Nothing but Yellow Belly

September 26, 2010

What a September! Today was in the 80ºs. The sky was cloudless and there wasn’t an ounce of wind all day. The willows, aspens and cottonwood trees are glowing with gold and the hillsides are vibrant red from the wild roses, mountain maples and hawthorns. Hardly a single turned leaf has fallen yet. September is truly the best time of year in the Yellowstone area and this year we are having the best of the best.

Today I floated the Moose to Wilson section of the Snake River in Jackson Hole Wyoming with Gary Eckman and Cooper. Cooper you should remember from previous blogs is Gary Eckman’s fourteen year old son that has become quite a proficient fly fisher. We got an early start today of about 8 am. Right now, 8 am is about sunrise here. It should have been freezing cold but instead it was a balmy 50 degrees. We all wet waded from start to finish.

Fishing started surprisingly slow despite the seemingly perfect conditions. I rowed the first hour while Cooper practiced his streamer fishing and Gary plopped an ant pattern along the banks. Other than a follow on the streamer and a small swirl behind the ant the cutthroats were asleep. Wildlife always seems to make up for lack of fish. We saw a gigantic bull moose tearing up some willows, a mule deer and her nearly full grown fawn, numerous elk, eagles and a long tail weasel along the banks as we drifted. Just to spice things up even more we floated into the famous “Bourbon Channel”. I’m not a big fan of the channel as it is one if you are the oarsman you row and that’s it. You can’t relax and enjoy your surroundings for even a split second or you’ll sink the boat. The Bourbon Channel is small and winding. The water moves fast and there are boat flipping snags and debris every inch of the way. It’s probably one of the most treacherous sections of all the Snake River. Take your eyes off what’s ahead of you for a second and your life is in danger.

We successfully navigated through even the most hair-raising mazes of the channel. There was no doubt that my workout for the day was complete. Once we got back to the main river the fishing turned on. It could have been the time of day but I think it was the slower water. This time of year the Snake River cuttys like a steady flow along a rocky ledges and the drop-offs just below riffles. There were plenty of bugs hatching. This late summer weather continues to deliver PMD’s. It’s late for PMD’s but we saw some. Then there were numerous Mahogany Duns and the occasional Snake Drakes, a large mayfly about a size 12. Fish began to rise and we all fished dry flies for the remainder of the day.

Today’s highlight, was watching Cooper catch his biggest fish ever on a dry fly on the Snake. The catch occurred during a time when he was getting a little distracted. The Snake River has one of the best sucker populations you can imagine. If you look into the water from the front of the boat while drifting you notice huge fish moving along the bottom all day long. While many anglers freak out thinking they are all huge trout, most of us know that most of these fish are actually suckers. Naturally, the fact that they are so much bigger than most trout in the river, Cooper wants to catch one bad. And while he should be carefully mending and watching his drifting dry fly, he’s often in a trance staring into the water ahead of the boat. I always watch his drifting fly and find myself constantly telling him to mend, dry your fly, recast and when we are lucky, set the hook. I must sound like a broken record.

Fortunately for us, not the cutthroat, Cooper was watching his fly when a big yellow belly slowly elevated from bottom to the surface and ate his Mahogany Wulff. You could see that this was a big trout and somehow Cooper kept his cool and set the hook on him like a pro. But once the fish was on, Cooper got very nervous. Now he truly knew how big this trout was and like any kid he wanted this fish in the net. He wisely asked for advice on the best way to get him there. Gary and I were thrilled and did our best of coaching Cooper through the event. He handled it beautifully and a few minutes after hook up I netted Cooper’s gorgeous cutthroat trout.

It was another great day on the Snake River in Jackson Hole Wyoming. Cooper relished in his success for an hour or so before going on a full time sucker hunt. Gary and I  enjoyed the weather and scenery and took turns fishing and rowing. We caught plenty of fish but today was by no means as good as it has been in previous weeks. As much as I’m not ready for it, what we really need to trigger our fall fishing is fall weather. Next on the agenda Granny and I will be chasing some big browns and brookies on some secret lakes. Stay tuned . . .

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

A Good Start for the Good Times Team

September 11, 2010

While many fly fishermen still don’t like the sounds of competition fly fishing, I personally love it. I love when every fish has meaning and I love a day on the water when someone is keeping score. It’s an adrenaline rush that I used to thrive on when competing in the World Fly Fishing Championships. While the Jackson Hole One Fly Contest is not nearly as demanding as World Competition, it is competition nonetheless. And the Good Times Team is in it to win.

I awoke at 4:30 am without and alarm and meticulously went over my gear one last time. My stuff was ready three days ago but I just wanted to be sure. At 5:30 Rob Parkins picked me up and off we went to breakfast at the Gun Barrel Restaurant where the guides pick up all contestants for the day. I wolfed down a heap of food knowing there would be little time to eat lunch during the days contest. Then I met up with the competitor I fish against in my boat (It happens to be long time friend Joe Debryan) and our guide Charles Kempe and off we went to the Wilson Bridge Boat Launch.

The way the One Fly Contest works is each angler draws a random stretch of river and floats it with a randomly drawn guide and a person from another team. There are about 40 teams of four anglers each. Therefore there are 160 anglers spread out all over. The guide is the judge and measures and counts the fish caught. Every fish you catch is worth 2 points. It doesn’t matter if he’s 2 inches or 20 inches. He’s two points. Then, you are allowed to measure eight fish, six of which earn you bonus points. How many bonus points depend on the size of your eight measured fish. For instance a 12” trout is worth 10 points while a 16” fish is worth 60 points. Measured fish must be over 12”s and although it sounds easy to catch eight fish over 12”s, you would be surprised how many anglers don’t. If you don’t measure at least six, your score will be low.

Anyway, Joe, Charles and I had planned our attack on Thursday night at the cocktail party once we knew we drew each other. Even though Joe and I are competing for our own teams, it’s still advantageous to work together and fish similar flies. Per our discussion with Charles, we were set on making our one fly choice a dry fly. However, last night at the One Fly Dinner, I heard that the dries didn’t do so well yesterday on our stretch so I started considering a streamer. Now if one guy streamer fishes and the other dry fly fishes than each angler is hindered by the other. In other words I had to get Joe to do the same or stick to the dry. We discussed it and although Joe was a little reluctant, being the good guy that he is, he said he’d do it.

Our guide Charles Kempe wasn’t there last night so this morning we caught him by surprise when we told him we decided against the dry fly and were going with streamers. He had tied us each a bomb proof dry fly to use today. However he too knew the dry’s fished mediocre at best yesterday and was excited at the thought of a streamer. It was a done deal. I fished an olive weighted eyeballed streamer tied by Scott Sanchez and Joe fished his concoction that was browner in color.

It was cold as heck at the boat ramp at 8 am. There was a thick frost formed by the fog lifting off the Snake with the sunrise. It was going to be awhile before the cutthroats woke up. At 8:30 the tournament started and Charles pushed us off. Knowing the fish may not be eating yet, Joe and I each fished conservatively, not wanting to risk losing our one fly. Then at about 9:15 Joe landed a 14 incher. He wisely had Charles measure it and Joe was on the board. Joe went on to measure a 12 incher at about 10:30 yet I still didn’t have a fish. I hadn’t even rolled one yet and although there was plenty of time left (we fish until 4:30) I was ready for my first. Then finally I got one that was 15 inches at 10:40.

Our fishing improved as the day went on. Things warmed up considerably and soon it was one of those spectacular September days that Jackson Hole Wyoming is famous for. The sky was blue, the temps were around 70º and the Tetons were gleaming over the valley. Best of all, by noon, Joe and I each had four measured fish. I was very lucky in that one of mine was 17 inches and one was 18 inches long. It was obvious the streamer was the correct choice. There was little to no hatch occurring and we talked with competitors fishing dries from other boats and they weren’t doing well.

By 4:30 Joe and I each filled our measured fish cards and had a pile of 2 point fish to go with it. Our scores were excellent for that stretch of river. Joe scored around 380 points and I scored 450 points. Compared to most others, we were top scorers on Wilson to South Park. When I got back to the Gun Barrel Restaurant for dinner to catch up with my teammates, I found that everyone did well. Best of all, Gary Eckman, who was on the South Fork River today, caught a 24 inch brown. That trout alone earned him 300 points! He managed three other measurable trout and he scored over 500 points. With all our success today we are excited to say we are in 2nd place. Gary is in the top ten for individuals and I am in the top twenty. Best of all for me, I have the South Fork of the Snake River with Mike Bean tomorrow. I should be able to at least score another 400 points that should lift my standings and keep our team in the running. Things are good!

Sorry there are not more photos but you can’t put down the rod in competition too often. I can tell you there is a picture of Gary’s big 24” brown. I will get it posted as soon as I get the photo from Gary.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Repeat Today!

September 9, 2010

The 2010 Jackson Hole One Fly Contest is underway! The actual competition fishing part didn’t start yet (the fishing is Saturday and Sunday), but the stream of events started tonight. We had the kick off cocktail party and all contestants learned where they will be fishing, who their guide is and who they will be competing against in the boat. On Saturday I will be fishing on the Snake River from the Wilson Bridge to South Park Bridge. My guide is Charles Kempe and my boat partner is Joe Debryan. Although I’m not too excited about that stretch of river, both the guide and boat mate are friends so it should be lots of fun. On Sunday I’m fishing the Lower South Fork Canyon. I lucked out on my guide draw getting Mike Bean whom ironically Gary and I fished with today. My boat mates first name is Scott but I don’t know him and couldn’t not find him tonight. I’m sure he will be fun and we will have a great time.

Before the party, Gary Eckman and I fished together to get in one final practice day and to celebrate Gary’s birthday. You would never know it but Gary turned 70. Just like last week, Gary booked Mike Bean to guide us on the South Fork and I had the good fortune to go along. Since about the beginning of August Gary Eckman and I have fished at least one day a week on either the Snake or the South Fork rivers to sharpen our skills and get tuned in to what flies and tactics are working best this season. Some days we floated and fished on our own but the last three times Gary hired us a guide which I can tell you is quite a treat for me.

Today’s weather signals that fall is right around the corner. We awoke to a cold drizzle. Gary picked me up at my house at 7 and when we went over Pine Creek Pass it was actually spitting snow on top. All I could  think about was the fact that I didn’t bring my waders! Mike met us in Swan Valley Idaho and we were floating and fishing before 9. This was kind of a reconnaissance mission for him too. Guides also want to do well in the One Fly because they are awarded for having top scores from their boats.

I am torn on what fly to use in this contest. Remember, you are only allowed one fly each day. If you choose a lousy one you’re stuck with it. On that note, today I switched each hour to test a variety of bugs. I have come to the conclusion that as far as the South Fork goes I can fish a streamer, a size 18 PMD or even some type of Chernobyl ant and do well. The way the contest works is you really need to just catch six fish that you measure and get good points for. If they average over 15”s then you will get enough bonus points to  do well. I felt that today I could do that with any of these flies. Gary and I absolutely destroyed the fish. Honestly, I’ll bet we caught twenty fish over 16”s EACH! And several were over 18”s. Our scores would have been through the roof!

Today’s weather had a lot to do with it. It stayed nasty, cold and rainy all day. Really it was the kind of day most guide trips get cancelled. That’s a big mistake around here. Rainy weather always means good fishing in the Yellowstone area. The hatches today were the best I can recall and the fish were border line suicidal to eat any fly. The weather for the contest is predicted to be warm and sunny. Fishing conditions will be much different. However, I think that the Good Times Team is ready to rock and perhaps we can repeat today when it counts this weekend!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Sad Day on the South Fork

The minute I got in the truck with Gary Eckman today on the way to the South Fork he gave me the somber news that a fishing guide drown on the river last night. He told me the few details he heard, one of which was that the guide was from Driggs, Idaho.

It was too early for such information. The whole thing hit me so fast that it took me a few minutes to process. Then like and siren sounding off in my head I realized what the likelihood was that this was a friend. The fishing community in Teton Valley is small and close. Everyone knows everyone and I am friends with most the fishing guides from Driggs, Idaho to Pinedale, Wyoming. Many are fellow employees whom I saw nearly every day for years. They’re like family. I urgently flipped open my phone and made some calls.

I didn’t find out much. I was just glad to hear some voices. I thought perhaps I’d be lucky not to know this person. But when Gary and I got to the South Fork I wasn’t so fortunate. The guide was indeed a friend, not from Driggs but rather Victor.

The friend was Rob Merrill. Rob was a fellow employee at the Jack Dennis Fly Shop and we carpooled from Victor to Jackson Hole Wyoming for several years. The last few years he has managed Three Rivers Ranch Orvis Fly Shop in Driggs. He made a great name for himself with his knowledge of the surrounding waters. Rob was as passionate about fly fishing and teaching others about the sport as anyone I’ve known.

Rob had more than enough experience wading and boating our fantastic fly fishing waters. Unfortunately Wednesday night his boat hit a tree and overturned. While his clients were lucky enough to swim to shore, Rob Merrill was wearing waders and could not. This type of accident can happen to the most qualified boaters but remarkably the possibility rarely crosses our mind.

Gary and I met up with fishing guide Mike Bean of Idaho Falls. Mike is highly regarded as one of the finer guides of the South Fork River. I’d never met Mike before, but I knew that even though I know the South Fork well, there was opportunity to learn a lot more from Mike. But although I should have been excited about this I couldn’t get my mind of Rob.

As we pushed off the Conant Boat Ramp to float the Upper Canyon section, police in jet boats, sheriffs on jet-skis and even a lone helicopter searched the river for Rob. Naturally on every cast I too was looking. Usually I found myself staring aimlessly in the water while other times I prayed to see him on the bank freezing cold just waiting to be rescued. As far as our fishing went, it was decent. I banged up a few nice trout on streamers and once the sun warmed Gary picked off some huge cutthroats with one of Mikes special ant flies. The fishing progressively slowed down and by 2 pm we had trouble catching any fish at all. We noticed that the water level was dropping. It was obvious that the Bureau of Reclamation reduced the flows at the Palisades Dam in order make the search for Rob easier.

Throughout the day Rob’s accident began to sink in. It was a challenging afternoon in many ways. Our fishing was tough while my mind raced with ideas on how Rob could be OK. We did have some high fishing moments. One thing about fish is, when the water drops they panic. But while it seems that most retreat to the deep, some quickly return to the shallows and feast like it’s their last meal. We managed to catch a dozen or so nice cuttys from the riffles on tiny size 20 Pale Morning Duns (PMD’s).

By the time we finished our float, Search and Rescue had retrieved Rob’s drift boat 1 ½ miles downstream of the accident, but there was still no sign of Rob. Deep inside I knew if Rob was alive on the bank he’d of been found by now. I was losing hope. The South Fork is a huge river and there are many pools that are far too deep to see bottom from standing in a boat with polarized glasses. As we left, divers were beginning to help with the search but as of nightfall they had no success. Tomorrow the search will continue.

As for me I’m going to take a fishing break for a few days. This will be a good time to stay around the house and catch up on many things. One of these things will be thinking about Rob Merrill and about life in general. What’s really important and what’s not? This is an accident that could happen to me or anyone reading this. What if? We all walk a fragile line and it’s unfortunate that it takes tragedies such as this for us to realize that.

Go fishing, spend time with family and friends and enjoy as much as you can.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Bring Boots to the Snake

August 26, 2010

There are few living legends these days, but Boots Allen is one. Boots has been fishing the Snake River in Jackson Hole Wyoming his entire life and guiding since he was old enough. He is truly one of the best fishing guides on the river. His grandfather, also Boots Allen, and father Joe Allen, pioneered much of the fishing in Jackson, Wyoming and surrounding areas. They also designed many proven fly patterns including the famous Double Humpy. I have the good fortune of being friends with young Boots and even knew both of his elders. In fact, when I first moved to Wyoming back in 1987, one of my favorite things in the winter was to pick up sucker meat for ice fishing bait from his grandfather Boots. The quick stop for bait would turn to hours of incredible stories from the old days of Jackson Hole. I also sold Double Humpies for his father Joe; he too had more than his share of incredible stories.

Today I had the good pleasure of taking a seat in Boots boat. Gary Eckman, whom you should know by now, invited me to join him on a guided trip with Boots. Each year Gary hires Boots a couple weeks before the One Fly Contest in order to pick up any new secrets that may have evolved since last year. Boots guided us on the Moose to Wilson stretch. This stretch starts in Grand Teton National Park and ends outside the Park at the Wilson Bridge on Highway 22 just west of Jackson. It’s one of the longer floats – about 14 miles. And one of the more demanding stretches in that you better know how to use those oars or you could be headed for disaster. We saw two sunken boats today.

Like Gary and I, Boots is gearing up for the One Fly. The Snake is one of those rivers that changes from year to year. Spring runoff on the river itself annually creates new channels and removes some of the old. Hatches can vary from year to year and the overall feeding patterns of the cutthroats can change. In other words, even though Boots knows this river inside and out, noticing and adjusting to the Snakes subtle changes is what makes a guide and angler more successful than others.

Rarely do guides in the Jackson Hole area get customers capable of effectively fishing streamers. It’s too bad because streamers can be murder on the biggest Snake River Cutthroats in the river. With that in mind and knowing that Gary and I can toss a streamer, Boots asked us to give them a whirl to start. I had already planned on starting with a streamer and was rigged and ready.

We drifted and pounded the banks with streamers most of the day. As expected we moved many quality Snake River Cutthroats. For me, it was one of the best days I’ve seen on the Snake in recent memory. It would not be an exaggeration to say we landed more than a dozen cuttys over 15”s with several of those over 17”s. We even landed one that Boots measured at 19”s – a true monster for the species. As preparation for Boots, he floated us down several channels he had not tried yet this year. We also walked into a few spots that are often overlooked by the average angler. Now Boots also knows what to expect in these locations and doesn’t have to explore during the tournament, an ultimate no no.

We finished up the long float just after 5 pm. It was a superb day and as always fun to fish with Gary. As far as Boots goes, this was my first time I his boat. I’ve been with hundreds of guides over the years and many good ones. I can tell you, Boots shines with the best of the best. It’s not only his knowledge of the Snake River but also his own desire to catch fish. The One Fly is exactly two weeks away. It’s time to start crossing the fingers in hopes that one of our team members draws Boots on Moose to Wilson.

To learn more about the Snake River – read “Snake River Fly Fishing: Through the Eyes of an Angler” by no other than Boots!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Cooper Chuckin Streamers

Today was Friday on the South Fork of the Snake River with Gary and Cooper Eckman. Cooper is the 14 year old fly fisherman and son of Gary that I introduced last Friday. He loves to fish and I enjoy watching him in action. This week Cooper showed up with a plan – he was going to throw streamers in search of a “River Monster”.

Prior to today, Cooper only dabbled in streamer fishing. He’s already a very competent dry fly angler. He can feed a big bushy dry fly down a grassy bank and he can present a tiny Pale Morning Dun pattern to a selective cutthroat on a riffle with the best of them. But he knows that fishing a streamer is its own art. He also knows that larger trout are often times more likely to prey upon small fish rather than tiny insects. That’s how they get big. So in turn, if he’s going to get that River Monster, he needs to learn how to fish streamers effectively.

A good place to catch trout on streamers is the canyon of the South Fork. This is a 26 mile stretch of water that can be broken down into two stretches, the Upper Canyon and the Lower Canyon. No matter what section you do, it’s an awful car and trailer abusing shuttle because part of it is a fifteen mile washboard dirt road to a place called Cottonwood. If you do the whole canyon you avoid the washboard dirt road altogether and shuttle drivers simply move your car down the highway and there’s little fear of your car and trailer being tortured. In order to do the entire canyon you must do a two day overnight trip, bring a motor or row your butt off a portion of the day. We opted to do the whole canyon and row our butts off a portion of the day.

That meant an early start to the day. Fridays are a tough one for me because Thursday nights are “Music on Main” in Victor Idaho. It’s a heck of an outdoor concert at the park only a rocks throw from our house. We do “Music on Main” whether we like it or not, fortunately we love it.

The boys picked me up at 7:20 am and we were launching at 8 sharp. I grabbed the oars and while Gary and Cooper got rigged up I pushed us downstream. I rowed for about 90 minutes or to a landmark known as “Hole in the Wall”. “Hole in the Wall” is just that, a huge hole or cave high up on a rocky cliff. It’s about a third of the way down through the entire canyon. It’s an absolutely gorgeous place and one of the most beautiful floats. Like fishing in Grand Teton National Park the other day, it’s hard to watch your fly and not just stare at the scenery.

It’s tough to row past good looking water. I know Cooper and Gary were ready to fish five minutes into our long row. But everyone just kicked back and enjoyed the scenery and wildlife. Cooper made a cast on occasion just to check if we were there yet. When we started, we were all ready for it. I watch with anticipation as Cooper made his first few casts. To start, Cooper was casting his two streamers like a dry fly. However after a little coaching he put a little more authority into his cast and put the flies where they needed to be; now we just needed a fish.

We easily went a mile without seeing a single fish. Cooper started second guessing the streamer like any 14 year old kid would. I kept saying fish it through this bank. Then the next bank would look good and I’d suggest he do it again. Finally Cooper was ready for a break. But there was one bush he just had to throw his flies too. I promised him this would be the last one he had to cast too. And sure enough, he hooked up to his biggest fish of the day.

Cooper landed a fat cuttbow. It was his River Monster and boy was he satisfied. We took a few photos and then as you can imagine, the streamers were back in the water most of the remainder of the day. Sure Cooper threw dry flies on occasion, but for the most part he stuck to the streamer. Cooper can fish a streamer superbly after one day in the South Fork Canyon. He ended up with several cutthroats and even a nice brown. We finished up our long float at about 7 pm. As always we had a great time.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

The Snake River Heating Up

We should have known our day would start slow when some kayakers asked us how big the fish in the Snake River can get. As we floated by them Chez answered, “My biggest ever was two feet.”

One of the kayakers responded, “Is that 23 inches?”

I picked up my rowing pace and off we went. I was floating with Gary Eckman and Scott Sanchez (Chez) and we were on the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. There are several float trips in the Park; we did Pacific Creek to Deadmans. This float is about twelve miles long and is one of the most scenic float trips you can find on the planet. It’s directly under the Grand Teton mountain range and  so strikingly beautiful that it’s hard to follow your dry fly on the water without constantly being distracted by the view. Today the view was exceptional because there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky.

By now you know Gary. He is the founder and captain of the “Good Times” One Fly Team that I’m fishing on in September. You may also know Chez. He was on my blog in June when we went to the Big Hole River together. Chez is one of the most creative fly tiers of our time and we have been friends for nearly 25 years. He too is on Gary’s team. Anyway, it was another One Fly practice day. At this point in time contestants have no idea what stretches they will draw for the upcoming tournament so we’re trying to see as much of the Snake and South Fork Rivers as possible in the next couple weeks. The three of us are very familiar with both of these rivers but it never hurts to get some up to date practice.

The fishing on the Snake River typically gets good in mid to late August. What I mean by good is that the larger Snake River Cutthroats start to show themselves. Snake River Cutthroats are late spawners and spend much of the summer in the spring creeks flowing into the Snake. But as temperatures rise and water levels drop many of them migrate back to the main river. We figured today was a good time to have a look and see if they were around yet.

The fishing started slow. Gary rowed while Chez sat up front and tossed dries to the bank and I chucked streamers from the back of the boat. It’s doubtful that I’d ever throw a streamer in the One Fly on a Park stretch but because it’s so easy to lose your fly on sunken log (You only get one fly in the contest. You lose it your done!). I just wanted to see if I could move any monsters. While I picked up an occasional 12”er the monsters were no where to be seen.

We fished hard all morning. We rotated rowing, changed flies, fished the banks then tried inside turns, but the big fish where no where to be seen. We caught numerous small cutthroat trout but our biggest was only a 14”er I took on a brown and yellow screamer streamer. Actually that’s not true because I caught a lost lake trout that measured 16”s - an unusual catch on the river.

After a relaxing lunch and a couple cold beers we pushed off for the afternoon. Chez put on one of his famous Double Bunnies, an enormous streamer capable of luring out the most stubborn big fish in a river. Again, there was nothing spectacular to mention other than the scenery. But we’d been kind of glued to fishing the main river channel all day. One thing about the Snake River in the Park is that it has plenty of side channels. However, if you’re not familiar with them (and they change every year) you need to be careful about floating them. Many are un-navigable due to fallen trees. If you float down one for a half mile then run into this kind of trouble you are screwed. Playing it safe, we started rowing up the bottom of some channels and hit the lower pools. Sure enough we got a few cuttys around 15”s.

It was evident that the larger cutthroats were in the smaller water. That’s probably because the side channels are similar to the spring creeks where these fish spent June and July. We spent the remainder of our day floating and walking every side channel we could and the end result was about a dozen or so nice fish. Our biggest was one Chez subdued with a 3” long Double Bunny. This particular Snake River cutthroat trout came from under a fallen lodgepole pine. It looked like the burly fish was going to get back in there and break Chez off but Scott wisely jumped out of the boat for a little extra leverage and managed to win the battle.

It was another great day on the river with friends. If the One Fly was to start tomorrow I think we’d do just fine. Instead, tomorrow will be an artwork day along with some packing for a Tuesday Wednesday weekend with Granny. This week we will chase around the carp. Stay tuned . . . as you never know with carp fishing!

After a relaxing lunch and a couple cold beers we pushed off for the afternoon. Chez put on one of his famous Double Bunnies, an enormous streamer capable of luring out the most stubborn big fish in a river. Again, there was nothing spectacular to mention other than the scenery. But we’d been kind of glued to fishing the main river channel all day. One thing about the Snake in the Park is that it has plenty of side channels. However, if you’re not familiar with them (and they change every year) you need to be careful about floating them. Many are unavigatable due to fallen trees. If you float down one for a half mile then run into this kind of trouble you are screwed. Playing it safe, we started rowing up the bottom of some channels and hit the lower pools. Sure enough we got a few cuttys around 15”s.

It was evident that the larger cutthroats were in the smaller water. That’s probably because the side channels are similar to the spring creeks where these fish spent June and July. We spent the remainder of our day floating and walking every side channel we could and the end result was about a dozen or so nice fish. Our biggest was one Chez subdued with a 3” long Double Bunny. This particular Snake River Cutty came from under a fallen lodgepole pine. It looked like the burly fish was going to get back in there and break Chez off but Scott wisely jumped out of the boat for a little extra leverage and managed to win the battle.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Fishin’ with Cooper

Today was fishing with Cooper day. I don’t’ get to fish with Cooper too often because he’s 14. It seems half the summer is over before we get our first day out together and then before you know it school starts again. Cooper is the son of my friend Gary Eckman whom I wrote about on August 6th. Cooper would have joined Gary and me last Friday but he got into a dirt bike accident that required a heap of stitches in his knee and was not allowed off the couch until things started to heal.

Cooper is in charge of where we fish when he goes. He recently returned from an exciting trip to Alaska in which he caught a lot of BIG fish such as halibut, lingcod and golden eye. With that in mind, today he was in search of more big fish. He’s had most of his good luck over the years on the South Fork of the Snake so we did a repeat of what Gary and I did last week – the Upper South Fork from the Irwin Slide to Conant.

The boys picked me up at 9 am. I was glad for the late start as I’ve been fishing so much that I’m behind in everything from art to paying bills. Mornings are productive times for me. Once we got going Cooper was quick to flash his injured stitched up knee to me. It must have been an ugly mess when the accident happened because even though the wreck was two weeks ago his knee still looks kind of gross.

Once at the river we launched and Gary rowed us directly to the riffle where we spanked fish last week. We were early. We pulled into our hot spot and beached the  boat on a gravel bar. We sat and watched over cokes hoping to see some big cutthroats begin to rise. I was starting to think they moved out to the main river when the first fish barely broke the surface. This big cutty took a PMD by making less than a two inch ring on the surface. It was the true definition of the word sip. I told Cooper to be ready and he excitedly grabbed his rod and made an approach.

The fish may not have been quite ready to eat yet. Cooper made some casts with one of my Vladi CDC PMD’s but to no avail. I knew it was the right fly but Cooper was having trouble keeping it afloat. With CDC flies you really need to aggressively false cast between drifts to keep them floating and looking good. Gary switched him to a beetle but even the beetle didn’t work. Eventually Cooper took a break and Gary went in there and quickly nailed one on a tiny light Cahill. Cuttys on the South Fork are not known for putting up dazzling fights but this one had us fooled into thinking he was a rainbow or a brown trout. He pealed off line and tried to wrap Gary in the log piles before Cooper finally got him netted. It was a nice fish, in fact, one of the bigger cutthroats I’ve seen on the South Fork.

Cooper took another crack at the riffle where several fish started rising more frequently, but again they would not cooperate. Just downstream of us in some slower water another trout began to feed. This trout became very consistent and even though Cooper had fish in front of him, the cutty downstream was too much for him to tolerate so he went after him. I considered talking him out of his move because often times these trout in the slower water are near impossible to catch. In such slow water they can scrutinize your fly and your light tippet can look like a rope. They also cruise around all over and you don’t know if you really got your fly in front of them or not. I didn’t want Cooper to go down stream, not get the fish and get discouraged. But then I thought better of saying anything. Cooper is a good angler and if anything, it would be a learning experience. Five minutes later Cooper called for the net.

Cooper was hooked up to the sneaky cutthroat trying feed without us knowing. Like Gary’s cutthroat, this scrapper also put on a surprisingly good fight. Cooper and his 5-weight handled the battle like a pro and then he gave me a few pointers on when to net his fish. I listened and I scooped up the heavily spotted cutthroat on the first try.

We didn’t exactly spank the fish today like Gary and I did last week, but it was pretty darn good. Between the three of us we probably landed a dozen nice cutthroats, a brown, a rainbow and a quality whitefish. My highlight of the day wasn’t Cooper catching his cutthroat from the slow water at our first stop, but rather when Cooper perfectly executed a difficult cast to a rising fish far back in a cave at the base of a rock cliff. He had to do a side arm flip cast to get his fly to the trout. That’s not to mention all the willows he had to avoid with his back cast. Once he made the cast it was all you could do to see the tiny light Cahill he was using because of the darkness in the cave. But Cooper patiently worked to this fish for at least ten minutes until he hooked another dandy of a cutthroat.

The three of us enjoyed a great day on the water and we’re all lined up for another visit to the South Fork next Friday. I really get a kick out of watching kids get into the fishing and Cooper is over the top like I was at the same age. For me I believe this was my seventh day of fishing in eight days. I don’t mean to brag but I haven’t fished through a summer like this since I was Cooper’s age - before I got my first summer job over thirty years ago!

Cooper took another crack at the riffle where several fish started rising more frequently, but again they would not cooperate. Just downstream of us in some slower water another trout began to feed. This trout became very consistent and even though Cooper had fish in front of him, the cutty downstream was too much for him to tolerate so he went after him. I considered talking him out of his move because often times these trout in the slower water are near impossible to catch. In such slow water they can scrutinize your fly and your light tippet can look like a rope. They also cruise around all over and you don’t know if you really got your fly in front of them or not. I didn’t want Cooper to go down stream, not get the fish and get discouraged. But then I thought better of saying anything. Cooper is a good angler and if anything, it would be a learning experience. Five minutes later Cooper called for the net.

Cooper was hooked up to the sneaky cutthroat trying feed without us knowing. Like Gary’s cutthroat, this scrapper also put on a surprisingly good fight. Cooper and his 5-weight handled the battle like a pro and then he gave me a few pointers on when to net his fish. I listened and I scooped up the heavily spotted cutthroat on the first try.

We didn’t exactly spank the fish today like Gary and I did last week, but it was pretty darn good. Between the three of us we probably landed a dozen nice cutthroats, a brown, a rainbow and a quality whitefish. My highlight of the day wasn’t Cooper catching his cutthroat from the slow water at our first stop, but rather when Cooper perfectly executed a difficult cast to a rising fish far back in a cave at the base of a rock cliff. He had to do a side arm flip cast to get his fly to the trout. That’s not to mention all the willows he had to avoid with his back cast. Once he made the cast it was all you could do to see the tiny light Cahill he was using because of the darkness in the cave. But Cooper patiently worked to this fish for at least ten minutes until he hooked another dandy of a cutthroat.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

One Fly Contest Coming Quick

The famous Jackson Hole Wyoming One Fly Contest takes place this year on September 9 – 12. The One Fly is a friendly competition originally designed to extend the fishing business season of Jackson Hole for fishing guides and fly shops. Since the fly fishing boom of the 90’s that’s no longer the purpose of this fun event because anglers hire guides and buy flies year round anyway. What the One Fly does best now is raise money to improve fisheries nationwide.

In any event, it costs a lot of money to enter a four angler team and for that reason few fishing bums like me get to participate as an angler. However last year, Gary Eckman, the Captain of “Good Times” Team and a customer of mine when I worked at the Jack Dennis Sports fly shop, generously invited me on his team at not cost to me. To prepare, we fished together nearly every Friday and became great friends. Luckily, our team did well and I’m glad to say Gary is having me back this year.

Today was our first Friday fishing day of the season. We planned to start back in early July. That was before Gary nearly died of a blood clot after a surgery. He was very fortunate to survive and after six days in intensive care and two weeks in the hospital, today was one of his first days out. It was a special day to say the least.

We went to the South Fork of the Snake River here in Idaho. I’m not a big fan of the South Fork during summer months because of the enormous amount of boat traffic. You will undoubtedly see at least twenty other boats no matter what stretch you fish. But, like all crowded rivers, the South Fork is crowded for a reason – the fishing is spectacular and today was no exception.

Gary picked me up at my house at 8:30 am and we were on our way. It’s a short twenty-five mile drive from my house to the Irwin Slide boat launch. We were drifting down the South Fork before 9:30. Today was warm but by no means sunny. We’ve had thunderstorms nearly every day this week and this morning the sky threatened to deliver the first storm early.

Normally I streamer fish on the South Fork. That’s because it’s usually October or November. In the summertime the best fishing results come by staking out one of the huge riffles the South Fork is famous for and waiting for the Pale Morning Dun hatch to start. Once the hatch starts you can spend hours fishing dry flies to rising cutthroats, rainbows and browns. Today we got in the boat and rowed directly to one of Gary’s favorite riffles. Lucky for us, the only one there was a moose so we shared the place and kicked back and waited for the hatch.

Even when there’s not at hatch, if you watch the shallows closely on the South Fork you’ll see fish. As I gazed into the riffle I quickly spotted two nice cutthroats swerving side to side, obviously feeding on nymphs. After watching them for about ten minutes I tied on an ant pattern to a 12’ 4X Rio leader and made some casts. The two trout ignored my fly but then a rainbow I didn’t see lifted half way to the surface as if to give my fly an inspection. While most anglers continue to cast in such a situation, I like to make the trout wait before he sees my fly again. I don’t want is for the fish to get another good look right away and also, South Fork trout don’t see huge numbers of ants drifting downstream. Two ants drifting by in a row could make any trout very suspicious. So, I relaxed about five minutes then cast again. Immediately the rainbow came up and ate the ant. He was a decent bow of about 16”.

Gary and I caught fish steadily from that point on. I even accidentally snatched a mammoth dragon fly from the air during a false cast. Because of the warm temperatures and overcast skies (we had one thunderstorm) the PMD’s hatched like crazy. I fished one of Vladi's CDC mayflies he designed for fishing his waters in Poland. It’s a fly pattern South Fork trout haven’t seen and therefore it fooled them all day long. In that first riffle alone I landed a dozen or so cutthroats from 13” to 18”’s along with two of the fattest rainbows I've seen this season.

Our day was superb to say the least. The large number of boats and fellow anglers didn’t get to me at all. In fact, we ran into many of my friends that guide the South Fork every day. Most I haven’t seen since the season got busy so that added to an already great day. I guess summer on the South Fork aint so bad after all and I hope to get back next week. Late tonight one of my best friends, Derek Mitchell arrives in town and during coffee in the morning we will plan a two day fishing trip that will begin tomorrow. We are thinking somewhere in the Yellowstone backcountry.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site