blue Wing Olives and Skwalas.
It’s the end of February and days are getting longer and temperatures have hit 40 degrees in the valley a few times. Midges are showing up regularly on the river and a few tiny black stoneflies are stumbling around too. It’s a great time to go fly fishing! I’ve been out recently with a number of fun folks. We spent the warmer part of days fishing the Snake river, catching whitefish and cutthroat trout on nymphs and dry flies. As we continue toward spring, expect the midge hatches to get bigger, and more and more fish to feed on the surface.
Below are just a few pics from the past week. Folks had a good time braving the elements and finding some fish.
Just back from another great trip to the Bahamas. Jamie and I had a few days to ourselves. Then we picked up our good friends, Kurt, Kelly and Owen and settled in for a great week. We fished a lot, both on foot and with our guide Shervin, relaxed, read and caught up. The weather was pretty good save some wind and clouds and I can’t wait to go back in March! Below are few photos from the trip
Well, that’s a wrap on another great fishing season. The time has changed, winter is knocking and the drift boat is put up for the season. Really appreciate all who fished with me. I had a great time guiding folks on our waters around here in Jackson, Wyoming aand am already looking forward to next […]
Finally have a day off and thought I’d do a quick blog update on fly fishing around here. It’s been a great summer so far with fun clients! We’ve spent the majority of time casting dry flies to native cutthroat trout. Most of my days lately have been on the Snake River here in Jackson Hole, although I floated some folks down on the upper Green River and Salt River. Also did some wade fishing up in Yellowstone park. The weather’s been great; albeit a little hot. We’ve been getting on the water early to take advantage of cooler water temperatures and finishing in the 2-3 pm time range.
Folks sometimes ask what a guides’ day off looks like. For yours truly, it looks like this: sleep in, tie flies, take a family walk, go out to the Virginian for breakfast with my lady and enjoy the new Jason Isbell album while smoking a brisket. Oh, and throw in mowing the lawn for good measure. Pretty great! And the guitars probably need a little attention….
A few pics from the past month….
Recently I’ve had a number of email inquiries about half day fishing trips. I thought I’d take a minute to discuss half vs. full day fly fishing trips to help potential guests understand the differences. In a quick nutshell, I recommend full day trips when possible and do not do half day float trips. More thoughts below to help you decide…
Here in Jackson Hole over the years, half day fishing trips have become quite popular; a great way for folks to get a taste of fly fishing while on vacation. While I understand why these are appealing, I prefer to take guests out for full day fly fishing trips. Sure it’s easier for guides to fly down the river, hit a spot or two and be back in time for lunch, allowing guests to check fly fishing off their activities list and tell folks they went fly fishing. Full day fly fishing trips allow me to work with guests though, helping them learn, improve their fly fishing skills and hook more fish. I’ve realized over the years that in most cases, this is hard to do in a half day. Possible, yes. Enjoyable, maybe? When I’m committing my day to a fishing trip, I’d like to go fishing with clients and not be encumbered by the clock, rushing through the motions without giving respect to the quality of the experience. Plus, quite a few of the places I and my guests like to fish require some windshield time, making a half day unrealistic. The few half day trips I do are wade fishing trips and are best during the following: May/ early June- folks looking to get out this time of year and learn about fly fishing while potentially hooking a fish or two enjoy wade fishing smaller water. Because our bigger rivers are muddy with snow melt, a half day on smaller water is a good option. Late October/ November- with days getting shorter and temperatures dropping, sometimes it makes sense to fish a shorter amount of time to target prime hours of fish activity. Winter- temperatures are cold and the best fishing occurs only during the warmest part of the day, making 3-4 hours perfect for targeting fish.
I totally understand the demand and rational for half day fishing trips. But I think that if you’re interested in fly fishing around here you’re going to get much more out of a full day fishing trip.
I love April here in Jackson Hole. The fly fishing can be some of the best of the year for those willing to put up with weather conditions that range from sunny and warm to blizzards. I’ve been out on the Snake over the past week doing a few guided trips and fun days and man has the fishing been good! Fish are eating midges, small black stoneflies and the large Skwala stones, etc. Yesterday we fished size 8 chubby chernobyl’s all day long. Big, chunky Snake River Cutthroat trout came to the net from start to finish.
Looking forward to guiding the next two weeks to try and capitalize on the great pre runoff fishing. This time of year is tough to predict how long the window will be but I think things will be good well into next week at least. Looks like the Dam gods are about to up the flows out of Jackson Lake Dam. Hopefully this means that water levels will be consistent throughout the summer. See you on the water!
The other day was my first proper guided winter fly fishing trip of the season. It was cold, there was snow and ice and I had some eager vacationers from Georgia hell bent on wetting a line! We found a few cutthroat sipping midges off the surface but they were challenging due to the slow, gin clear water. After working a dry fly emerged for a while with no luck, I had Brooks and Lindsey switch to small pheasant tail nymphs stripped slowly under the surface. This produced and Brooks landed his first ever Snake River Cutthroat trout! As the sun started setting we switched to nymphs and caught some nice whitefish, including a monster. Overall it was a great day on the water and I have to give credit to Brooks and Lindsey for wanting to fish regardless of the cold.
