Jackson Hole Fly Fishing Report- November 8, 2016

Its ELECTION DAY! Finally the agony and stress can end, at least I am hopeful it will end. In the meantime fly fishing has kept myself and many other devoted anglers sharply focused on what matters to us, wild and native trout of the autumn season! The Jackson Hole Fly Fishing Report for this time of the year is fairly consistent and follows these traits as winter creeps in. We have had low flows now for about a month with the only exception to tributaries that have risen since the heavy storms of October(wettest October on record!). Low flows draw the trout into what we call a winter lie, typically long, deep runs. Depending on recent weather the trout will be found in various areas of the run, sometimes feeding as if it was still summer. As the water cools to below 39 degrees the fish will then be lethargic and only found in the deep, slow reaches of the run. Lately, the fall weather has been exceptional with cold, crisp nights but very warm afternoons, this pattern is keeping the trout active for a few extra weeks. This may continue until we get our first arctic air and heavy valley snow.

Look for midges midday and a few lingering BWO's. The trout are still taking dries well after about noon. Some areas are reporting good streamer fishing but retrieve speeds are much slower than last month, sometimes a dead drift is best. I personally like to fish a shallow nymph this time of year. Shallow riffle corners are great for sight casting with a dry/dropper. Extend your leader some and make delicate casts so not to spook the trout. The takes are barely discernible but fun!

Another great venue lately has been Jackson Lake's fall opener on November 1st. Here we are getting great numbers of lake trout from 17" to 21" and the folks who know are finding several from 24" to 38"! Typically these large specimens are taken on jigs or lures on spinning gear. With flies you can get into nice browns, cutthroats and some of the smaller lake trout. I like to cast a sinking line with a white, ginger and black marabou clouser. You will find fish off points, flats and humps in about 10' to 15' of water.

It has been a wonderful season, always is... Thank you to all who came out and fished with either myself or our talented guide staff at Grand Teton Fly Fishing, we greatly appreciate you trusting us with your Jackson Hole Fly Fishing experience.

Off to Georgia to chase some stripers and then back for the ski season!

LOOK US UP IN 2017!

Charlie Allen and Oliver Smith had a great day fishing the forest section of the Snake in October.

21" Snake River brown from GTNP, yup they are there if you know where to look.

Nice Jackson Lake cutthroat on opening day.

Great cutty from Moose to Wilson in late October.

Steve Bohl after the storm, this day was ridiculous, 30+ trout on dries!

Josh Gallivan with his best brown on the Snake River, nearly 26"!!

Our native Finespotted Cutthroat up close.

From left to right: Josh Gallivan, Bruce James, Tom Montgomery and Scott Smith. Some of the crew got together to see Bruce, our shop manager off for the winter.