2012 Rocky Mountain Fishing Conditions

Teton streamer bite continues to be very good over the last week. Yesterday, 16 nice fish (13"-19") to hand over 4 hours of wading plus many strikes, follows and long distance releases keeping things lively. Got the Teton grand slam; cutt, bow, hybrid, brook. Definitely needed the right streamer. Something heavy, natural colored and no more than 2 to 2.5 inches long. Too big (3") and it drew more territorial response than eats. Too small (1") and it was too high in the water column and often ignored. The bite is on during the sunny afternoon BWO hatch when there are just enough duns trickling off a riffle to get fish up into feeding mode but not enough bugs to satisfy them and get them keyed in on the BWO. Pretty darn slow before that hatch starts, I don't bother wetting line before noon but you really want to be in a good spot and working it 1-3pm when the bugs are coming off. There's a few spots with enough bugs and stacked up fish to go with a dry fly or swimming nymph but the streamer has been much better for finding the lurking big fish. The meadow fishing has been fun but duck season starts tomorrow and those guys are not too big on sharing the river with anyone else...

I got reports this morning from the Green and the lower South Fork , (below the canyon) from the last 3-4 days. Both were glowing! Lots of numbers and a little size. Bwo's and streamers.

^^^ 1:1 ratio of streamer eat to self-hookization due to wind on the Green and tribs the past few days!!! sunglasses stay on til after dark.

So, I hit The Channel I. The Park on Sunday with a couple Lewis L and channel vets. What's usually an aquarium of big browns and lakers at this time of year was pretty well void of fish. Nice and shitty too...blowing hard from the SW, cloud cover all day and never got above the low 40's. This system blowing through should get things moving all over but looks like its back to sunny weather by mid week.

Headed back to the land of little ms cutthroat for a couple days. fished the Snake in Jackson and did real well with a black streamer during the snow squall yesterday evening. Freezing guides and line and everything looking up for blue wings in the Park today. I can't really understand how everything can be feeding so aggressively on top and fighting hard with the water as cold as it is.

Fished the Middle Provo this morning. It was snowing sideways, but there was a bad ass midge hatch and the fish were going off. Landed two nice browns. Fucking cold, but pretty much had the place to myself.

Teton still good on streamers. Scattered risers on midges or the rare bwo. Hiked a couple miles and cherry picked three prime meadow runs yesterday, fishing down and across with micro streamers. Got 11 to hand over 3 hours of stealthy wading; avg. 14-16". Had about 5 or 6 good hard strikes that felt like large fish. Fishing at a maximum casting distance with a full 9-10ft leader really seemed to matter so line management issues and the stretch of the long line definitely cost me hooksets on some solid, water-moving thumps. Water is so low and slow in the valley that I doubt one can even approach fish in a drift boat without spooking them. That's a view rejected by several boat dependent anglers I know but I've been getting more big fish while working far less water than they have. 20" bow with an oversized girth and a 14" brook in spawning colors were the highlights of a nice warm afternoon with no other anglers around.

That sounds damn fine to me!

The Snake is apparently fishing very well. I have not been out in a while....having 2 kids puts a damper on fishing! BWO's, dredging and slow or dead drifting streamers.

Jackson Lake has been closed for the month of October as usual. I consistently run into anglers around both valleys who aren't aware of the fall scene and closure up there. The warm fall should have the macks spawning late. Cutties will be munching too. Find a reef and get some.

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Originally Posted by schwerty

So, I hit The Channel I. The Park on Sunday with a couple Lewis L and channel vets. What's usually an aquarium of big browns and lakers at this time of year was pretty well void of fish. Nice and shitty too...blowing hard from the SW, cloud cover all day and never got above the low 40's. This system blowing through should get things moving all over but looks like its back to sunny weather by mid week.

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Blew a day myself there last week. Not a fish seen all day long. To be fair it was kinda a late start so the channel was all we fished, maybe the shoreline was hitting but man, that was dead damn water! Not really worth the effort IMHO.

I head the lower has been slow all season. Nothing but cruising fish most days. 2 buddies of mine went up on Halloween. Took a fish finder up. Confirmed for the day that nothing was hanging around the mouth. They rowed and walked to Shoshone. Picked off some small browns in the channel but crushed it on 4-10 feet of water close to shore on Shoshone! They were taking monster size streamers, predominantly black in color. They also were digging on small/micro streamer patterns.

Oh well. There is always next fall.

I spent the weekend closing down Yellowstone. Fished the Lewis Channel Saturday near the Shoshone outlet. Caught a couple of Browns and a big mac on egg patterns. Fished the Madison today near the confluence of the Firehole and the Gibbon. A couple of BIG Rainbows eating eggs.

If your mind has not turned to skiing and you are around the Tetons....the fishing is good. The SF and Snake are both very low but fishing. Other rivers are hitting too!

One last trip up the ladder.

Anyone still fishing or has skiing taken over?

I hit the south fork a couple wks back before the snow started to pile up. It was fantastic. Streamers were killing it. Some action on dries as well. That story might be over for the year though. -9 in JH right now. Snow has been good, especially up high. I'm hanging my gear up til February.

I caught my last fish of the year on the Big Horn on the morning of December 1st before the Wyoming Whiskey party. Twas a very pleasant day...

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Originally Posted by Woolly the Mammoth

I caught my last fish of the year on the Big Horn on the morning of December 1st before the Wyoming Whiskey party. Twas a very pleasant day...

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I hear that was a good party!

Not much to add, other than Mrs. Santa/UCL left me an Orvis Access 9ft, 5wt mid flex with a gold Access mid-arbor. I am very excited as this is a significant step up from my old entry-level setup.

Looking forward to the Truckee this Spring/Summer, with the occasional foray up to Redding/McCloud/Trinity/Pit.

The South Fork is frozen, gave it a half hearted attempt yesterday - no bueno.

for some crazy reason, my wife might allow me to go to guide school someplace cool this year. anyone have experience with fly fishing guide school, is it a good idea? the money is doable for me, i've got a boat and fish the delaware river out east regularly (with very limited success so far). been fly fishing infrequently for 10 years but got more serious this past season, got out on the boat 12 times last year and fished probably 25 times total and would love to accelerate the learning curve i don't want to be a guide immediately but could see maybe doing it in the future if i got good enough. main motivation is to become a better fisherman and guide for my friends/family but not charging. or perhaps there is something better to spend the money on to achieve the same goal? been looking at these:

http://www.hubya.com/hga/guide_school/gs_dates.asp

http://www.sweetwatertravel.com/site/guide-school.html

http://worldcastanglers.com/index.ph....rivers.guides

http://www.bighornriverguides.com/guide-school

http://lewisandclarkexpeditions.net/guideschool.htm

Blue river near outlets are good- very pressured.

Saw a lot of nice colorful bows yesterday, nice browns, and a lot of people. Mysis shrimp seen to be a good go to.

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Originally Posted by kokomas

for some crazy reason, my wife might allow me to go to guide school someplace cool this year. anyone have experience with fly fishing guide school, is it a good idea? the money is doable for me, i've got a boat and fish the delaware river out east regularly (with very limited success so far). been fly fishing infrequently for 10 years but got more serious this past season, got out on the boat 12 times last year and fished probably 25 times total and would love to accelerate the learning curve i don't want to be a guide immediately but could see maybe doing it in the future if i got good enough. main motivation is to become a better fisherman and guide for my friends/family but not charging. or perhaps there is something better to spend the money on to achieve the same goal? been looking at these:

http://www.hubya.com/hga/guide_school/gs_dates.asp

http://www.sweetwatertravel.com/site/guide-school.html

http://worldcastanglers.com/index.ph....rivers.guides

http://www.bighornriverguides.com/guide-school

http://lewisandclarkexpeditions.net/guideschool.htm

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If you want to go this route, I can vouch for Sweetwater and Worldcast. Pretty sure much of the curriculum will focus on rowing. I could be wrong tho....haven't talked with anyone who has been through it in a while. You will learn , that's for sure. The question you need to ask yourself is, "how does this pertain to my goal of helping friends and family catch fish on the Delaware?"

A western guide school will help but I'm not sure it is necessary. If you go with a school out in my neck of the woods, ill be happy to fish with you.

Guide schools are feeders for the larger lodges. They don't teach you anything about fishing you can't get from a book. They do train you up to the level of asskissy personal service that is standard for lodges charging $1000 a day. Does one pay out to learn how to wait tables at fine dining? I guess someone figured out how to get people to pay good money for their training period without even promising to hire them. If you want to be good on the oars and be a "real" guide, then whitewater raft school plus rescue training and an advanced first aid course is what you want. If you want to learn how to row a drift boat for your daily bread, then just read "Drift Boat Strategies" by Neale Streeks and go blow your moola in Vegas.

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Originally Posted by teleee

The South Fork is frozen, gave it a half hearted attempt yesterday - no bueno.

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There's a place called the Warm River. Go fish there now and you'll find out how it got its name. In august, its usually the coldest freestone stream around here. The river comes pouring up out of the ground at 54 degrees and has a groomed track running above it. Tough to beat that if you've really got the urge. Forest service cabin for rent at the springs. The confluence with the HF stays active due to the warmer water but sees more angler traffic as one can wader up and just step in from the road at Stone Bridge right below the mouth of the Warm. Its good if you've just got a couple hours and don't mind possibly seeing a couple other anglers. Vernon Bridge Hole below Ashton is a popular spot too, lots of big fish sulking in that hole and you'll freeze long before it does. But its hit or miss down there without the reliable warm water that you get upstream.

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Originally Posted by neckdeep

If you want to learn how to row a drift boat for your daily bread, then just read "Drift Boat Strategies" by Neale Streeks and go blow your moola in Vegas.

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thanks, i will check it out before committing to anything else

I fished with the guys at Worldcast in Jackson Schwerty mentioned above in September and Mike Dawkins said he was working on putting together a class along the lines you described, modeled after their guide classes but more tailored to the guy who wants to develop the fishing side of a guide's skillset rather than the service side of a guide's skillset. I would check in with them (and then go fishing with Schwerty while you are out there).

Instead of spending that $$ on guide school, take a trip to the Yellowstone area and spend two days with me and my hardcore anglin buddies, two days with Schwerty, and two days with neckdeep. Yes I'm volunteering you guys.


Plus you get to drink beer if you like, hang with good folks, and slay fat hawgs.

Shoot, maybe we could schedule a summit around this?

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Originally Posted by Lexi-Bell

Instead of spending that $$ on guide school, take a trip to the Yellowstone area and spend two days with me and my hardcore anglin buddies, two days with Schwerty, and two days with neckdeep. Yes I'm volunteering you guys.


Plus you get to drink beer if you like, hang with good folks, and slay fat hawgs.

Shoot, maybe we could schedule a summit around this?

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I dunno....I wouldn't be a very good guide. I mostly fish in the places where its easy to catch unsuspecting fish at close range. I usually avoid the places where there's a lot of drift boats jockeying for position or the famous flat waters where you have to cast 60ft and unroll a 15ft 6x leader to fish that were hooked yesterday. My strategy is like totally the opposite of what I see all the local guides doing so I must be unqualified for that job. If your taste runs to a 25-100ft per mile stream gradient and a rough off trail hike with plenty of opportunities to get hurt and you are willing to eat 3 cliff bars for your gourmet streamside lunch, I guess you are my kind of client. Maybe. I'll have to see what happens when you get hurt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lexi-Bell

Instead of spending that $$ on guide school, take a trip to the Yellowstone area and spend two days with me and my hardcore anglin buddies, two days with Schwerty, and two days with neckdeep. Yes I'm volunteering you guys.


Plus you get to drink beer if you like, hang with good folks, and slay fat hawgs.

Shoot, maybe we could schedule a summit around this?

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Speaking of summits... We better not drop the ball again this year!

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Originally Posted by neckdeep

I dunno....I wouldn't be a very good guide. I mostly fish in the places where its easy to catch unsuspecting fish at close range. I usually avoid the places where there's a lot of drift boats jockeying for position or the famous flat waters where you have to cast 60ft and unroll a 15ft 6x leader to fish that were hooked yesterday. My strategy is like totally the opposite of what I see all the local guides doing so I must be unqualified for that job. If your taste runs to a 25-100ft per mile stream gradient and a rough off trail hike with plenty of opportunities to get hurt and you are willing to eat 3 cliff bars for your gourmet streamside lunch, I guess you are my kind of client. Maybe. I'll have to see what happens when you get hurt.

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Pretty much. The guides dog and pony show ain't what I call fishing. Luckily we've got enough hike in stuff the get some peace and quiet. I think the most under-fished sections are raft accessible class 3/4 pocket water. Even on the Upper Colorado (drift boat roundy roundy central these days), no body hits the hard eddies and wade fishes the pocket water in the canyon. I've seen the Blue River Anglers guide school in action and to me it does not look like fishing. They spend the first hour of the day trying to figure out how to back down a drift boat without getting the brand new properly stickered Tacoma dirty. The next session seems focused on a vigorous discussion as to whether the Nano Puff goes on the inside or outside of the Simms waders followed by how to properly cycle through your selection of buffs, pom pom and sun hats based on changes to the weather.

That's pretty funny. I wouldn't be surprised if the guide schools around here are similar in curriculum. Regardless, the students gain experience. The idea in question is not for K to learn how and where to fish our smaller, hard to get to streams of the Jellystone region. He's looking to better his skills on the sticks of a drift boat in order to keep his friends and family safe and catching fish on his home river. So, the schools could be the way to go. Now, if the idea is to come out this way and get into some awesome country and fish, I'd never recommend the guide school route. There are enough of us that can free up schedules as LB said and head out on both the big rivers and the small ones.

I respectfully disagree. Whitewater raft training(oars not paddles) and swift water rescue training gives you almost everything you need to row a hard side and then more, but will guide school teach you those fundamental riverrat skills? Just sayin', there's been a few experienced driftboat anglers drowned around here lately in Class 1 water (I knew one of them myself and fished with him for nine years). Priorities, man, priorities..... If you want to cast like a pro and understand fish and bugs, there's a load of that info available in books, videos and the net for a fraction of the cost. If you want to get so you can tie your clients knots in the blink of an eye, you don't need to pay for that. Just watch TV with a spool of mono and tie a knot during every commercial. You want to protect your friends and family, force them to wear a life jacket on high volume water. I see about .01% of local guides doing that so I guess they don't teach it in guide school. They do teach that in whitewater school.

Makes sense ND. I agree with you. A swift water rescue class and a WW training class gives you the basics for our floatable water. SWR should be taken by anyone who rows, anywhere!

Soft or hard boat, it is important to be able to understand boat placement in class I water for catching fish. Boat position, speed, etc.., play a role in the catching game. I have no idea if the guide schools cover that hit though. if they do, it still will take someone many hours on the oars to get proficient at reading water and getting the proper strokes down.

I know next to nothing about the Delaware river but I assume it is fairly tame??? Sounds like K just needs the basics of rowing safety and reading water to catch fish. Why not plan a trip out this way for a swift water rescue course instead of guide school and see if you can line up a few of us for some WW skills and fish catching skills.

WWR makes a lot of sense. If you want to practice on the Green let me know I am always willing to show off my lack of skills.

I did the hyde guide school back in the 90's when they were still in last chance.
Covered a lot of info some of which I already had a decent grasp of and some more guiding/client
based info that helped shed some light on that aspect.
had I known of a place like tgr where I could just hook up and fish w/ a bunch of good dudes
who could probably bestow 3/4 if not all of that knowledge for party favors/and or shuttle fees I'd a just done that.
Nothin makes you a better oarsman than time on the sticks on a variety of flows/situations or in the rear seat watching what the oarsman does to put the boat in optimum fishing position.
Count me in w/ Telee if you come out this way and wanna get your float on

I had a whitewater background (mostly in WV) before I started fishing, which gave me the river running skills that I needed for both big volume rivers and technical rivers. Rowing a drift boat does require a totally different mentality. I love to push when I'm rowing a raft and that's definitely not the name of the game when fishing out of a drift boat.

I should prolly start a 2013 thread but I'm not fishing....yet.

This no snow bullshit in the Tetons with frigid valley temps has pissed me the fuck off. Snow or warm up down low please!

Schwerty I am with ya. Same here in the SLC. I have been checking the temps in Dutch John and they are looking to be in the mid 30's. May have to uncover the boat and make a run.

Wish I lived closer and had a hall pass to burn for a few days! Next sunny warm-up that we see, (unless it is on the heels of a big storm), I am gonna start my 2013 season.

1/20/2013 - Blue river below Dillon Dam - very good fishing. Mysis shrimp with RS2 trialing got into some nice rainbows.

1/21/2013 - Blue river below Dillon Dam - Caught 2 fish over 20". hooked one 26"+ Same recipe as before.

Be careful what you wish for. The extended forecast shows no real relief from the high pressure and the snowpack up high or down low isn't really to a level of coverage that it can sustain itself against the sun. If things start getting warm enough to fish, this snowpack will rot out fast and then we probably will be in a full blown drought cycle and choking on smoke and dust all summer long.

I'm certainly not wishing for that! Bring on the snow!