July 4th Independence Day                                         2005

As a Guide for many years there was a tradition with a couple of customers, who became very good friends, to spend the 4th of July on section C. We would float generally the entire section from Indian Crossing to the bottom of Swallow Canyon. A great deal of my better memories of fish caught or lost came from these trips. It is a grand time to be on this section. Swallow itself can be such an attraction because of the nesting of so many swallows on it's walls during this time. Everyone thinks it's because of the baby swallows falling into the water and becoming food for the large browns, but actually I have seen very few, if next to none taken while swimming over the actual holding spot of so many fish along the cliffs. No, the reason for the good fishing is the residue from the baby swallows. The parents will fly to the tops of the cliffs and collect flying ants and bring them back to the young. The ants pass through the digestive tract of the young so fast they are still alive when they hit the water, but with a little residue hanging on them that makes them irresistible to the ever-increasing fat fish fining along the cliffs under the caves that hold thousands of swallows nests.
 I relive many memories of fish caught along these cliff edges. It is a grand time to be on this section. Swallow itself can be such an attraction because of the nesting of so many swallows on it's walls during this time. Everyone thinks it's because of the baby swallows falling into the water and becoming food for the large browns, but actually I have seen very few, if next to none taken while swimming over the actual holding spot of so many fish along the cliffs. No, the reason for the good fishing is the residue from the baby swallows. The parents will fly to the tops of the cliffs and collect flying ants and bring them back to the young. The ants pass through the digestive tract of the young so fast they are still alive when they hit the water, but with a little residue hanging on them that makes them irresistible to the ever-increasing fat fish fining along the cliffs under the caves that hold thousands of swallows nests.  
 

This particular day I made my decision where to fish as my car rolled out of Jesse Ewing canyon and I first viewed the river  at  Bridgeport junction. There was nobody at the Cowboy Bar so I pulled in to observe the water. You know how a piece of water can grab you. It looked perfect and very inviting right at the rocky ramp. I moved into the rocks right below the ramp and Stripped off about 20 feet of line. I had on a small fly that I had tied for the One Fly contest in Jackson. It was like a caddis but had a Chernobyl style of body with a combination elk hair and CDC wing, with very small rubber legs. My first fish came immediately right from the middle of the ramp. It was a spunky 12" Rainbow, fat because of all the food created by the continuing high water.  Many boulders and  and small channels reside on this boat ramp. It looks more like a good fishing riffle than a boat ramp. After several slashes and missed fish I laid a cast in front of a boulder so the fly would drift right back to the feeding spot in front, and bingo up came a beautiful fat brown. 18 inches and full of fight, also very chunky. Another big boulder and a larger fish struck  and missed. The way he struck I wonder how I could have missed him, but that's fishing. I worked up through the pockets and runs until I hit the slick water above. There were many fish on the surface so I sat on a rock and watched closely because these particular fish would not take the slightly larger fly I had been using. It looked like they were taking emerging pmd mayflies. I was going to switch over but in my observations I detected something different in their rises and surmised that these were all white-fish. There was still a large amount of rocky riffles below the ramp so I headed back down, but decided to go back up to the auto for a drink. Right as I was headed to the river a sound caught my attention and turned to see a 4 wheeler coming down the road with two people, and a couple of spinning rods with big lures bouncing in the air behind. Without hesitation they grabbed the rods and headed for the river with me, so I thought it better if I was to relinquish the lower river to them and move on.
I pulled out on Taylor's Flat Bridge and immediately spotted a good rise. I must have spooked the fish in this pocket because when I started casting there  was nothing happening. I know this run and it always produces well for me, but it is too close to people moving back and forth so I wanted to get to a spot with more privacy, so I jumped back into the car and up on Taylor's Flat, negotiated a rough road and down to the canal bank, Hanging Tree, and Arrowhead. There are some very nice pockets above Hanging tree I've always had fun in, the underwater rocks of Arrowhead is some of the best holding water on the lower river, plus a very good place for rising fish. I'm not sure how many pretty Browns I had up in the fairly short time allotted but the fishing was a great diversion and I had some exciting dancing fish on. Some caught, some lost. 

July 5th

Holly and I took our first trip up into the Uinta mountains today to hit some of our favorite tiny streams, and to see how fishable they are. The high water runoff has kept the higher creeks and rivers out of sort longer this year. We have the option of going to the south or north side of the mountain because they are equal distance from our house. It takes about half an hour to reach the first streams, but from there there are many options for us to try. 
Our first destination was Little Brush creek. It was running very good, a bit higher than normal and just a tiny bit of color in it, but still very good visibility. We reckoned that the fishing might not be very good because it being the day after the 4th weekend and much pressure had to be put on these streams. Right off I took a small Brook trout on my favorite, for these streams, a foam hopper. It was definitely slower but we still managed a few more rainbows and was satisfied so we moved on to another stream. We stopped and looked at the West fork of Little Brush creek where they have a Cutthroat project going on but there were some streams higher up and further back in the mountains that we wanted to check out. Off to Trout Creek, North Fork of Ashley creek and so on. There was a camp right at the junction of these two streams so we didn't do much fishing, I did cast a to a couple of riffles and hooked two Rainbows there. Then we moved up stream to Soldier Park which generally is very fast for small rainbows. before we got there it started to rain and hail with some lightening along to make matters interesting, but we waited for a hole in the clouds and got about half an hour of quick cast and move on to the next hole. I was able to land maybe 5 fish mostly rainbows and one pretty cutthroat. All these fish are between 9 and 12 inches, but fishing is relative, and exciting wherever you are. You should see the scenery! Good numbers of deer were on the move, and feeding in the high mountain meadows as we drove through.

 

July 14th
We went back to the junction of Trout Creek and Ashley to test the water and had a very fun time. I fished with Holly and our niece Melissa. This is the first time I've fished with her and I was quite impressed with her casting. She and I marched up Ashley from the junction trading off the fishing holes as we went. Holly ran along the ridge taking pictures and kept moving the car for us. There were plenty of fish and it was quite fun. we were using 3 and 4 weight rods, a couple of 7 footers with very light actions. She had a little sage and I had my favorite Fiber touch Scott. 
We caught Rainbows, Cutthroats and Brookies, and it looked like the hopper was the quickest attractor, however we probably hit fish on any fly we tried. I lost my last hopper after a while and switched to one of Charlie Cards "head on Humpy's" and did well with it.
We had to scramble over some rough rocks near the end and my legs gave out on me, so as I collapsed on a rock resting, Melissa moved into a very nice run right below our car and whacked several more fish. It looked like the fish were starting to hit even better, but I was too tired and had to quit. What a bummer! My legs just can't hold up like they use to before a several year stint in a hospital. On the other hand, at the time, I never thought I would be hiking around in the mountains ever again, so I should quit complaining and enjoy the brief fishing trips I can put in. We drove further up Ashley and fished it at Soldier Park for a very short time with very good results. Mostly we watched Melissa whack a variety of small trout then moved on. We dropped her off at her car near the Red Cloud Loop, us headed for home and her on her sells route for Troutsmen fishing supplies.
 

July 25th
Another day off and my only decision is where to go fishing. I’ve been up in the mountains the last several weeks and it's looking like the river is somewhat deserted so that settles that. Holly and I jump in Ol Yellar and head down river.
At the Dam boat ramp as we approach the current from the backwater I look down and spot a hunk of a Rainbow fining just below the boat. I estimate it's size to be close to 23 inches long. I don’t know why I'm surprised to see fish this beautiful within reach of every fisherman that floats the river today. So many times over the last 20 years I've spotted hogs working in this pool. Some of the fish have been up in the 30 inch class.
The river is beautiful today and very few people. As we float down river I keep expecting to run into a crowd of boats or rafts but all I see are a few guide boats and not as many of them as I would expect. Next we float across the shallow run called Lunker flats. It's a great feeding area for the fish due to the many small drops. As we go over and spot the fish holding off these drops I am reminded of several giant fish caught and lost here. One of the most memorable was a rainbow we hooked on an ESPN show. We fought the 10 lb fish for 20 minutes all over the river up and down the shore we chased it. It went aerial numerous times then finally broke off. I couldn't believe they refrained from showing one sequence of the best fish battle I've been involved in. That fish I remember more then any other, but I have caught or been with others that landed fish off lunker flats. Off hand I remember 4 fish from there in excess of 24 inches. Two of them over 28 inches. Lott’s Rock, rising from the middle of the river, a friend (Joe Burke) from Jackson hole stuck and landed a profoundly gorgeous 28 inch Rainbow on a Playboy Bunny streamer during one of our October Streamer-fest trips.

Continuing down river passing the Lunch Counter, once standing on the bank here fishing to a nice cutthroat during the bwo hatch in April, and have a monster rainbow cruise past within 10 feet, easily a 30 inch fish. I didn't even make a cast to him, just seeing him was all I needed for my fish thrill.

We're down the river 1 mile now and this is where the sign point is and right at the sign there is a drop off that always held a good number of nice fish. Had a client catch a pretty 26 inch rainbow here.

The water gets deeper for a bit and I'm sure holds some great fish and this stretch right above Pipe Creek is possibly the location on the river of my sighting of the largest fish I've ever seen in the Green. Course that would mean the biggest Trout in any river I've ever spotted. He was dead center in the river in about 8 feet of water. It is hard to really judge the size of fish some times but this fish was a pure giant of a Brown. At the time I would have guessed 40 inches but that might be stretching it some. Another time my client hooked a nice 20 inch brown and as we fought it in the middle straight out from Pipe Creek a giant brown swooped in and grabbed our nice sized brown right across the middle leaving some sizable bite marks, then quickly released it. The proximity to the boat more then likely spooked the fish, otherwise I'm sure it could have easily just swam off with our prize. It was very impressive. One other fish on these flats we call snoopy flats from the rock formation on the left of the river is a rainbow that thought she was a steelhead. I guessed her to be somewhere about 9 pounds, and after she broke us off all summer, 5 times at least, I dubbed her Gollum the sea monster. I knew exactly where she would be hiding in the rocks along shore. We would put a sneak on her, spot her then plan how the cast and drift would be made. Before that I would explain to my client how she would run and how fast. It never did any good because if they held her explosive run in the first 2 seconds then she would head straight for a rock in the middle of the river and wrap around it easily breaking the leader. I got so frustrated with this happening I decided to make a go of it on my own. Guess what? She slapped me around  as well. No contest!

Lets see, next we come to Two Hole Down. 26 inch rainbow, 23 inch Rainbow, and a very fat 31 inch Cutthroat caught.

We still haven't hit the 2 mile marker. Just above Little Steamboat Rapid at the bottom of the Merry-Go-Round is a drop that many years ago was the home of a giant Rainbow we named Kong, and his feeding ground became Kong's Bed. He was a 20 plus pound fish. Many of us early guides on the river tried for him but to my knowledge he was never hooked.

We have landed some very good fish off of Kong’ over the years. One was a very beautiful hen rainbow that has become one of my star fish in my slide shows.

Another time I was fishing with a New Zealand guide and we spotted a beautiful rainbow on the bed but we argued over the size of the fish. Our guesses kept going up and down until, on Que a brown vaulted clear of the surface 3 feet, and we were impressed with its size, but then, for our benefit it drifted along side the rainbow. We could see the red stripe of the rainbow encircling the brown, putting the size of the rainbow over 30 inches ---- we never hooked the fish. But I did tell one of our other guides about it and he hooked it the next day but could not bring it in. He said definitely over 30.

Hog Wallow is the next named run we floated past and as Holly watched the bottom in the very clear water she spotted a very respectable brown drifting out from under the boat and sliding off to the side. This fish in 8 feet of water reminded me of two giants that inhabited the same water several years back. Right around the year 2000 when we first opened our store the guides started talking of two fish in the same pool. The smaller of the two was a rainbow they were guessing to be in the 27 inch class, and a brown somewhat larger. We thought it strange that they would travel in such close proximity but they were there and spotted periodically throughout the season. Of course Hog Wallow got its name due to the many sizable fish that worked the shallows there, but there was another true monster that inhabited the water from the drop off at the bottom of Hog Wallow all the way down to the Bridge Rapid. This fish was another of the 20 pound plus monsters and we watched him over the years for quite a while. Another of the giants we saw but never hooked. His name was Killer.

Both Upper and Lower Torpedo Runs that flow on either side of Roller coaster rapid got their names from a large number of good sized fish. They were the torpedoes.

Lake Bonneville, one of the largest holes on the river has held many large fish and some nice ones caught. One day in the early 80s while fishing, Charlie Brent, one of the early guides on the river spotted a very large Rainbow that seemed to be in trouble. Actually they thought it was a beaver thrashing in the shallows. When they went to inspect it they found this monster rainbow instead, and it apparently was in it's death throws. They were able to pick it up and salvage it. It is now mounted on the wall in Madison River Outfitters in West Yellowstone. It was very fat dark, and had a magnificent kype that made it look somewhat like a salmon, and it was about 32 inches long. Another time in this same large pool we watched over the course of a summer a very large Pike that would cruise along the bank looking for some unwary fish. The strangest thing about this Pike was the contingent of large trout that followed him closely. I'm not sure if it was a protective measure, or might they be looking to pick up some meaty residue from this predators savage feeding habits. None the less it was very interesting.

The first year after I got out of the hospital was 2000. I was fishing with one of my Cardiologists in the very next hole at the upper end of the Secret Riffle where there has been a downed tree in it for a good 20 years. Right out in front of the tip of the tree we saw an odd movement on the water surface which was hard to recognize, but after watching for a bit we saw a fair size trout flopping on the surface, and the reason it was hard to interpret was that it was sideways in a monsters jaws. It wallowed at the surface then sank down out of sight with the smaller trout splashing and thrashing in it's jaws, leaving our jaws hanging open.

I remember taking a beautiful 24 inch brown in the shallow rocks on a streamer on the right of the riffle while fishing late season streamers one year, and I know of many fish slightly larger taken in the same area by other guides over the years. I also remember at the bottom of the riffle in the quieter water we call Frog Water, chasing a truly large brown up the river in my boat while a friend made some frenzied casts to it and being completely ignored.

Next hole is the seemingly bottomless Shark Alley. It got its name from a giant Rainbow that looked to be attacking our boat, but it was actually chasing a smaller rainbow which ran right into the side of the boat. This rainbow swam within the length of my blades of my oars then whipped around dousing my two clients and I with liberal quantities of water. It was another jaw dropper. That incident occurred back in the late 80s. Another time closer to the present, again I was fishing with two of my doctors below some large rocks next to the trail of Shark Alley. One of the Docs handed me his rod and stepped out of the boat for a rest stop, he turned and exclaimed holy shit! For right in front of the boat finned a very large rainbow in knee-deep shallows. I casually flipped his rod tip over my head landing the double fly rig right in front of the giant and luckily hooked him. He went airborne immediately just 7 feet in front of the boat maybe 3 feet out of the water then he hurdled out into the deeper water of the large pool. As he reached the middle of the run, with just a few turns of backing left, he dove for the depths and the many giant rocks at the bottom. I was fairly certain I would never land this fish because prior to hooking this giant we were casting to fish feeding on midges and all we had this fish hooked with was a size 26 midge. When he got to the bottom that was it. All it took was one mighty shake of his head and the fly was loose. I actually was a little relieved because it shouldn’t have been my fight to begin with, plus it was more accidental then anything. It made for a good laugh and a very memorable one at that.

From Shark Alley you float into Diving Board Rapids into a series of nice runs and deep pools, with two sweet shelves that hold numbers of good feeding fish. Without any time to concentrate on the large fish in this area I can think of 8 fish as fast as you can count them over 27 inches. One of my retired guides caught one while fishing by himself off the shelf at the top of the hole. I spotted one while floating through last year. Another was while fish with Jack Dennis back awhile. Another pure hog was in shallow water right in front of a rock finning, waiting for a tidbit to drift, or swim by. Two were twin rainbows side by side also on the shallow shelf. The last two, one of the guides on the river was fortunate enough to have his clients nab them both on back to back casts with terrestrials. That would make your day!

Mother in Law and the Honey Hole. Right against the cliff with a #14 grey scud, one of my first clients on the river who has returned many times took a beautiful brown of 25 or 26 inches. His party throughout the years have had many nice fish to the net and bigger ones lost. Another fish from that area has left an indelible memory with me. Naturally it was a fish that wiped the river with us. We were floating cicada patterns and this fish hit right along the shore from some large boulders. The hook was set and a hen rainbow went ballistic. I guessed it at the time to be 27 inches but it fought like a steelhead. It’s run was something to behold, straight away from the boat at 200 mph. It did the porpoise thing, then spit the fly at about 150 feet from the boat.

At end of the Rock Garden a few years back while streamer fishing in the late fall, I had a large brown hit and take off back up river and kept going to the end of my backing and pinged the fly off. I considered myself lucky to at least get my line back. I did have one fish wrap a line around one of the rocks that I could never retrieve and had to finally cut the fly line.

The Black Lagoon got it's name from two sources; one, the monsters that cruised it's waters throughout the years, and two, when floating the A section we would reach the black lagoon late in the day and it's color would change from clear green to shadowed black. I've never caught a giant fish from there but I do remember one that I watched eating scuds one afternoon. He would work his body into a clump of moss then go into convulsions, thus kicking many scuds loose from the moss, then he would spin around, swim 15 feet down river turn and feed on the scuds that he had dislodged as he moves back into position at the moss bed. I watched him forquite a spell, snapped a few pictures, then tried to catch him, alas as usual the fish proved smarter then the fisherman.

The two Terrace Pools at the end of Little Hole hold many giants. I remember taking one out from under one of the big boulders at the head of Terrace 2. A very nice 26 inch Brown. The Terrace Pool is the sight of all my early fishing on the Green. I used to drive in throughout the 70's and early 80's for many of my vacations, and even earlier my father and I would camp at Little Hole and I would spend much of my time at the Terrace Pool. I have stood on the cliffs gaping into the clear depths spotting some massive fish working its deep waters.

Below Minnesota Flats and above Mann's Chute, out from the Stone Fly camps we had a prodigious brown trout cruising for small fish. The water was unnaturally clear and we were able to follow his every move. We tried many streamers trying to stimulate him into a strike. Endeavoring to make him incensed enough to have a go at one of the inconsequential fish imitations we were using, but we had little significance on his temperament. Next we resorted to nymphs however I do not recall him paying any attention to us what so ever. We had many opportunities at him but to no avail. I believe it may have had something to do with the water clarity which made it so easy for him to see us in return. Once again, no success!

We had fished our way down the river to Mann's Chute on the river right side, from our camp at the Terrace Pool. I was using a gray scud and I recall the water was up fairly high. I had waded out on some teeter-totter rocks just over my waist and was running my nymph deep off a ledge right at my feet to my front. My fly stopped as though I had snagged bottom or a rock, so with a quick twitch trying to free it a great, beautiful hen rainbow exploded from the water, then bolted straight away from me. It hauled so fast the line scorched my finger as it zipped through them. My Hardy Perfect reel was chattering trying to keep up, but when the fish reached the slack current on the other side of the river the reel gave up and made a grinding sound and froze solid. Miss rainbow disappeared and was gone. This episode lasted just seconds but I remember every second of it. I figured she was around 29 inches, but however long she was this rainbow was one of the great ones.

Right below Mann's Chute is the start of Down Town Brown town. Somewhere around 1996, just before my hospital stint I and some clients were anchored on shore releasing a fair brown. This brown had tangled up the leader pretty badly so I was refurbishing his line when an exclamation like "what is that out there". Out in the middle there was a mass of fish floating by, struggling. Sometime in the past I had seen a stringer of fish get loose from some illegal fishermen and several of us tried to catch and free them but could never catch up with them. This is exactly what I thought I was looking at again, so I placed one of my clients on the front of the boat with my net in hand and rowed after the struggling fish as hard as I could. When we caught them he made a stab with the net and it just stopped solid in the water like he had struck a rock on the bottom, then after a second the net popped up with a small emaciated rainbow in the net along side a 27 inch brown. That was remarkable but when I asked him why he had trouble at first lifting the fish from the water, he said "it was because he had another brown just as large as the first on the other end of the poor rainbow". The brown that we did catch made for some mighty good film footage, for he was a beautiful male brown.

Back in the early 80's we used to do quite a bit of late season streamer fishing on the upper section of "B" from Little Hole to the island in Devils Hole. Again, we would camp at the Terrace Pool and range out from there. Our favorite was the area right across the river from Cottonwood camp. It was known as the Mariana Trench because of it's depth. One of my buddies, Steve laid a cast into the deep current and again he thought he had bottom at first because of the rigid stop. Unlike my last fish this one burrowed deep and he fought it for around 20 minutes. One time we saw his slab sized tail turn over on the top but that is all we saw throughout the duration of the fight. At the end he slowly swam over to a rock or a log and wrapped it up. Try as we might for a good time we could not free it, so eventually we were forced to give up and break it off ourselves. This fish was definitely a whopper and would have gone into the high teens in pounds, possibly bigger.

While stalking fish on a shallow shelf just above the Grasshopper island with Chernobyl ants we were fighting another 20 inch brown and almost had it to the net when a log shaped leviathan drifted out of the depths of the trough just off the shelf and grabbed our fish over it's back and started off with it. When it felt the strain from our line it let go and disappeared into the trough and I never saw him again, but just knowing he was there made my heart beat fast when ever dragging a fly through there. I'm starting to get embarrassed guessing the size of all these fish that ate my lunch on the river but I have come to notice that I remember the ones that got away a lot more vividly then the ones played and caught. This was another of the 20 pound giants. Maybe not quite, but big.!

The hole at the end of the island has probably produced as many giants as any on the river. Many people could say they caught their biggest fish here. This hole we dubbed Devils Hole after the valley that it lies in. In the old days we dubbed the island Devils Island but then the Forest Service renamed it Grasshopper island. Larry Tullis one of the prominent guides in the 80's and early 90's pulled many big guys from this hole. Some of the pictures in his book are fish from this very hole. I have caught several in the 25 inch and slightly smaller class but never even hooked any of the giants I have seen here.

Joe's Hole below the island several hundred yards is a very deep wide run with swirling currents and back eddies. It has a couple of interesting drops of sandbars and riffles. We know this hole has some giants but I've never heard of anyone catching them. I remember some great fights here, one fish we hooked off the bank on the right and the only thing that stopped his run across river was the other bank, but when we finally netted this beauty it was a very fat hybrid of only 22 inches. There was a very large rainbow that held court at the head of the run near the bottom of the chute coming in. He was a main target of Mark Nielsen, one of my main guide buddies in the 90's. Hooked but not caught was the final result.

While on an overnight camp with Mark Forslund, Terry Collier and Myself as guides and our customers at Cicada Camp, we rowed across the river and were fishing the tiny island out in front of Trails End Camp. Mark was working his customer who was quite new to fly fishing with a nymph. We had spotted a good rainbow in the 5 foot deep water in the channel of the island. I, standing on a cliff behind them along side Terry had a ring side seat, being able to look straight down on the fish. Mark was at the clients elbow and we could all see that he, after many casts was finally getting a perfect drift to the fish. With the water clarity each and every person observed the fish take the fly and were all so excited for the poor guy we simultaneously screamed set, and so unnerved him he broke the line easily and the fish drifted off with his nymph firmly embedded in his jaw. What a pity, if we hadn't been so excited he would have had a good chance at this 25 inch beauty.

Big Pine is a beautiful campsite set in an alcove of the ancient rocks forming the cliffs along the river corridor. Out in front of the campsite is a deep drift of water holding many fish. A great bit of water to work dry flies in throughout the day. It seems as though there are always fish working the surface here. One day Terry Collier owner of Old Moe Guide Service, Cleave Yates, at that time River Master for the Forest Service on the Green and myself were having a great day fishing this stretch with much success. It turned out to be one of the great streamer days of my career. But as we floated through Big Pine I had a nymph rig on. While I was drifting through fishing as I went but also in the middle of telling a joke, I had a strike, set the hook and as I finished the punch line of the joke could feel the fish moving on the bottom. It took a minute for me to finish the joke and just at the end Terry and I both looked over the edge of the boat into the depths and witnessed a hog swim across a white flat rock displaying himself in glorious color and before I could do anything observed the hook spit from his jaws. It was hard to accept how dumb I was, no, maybe not really.

In Washboard Rapids which is really a large riffle with great structure there are many separate fishing areas or shelves. This was many years ago, however I still recall this fish vividly. I was near the bottom of the rapid fishing along a ledge when I spotted a very large snake climbing the same cliff I was on. It startled me quite a bit because at the time I had never witnessed anything like that before. But after he had gone on his way and I was once again alone, and relaxed a very large fish vaulted from the river just outside of my casting distance. It was the first giant I had ever seen on the green and I did not believe there were any in there that big, because it was not long after they had dedicated the Dam. To make matters better it was a Cutthroat and we don’t see very many of them that size. Just seeing this particular fish jump like that is an inspiration to my fishing. To know there are fish like that in the river is a comforting thing.

Between Washboard Rapid and Red Creek Rapid flows the long lake-like section named Pugmire Pocket. This is another of the deep pools which can maintain a good number of bigger fish. One day many years ago while fishing a fairly good hatch of pale morning dun mayflies I espied a very good fish that was slurping the mayflies and just skimming the surface, mouth wide open as he cruised, siphoning the many insects as he went. With mouth wide open his larger size was easy to pick out from the average sized fish so I hurriedly maneuvered the boat within range of him. My clients could tell from my excitement that it must have been a good fish, so naturally their casts commenced to fall apart and we could never get an artificial presented to the fish. If there ever was a time I wanted to grab the rod away from a client to get a good presentation this was it, however, I maintained a bit of decorum and cooled down committing myself to admire the fish from afar. But it was hard, because there are not many chances to be able to work a giant fish while lost in a feeding frenzy like this one was. I did chase this fish for possibly half an hour without ever getting a fly in his feeding lane and much of the time we were withing 30 feet of him. He was possibly 25 to 26 inches. Not like some of the giants but quite a catch if we could have pulled it off.

Once right in front of Pugmire Pocket Camp. We had a tremendous shadow swim under our boat that made us all stand up. One of my clients started to excitedly grab at the streamer rod and was yelling at me to chase it for it was the largest fish he's ever seen. We argued for quite a few minutes about the chase and although we never did go after it, I know I was never able to convince him that it was an otter and not a great brown trout.

Right before Pugmire Pocket spills it's ethereal clear waters over the small backwater dam that Red Creek has created through it's many floods over the years there is a wonderful holding, feeding and spawning ground that at any time of the year offers splendid views of the many fish holding at the head of the rapids. Quick furtive glimpse of very large fish is quite common at this location. There are many reports of giant fish espied on these grounds. While fishing streamers one late fall day with some very good friends from the fishing industry I was taking it easy watching as several of the others were working some big imitations through the many fish we knew to be here. I cannot remember the reason but I was bottoms up in the boat looking for something when I heard a shout and upon looking up observed people running down the shore to Janet at the head of the rapids. On que a substantial brown broke water and thrashed the surface before going on a great run across the slow quiet current toward the cliffs on the other side of the river. When it reached the cliffs it came up again, but then Janet started to get the upper hand on it and was beginning to work it back across the shore and within reach, but the net was in the boat with me, so I took time to get out my camera then grab the net and ran down the bank with the others. It seems as though the fish know when to assert their authority because when I arrived with both the camera and the net (a sure sign of disaster) this 30 inch hog again raced away, but with even more power and this time popped the 2x tippet like it was small thread, and left 6 people standing on the flats in shock. Once again I got the blame for daring to bring a net and a camera into the battle.

I had a scheme that I had been nurturing for a number of years. in essence it was that we knew Red Creek Rapids held some very good fish and had also produced numerous good ones. We have fished it many many times over the years but mostly at the bottom and all along the river left side. In the heavy water along the southern right shore one can see many pockets that would be holding good fish, but there is never time to present more than just brief drifts while floating by. So my thought is to take a boat half way thru the rapid and anchoring in one of the pockets of quieter water and fishing as much of the area one could reach. My good friend and partner back then was Terry Collier who still owns Old Moe Guide Service and I brought him into my plans. One Memorial day which we always try to stay away from the river due to the crowds of rafters showing up. I put the plan into fruition by calling Terry and asking if he was ready. He jumped all over it, where we were going would be no problem with crowds. To our knowledge nobody had ever fished this water effectively. Both of us were big and strong and better suited to handle the heavy water. I got on the oars and steered into the mix master of the right channel and since he had never been thru this right side without being on the oars himself, he had a rod in hand and like a maniac worked the heavy water as we went through. He was able to pick a couple of fish off but all to soon we were through the Dragons Tooth then the Picket Fence and into the water we wanted to try wading, so the anchor went down and we had to fight it to finally get it to stop but soon it wedged and we were stopped. We were so eager to get over the side and into the heavy water we ended up leaving most of our equipment in the boat. We found that leaning into the heavy current and coming up behind the large boulders we could negotiate the water fairly well. I would work up to a boulder and fish the next pocket up. In this way we could get some very good drifts in normally impossible water. We had a wonderful time but the current was so heavy when we hooked a fish it would run into the current and all we could do was say goodbye. Now this is where the problem starts, because when I lost the first fish this way I realized that I didn't have any extras. Although the boat and my gear were only 60 feet away it would take me 15 minutes to get to the boat. Luckily Terry had a  hat with a band full of old flies, so whenever I broke off, which was quite often he would make a cast to me and I would catch the line clip his fly off and use it, and he would tie on a new one. We worked through this entire section this way hooking and losing every fish we had on but what excitement. Then, it started raining very hard, and our rain gear nestled in a nice dry spot in the boat. But since we were in water up to our necks anyhow it was no inconvenience at all. Actually, it added to the thrill of the whole experience. Eventually I worked my way up into the cliffs on the edge of the Picket Fence and found a nice hiding pool on the edge that looked very inviting. I placed a Chernobyl Ant to the top of the pool below a fall of water pouring over the rocks creating the current through the pool and immediately saw a sweet cutthroat drifting up to the fly, but just before his take there was a large shadow out of the ledges below, and a brown rushed up grabbed the cutt and was gone. Since I was about as far up as I could go and had hit all the pockets on my side I looked at that as the epitome of the day and called it quits. What an experience that was and to end with that magnificent episode could not have been any better. Our final count on this day was fishermen 1 (Terry landed a pretty 19 inch rainbow); Fish scored way too many to count on their break offs and long line releases. We still left there with very large grins on our faces.
Another time, but still in Red Creek Rapid near the bottom in what we call the Champagne Pool I was drifting a large hopper down it's main current and trying to step over a log at the same time. Naturally that is when the brute of a hen rainbow decides to attack my fly, but I was ready for it and as she ripped off down stream and I'm doing the dance of the dazed water buffalo across the log I deftly control the situation. I get out of my predicament and am able to coax her back into the pool and finally get her nestled in the net and laying in the shallows where I can work the hopper out and ease this wonderful 27" beauty back into the deeper water under the log. This perfect little run has always produce some great fish but most of the bigger ones are usually 22" to 20" inches.
 

Just below Red Creek Camp there is a small rapid we named "In Your Face" after a fun fishing incident, but this time it is a bit sad for me. One of my Guide friends and I were floating for fun and having a great time and at the top of this rapid we came across a couple of hiking fishermen that had to go to considerable effort to even get to this place on foot. We were a little surprised to see them but as we drew near they reached into a gunny sack and pulled what looked like a 34" Brown from it, holding it up on display. It was sad seeing such a beautiful fish that had survived for so many years succumb in this manner. That is the law on this river so we told them it was a beauty and rowed on, but it soured us just enough that we floated the next mile without fishing just thinking of that beautiful but dead fish.

Now that I think about this it is a surprise, but I cannot think of ever sighting one of the large fish in the next 4 miles. I have hooked and landed many fish from 20" to 24" inches in this stretch over the years, but none of the true giants.
 

On down river on section "C" during one of our guide streamer days in early November I was fishing with Joe Burke from Jackson. We had one of the other boats fairly close in front of us but when we came close to a known drop-off in the riffles above Burnt Tree, I maneuvered the boat into position for Joe to get a streamer into the upper corner of the drop. His Playboy Bunny landed good and on the first strip --- Bam! He was fast to a very large brown that barreled into the current and zipped down river. We chased but the fish went through so many rocks during his run that the leader rubbed and wore down finally coming apart. We lost him however we were able to get some very good visual on him because of the shallow riffles. A good fight, maybe 28" brown and two excited fishermen. Makes for a good time had by all.

Speaking of Burnt tree, the slow water in this stretch has produced some very large fish. Most of the big ones from this area I here about but never see. Most of these fish are caught illegally by worm fishermen poaching. Another sad fact.

While guiding one of my older clients from Ohio in the mid 90's we fished the riffles of section C more then anywhere on the river. One fine day in mid summer we were testing the water with some hopper patterns in the area between White Cliffs and The Seeps when I moved the boat near a good bank and he came up with a very nice 24 inch Brown that we chased maybe 100 yds. Down the middle of the river before netting it. After a good look at the beauty we released it back into some midstream boulders and made ready to move on down river. After getting his fly reconditioned and him standing in the front of the boat I just get the anchor up and on his first cast to one of the same boulders up comes a 24 inch Rainbow and we start the fight again. This one we took to shore at the head of The Seeps to fight and release it. But what an experience that was. Really made me feel gratifying as a guide to provide this kind of fishing for my people.
The Seeps itself is home to many good fish what with the numerous ledge rock drop-offs, and deep holes creating perfect habitat necessary for the long life of the big ones. Although I have seen brief flashes of some of these monsters over the years I never had many experiences with them at the end of my line. Except for once. And again, it was not on my line but my clients. This day turned out to be quite an epic day for me. Over the last 20 years one of my steadiest clients and good friends was Jay Hill, formerly from Salt Lake and now from Denver. Jay and I always planned several days through the July 4^th holidays as our float days on the C section of the green. It became a fun tradition. Over the years he brought several friends with him. On this particular day his friend hooked a fish on a dry fly right under one of the dripping seeps from which this run got it's name. I knew by the strike and subsequent wallow that he had a beauty on, and both Jay and I started yelling to strike and get the line tight, but he could never quite catch up to the fish. It was a beautiful slab sided cutt or rainbow and I figured it would be in the high 20's. At least over 26 inches. That fish really made us anxious, and we did have a good day with many of the nice browns we took through Parsons, Pipeline, Little Swallow, and Hidden Valley. After that we started to get complacent again and in the warm afternoon the tireds was hitting us. So when we started into Shangri La sneaking into the Emerald Pool we weren't ready for the brown that came up and gobbled another hopper pattern from under a large undercut bank. It looked like the proverbial toilet bowl flush and a power dive and we were fast to our second 10 pound plus fish of the day. He did manage to fight this beauty better but what happens to most of these gargantuan fish he had to much power and reserve strength and used it to burrow to a log on the bottom and wrap the leader on some branches and snap the line. I couldn't find fault with the way he battled this fish it was just to strong. With most recent memory and the one earlier in the day we realized that it was an astounding day and how could it get any better. Right at the head of Swallow Canyon upon skirting a large ledge that angles out into the current thus creating the start of the true canyon Jay's fly drifted in a perfect drift right against the ledge, and where there is a small cleft a beauty came up and engulfed his fly and off to the races for the third time this day. I wanted some pictures so as they fought this nice fish I jumped out of the boat, climbed the sand bar to be above and snapped a couple of pictures of the battle. But as Jay brought the fish to the net I went to take another picture and realized that I had snapped my last one, therefore I missed getting a picture of this prize. It was not the size of the two earlier fish, just a paltry 23 or 24 inch rainbow. I kicked myself around the sandbar for a bit but was very happy for these guys. What a day we had. We still talk about it all the time.
 

 

If you fish the Green with an regularity than you have heard of Old Moe Guide Service owned by Terry Collier. His guide service is named after a tremendous Brown trout he chased for many years and finally caught. Of course he had called this fish Old Moe and when it came time to label his guide service I believe his very young daughter at the time named it after his old enemy, which had made his home under the swallow caves of Swallow Canyon.

In recent years there is a very nice Brown that is getting a reputation, for he has been hooked and sighted several times. I know of two guides that have caught him both on dry flies. Tom Knight, and Pat Nichols. Chernobyl types. He is a very nice 27 inch Brown that resides near an area of Swallow Canyon that I refer to as the Rock of Gibraltar.

I'm sure there are many more legendary fish in my past that have been left out of this tale. Some were to brief an encounter to mention or they have been just past over. A couple I remembered after I had passed through their territory with these tales so I left them out figuring there was enough babble here for you to start believing I am a teller of tall tales.

I want you to realize that these experiences come from only one guides memories on the Green River. Think how much could be written if we were all to put something together, and imagine how bizarre some of the tales would be. Makes one ponder don’t it.

Another tidbit to pass on. It may seem weird but with all these large fish I've dealt with in one manner or another over the years, I have to say the ones that give me the most vivid memories are all the ones that got away. I wonder if that's me or does it happen with everyone that way? Let me know.

August 1^st

One of my old time clients came back to the river for a weeks fishing and we decided to get out together on one of my days off. He is an adventurous bloke so we decided to get up into the mountains for some small stream fishing this day. When we hit the Greendale Junction up on the mountain I was leaning to the left so we headed up into the Ashley drainage today. The closest stream is Little Brush Creek so we headed down into it's canyon stopped on a pull off in a small meadow (very beautiful) and he marched down river and I started right at the car and fished up. It is just full of small rainbows, cutts, and brookies. Its got some dandy runs and deeper holes for a small mountain stream making it very fun to fly fish. Most of the time I start with a small hopper and  did so once again, but today it was a little slow. I had fish coming up to it but with short strikes or complete refusals. Next I tried a smaller caddis and began landing a few fish. It was ok but not fast. I was able to land maybe 6 fish of assorted species, but I got the wanderlust and wanted to move on to another stream. After getting Luke's attention at my suggestion we headed farther up the mountain to the North Fork of Ashley creek. We hit it in slightly different area then my usual haunts so it was very nice and the fishing was pretty fast. After trying all the runs close to the car because I can’t travel where I would really like I met Luke and we strolled back to the car and right before we got there heard a commotion in the trees next to us and spotted the most beautiful black bear I believe I’ve seen. He was unconcerned with us, just strolled around us keeping a slight safe distance and wandered on. We're both very happy to be able to have these kinds of experience this close to home.

From this little canyon we headed back up into the open area of Soldier Park and had possibly the fastest fishing of the day their. We didn't have to hit very much river to satisfy our urges. The fish responded very kindly to our casts and put some smiles on our faces for another day.

By the way Luke is really Warren Hall from Massachusetts. He got his nickname when he first floated with me in 1996 on an overnight trip. He has a habit of always leaning on the edge of the boat which is called the chine, thus upsetting the boats balance. Because of that I called him "Luke Chinewalker" his fishing for the rest of the week was incredible. He was able to fish in Browns Park most of the mornings which was very good. He fished Jones Hole creek and came back with great pictures. On his last day he got to get out on the lake with another of my Guide buddies, Rod Mangum for some very good Carp fly-fishing. He thought that very interesting.

August 8^th
Today I'm on my own, thinking of a place where I don't have to do much hiking. A bit tired from a hard week in the store, well hard for me. It has been a while since my last river excursion and I had such a good time there on my last visit, so why not hit the same riffles. This time I started at the bottom of the Cowboy riffle near Bridgeport in Browns Park. If you are looking for Bridgeport do not look for any place. It is an ancient spot right at the crossroads near the Allen Ranch. This riffle has everything lending itself to an excellent fishing spot. It spills into a very deep pool, over a drop off that runs a good distance curving along the bottom of the riffle. Nearer the top of the run there are many boulders breaking the current creating some very nice holding grounds for the fish. And at the top is a large flat with a bit of depth so the fish working this flat are not in as much danger from predators from the skies. My last trip here produced some pretty good action, and several reports from guides in previous days is what brought me back to here. Today was not as good. Aside from a couple of small fish and some fairly lethargic bumps from a couple of larger bodies, I didn’t see anything close to the action of my last visit. I timed my trip early in the morning to miss the bumping of the water level and to beat the heat of the day, however soon after my arrival I noticed that it was quite warm and no wind to ease the muggy morning. By 11:00 I believe the temperature was close to 95 degrees. After moving thru the complete riffle and boulder run and only a couple of fish I put my rod away and went to look at some other spots in the Park that may have some activity. There was nothing moving and hatches were non existent. I jotted this day down as a close 0, but it was still great to be on the river and see no other fishermen on such a beautiful day. The water was very clear and much of the silt that had been collecting here during the last 5 years, due to the drought, has vanished.
I did find another riffle that was irresistible to me. It is located just below Pipeline boat ramp along the river left side of the Little Swallow Rapids. There is some very good pocket water here but again just a couple of smaller fish came to the fly. I hit some runs tight in along the bank and a couple of deeper pockets nearer the boat ramp but still none of the good fish were moving much. Probably the bright sun and a very hot day had most to do with my lack of success.

August 30, 2005

It has been a while since my last trip, due mainly to some hospital visits. Routine trips for my annual transplant check ups. Mostly poking and prodding and a lot of discussions about fishing trips my nurses and doctors have recently been on. But, the big question today was where to go. It’s too long since my last float but even though it is a great day out there, with few clouds in the sky the wind is kicking up fairly good and it’s still early in the morning. This is a bad omen, which usually is indicative of a blustery day. Aww, there is that word again. I have noticed over my guiding career that "usually" is the most used word in my vocabulary. By using it any thing I say cannot be taken exactly as gospel, thus leaving myself an escape route when displaying my vast knowledge as a guide.
With the wind in mind and the last few days being quite hot we leaned toward the higher elevations. We thought of Jones Hole but decided it would also be warm, so higher up beckoned to us. Carter Creek was very beautiful last time we came through there, however the hunting season is upon us and that needs some consideration as to where we might stand the best chance of fishing privacy, so I am leaning towards the back country of the hidden Little Brush Creek and other streams in that area. We negotiated some very rough roads into a very beautiful little stream and I immediately put together a 3 weight rod and a small hopper which is my favorite small stream searcher fly. So much my favorite I only had one left. Right off from the middle in a pretty little run an 11 inch rainbow raced up and took the hopper. After releasing it I whipped the fly dry and deftly put it in an overhanging weed right at a very choice undercut bank, so instead of wading over and taking the fly I opted to lose it and tied on a small Chernobyl that looked like a hopper. With this fly we marched up the river taking most fish from the middle current where it spills out into a deeper run. The sun was very bright and I really expected to take more fish from under the banks but they didn’t really materialize like I anticipated. I would say overall that the fishing was slower then usual, but there was still enough activity to keep it interesting. I didn’t hit any cutts or brookies, just rainbows, so that told me that the fish were not in a very good feeding mode. There were no hatches present and not many fish were out feeding in the clear water, so instead of waiting around for fishing to kick in we decided to try a different drainage to see if that makes any difference.

North Fork of Ashley Creek
The first place we came to is right where Ashley and Trout Creek meet (elevation 9,260) and there were no camps in the area, thus no people, so that was good enough for me. I kept the Chernobyl on as we parked on the banks of Ashley and I fished my way down through some pretty little holes to where two of the small forks come together and in holes that I had much success in the past I did zilch. Again this was attributed to the clear sky and middle of the day. The wind was also blowing pretty good in the high country but I can’t use this as an excuse. With the big goose egg looming and Trout Creek just 100 yds away across the meadow I thought it would be a better alternative then quitting so we trooped on over the meadow to the very tiny stream as wide as a small ditch and with little enthusiasm made my first cast, and with the wind blowing like it was, an accurate cast was not possible, but needed to even hit the stream. That first cast hit the water and a brook trout exploded on the fly, thus began a very sterling day of fishing to some very pretty small, but colorful brook trout. We fished back up Trout Creek towards the car again and hit feisty little brookies all the way. It really made the day to discover this kind of fishing in a stream that most people would not even fish. We took up to 12 inch fish out of some runs that were only 2 feet wide, but with still enough depth to hide the fish.
When I had enough we were parallel to the cruiser so an easy hike along the ridge and back to Ashley and the auto. One spot I had always noticed but never fished was a pretty hole under the bridge that the Red Cloud Loop road crosses Ashley Creek. I always figured this was probably the hardest hit hole on this upper section of river because of the easy access. So from where I had parked the car to the bridge could not have been 100 yds., more like 50 yds. So I fished up the river quickly with a couple of small fish coming to the fly but just kissing it. Under the bridge there is a deeper run and most always in shadow, so with a side arm cast to sneak the fly way up under thar, I couldn’t see the fly but the splash was good enough and I was fast to a hard fighting Colorado River Cutthroat (which is native for this area). After a small battle he came to my feet and a twist of the fly and he was on his way. I clipped the fly off and reeled in my line with the knowledge that there were definitely more fish under the bridge but I had a very fun day and did not need any more. I always thought that a good day should end on a good note, and what better way to end it. I had caught Rainbow, Brooks and a Cutthroat on some very pristine water in beautiful settings, with great company.

Snake River above Jackson

Pacific to Deadman

I drove into Jackson Hole on September 7^th for the start of the One Fly Benefit. First thing I accomplished was to contact my team partners and let then know of my arrival.
We had a trip planned for the next morning but had not decided on our section. They had been fishing several of the other sections days before I had gotten there so they kind of left it up to me on this decision. I decided to go the area that our guides would be doing during the actual fishing segments so they could get a feel for what it would be like. Plus, Pacific Creek to Deadman was always one of my favorites in past years. Although the river is always changing and there seems to be a change in numbers and size of fish in this particular area, to the worse. Next morning I met my team members Al Palmer from Connecticut, Liz and Dave Speaks from Jackson and the two guides for the day. The guides were two of Liz’s favorites, Bart & Sammy from Jack Dennis Sports.
Al and I floated with Bart this day. The weather was about as good as it could be. Mostly sunny all day with wind but not impossible. I went with a Scott Rod G series 4 weight, mainly because when the fish pulled hard in the fast current the rod would give very easy and would cushion the stress on the leader better. We changed flies quite a bit checking to see what might work best in the present conditions and time of day. With the way the weather panned out there was not a great hatch but we did have a partial pmd hatch mid day. We caught some very nice Snake River cutthroats when the hatch did come out. We rowed into one of my favorite runs at the right time, had some fish up and had the right fly on. My first fish was a very nice 18 inch cutt. Then we pulled over and Al and Bart stalked several fish while I took pictures, we were lucky to land several other fish 17 inches and 16 inches. After this episode and because it was later in the day I tied on a larger Chernobyl type fly and finished the day very nicely with many other good fish, and if it had been during the competition I would have scored very well. Al also hit many nice fish, so our day was a very successful and fun day on the river.

September 10^th Saturday

We wake up early and need to be at the Gun Barrel Restaurant at 6:00 AM to meet our guide. I learned who my guide was at last nights reception and was very lucky to receive not only the same section I practiced on but one of the same guides we had (Dave Samuels, or Sammy). Naturally we thought we were going to work the fish over after the results of the previous day, but it was not to be. The weather changed everything and it was raining in the morning, but I kept to the strategy that it would clear and warm up by afternoon and the large Chernobyl would start to kick butt. It just got colder, which brought out a mayfly hatch altering the fishing completely. Those fishermen who opted for a small fly did much better, including my boat partner, Jimmy Gabettas, who owns a fly shop in Idaho Falls. We caught zero fish that we could claim as big but he was able to get about 5 in the 13 to 16 inch class and they are good for higher points then the 2 points for each fish under 12 inches. His fly was good enough to have about every fish that was feeding on the mayflies readily take his offering. Mine looked like a garbage truck to the fish this day and they left it very much alone. I don’t even remember how many fish I caught but it was relatively few. We were all shivering when we approached the boat ramp and it was nice to get back into the warmth of the car. We could see a refreshing spate of snow blanketing the Teton’s as we drove back towards Jackson. One other fun and interesting feature we had today was the constant bugling of Elk just over the river banks all day. It is a beautiful float with the resplendent Tetons for a back drop and varied pine forests along the river. Actually this was a very fun day for my due to the company I had in the boat. Upon reaching Jackson they dropped me off at my friends house where I was staying during the One Fly so I could drop my gear and change clothes for the after-fishing get together. I ran upstairs, changed and washed in a hurry and on my way down the stairs missed one and did a dive the rest of the way down. Bruised myself up very nicely and thought at first that I had broken my neck.

September 11^th Sunday

Now I wasn’t sure if I would be able to fish the next day but I was able to put it together with a little help from Joe Burke helping me get into my coats. I was not able to move my right arm very well. Luckily I’m left handed so I could still fish a bit.
Today I drew the Wilson to South Park Stretch which is another fairly good area with many braids and a lot of riffles. The weather remained cold, therefore today I opted for a good mayfly pattern that would stand up to the rigors of hard fishing. Actually I found it lying in the bottom of Jack Dennis’ boat and liked the looks of it for present conditions. So much for special tying and planning again. As it turned out it was the right pattern, however the particular fly I had would not float right. It road with the tail down in the water and just the wings in sight. But that’s one of the hitches of the One Fly – once you pick the fly you’re stuck with it. I was able to catch quite a few small fish, but I was also very sore so I quit fairly early and watched my new partner (Frank Brown, an Investment Banker of the Live Water Properties team)do most of the fishing. He was using a parachute Adams reinforced and it did very well, mainly once again for the smaller fish. Once again I’m sorry to say that I do not know how many points or fish that either one of us caught. But once again I believe we had a very good time. Made some new friends and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Our guide was Matt from the Jackson Hole Anglers Outfitters. He was new to the One Fly but not to the river. He had all his favorite spots along the way. Late in the day, he was headed for a special riffle he knew held some good fish, and was itching to score big with these fish, but as we topped over a shelf looking down into the slot there stood one of his partners fast to a hard fighting Snake River Cutthroat. All we could do was go on by wishing congratulations, but really wishing it was us and not them in this sweet run.
The sun did pop out a little in the afternoon making today seem a bit warmer but really it was not.
The largest fish in this years One Fly was 21 inches caught on the upper Snake, but most of the better scores came from the South Fork this year. A lot more people used nymphs, also this year.

September 12^th Monday

Conant to Wind Cave on the South Fork
This little outing of about 12 fishermen and 6 guides had a special interest to it. One of our number had passed away from a bout of Cancer so this trip was to honor him, celebrate his life with us and set his ashes to drift in his favorite back channel, in his favorite river.

Now, the very interesting aspect of this happening occurred at lunch where the ceremony was to take place. First boat to arrive was Denny's wife Ellen, with several other boats flanking her. As they approached the island a grand Golden Eagle was perched on a stump at the head of the back channel. The eagle watched their approach and let them get within 30 feet of it before it took wing, and in lieu of flight it rose out over the main river, turned and soared very low over Ellen's head and winged majestically down the channel. It was very moving to me and I look at it as a very good experience for Ellen.
The rest of the day was a very fun fishing experience. Several of the boats had other business so they rowed out from there. But the remainder of us fished our way down river. My guide was Mark Fuller whom I had fished with before in the One Fly, and my fishing pawdner today was Jack Dennis. Jack and I have had many fun days on the rivers before. This was no different, we worked our way down, me using an attractor most of the time and Jack trying small dries waiting for and looking for noses to start coming up. He is a very persistent fishermen and sticking it out turned quite successful for him. Some of the rising fish he spotted were very far away. He found a good pod in a small back channel while I was stuck changing my fly or leader and he whupped on them quite handily. There was one of the great rises, from a very large fish that Mark and I spotted at the same time, so I switched over to a matching mayfly pattern and snuck into position across from him. I tried a few casts but we could tell that it would be impossible to get a correct drift from my location therefore I moved down into deeper water below the fish in order to get a better angle. All this time he rose steadily displacing a healthy amount of water each time but never really showing like the other fish. (The sign of a substantial specimen of the species). Once I got into position I waited for him to come up again, and waited, and waited, but the little devil never showed again, so I missed any chance on him.

Slightly down river from there I picked up a gorgeous Cutthroat from under a bank right at the end of a run. He put up a grand fight and showed a lot of strength before we netted him. A very fat fish but not nearly as long as I expected due to the fight he gave. From there I missed some more good fish and did hit some smaller ones, but we spent most of our time stalking the occasional rising fish along the way. Every time we would see some Jack had a different fly on because of his jittery personality, so it was a very good way to see what would be working. He steadily picked up fish with a fairly good one every now and then. Getting nearer the bottom of our run I hooked a pretty good Brown from a boulder field in the middle of the river and he chugged away with my fly doing some very strong head pumps. He took my line across river and went some into my backing before I could get his head turned. Finally he came my way and we were able to get him to the boat where we could see a very nice fat 21 inch Brown. After my flight down the stairs these fish could bully me fairly easily. I about lost my fly rod in this battle. Weak fingers and bruised wrists. Later another fat Cutthroat came my way, but I missed my chance at getting a good Rainbow near the end of the float, so Jack did it for me as we approached the boat ramp. He and Mark spotted a small rise near a spring and Jack made an excellent cast to the spot and came up with a pretty 16 inch Rainbow to complete the day. We sure relived some old memories of our fishing and some of our old partners on the rivers. It was a great float for me.

September 19, 2005

Green River, Dam to Little Hole

Floated the Red Canyon section today with guides, (Mark Redle of Western Rivers Flyfishers) & (Danny Mangum of Old Moe Guide Service). Danny picked two winners to fish with today, Mark with some pretty serious back problems and me after falling down the stairs were not who you would pick to enter any boat races with.
Conditions were perfect today with very little wind and the temperature in the 70s. As we started fly selections tended toward medium size attractors of the Chernobyl persuasion. Also our drifts were generally out of the ordinary but also consensus. In the wide open areas we floated the flies below the boat in the middle deeper water, pulling up fish that have not been beaten up by the constant pounding along the banks. When we got to faster water in the lower canyon we did go back to the shoreline drop offs and had good luck there.
The fish we caught today were all of the middle range size with nothing small or no fish getting over the 18 inch mark. Most were 15 and 16 inches, and most were browns.
One interesting item happening today we picked up many doubles but still did not have a fast fishing day. It was fairly steady with very little time between hits and fish on. There were a lot of lies, laughs, bantering and accusations dealt out today.
We made a very quick trip today with very few stops. We did stop at the bottom of Frog Water and eat a quick bite. We had gotten to this area so fast there were no other boats near us, so the canyon was quiet, beautiful, the only sounds were the wrens and Jays talking, with an occasional Osprey sounding off from above.
Upon reaching the lower end of Dripping Springs just above the Can of Worms Rapid I gave up, a little tired but very satisfied with the day. It was kind of funny because I believe all the other two had to do was see me slow down and that was enough for them also. Before I knew it they had their rods unstrung and put away and we were just drifting, headed for the ramp then the couch for a nice nap. Chateau Relaxo!

September 26^th, 2005

Monday — I am to meet one of my old fishing buddies from Jackson Hole today with his wife Marian. Dennis Butcher Doctor of Medicine and Carpology, is a member of the Jackson gang that use to pay a visit every November for a weekend of heavy duty streamer fishing. We had some great parties and fishing trips with a good number of memorable fish being caught and lost over the years. The main members of this collection of guides from the Jackson Hole area included, Tom Montgomery, Paul Brunn, John Simms, Jay Buchner, Joe Burke, and we needed a good medic with us so Dr. Butcher volunteered his illustrious services. (Although he needed watching more than the rest of the bunch). This get-together lasted for a good number of years then suddenly ended with my heart problem. We keep talking about starting it up again but trying to get all these guys together has been very difficult.
The Butchers and I started late September day off with floating the Devils Hole stretch launching at Little Hole. The weather was very nice but the wind commenced and continued to blow most of the day with great force. Luckily Dennis had a pretty good stick in his hand. He’s done a bunch of fishing throughout the world including several stints on the World Fly Fishing team representing the U.S.A. The hot fly lately has been the Fat Albert but he refused to start with it so I put one of those on Marians line and she immediately had a few hits. Dennis managed to drum up some hits on an off-Chernobyl with a good fish coming early at Minnesota Flats. Another good fish came from the bottom of Down Town Brown Town. Both of these fishing grounds are two of my favorites on the upper B section. Fishing was fairly steady throughout, and it took us all day to get through it. There was a good tiny bwo in the afternoon and had some fish up chasing. We had some fun in the swirling currents of Joe's Hole. The only problem with this type of fishing is, these major swirls can relocate the fish you are casting to 20 feet in a second, so the cast has to be quick and a very short drift. It is accurate casting and speed, but once you get it down can be very successful. The flats were ok below Red Creek but not as fast. We did get into a small back channel which produced quite nicely to small bugs. There were fish rising along the edge of ledges and well placed casts brought us some very nice fish getting close to dark. It was a very fun day of fishing. The river is so clear right now making it extra fun being able to see so much of what is happening with the fish on their rises, strikes, and actual approach to the fly.
Our best fish came from several runs starting with Minnesota Flats, then Down Town Brown Town, right side of Grasshopper Island was nice to us with several sweet browns. Then Joes Hole was a great hatching area, also Big Pine and Washboard Rapids left side near the bottom. We hit a couple of pretty browns at Ottabe Bank below Red Creek. Our last of the gratifying runs had to be the dry fly fishing with tiny bugs half way down the Jungle Trail which is just a quarter mile above Indian Crossing.

September 27^th, Tuesday

The wind treated us much better today as we set forth near the dam. I usually get going around 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM unless I have a purpose of being down river at a certain time which requires an earlier start. Over the years I have found the fishing over all does not commence until mid morning. There are days this is not true but most of the time it warms up later. Marian started with a Fat Albert again while Dennis went to another odd type of Chernobyl, fairly small. The fish were interested from the start and they hooked fish most of the way. I didn’t hesitate in this top area with the slower water. I enjoy the fast water near the bottom best so I kind of beeline on down and concentrate mostly in the lower water which is better pocket fishing. However, fishing was steady as we moved through always making me wonder if I'm doing the right thing by passing feeding fish up. Today it was a good call because we did very well, plus we got into a pretty hatch of tiny midges and a few little bwos. At the beautiful hole created by Mother-In-Law Rapid we ate lunch on the beach and as we did I kept watching the water out front. I was quite amazed there were no fish working this great run. In the past during my guiding it was assured that there would be activity here during this time of day. As we were putting lunch away and getting ready to head down river I was still perplexed due to the inactivity of the hole. I turned to Dennis and told him "we use to prowl up into the shallow moss beds just above the boat and could always work to feeding fish", so even though we couldn't see anything we slowly worked our way up the flat towards the very clear moss beds, and there they were, barely sticking there heads out of the water as they worked to invisible flies. It was fascinating to witness and fun to still be able to make the old guide calls. Dennis cleaned up along that quiet bank and I am sure that will be his fondest memory of this trip. To me stalking fish along the bank and casting to spotted fish is the epitome of fly fishing.

October 24^th Monday
I hate doing this, but today I had to go to the Vernal Hospital to get some blood-work completed. It can consume the day if I let it, so, to avert this problem Holly and I decided to take a very circuitous route. There is a back road out of Vernal heading Northwest that goes nowhere but up. It is a dirt road that winds up through Dry Fork canyon and eventually to Ashley creek, both south fork and north fork, so in turn hooks up with the roads that I usually take coming out of Flaming Gorge. It was a clear day and surprisingly nice weather for the altitude we were at. This also was right after Utah's opening weekend for the general deer season, and surprisingly void of hunters. When we reached Ashley Creek all hunting camps had been left behind and we seemed alone on the mountain. Well, naturally I had sequestered my fishing gear into the auto on the outside chance it could be of use to me. I was a bit surprised at a minimal flow in the creek, I had expected more and had to do with intermittent pools and deeper runs. After running the fly through several promising holes with no sign of a fish I was beginning to suspect the skunk, but before long a very pretty brook trout slid down around my fly then tipped up and sucked it down. I tried one more run in that area then left and drove upstream into Soldier Park higher up the river several miles. I knew of a narrow but deep run which would hold fish in the driest conditions. Actually there are several such runs in the Park. I moved below some small man sized pines bordering the run so as not to spook the fish and lay a hopper into the run-out of the pool with no results. I took that to mean they weren't feeding so my next cast was higher up more in the deep part of the hole on the left side of the current and a nice rainbow about 14 inches exploded on the fly. It was a great fight on my small Scott 7' 4 weight Fibre touch rod. Any fish will put a bend in it, but this rainbow was enough to have the rod doubled. After drying the fly off my next cast went to the right of the current still below the meat of the run, but it was good enough for a 12 inch Colorado Cutthroat, which is native to these mountains. It slipped up and softly took the fly. This fish was in spawning colors and was absolutely gorgeous. Now with those two fish under my belt and me getting a bit weary from the early morning jaunt and the trip up the mountain I decided to fish this run out and head home happy, so I expertly snaked the next cast right to the top of the run where the bank juts out into the creek creating a funnel for the water to flow through, the fly landed softly—in a tangle of bushes. Still no problem, I just tweak the rod tip and flip it out away from the tangle, but left the fly there. I guess I could have retrieved it because of the smallness of the stream but why? I had just caught three nice fish and I figured they were all a bonus, so I reeled it in and put the rod away even though we were going to pass several more very good streams on the way down but I was happy. One note going down the east side of the mountain it also was void of hunting camps where we both expected them to be stacked up. It was very mysterious, but actually, for us, a very pleasant surprise.

November 2^nd Tuesday
A small spring creek south of Flaming Gorge has been calling me for some time, I've wanted to go very much however it is a walk-in stream which makes it difficult for my legs to tackle. I have not been here since 1997 when my heart gave out. It is such a great and beautiful stream in a deep canyon that I just had to give it a try. If we take our time and rest along the way maybe I can succeed. The gorge was beautiful in the morning light as we drove down the dugway into the depth of the canyon. The walls rise straight up along the right side a thousand feet dwarfing everything within. As we walked the trail down along the stream I kept spotting holes from my past that had yielded many fine trout, and I wanted to fish each one right then, but kept heading down until I thought maybe I wouldn't make it out unless we forced ourselves to stop. It is a very overgrown stream with small Box Elder trees along it's bank that make it necessary to use a small fly rod to keep the cast under the branches. The creek is lined with watercress beds creating some very good hiding spots for wary fish, and pool after pool as it falls it's way toward the Green. I started fishing with a small attractor and had fish up immediately but mostly smaller fish. They weren't very active but I pressed on and moved a few here and there. One time I got out on a very narrow island with a deep plunging pool on one side and with my bad legs almost fell in several times. For a guy who use to walk the edge of my boat in any water this was ridiculous. I reminded myself of an Orangutan who had just worked over a bottle of Jack Daniels. I did work my way to the top of the island and there, spotted a very nice fish working the bottom at the bottom of a very attractive run. After several tries, because my backcast had to be side arm and level with the stream to get under overhanging branches, my fly finally landed just ahead and slightly to the fishes right and he slid back and over and excepted the fly. It was a good fight as he churned up the entire run. Finally he tired and I was able to get him near and slip the hook, a very pretty rainbow. After I floundered back across the small channel and with Holly's help I needed to rest my legs. So we sat on a log and had some trail mix and water, which seemed to rejuvenate me and from there back up stream I felt much better. As we sat on the log we started to notice many small flies landing on us. They turned out to be tiny stoneflies. As I worked up the stream we started to see more fish working and attributed that to the hatch. I was able to pick off a number of more smaller fish and one more very nice one in a pool that I had to lean over a large boulder to get to. At the top there is a table to eat lunch or rest at and I needed it very much. As we sat there the stone hatch got so thick they were all over the table and us. I was coated with them inside my shirts and in my hair. It was a very fun and wonderful day. I kind of regret that I can't penetrate the canyon any deeper, but still I am thrilled that now I know I can still fish part of it.

November 7^th, Tuesday
It's been a while since I've been on the river so I contacted a couple of old fishing buddies, Terry Collier owner of Old Moe Guide Service and Rod Mangum also from Old Moe, and since they had no better offers they grudgingly accepted mine. We put on at the Dam about 10:00 AM, and immediately pulled out the streamer rods. I put on one of my old used Playboy Bunnies and started with it. Over the course of the day we tried quite a few patterns of streamers. All worked more or less, while a few executed quite well. Two of the respectable patterns were a speckled gray bunny, quite large, about 5 inch long, and an all pink Playboy Bunny that Rod Mangum was fishing. My usual favorite, the regular bunny, drew quite a few fish but they would not commit to the fly. Both Terry Collier and I fished the big gray streamer the most. This was a day the fish were following but not hitting as much. They definitely looked as though they were more interested in chasing the small minnow imitations out of their area nipping at their tails, rather then striking with abandon. In the Diving Board area, at a large flat covered with pockets of moss with sandy breaks throughout that make it very easy to spot and study the fish, I made three or four cast from which I would guess I had at least 20 fish follow my fly jockeying for positions behind it but never once getting a fish to actually hit the fly. Another observation today was that there would be areas we would have a multitude of fish slashing at the flies with quite a few being caught, but on the other hand in between these blessed areas there would be moments of nothing. It was rather strange, but all in all a good day. I believe our best method was to make short quick retrieves with occasional pauses to let the fly sit and sink a bit, then quick strips again and keep repeating all the way back to the boat. The fish were a bit smaller than we are use to, but this has been a trend due, I believe to the several years of severe drought throughout the West. The largest fish of the day came from the middle of Roller Coaster Rapids river right. I was able to slam the Gray bunny into a small pocket and the 19 inch brown slammed it as soon as it hit the water. He gave me quite a fight through the rapid, as we floated down the river he was trying to go up the current, but after a bit with him fighting both the heavy current and the pressure I was applying he had to follow, grudgingly.
Some trouble brewed in a storm that whistled through bringing some very strong winds. It came up the river right in our face so we had to work to get the flies out. Luckily delicate casts were not necessary today, and line-control was non-existent but still, it is mostly in the retrieve.
Both Rod and I were fishing 9 foot 6 weight Scott rods. Rod was using an older SES rod and I was using a 4 piece S3. Terry was fishing a 7 weight Thomas & Thomas.

November 8^th Wednesday
Terry Collier has been a guide on the Green since the late 70s having come from many earlier years on guiding on the Colorado and Green white-water sections. He started his Old Moe Guide service and named it after a monster Brown he had been having a war with for several years down in Swallow Canyon on section C near the Colorado border. Just recently in the last 5 years he has acquired his Coast Guard Captain license, so he could also guide for the large trout on the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. He has a trip pending in several days so we decided to slip out on the lake and look for some concentrations of the large Lake Trout (Mackinaw). He has a fantastic Jet sled from which he can fish up to 5 fishermen jigging off it at once. Lately due to the uncharacteristic good weather the fish have been difficult to find. Since we live near the dam that is where he does most of his fishing, but today we put the boat in at Antelope Flats, 15 miles by truck or 30 miles up the canyon by boat, and a very quick trip across the main body to a very popular Lake Trout spot in Linwood Bay. There were already 3 boats working the hump but that is a small number for there are usually many more. We joined them staying several hundred yards away and managed to spot fish here and there. We jigged in about 70 feet of water and were able to hook about 4 fish and caught two of them. Both rather small as Flaming Gorge Lakers go. Then we went to another spot that was not found by any one yet and started searching with the depth finders and wow! We spotted some great concentrations that appeared to be sizeable fish, but we could not hook them. I don’t know how we could work the jigs in among so many fish and not have several of them take a swipe at us. We did have several hits but were not able to hook them. Terry believes they were just swatting at our lures. Today was a wonderful day weather-wise. It was a bit nippy in the morning but warmed when the sun got a bit higher in the sky, and the water was like glass, making it nice to be out on the water. I fish the lake so seldom that it is fun to come out several times each year. Down in the canyon it is very beautiful, just like on the river.

December 12^th Monday

We have been in a major cold spell for the last several weeks, keeping my wimpy butt firmly lodged on the couch, but today we had a mild break and although the thermometer registered still under 20 degrees it seemed warm enough for me to venture forth and at least observe what is taking place on the river. Of course the Nymphing is still working quite well because the browns are still congregated for their spawn, but I am more interested in looking for the midge hatch to begin. Ah, what a wonderful sight when I arrive at the 2^nd ramp at Little Hole and there they are, working very well. No surprise to me I also find Rod Mangum from Old Moe sitting on a large rock watching. He has been there for a half hour and had a good time with a mating midge pattern, but he has his boat on the ramp and is headed for the other side, so I scrambled back to the car and assembled my gear to further the damage done to the 2^nd ramp slick. In a short time I was back sporting my 5 weight Scott G series rod, Ross Evolution Reel and a new weight forward Cortland 555 line given to me by the area Cortland Rep. who, in the past was my partner back in my Sandy Anglers Inn days. I’ve got a 9 ft. leader tapered to 6x and attached to that a fuzzball dry size 24. I moved towards the bottom of the slick but noticed far fewer fish coming to the surface. As I watched out of the corner of my eye the activity up stream was going very well, so I worked my way up and started getting some honest looks at my fly. The fish were not hitting as well as I thought they might, but with a bit of perseverance and as I moved closer to the boat ramp I began to pick fish off a bit steadier. The first several fish were rainbows and smaller, maybe in the 14 inch class. After three rainbows I had my first solid heavy fish that turned out to be a brown. He gave a fair fight as he made it to the heavy water and used it's help to gain momentum down the river. I didn't follow but maneuvered him into the back-water slick and was able to bring it back to me where I could release it. That done, it was time to switch flies and try another to see if they were still game, so I tied on a midge emerger with black body and whipped it out into a pod of rising fish. At this point and angle I could make out all the bodies of the fish and there were quite a few to choose from. They were in a line where a rip of water came off the main current and formed the back eddy at the boat ramp. Spot fishing is my favorite so I had a very good time presenting the fly to the fish and watching them come up and take the fly, however far more fish refused then took it so that made it very interesting. I still did well enough to say I had a good fishing day. As it slowed down and the fish started taking differently and my fly was having less success I waded ashore and moved around to the upper end where the back water falls into a drop off right near it's meeting with the heavy main current pouring past the rock barrier between the ramps 1 & 2. In a slight depression I could see movement, and sure enough a fish moved to the surface and took a natural. He looked like another brown with a healthy girth to him. I placed the fly just ahead of his position and on the first drift he took and as I set the hook he went airborne and with a mighty shake of his body snapped my leader easily. They always look bigger when they get away but he looked to be in the 20 inch class and, as I observed, he was a very fat fish. As I was tying on another fly a car pulled up behind me and they said they needed my help with the damn computer back at the store, so I got busted and had to leave, but oh well I had a bunch of fun and my rod eyes only froze up every 5^th cast so it was a very good day especially after the 18 degrees below we had two days prior.

December 20^th Tuesday

It has warmed tolerably well since the last two weeks of polar weather, and it is above 32˚ finally. The sky is partly cloudy so, I think a spot of fishing is in order today. On my drive down the Little Hole road I am expecting to run into the usual crowd of guides congregating to fish the midge hatch which begins approximately at 11:00 AM, however, as I round the corner overlooking the Little Hole valley I am quite amazed to see zippo in the parking areas. Amazed but very delighted I might add. Since the area was vacant, I drove to the different ramps to see what was happening and there were no fish working at this time, therefore my decision was to amble along the river and watch until something transpired. I've always enjoyed observing the water and movement of the fish in respect to the current, watching how they take their food and how varied it is depending on the type of food. I could see the fish were moving side to side taking nymphs along the bottom so a midge larvae would do the trick. It would have to be very small, maybe a size #26 to actually match the present midges, but if the imitation was tied very slender one could get away with a slightly larger size in the hook.
Before very long the wind began to kick in gear and there were small gusts whipping down river for the rest of the day. Never to the point it would kick me off the river though, so I kept watching and eventually started seeing a few fish moving toward the surface, although not actually breaking through, they were just taking emergers as they approached the top. When the sun broke through the heavy layer of clouds and shone on the water heads began poking through and I could also observed adult midges floating with the current. At this point I already had my rod ready with a tiny Griffith Gnat tied on. The rod I was using today was an 8' 8" 3 weight Scott G series. The G series are made for very light tippet. They are very forgiving while fighting big fish on light tippet, and so smooth to the cast. I picked the closest fish to me and watched his rise pattern then, trying to time the cast to his rises, I laid the little Gnat just a foot in front of the fish. As it drifted down and over him I could see the fish totally disregard the fly and keep looking for emergers. After several more casts and nothing I tried the fly over several other fish with the same results. Also, as I was working to these fish I noticed a tendency of the fish to only come to the surface while the sun was shining bright on the water. At this point I found a seat on a log to change flies, but instead of changing I added one. Off the bend of the hook I tied 12 inches of 7x leader and attached a very tiny nymph with a loop wing case on it, no weight, and after several cast had my first fish. It was a brown about 18 inches but very slender. It looked as though it had recently completed spawning, which resulted in a very weak struggle. After several more fish caught and quite a few others still refusing I switched the tiny nymph to a size 26 Befus Emerger and stuck a nice Rainbow on the first cast. This one fought very well taking my line into the heavier current, but ultimately he was landed, a very pretty bright fish with a brilliant red stripe. At this point the clouds moved back overhead cutting off the direct light and the fish all went down. Any rises were very sporadic making it hard to cast to any particular fish.
Looking at the clouds moving over it was evident the sun was not coming back out any time soon therefore it was up to me to either change tactics or pick up and go home. Usually by this time I am satisfied and ready to go. Today I was curious to see what the fish were going to do after a time with the heavier cloud cover. Would they start coming to the surface anyhow or change to just taking nymphs along the bottom? I could see the fish still working the bottom fairly well, so I knew that a tiny nymph would do the trick, or perhaps an egg pattern would still entice a few fish. Instead, I moved down river to an area where the current was mild, smooth and about 4 feet deep. Here I could watch the fish and see what they were up to. In this particular spot the fish were not just working the very bottom. I could see them ranging from just under the surface to the bottom. It looked like they were going to rise, but they would always intercept whatever they were after just before or half way up, then turn over and go back to their spot near the bottom. Several fish closer to the seam of the faster current were hanging more near the top, but were still feeding just underneath, never breaking the surface. This is a condition I enjoy fishing to with nothing but a tiny nymph, no weight nor indicator. I fish it just like a dry fly and judge where it is in the flow. One of my favorite ties for this style is a RS11 nymph or emerger. I tied on a tiny size 26 to 7x tippet and put it over a fair size Rainbow in very quiet water and watched him suddenly hook and take something. In this situation when I cannot see my fly I just make a back cast and if the fish is on it is the best strike one can make. This fish headed for the heavier current, spooking all the fish lined up. It didn't take long for them to move back into position and to continue as if nothing had happened. I moved through this entire slick casting to fish after fish having very good luck after solving the solution of emerging midges. Several of the fish were very respectable browns and rainbows, none touching the 20 inch mark but hovering very close. After about 2 hours of this fishing in three different slicks near the cliffs at the bottom of the Little Hole valley I had enough. The trout do not appear to be rising to the surface as readily as I would expect them, although remembering last year they didn't really start until New Years. Maybe I'm just getting ahead of myself.

In talking to some other fishermen the following day  who floated section A, (Red Canyon section) they had an extremely good streamer day hitting fish all the way, for some very fast fishing.