This fishing report starts off with good news about our current snowpack conditions.  We’ve just received 4 feet of new snow that was heavy in moisture content, leaving us at 106% of normal water content.  We still have a long way to go before Summer, but we are headed in the right direction to refill our reservoirs for good water flows. Something to note is that the majority of this snow is above 8000 feet in elevation.  This means access to the Snake is pretty reasonable and with above average temperatures down low, fishing has been good. Nymphing is the name of the game with Midge imitations – Zebra Midges, Disco Midges, Black Beauties, Red Copper Johns in sizes #18-22. Our Winter Stoneflies aren’t quite active yet, but be on the lookout as we move into February…

We’ve made it to Winter flows on the Snake River and our Cutthroat are psyched! After abnormally high flows all summer, they are excited to see the surface and eating the plethora of bugs hatching at the moment.  Fall weather has got our Mayflies popping like mad – Baetis and Mahogany Duns. We are starting to see October Caddis as well and on sunny mornings Stonefly patterns are a great big bug option still. Streamers are pulling up some nice trout, so make sure to have a few in a variety of colors – Black, Purple, Olive, Tan, Yellow, and White are my favorites. Low light conditions are best so don’t be afraid of a little weather!

Summer time temperatures have lingered here in Jackson Hole until today.  We received alot of rain yesterday and overnight which has blown out the Snake River temporarily. We are expecting our first few frosts over the next few days, which will bring some changes to our fly fishing tactics…. The frosts will slow down the Terrestrial bite and bring on some more of our Fall Mayfly hatches.  We have still been seeing Tricos and PMD’s, but will now look for more Mahogany Duns, Hecubas, and BWO’s.  I was guiding on Fish Creek yesterday and saw my first October Caddis of the year as well. Our Snake River Cutthroat know that Winter isn’t too far off and will key in on these smaller bugs and try to fatten up.  Larger trout will begin to eat more Sculpins, so streamers should definitely be in your fly box! With each passing day we are getting closer to the drop to Winter flows on the Snake.  This will bring some insanely good dry fly fishing in October! We are also starting to think about Brown trout….

The Jackson Hole One took place this past weekend on all of the stretches of the Snake River. Cloudy, rainy weather produced solid hatches of our fall Drake, the Timpanoga Hecuba. This weather also blew out the Snake below Hoback and the Buffalo on Sunday. The Snake River in GTNP fished well on Saturday including the largest Cutthroat of the tournament, a 23″ SRC. On Sunday, the GTNP stretches did not fish nearly as well with muddy water, but the lower river was better as the Hoback cleared. Higher than average flows meant that larger flies like Hecubas, Claassenia Stoneflies, and streamers were the best producers.  There were a number of quality trout landed over 20″ this year both on the South Fork and WY Snake. Our Fall Fishing is going to be fantastic this year! Once flows are dropped at the end of September, all of these large trout will be eating off the surface with plenty of bugs to choose from.  We are really looking forward to this!!