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Fishing Lately

Finally feels like spring around here in Jackson Hole! What a long, cold spring we’ve had. Nice to be sporting some flip flops today. Warmer temperatures mean that the runoff has begun. Currently the Snake is off color and rising making it not ideal for fishing. The upper Green is changing daily; one day up and off color, then settling down and clearing with colder weather. It’s been a good float option but I suspect that with temperatures hitting 70 today, it’s done for a while. Best fishing right now is going to be on area lakes and up in Yellowstone Park.

Yellowstone just opened for fishing this past weekend. I was up yesterday on the Firehole with a return client of mine and fishing was really good! The river’s in great shape and the rainbow and brown trout were hungry. Most of our fish came on nymphs but I think hatches should get rolling now that the weathers warming. We did see some caddis and a few PMDs and BWOs. Steve manage to target a couple fish with PMD emerges and fooled them. Looking forward to more days up in the park! As always, here’s a few photos from the past few weeks. Enjoy the sunshine!!

George made his yearly return to fish with me for a week. Despite the cold, wind and snow, we had fun!
Pure Joy! Stephanie catches her first trout on a dry fly. One of many on the day.
Andrew, Stephanie’s boyfriend, helps her land another Snake River cutthroat trout on the dry fly. Both had a great time the water.
Adam shows off his first Snake River Finespotted Cutthroat trout. He and his sister Megan joined me for a fun day on the water.
Megan, visiting from Australia, experienced her first day of fly fishing. No better place than Wyoming…
Jamie and I traveled to PA to visit family. We spent the last 3 days of our trip with our friends Kurt and Kelly at the bay in New Jersey. Kurt was kind enough to take us out on the water in search of stripers and blue fish on the fly. Despite our best efforts, we got skunked. We had a great time though and I can’t wait to see them again down the road.
Steve is hooked up on the Firehole with a nice rainbow. Steve’s fished with me numerous times over the years but this was his first time to Yellowstone. He liked it and I was glad to be back up on the Firehole River.

Summer Fishing

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….

Thumbs up for a nice Snake River Cutthroat willing to rise to a big stonefly.
Me and good friend, Jason, waiting for the brown drake spinner fall on the Henrys Fork in early July. While the writer’s strike is keeping Jason out of the writers room, he has more time to fish right now. Always great to fishing and camp with him.
start’em young! Carly had a great day once we discovered the banana she brought on the boat. We promptly disposed of it and started catching fish!
Friend and return client, miss Norma Jean. Always a blast spending the day on the water with her.
More smiles and sunshine!
Scott hooked up on a wade fishing adventure. We covered ground and found wild cutthroat trout!
Nice fish Scott!

Wrap on the Teton Fly Fishing 2022 season

Another great fly fishing season here at Teton Fly Fishing has come to a close.

What a year it was. Waters I fish treated us well and provided excitement to visiting anglers. The boat has been put away for a few months and I’m beginning to tie flies for next season. Despite the winter, I expect to do quite a few walk in winter wade fishing trips with folks looking to experience winter fly fishing in the valley. If you’re coming out and want to sneak some fishing in, give me a shout and if the weather isn’t too cold, I’m happy to take you out. Also happy to host guests in the winter at the fishing cabin in Dubois. Winter can be a fun time to fish the Wind River.

Since I was a slacker this season and didn’t post much (when the fish are biting, my attention to this blog wanes) I though I’d share a few pictures from the season…

Not much finer than a wild Yellowstone Cutthroat trout caught in its’ home water. I love fishing folks in Yellowstone Park, particularly when the Green Drakes and Salmonflies are hatching!
Upper Snake Birthday fun. Good friends Rich and Duncan joined me on my birthday for a rare day off. Couldn’t have asked for a better day
Derek, a longtime regular, caught this beast of a rainbow while fishing the Green with me.
Hooked up on the Salt River! I love fishing this intimate little river an hour south of Jackson. While the fish aren’t big, the hatches and slow currents make for a fun, challenging day.
Who says lake fly fishing isn’t fun? We had some great days twitching hoppers for aggressive browns and rainbows!
Father Son Double on the Snake River
Catherine with a nice Cutthroat trout on the Snake. Always fun fishing her and her dad, Bill each September.
Me and some of my favorites! Craig, Bob and Mark have been fishing with me for years. What a crew!
Western Fly fishing at its finest; Randy experience a great late fall day on Flat Creek with me.

July fly fishing in Jackson Hole

It’s been an extremely busy July around here. My days have/ are being spent with great folks casting dry flies to our local trout. In addition to wade trips, float fishing has really gotten good. Lately I’ve been floating anglers on the Snake and it’s great to be back on this old friend. Here’s a few pics from the last few weeks.

You author (and Teton Fly Fishing Guide) starting a morning on the Green with a casting lesson. It paid off…
We were fortunate to see this amazing site on the drive home from fishing in Yellowstone a few weeks back. This Grizzy bear was feeding just off the road. One of the craziest things I’ve seen (from the safety of the truck!)
On a rare day off, Jamie, Lulu and I hiked in to a local lake and caught a few cuttbows and brook trout. Loved how this fellow posed for a few snapshots before swimming off. Funny how you don’t notice the mosquitos bitting when you have a trout on the line.
Matt landed this beautiful Yellowstone Cutthroat trout while fishing with me in the Park. He and his wife, Mercy were so much fun to spend the day with and I can’t think of a better way to end a day on the water!
Learning to fly fish is hard enough, hooking and landing a fish on your first day out can be a battle. Pam did a great job floating the Snake with me. She hung in there after having numerous fish get off and was rewarded with this awesome Snake River Cutthroat trout! Hope to see her and Dave again!

Back in the Saddle

Fishing’s been pretty good around here lately. I’ve had some great guests and it’s been a pleasure spending time on the water with them fooling fish. Over the past few weeks, many days were spent up in Yellowstone Park on the Firehole River. There, we wade fished for wild rainbow and brown trout while Bison watched from afar. Yesterday I floated Brian and his son in law, Matt, on the upper Green River. The river fished pretty well. Lot of bugs fluttering around and we decided to go with the most fun option- giant dry flies to mimic emerging stoneflies. A few nice fish were landed and many more ate our bugs but got away. Really nice to be on the oars watching big bugs float on top of the water. Fly fishing around here in Jackson Hole is going to continue to improve as more and more waters clear and begin fishing well.

Anna shows off a nice Rainbow trout on the Firehole River in Yellowstone. Fish were eager to eat a soft hackle wet fly.

Clint fulfilled a life-long dream by fly fishing Yellowstone. We had a blast! Lots of fish like this brown put on a acrobatic display after being hooked. Of course the scenery wasn’t bad either!
Snow in June? Yep. The ladies and I forged ahead and had a great day fishing dry flies and nymphs. Mandy works water on a chilly afternoon after the snow melted. Note the geyser steam rising across the river.
Got back on the oars and floated Brian (seen with this nice rainbow) and his son in law, Matt on the Green River. These guys were a blast and managed some nice fish on dry flies.