After monitoring reports, tweets from guides, and other assorted sources, I finally took off for the Rocky Mountains on the 6th of July for two weeks of unadulterated, uninterrupted FLY FISHING! My first night was spent in far Eastern Nevada, where I enjoyed the moonrise, along with a nice glass of wine and some distantly howling coyotes.
After getting up early, I drove a good chunk of the day and finally hit Dutch John, Utah, got some flies, a license, and set up for a float on the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam. That night I fished a thick caddis hatch at Little Hole and caught some chunky browns. The next AM I got up and got my ‘toon ready to do the float, starting at the base of the dam.
The scenery was AMAZING! What a beautiful place, and a bonus was the fishing was quite good, too. The fly of the day was the Yellow Sally, which got a LOT of looks from some huge rainbows and browns, and of course some hook-ups, too, but most just came up for a look and a “nuzzle,” as a local guide explained it. The water down there is really clear, so seeing very large trout come off the bottom to look at your fly was a breath-taking experience that became almost routine. If all of those looks had turned into actual fish-on, it would’ve been an absolutely epic day.
Even if the fishing had been crummy (which it wasn’t), it was worth it just to float the canyon itself. I only spent two days there, but I will certainly be back in the future.
I logged some more miles on the highway the next day, seeing this scenic Wyoming canyon later in the day
One of the locals in the stream down at the bottom of the canyon.
This fat Bonneville Cutthroat was my first fish down there, which responded quite well (obviously) to DaveB’s “Big Ugly” fly. This was the first specie of trout that I was hoping to catch so I could complete Wyoming Game and Fish’s “Cutt Slam” program. This is where you catch the four cutthroat trout in their native drainages the state of Wyoming, I caught a Yellowstone Cutt a few years back, so I only had two more to go after this big Bonnie.
A backcountry traffic jam; Wyoming style. What the FLOCK!
The next specie for the Cutt Slam was a Colorado Cutt, which I was finally able to get this small one in a small, high country stream.
The Wyoming high country certainly is beautiful.
This is a clue to the region that I was in. Look THIS up on your topo maps!
Headwaters, anyone?
A nice Snake River Finespotted Cutt, which was the fourth and final cutt that I needed for the Cutt Slam program. SUCCESS! I got this one out of the Hoback River, which was still a bit high and off color, but the cutts were more than willing to rise to caddis dries in the late evening. As it got darker, the trout kept getting bigger and bigger, but I’d waded across a milty, rushing river to get to where they were rising, so I had to tear myself away from them so I didn’t have to wade back across in absolute darkness. Reluctantly, I left the next day so I could log some time on the Madison River in Montana.
The obligatory shot of the Tetons from Highway 22.
However, the mountains around the Madison were pretty spectacular after a late afternoon thunderstorm, too.
Why do I drive all the way to Montana from California to fish a river? So I can catch fat, hard-fighting 18 inch browns like this one.
And the same, except in the rainbow trout variety. These shots are only a sampling of the typical kinds of trout I caught while spending several days on one of my favorite rivers. Damn, I LOVE this place!
For a little variety, I went to some new water and did a float on the Big Hole River, which fished quite well (but not as good as the Madison). The buzz amongst other anglers was that The Beaverhead was on fire, so I went there and floated that as well, but unfortunately, it was a total bust. I didn’t even have a bump the whole time I fished there, which was the same experience that others were having, from all of the other anglers I spoke to. Phooey! This is my put–in on the Big Hole River.
The days flew by quickly, and soon I needed to start the long drive back to California, so for a bit of variety, I took a different highway back through northern Nevada. Quite lonely, no?
I did detour long enough to fish a small stream and pick up a Humboldt Cutt, which was on my list of North American Trout, which I am trying to catch at least one of each, after doing all of the required research to find out where they are found.
Good times. Good memories. These are the kind of trips that get me through the winter when I’m Jonesing for a good fish trip.
Cheers!
--FlyGuy (Dave)
Favoured: 0
