Jackson Hole Fly Fishing Report- September 16, 2014

September 16, 2014

Jackson Hole Fly Fishing Report- September 16, 2014

JACKSON HOLE FLY FISHING REPORT- POST 2014 ONE FLY

Well again my posts are infrequent due to a demanding guide and family lifestyle, a lifestyle I am happy to remain passionate about and quite fortunate to have. Guide work is often a 12-15hr day so the last thing I want to do is jump on the computer and talk fishing late at night… even my photography has slacked a bit but I am here to say WOW, what a few weeks it has been in the Western Wyoming region. I am on the water about 6 days a week and out of the past month or so I can recall 2 days that I scratched my head and struggled to get into trout(just so happens those two days were around the full moon in early September) and even on those days we managed a half dozen nice fish, one at 21". Point is the area has been red hot and the fishing is about as good as I can remember in all my years in JH. I am betting the cool and wet summer has had a major influence on this pattern. Through August and into the first of September rain was steady about every 4-5 days and at times torrential. The heavy rains did make it interesting on choosing a river to float as several were running off color but as the rains cleared and the flush passed the fishing was lights out! Flows on the local Snake River are absolutely perfect, steady at 1900cfs in Moran and nearing 2800cfs at Moose, not to mention nice and cold as well. The hatches have been better than normal(tricos, hecubas, PMD's and paralips) and my hope is our trout are fattening up and ready to munch more as the fall approaches.

I can also say flows on our Southern and Eastern neighboring rivers are quite good as well. The Upper Green is still floatable above Daniel and others in the area are picturesque and good bets to head hunt some larger specimens. The Wind and Bighorn are fishing supremely well due to the cool summer, here flows are ripe for some major BWO hatches now and into October.

Lastly, I must mention the obscene number of hoppers and flying ants this season. The hoppers have remained fairly small due to cooler conditions but on the hot days there are thousands out and about. My personal favorite are the ants... each day I scan the water and survey its bug inventory and by and large the flying ants crush the hoppers, try a black ant #14 or #16 and you won't be disappointed.

The 2014 One Fly Event went well for me as a guide. I again had the upper beat below Jackson Lake dam. Day 1 I had my contestants fish a small terrestrial dry each, we had perhaps 1200 points on the line and were only able to manage 850 points to the net(4th place for day 1). Day 2 I had one angler fish another small dry and the other a small streamer as the weather looked threatening and ideal for the leech/minnow. Again we had 1000 points on the line but only managed 550 to the net. Overall a 7th place for Wyoming points(1400). In contrast my good friend and fellow GTFF guide, Ed Dutilly took 1st place honors with nearly 2200pts, way to go!