Grand Teton and Yellowstone Announce Phased Re-opening Plan 5.13.20

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Soon we will be able to go fly fishing in Yellowstone National Park!

In a joint teleconference, Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly and Grand Teton National Park Acting Superintendent Gopaul Noojibail announced plans for a phased re-opening of both Parks to begin at 12pm Monday May 18th. This limited opening allows Yellowstone and Grand Teton staff the ability to refine Covid mitigation practices. Governor Mark Gordon of Wyoming requested the earliest possible opening date for the Wyoming entrances to the Park after lifting a mandatory 14 day quarantine for out of state visitors on May 8th.

Even though approximately 90% of Yellowstone Park lies with in the Wyoming state borders, 75% of the Park’s visitors enter via the Montana entrance stations (West Yellowstone, Gardiner). It is not anticipated that the Montana and Idaho entrances will remain closed for very much longer past May 18th, but it depends on state Health Ordinances of each individual state.

Yellowstone National Park  has  a “good supply” of Personal Protective Equipment (face masks, gloves) for staff.  Teton and Park Counties in Wyoming will receive additional funding for PPE from the state of Wyoming with federal support. Public has to be responsible – NP officials ask sick visitors to stay home. Visitors must their have own facial coverings. Fees will be collected at gates. Masks will be required in public facilities, the number of  visitors will be metered inside of buildings, and additional  cleaning measures for restrooms will be implemented.

Some of the conditions of each Phase are included below. For the official Covid-19 Reopening Plan click here. For a map of Yellowstone National Park click here.

Yellowstone Fishing season will open as originally planned on Saturday May 23rd, but guided fishing trips in Yellowstone National Park will not be allowed until Phase 2 of the plan begins.

Yellowstone National Park 

Phase 1– Monday May 18th 12pm open South Entrance & East Entrance (Wyoming entrances) – visitation limited to Lower Loop only. Day use only

25% of staff hired (~1000 employees), social distancing at housing facilities was the biggest determining factor

Restrooms, trails & boardwalks, gas stations, and 2 of 3 Medical clinics will be open

No overnight accommodations, No commercial tour buses

Phase 2(last well into June) – Limited Visitor Centers and campgrounds will be opened along with Visitor Cabins and a few stores. Backcountry permits will be sold. Takeout food service will be offered.

Additional tours including Boating and Fishing will be allowed in Phase 2 (late May/early June)

Phase 3– full commercial lodging and restaurants. States and CDC have to lift restrictions on large gatherings & public health officials have to give the shared housing the green light

 

Grand Teton National Park 

Beginning Monday, May 18, Grand Teton National Park will have recreational access with limited services available to the public. As in Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP asks visitors to assume personal health responsibility.
Phase 1
  • Primary road access (Teton Park Road, Moose-Wilson Road and North Park Road)
  • Public restrooms in some areas
  • Day-use hiking on seasonally-accessible trails
  • Riverbank and lakeshore fishing
  • Multi-use pathway system (where free from snow)
  • Several viewpoints continue to be accessible along US Highway 89/26/191
With public health in mind, the following facilities remain closed or services are unavailable at this time-
  • Park visitor centers
  • Overnight lodging
  • Food service
  • Boating/floating on river and lakes
  • Marinas
  • Backcountry permits
  • Special-use permits
  • Campgrounds
  • No tour buses
It is anticipated that expanded recreational access and visitor services will be available as the park continues with a phased opening approach, conditions permitting.

Phase 2– Visitor cabins, river and lake access, secondary road access, lodging, backcountry

Phase 3– Summer modified services- increased commercial tourism. Jackson and Jenny Lake Lodges to remain closed for the season

The park is implementing a number of preventive measures to reduce the spread of infectious disease, including prioritizing the hiring of seasonal custodial workers and increased contracted services for cleaning and disinfecting high use areas, and the use of plexiglass panels in locations of high visitor/public interaction such as entrance stations, visitor centers, and permit desks, and providing visitor guidance.
Grand Teton National Park will examine each facility function and service provided to ensure those operations comply with current public health guidance and will be regularly monitored. The park continues to work closely with the National Park Service Office of Public Health using CDC guidance to ensure public and workspaces are safe and clean for visitors, employees, partners, and volunteers.

 

 

 

Snake River Jackson Hole, Wyoming Fly Fishing

Snake River Jackson Hole, Wyoming Fly Fishing Report 8/9/16

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Fish the Fly guide Nat Murphy and Max Johnston with a beautiful Cutthroat Trout!

The Snake River in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is fishing great right now!  The past few evenings and mornings have been very cool which has helped to reset the Snake River, and has woken up all the Fine Spotted Snake River Cutthroat Trout!  Cooler weather makes the fish more active in the morning, and they will continue to eat throughout the day due to the fact the water temperature has dropped.  The Snake is a nice 64 degrees Fahrenheit with a flow of 3320 cfs at Moose, Wyoming and is flowing at 3890 cfs in the canyon stretch above Alpine, Wyoming.  This is a bit of a reprieve from water temperatures that were reaching close to 70 degrees last week!

Even with this cooler weather the grass hoppers are still flying around the banks, so try throwing on some red and yellow hopper patterns.  The Cutthroats are eating Circus Peanuts (size 10) and chocolate Circus Peanuts (sizes 8-10), Berrett’s Mutant Stone in tan or red size #8-10, and your favorite hopper attractor. Claassenia stonefies can still be seen in all water types, but are most effective on banks and seams.  PMD cripples have been productive for pickier riffle trout and a #16 red Copper John has been a very consistent dropper off of larger attractor patterns through all water types.

The Snake River is one of Jackson Hole’s pristine fisheries and is in full force with this cold front we have seen here in the last couple of days.  The Snake is a great place to spend a full day float trip with one of our guides, and they have all the resources to make sure everyone is catching fish!

Jackson Hole Fly Fishing Report- 8.15.14

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There has been some very good fly fishing on the Snake River recently!  Our Claasennia Stoneflies are popping and the Cutthroat have taken notice.  The best fishing has been on overcast days with attractor patterns like the Chubby Chernobyl fished tight to the banks or any structure.  Dropping a nymph off the back about 2-3 feet deep has also been quite productive for those trout reluctant to com all the way to the surface.  Prince nymphs or other Caddis patterns have been good along with Red Copper Johns in #12-14. It’s busy  out there and we are on the river daily.  Book your guided fly fishing trip on the Snake River today!

Jackson Hole Fly FIshing Report 4.20.14

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Happy Easter! We’ve had phenomenal weather this weekend and really good fishing as well.  The valley is free of snow past the Moose Junction and the Wildlife are on the move.  Elk by the hundreds are making their way back in to Grand Teton National Park. It’s a great time to be here! The Snake River is rising with the recent snowmelt and has taken on a green color, but is still plenty fishable.  Focus your efforts above the junction of the Hoback River  for the best water clarity.  The dry fly bite has been good in the braided section between Wilson and South Park. The Skwalas are out and the Cutthroat are eating some larger patterns #8-12. Below South Park bring a sinking line and streamers since the water here is deeper and in one main channel.   Nymphing is in order as well, with double rigs just below the riffles.  This section is seeing much less pressure and has been alot of fun! Above Wilson in Grand Teton National Park, there is some dry fly action in the riffles and slower moving side channels.  These waters have been fished the least as the snowline recedes and opens up new options. Deadman’s Bar isn’t open yet, but should be soon. We will keep you informed!    

Jackson Hole fishing report – 2.19.14

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The Snake River in Jackson Hole has produced some nice trout this past week!  This is due to daytime temperatures reaching in to the low 40’s as multiple storms passed through the area.  This warmed up water temperatures and got our Cutthroat feeding! Nymphing with small Midge patterns was effective as was swinging small streamers through slower holding water just below riffles. We my be out of the woods on really cold temperatures for the season, so the fly fishing opportunities should only increase. Even better news is that these storms improved our Snowpack moisture content to 125% of normal! This bodes well for filling our reservoirs this Spring and for good flows this Summer. We still have a long way to go and storm systems in April and May often make the most difference, but this is encouraging!

Jackson Hole Fly Fishing – Guides Report 1.27.14

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We’ve had a ridge of high pressure sitting over us for the past two weeks that brought plenty of sunshine and inversions to the valley.  Morning temps were getting down to 0 degrees, but the afternoons were nice.  These cold mornings produced some ice flow in the Snake River, most of which was gone by the afternoon.  Fly fishing was reasonably productive with small #18-22 Midge nymphs in slow water. We’ve got a round of storms coming at us this week, which should bring significant snows and warmer temperatures.  This wakes up more Cutthroat and gets them feeding! Midges are still the way to go, but it won’t be long before our Stoneflies start crawling…

Jackson Hole fly fishing – guides report 4.16.13

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Good news – I’ve recently seen a few Skwala Stonefly shucks along the edge of the Snake River below Moose.  Bad news – winter has returned in full force.  This has slowed the fishing on the Snake, but has not brought it to a complete halt. Breaks in the storms are still worth fishing, although they may be short lived. Nymphs and streamers have been the most reliable this past week, with minimal dry fly action.  Look for this to change this coming weekend as temperatures rise back in to the 40’s and hopefully warmer into next week.  Midges, small Black/Brown Stones, and Baetis are the predominant bugs still, but some sunshine will have our Cutties looking for a larger meal until runoff comes…

Say Cheese!

Jackson Hole Fly Fishing Report 2.22.12

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I ran the first wade fishing trip of the year today with Paul Combe from Boston.  It’s been snowy all month and the skiing has been fantastic, so I’ve been on the hill and not on the Snake.  A relatively warm storm rolled in yesterday with good snowfall up high and a rain/sleet/snow mix here in the valley. I called Paul and made sure he wanted to still go fishing in the windy, wet weather and he told me it was his birthday.  So we went… I kept my expectations low as we pulled on our snowshoes and headed out from the Wilson Bridge. We walked for a bit and then hopped into the river.  There were a bunch of Gray Midges on the water and even a couple larger Black Midges as well. No signs of risers, but still encouraging! We nymphed a riffle/run for about an hour with no success.  I started to wonder what we were doing and thought “Well, at least we’re getting some good exercise…”  We each had a swig of coffee to warm our insides from standing in the cold river and moved to the end of the run to see if any fish were in the trough against the bank. Sure enough we got into a few!  A few whitefish and then a couple of trout ate a #18 Black Zebra Midge. The last fish of the day turned out to be 19″! I assured Paul that was solid for this time of year and he grinned wide as he strapped his snowshoes back on…

Paul Combe February 19in

Happy Birthday Paul!