The Grind

September 12, 2010

Day 2 in the Jackson Hole One Fly is where you need to make things happen. With our team in 2nd place we wanted to make the move forward and win the One Fly. Realistically, all each of us needed to do was have a slightly above average day. This sounds easy, but isn’t. Out of four anglers one could simply lose their fly, pick the wrong fly or just plain and simple, have an off day. I had pressure on me to perform. I drew the South Fork and it typically produces higher scores. While average on the Snake River is about 250 points, average on the South Fork is about 350 points. I really needed to make sure and break 400.

Deciding what fly to use was difficult again. Originally I planned to fish a streamer, but streamers are risky. Indeed the streamer paid off yesterday, but risk wasn’t such a factor as our team wasn’t in 2nd place yesterday. You can easily snag a streamer on unseen sunken tree branches or a rock and your fly is gone. The other thing about streamers is that when the fish aren’t on them, you could get skunked. Either way, if I didn’t come back today with a full card I’d hurt the team.

I arrived at the South Fork Lodge for breakfast at 6:15 am. This is where our guides and boat mates meet up for the South Fork. I had breakfast with good friend Mike Lawson. Mike too was in the One Fly and was also spinning about what fly to use. He also scored well on the Snake River yesterday and knew a good South Fork score would help his team and perhaps move him into high individual standings. Taking the pressure off us, we both decided we’d leave our fly choice up to our guide.

When my fly fishing guide Mike Bean arrived at the breakfast table he didn’t exactly tell me what fly to use. He too was torn. He’s seen me hammer fish on streamers and would do anything to see it today, but today the weather was crisp and clear and temperatures were expected to reach 77º. Streamer fishing on the South Fork can be slow I such conditions. With a small Pale Morning Dun dry fly he was sure I could fill my measured fish card. That is if I could keep the fly all day without losing it and hope that it didn’t fall apart. Both are major concerns with a small fly. Then we met my boat mate Scott. Scott was set on fishing a small dry fly. That was it; I too would go with a size 18 Pale Moring Dun Parachute Cripple.

Mike Bean is one of the best South Fork River guides and he had a plan. He pushed us away from the Spring Creek Boat Ramp at 8:15 and rowed like a mad man so that we would be in a good dry fly spot at exactly 8:30. Like yesterday, it was cold as heck and thick frost blanketed everything. When we got to Mike’s spot it was too cold. Not a fish stirred and even blind casting to where we knew fish lived did not entice a rise.

Fortunately, as the sun rose so did the thermometers. Today was going to be another September day of dreams. Scott and I simply had to be patient with our small flies. If the trout weren’t awake yet there was no sense in casting them to the banks and risk loss and add unnecessary wear and tear. With the exception of a few riffles we relaxed, held our flies and waited for the first insects to hatch.

It took longer then we expected. At 10:30 neither of us had one point on our score cards. There were no bugs and no rising fish. It was plenty warm enough by now. I was in shorts and a t-shirt and I was hot. Where were the fish? Mike remained cool and rowed us to his next spot. Sure enough there was our first  rising fish of the day. Scott and I were rotating the front of the boat each hour and it happened to be my turn. I studied the fish’s rises for a minute then delicately landed my cast. My presentation was poor compared to a normal day. The reason being that I was attempting to fish my tiny dry fly on 2X Rio Powerflex Tippet. On any normal day of fishing I’d have a size 18 dry fly attached to 4X or perhaps even 5X. But this was the One Fly Contest; I wasn’t going to risk fishing with a light tippet this early in the day. I flipped a couple mends in my fly line to help my stiff looking fly along and to my delight up came a gorgeous Yellowstone Cutthroat to consume it. I set the hook and like a normal day in paradise the fish was on and I brought the 16” trout to the net. Yes, I had my first fish of the day.

I was set to measure the trout. He was easily 16 inches and would score me 60 points, but Mike had bigger fish in mind. Somehow he talked me out of measuring the fish and accepting him as a mere 2 pointer. Wow! I was hesitant, but I picked the fish from the net and released him without measuring him. Then I plucked my fly up from the net and was just about to drop it and roll cast it out again to start fishing when I saw my PMD was not attached to my leader. My tippet had broken in the net! My heart dropped and a feeling of near disaster overtook me. When I told Mike what happened he nearly went into shock too.

I had work to do. Somehow I damaged my tippet earlier in the morning and didn’t know it. I cut the entire piece off and carefully tied on another with a triple surgeons knot. It took much longer than normal as my hands were shaking. Then I leaned back in my chair with my fly tightly clenched in my left hand and took a breather while Scott made some casts to some more rising fish. That was a close call.

Ten minutes went by and Scott wasn’t getting it done. Several fish rose to his fly but he missed each one. Mike asked me if I was finally ready. I was still rattled, but I made my cast and quickly hooked up. I landed another gorgeous 16” cutty. And once again, Mike talked me into taking him as a mere 2 point fish. I was a little uneasy letting these 16 inchers go without measuring them for bonus points. I knew all I needed was 400 points to help my team. What if now after I let these guys go I didn’t fill my card, or worse, lost my fly?

I missed the next three quality fish that ate my fly. It seemed my luck was taking a turn for the worst. It was after 11 when finally I hooked up again. Although I was relieved, this wasn’t a gentle fighting cutthroat but rather a scrappy rainbow. The bow leaped twice and then took off for the middle of the river and dove for bottom. I had little control. I knew he was down deep looking for trees to snag me on and rocks to grind my tippet against. It was really gut wrenching. At last, the fish gave in and Mike netted the rainbow. Enough is enough I said to Mike, measure that fish. I was just too uncomfortable without a bonus point fish on the board. He measured the rainbow and sure enough he was 16 inches on the nose.

I continued to miss fish but managed to pick up two more bonus point trout so that by 1:00 I had two 16 inchers and a 17 incher on the measure card along with several two point fish. I had three more hours to reach 400 points. Unfortunately Scott still sported a zero. He just wasn’t connecting at all. When Scott returned to the front of the boat Mike worked hard by coaching him while he fished to a pod of risers. It went on for fifteen minutes or so while I patiently watched from the back of the boat. It just wasn’t happening for Scott. Then in one swift move Mike spun the boat and said Jeff take a shot. I whirled a false cast straight up in the air as not to hook anything in the boat and as I went forward I felt my fly burry into  something high above us. It was a cedar tree branch dangling a good 30-feet above the river. Disaster had struck.

As the three of us tracked my fly line and leader up to the cedar branch there was dead silence. It was worse than initially thought. The branch was a snarled mess of twigs and needles high above the boat. You could follow my leader with your eyes but the fly was buried out of sight. By now Mike had the anchor dropped and was heading up the bank as if to just climb the tree and undo the mess. But it wasn’t so easy. This was a big tree extending off a cliff like bank and the first branch to grab for climbing was 10-feet up.

I handed my rod to Scott and headed up to the base of the tree where a bewildered Mike Bean stood with a very sad look on his face. I simply asked him for ten fingers and up I went to where I could grab that first branch. Using complete adrenaline, I swung my legs up and started to wiggle my way through closely knit branches high into the tree. Once I thought I was at the branch my fly was on, I asked Scott to pull tight to my fly. Soon I was scaling my way out over the river on this branch. But there was no way. I was out as far as I dared. The branch dipped down and swayed side to side as if it were about to snap. If the branch broke from under me I’d fall 30-feet onto jagged river rock. All I could see was my 2X Rio Tippet tightly wound and snagged deep in a cluster of branches about 8-feet from my reach. I was absolutely screwed.

Our first move was to try to reach it with the net. Mike threw it up to me and even it got tangled in the branches. This was not the tree to mess with. At last I got it and pushed it towards the end of the branch where my fly was. It was a useless operation. As I sat there uncomfortably and discouraged as you could be, I gazed at the anchor rope in the boat below me. That was it. If it was long enough I could tie it to this branch and from the ground we could pull on it until it snapped. It was a long shot, but the only shot.

Mike and Scott had to be shaking their heads by now, but Mike went through the trouble to disconnect his anchor. I hung like a monkey from my knees and Mike threw me the rope. I wrapped it around the branch so we had two ends of the rope to pull on and our last hope was underway. I climbed down and stood in the boat with my rod while Mike, a good sized man, pulled the rope. At first the branch was like a rubber band, it just wouldn’t break. Mike was actually getting tired of bouncing on that rope. Then without any hint at all the entire 300lb branch came crashing down on Mike and I. Once we realized no one was hurt we cheered and laughed. We had made a historic fly rescue.

My fly still wasn’t easy to find. It was tangled in there so bad that we never could have retrieved it by pulling my tippet. I was drained. I was scratched up, stressed out and plopped in the back of the boat and drank a beer. Now I had less than two hours to catch at least three more measurable fish. And poor Scott still hadn’t caught a single fish. Worst of all the trickle of a hatch we had earlier was all but gone. Things were ugly.

I felt terrible that I put my boat mates through such drama. I drank another beer and just sat and watched as Scott drifted his PMD along the bank while Mike back rowed. I wanted to fish but Scott needed to catch one first. There were absolutely no randomly rising trout. About then Scott buried his fly in the back of my neck. I let out a yelp. I don’t care what you say; even a small fly in the neck hurts. The One Fly is a barbless tournament so I reached up and carefully grabbed it and attempted to jerk it out. Unfortunately the flattened barb wasn’t flattened all the way and the skin on my neck stretched out an inch and snapped back putting the fly deeper into my neck. It was in there good. Scott felt terrible. I told him no big deal and Mike pulled over and with his forceps made a nice clean rip and the fly was out. Mike said it was time to check on his pets so while I soaked up a little blood with my t-shirt off we went to the cliffs of the South Fork Canyon.

There’s always a few cooperative fish at the cliffs. Scott tucked a cast into the first cave and wham, he had his first fish of the day and it was 15”. I was glad to see Scott on the board. As they measured I snuck my own cast back in the cave and I landed a 17” cutthroat. Things were looking up again. I only needed two more fish of 16 inches to rally for 400 points.

Let’s just say the last hour was a grind. Scott all but gave up on the day. It was hot. There was no hatch. Most of Mike’s pets were hiding. Things were bleak. I felt I didn’t deserve it, but Scott gave me the front of the boat again. For the last 45 minutes or so I made risky cast after risky cast. Sometimes I tossed my tiny PMD against the willows in fast water while other times I side armed so far back under trees that if I got hung we’d never find the fly. And it paid off. I went on to fill my card and my measurables included three 16” and three 17” trout. I also had sixteen two pointers and by miracle, kept my fly for another 25 point bonus. It was one of the toughest competition days I can remember but I grinded out 460 crucial points.

My poor boat mate landed only one fish. He wasn’t alone. Although there were a few fantastic scores on some fancy ant, many on the stretch did not fill their cards. This included Mike Lawson who hooked and lost a nice fish in the last minutes of the contest. When I arrived in Jackson after my near two hour drive from the South Fork Canyon, the scores were in. The Good Times Team had dropped to fourth place. Gary lost his fly before catching a fish today and our other anglers had a tough day. There was some good news though. Gary’s big 23 ½” brown from Day 1 earned him the big fish trophy and my grind of both days earned me third place individual. All our practice earned us something. It was a great One Fly and next year perhaps we can take the next step and the Good Times Team can win it all.

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

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

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

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