Exploring Jackson Hole
The river fishes best after spring runoff. Low flows and warmer water temperatures can put the fishing off in midsummer. As temperatures drop in the fall, Baetis and Mahogany Dun hatches can be quite good.
Trout Unlimited—along with the National Park Service and private landowners—is working to develop optimal, year-round stream flows to restore and maintain the Gros Ventre’s connection to the Snake as vital spawning habitat for migratory cutthroat, and to limit the impact of nonnative rainbows. [For more information, see tu.org and search for “Gros Ventre” or visit flyfisherman.com/grosventre.pdf.
The Editor.]
Hoback River
The Hoback, another major Snake tributary, is about a half hour’s drive south of Jackson. Like the Gros Ventre, it is a freestone stream with plentiful cutthroat and brook trout in the headwaters.
Public access along much of the Hoback is fairly straightforward: Highway 191 crosses the river multiple times, and two USDA Forest Service campgrounds—Hoback Campground and Kozy Campground—also provide access and accommodations. Much of the lower Hoback near its confluence with the Snake is private, so watch for signs. The Hoback provides great opportunities for fine-spotted cutthroat in the 8- to 16-inch range, and the deeper pools and cutbanks sometimes hold larger fish.
The 55-mile-long Hoback drains a large area and is a fast-moving, turbulent river from May to July. The water isn’t usually clear and fishable until midsummer. Caddis, stoneflies, and many of the same attractor patterns
effective on the Snake also work on the Hoback. For those looking to get even more off the beaten track, try exploring the upper Hoback basin.
Flat Creek
Flat Creek is the area’s most consistently challenging, technical angling. It is the only year-round, fly-only water in the state.
While Flat Creek isn’t actually a spring-fed creek, it may as well be, with slow-moving, nutrient-rich water meandering through the open meadows of the National Elk Refuge, and educated trout requiring stealthy approaches. This place confounds whatever assumptions you may have about the relative “intelligence” of native cutthroat.
Slower-action rods, light tippets, and precise imitations are required. Successful anglers spend a considerable amount of time locating specific risers, approaching the bank on hands and knees, and trying numerous imitations until finding the right pattern.
Fish over 20 inches are not uncommon in Flat Creek, but success is measured in quality, not quantity—catching a couple of nice fish makes for a good day. Few places can compete with the combination of challenge and scenery, as large trout sip tiny emergers, elk forage in the meadows, and the snow-dusted Tetons tower in the background.
Anglers are allowed to walk the 3 miles of Flat Creek passing through the refuge, but nowhere else, in consideration of the elk herd. Flat Creek is a tributary of the Snake and provides critical cutthroat spawning habitat well into summer, and therefore has a short season—the creek opens to fishing August 1 and closes October 31. Opening day on Flat Creek is highly anticipated, and the creek sees significant traffic in August. Expect crowds to thin out after Labor Day.
Late-summer hatches include Callibaetis, Gray Drakes, PMDs, Yellow Sallys, dark caddis (#16-20), and Tricos. They can overlap and occur simultaneously, creating multiple masking hatches. Carry a variety of adult duns, spinners, and emergers for all the hatches.
In August and early September, terrestrials are also important: carry ants (#16-18), beetles (Harrop’s CDC Beetle #14-18), and exacting grasshopper patterns (#8-14). As the weather cools in the fall, Mahogany Duns and Blue-winged Olives make for a productive midday fishery. Sleep in, eat a good breakfast, and get to the creek at your own pace. The best fishing isn’t until after lunch.
Due to the wary nature of the trout, and the stealth required to target them, be sure to give other anglers plenty of room and walk well away from the banks at all times. Even on busy days, there is usually plenty of room to spread out.
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park offers a number of creeks and lakes to explore, as well as sections of the Snake River.
Jackson Lake is the largest lake in Grand Teton National Park, and while it produces trout, most fly fishers focus on smaller waters nearby, such as Jenny and Leigh lakes, which are popular with float tubers, canoers, and wade anglers. Both lakes have fine fishing for cutthroat and occasionally produce big lake trout—particularly after ice-out or in the fall when the larger fish prowl the shallows.
As with most lakes, focus on the inlets and drop-offs. Both lakes provide excellent views of the Tetons—a big part of the park’s allure.
You can drive to Jenny and Leigh lakes, but the park also has excellent hike-in lakes. Bear Paw and Trapper lakes—a short walk north of Leigh Lake—are smaller, more intimate waters home to native cutts. Both lakes have backcountry campsites.
Bradley and Taggart lakes are south of Jenny Lake, and also offer good hike-in fishing for cutts and brookies, especially when flying black ants are most abundant in July and August.
UnlikeYellowstone National Park, a park fishing license is not required in Grand Teton National Park; a Wyoming fishing license will do. If you are going to use a boat—even a canoe or float tube—you must have a boat permit, available at any park visitor center. Nonmotorized permits are $10 per week; $20 annually. Motorized permits are $20 per week; $40 annually.
There are black and grizzly bears in the park. Make plenty of noise while hiking and carry bear spray. Check at the visitor center for news of bear sightings and possible trail closures.
Additional Considerations
At an elevation just over 6,000 feet, seasons in the Jackson area run from hot summers to brutal alpine winters. The most comfortable fishing weather is spring through fall, and hardcore fly fishers can usually find somewhere to fish year-round. The shoulder seasons—April and early May prior to spring runoff, and September and October—can be excellent, with little competition from other anglers, but be prepared for inclement weather. Even in summer, if you venture far from your vehicle, a rain shell and a layer of fleece are good ideas. Summer storms can build quickly and turn a sunny day into a deluge.
More than 97 percent of the land in Teton County, Wyoming, is public, so access is usually not a problem. However, Wyoming water laws allow landowners to own the streambed, making actions such as dropping anchor while drifting through private property technically illegal, if the landowner decides to be a stickler.
Whirling disease and didymo algae are present in some Jackson area waters. Precautionary steps such as dunking wading gear in a diluted bleach solution after each day, or when you move from one body of water to another, are essential to prevent spreading these threats. Please comply with local expectations and be diligent about cleaning your gear. High Country Flies has a dunk tank on its back porch, open to the public 24 hours per day, and there are similar tanks at Snake River boat ramps and Flat Creek parking areas.
Other Waters
It’s hard to imagine a finer or more varied trout paradise than Jackson Hole. Outside the immediate area, you’ll also find the South Fork of the Snake, the Henry’s Fork of the Snake, the fabled waters of Yellowstone National Park, the Wind River, and a number of other lesser-known rivers, creeks, and lakes that, if they didn’t live in the shadow of the aforementioned giants, would be known as excellent fisheries in their own right.
Bruce Smithhammer lives in eastern Idaho. He works at High Country Flies in Jackson, Wyoming.
Local
Contacts
Fly Shops
• High Country Flies
(307) 733-7210
(866) 733-7210
highcountryflies.com
• Jack Dennis Sports
(307) 733-3270
(800) 570-3270
jackdennis.com
• Orvis, Jackson Hole
(307) 733-5407
orvis.com/jacksonhole
• Snake River Angler
(307) 733-3699
(888) 998-7688
snakeriverangler.com
• Westbank Anglers
(307) 733-6483
(800) 922-3474
westbank.com
* All Jackson fly shops also offer
guide services.
Outfitters
• Bridger Wilderness Outfitters
(888) 803-7316
bwo.com
• Jackson Hole Anglers
(888) 458-7688
jacksonholeanglers.com
• Reel Deal Anglers
(877) 744-0522
reeldealanglers.com
Lodges
• Crescent H Ranch
(307) 732-0784
crescenthranch.com
Fine accommodations and private water on Fish Creek.
• Flat Creek Ranch
(307) 733-0603
flatcreekranch.com
Dude ranch with private fishing on upper Flat Creek and 45-acre Flat Creek Lake.
• Turpin Meadow Ranch
(800)743-2496
turpinmeadowranch.com
Guest ranch on the Buffalo Fork of the Snake River. Group programs for kids ages 6 to 12.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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