Drifting the Wild: Chasing Cutts around Jackson Hole

This article originally appeared in the July 2008 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine.

---

On one of my first experiences fishing the Snake River, we hiked out to a gravel bar and found a nice riffle with a deep drop-off. We had the place to ourselves. I tumbled a double nymph rig over the drop-off, mended for a clean drift, and watched my bobber like a hawk.

Somewhere around the fifth or sixth whitefish you'd think I'd have clued in, but instead I sat down to enjoy the view of the Tetons and watch my friend try his luck. He tied on a big orange Stimulator with a small red Copper John on a 1-foot dropper, and cast it just inside the eddy line. Two drifts later the Stimmy dove violently, doubling over the rod. I soon saw a large, golden-red flank roll on the surface and disappear again, and that was all I needed to get off my butt and run down to the water, nearly face-planting as I tripped over my loose wader suspenders. A few minutes later we were looking at a 21-inch native cutthroat with a girth my friend could barely get his hands around.

Few places offer such expansive opportunities to pursue native trout as the Jackson Hole area: crawling on your hands and knees while stalking sippers on technical spring creeks such as Flat Creek, hiking to alpine lakes, exploring freestone streams in bear country, and drift-boating a classic Western river while casting big drys–all this within an hour's drive of Jackson.

Fishing the Upper Snake River

The Snake is one of the major arteries of the West, flowing 1,040 miles from Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming, all the way across Idaho, Oregon, and into the Columbia River. One of the finest trout-fishing stretches along the river's entire length-for both wading and drifting-is the section between Jackson Lake and Palisades Reservoir.

Wade access along the Snake in the Jackson area isn't hard to find. Often the bigger challenge is finding places to do it safely. In Grand Teton National Park, you can wade just about anywhere you can hike in, except the 150 feet of river directly below Jackson Dam.

South of the park, there are numerous access points, such as the pathways paralleling the river north and south of Wilson Bridge, and any of the boat ramp areas. During summer flows, wading anglers should stick to side channels and slow-moving sections of river. Attempting to wade the Snake's main flow is a recipe for a swim, or worse. During early spring pre-runoff flows, and in fall, when flows are again drawn down, wading opportunities greatly increase.

The 5-mile section of the Snake from Jackson Dam to Pacific Creek Landing–known as Oxbow Bend–is best suited to wading or floating in a canoe or pontoon boat, and is really the only stretch suitable for beginning boaters. The gentle-flowing water, with impressive views of Mount Moran in the background, offers a mellow float in what almost feels like a large spring creek.

There are large trout in this section, and it is one of the few places on the Snake where you should use realistic patterns—the slow-moving water means fish have the luxury of taking a good look at your fly before deciding to eat. This stretch is also less susceptible than downstream sections to runoff effects such as turbidity, and is often fishable in late spring when the rest of the river is not.

Deadman’s Bar to Moose Landing is a drift that should be taken seriously. The first time you float, go with someone who knows the river, as there is a steep gradient and complex braiding with side channels that may close out.

Many accidents occur along this 10-mile stretch, but with an experienced oarsman who knows the river, it offers excellent fishing and unbeatable scenery. There is an alternative takeout midway at Schwabacher’s Landing, but it requires a tight turn into a side channel on river left, and is not accessible at lower flows.

Moose Landing to Wilson Bridge is another worthy float, with many side channels to explore and opportunities to stop and wade along the way. This float originates in the park, and you need to obtain a boat permit from the National Park Service to launch. During high summer flows, use caution.

Wilson Bridge to South Park Bridge is a popular float, and many outfitters guide it. From South Park Bridge, you can take either an easy half-day float to the Astoria boat ramp or a longer day to Pritchard Creek or even West Table. Below West Table, the Snake enters a whitewater canyon popular with kayakers and rafters. The canyon should be attempted only by experienced boatmen who are familiar with the local hazards.

Like any major Western river, the Snake fluctuates greatly throughout the year. Flows vary from an average high of 5,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) in May or June (or both), to winter flows of 200 cfs or less. Channels change, and hazards such as downed trees shift, disappear, or pop up elsewhere. If you are floating the Snake for the first time, I strongly recommend using a guide.

Fishing the Gros Ventre River

A primary tributary of the Snake, the Gros Ventre (pronounced “grow vont”) is home to a healthy population of fine-spotted Yellowstone cutthroat, rainbows, and cuttbows. The Gros Ventre is a classic freestone fishery of riffles, pools, and runs for much of its 50-mile length, which begins in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and flows through the National Elk Refuge, Grand Teton National Park, and sections of private property.

Highway 191 north of Jackson leads to Gros Ventre Road, which parallels the river. The upper reaches of this unpaved road can be a nightmare in wet weather. Public access is plentiful along much of the Gros Ventre but there is private property, so heed any no-trespassing warnings.

There are two campgrounds along the Gros Ventre in the Bridger-Teton National Forest: Atherton Creek Campground is at Lower Slide Lake; Crystal Creek Campground is 6 miles upstream near the confluence of the Gros Ventre and Crystal Creek. Either campground provides a fantastic base for exploring the river.

The Gros Ventre was historically stocked with rainbows, but that practice has thankfully been halted, and the wild cutthroat fishing has greatly improved.

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.

Fishing the 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.

Fishing 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 back- ground.

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.

Fishing 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.

Unlike Yellowstone 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.

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 for Fishing Around Jackson Hole

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 Around Jackson Hole

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.

Local Flies & Hatches of Jackson Hole

With the exception of Flat Creek and a few other spring creeks, the Snake River drainage is mostly an attractor dry-fly fishery. Particularly in the warmer months, attractors that would be considered absurdly large elsewhere can rule the day. This is not just the case during stonefly hatches, either—patterns such as the Chernobyl Ant, Turck’s Tarantula, Fat Albert, and Joe Allen’s Double Humpy in sizes 4 to 8 can be effective all summer. A double dry rig with one of these large, high-floating patterns as the point fly and a smaller dry such as a Purple Haze, Drake Snake, or Ausable Wulff (#12-18) can be deadly.

On those rare occasions when a dry isn’t working, try a small beadhead nymph on a short 1-foot dropper. Deep nymphing techniques common in many other places are seldom used—or needed—on the Snake, unless you deliberately target Rocky Mountain whitefish.

Streamers are another matter and produce large trout through much of the year. Patterns such as the J.J. Special, Zonker, McCune’s Sculpin, Bighorn Bugger, and Scott Sanchez’s Double Bunny are all good choices.

Of course, the Jackson area has mayfly and caddis hatches from late spring through fall, and there are times when having more specific, hatch-matching patterns saves the day. Certain slower-moving sections of the Snake, such as the Oxbow Bend below Jackson Dam, sometimes demand more accurate imitations.

The Salmonfly and Golden Stonefly hatches of early summer are eagerly awaited events, and Yellow Sallys hatch from June through mid-August. Terrestrials become a major consideration by midsummer, and you’ll find Gray Drakes during this time as well.

Though many locals believe the Snake doesn’t have as many PMDs as it used to, they are still important. In the spring and fall, with cooler temps and wet weather, Mahogany Duns and Blue-winged Olives become the ticket.

Snake River Cutthroat Trout

Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) come in two forms—large-spotted and fine-spotted. The large-spotted Yellowstone cutthroat trout occurs in the Yellowstone River and its tributaries, as well as Heart Lake and the upper tributaries of the Snake River. The fine-spotted cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarki behnkei) is the native trout of the Snake River between Jackson Lake and Palisades Reservoir, and is distinguished by a profusion of small spots on the back and tail. It is visually distinctive and appears to occupy a separate niche than the large-spotted Yellowstone cutt, though to date no discernible genetic differences have been detailed.

Off The River in Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole is a year-round playground with skiing and snowboarding, rock climbing and mountaineering, hiking, golf, camping, mountain biking, and guided wildlife and nature tours and other activities in Grand Teton National Park.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort may be the area’s biggest draw and offers 2,500 acres of lift-accessed terrain and some of the best powder in the West, with more than 450 inches of average snowfall each winter. The mountain closes for skiing on April 6, but caters to summer visitors with gondola rides to the 9,095-foot summit, where you can enjoy lunch or dinner at the Bridger Restaurant after hiking the trails above Teton Village.

The Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce (jacksonholechamber.com) also organizes numerous events throughout the year including Elkfest, Old West Days, and a fall arts festival. The Grand Teton Music Festival includes more than 40 concerts featuring full orchestras, chamber music, and family-oriented concerts.

The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, in the heart of Jackson, has live entertainment, a large collection of Western memorabilia, and no shortage of pints on tap. The Mangy Moose Saloon, in Teton Village, and the Stagecoach Bar, in Wilson, are favorite local haunts.

---

Bruce Smithhammer lives in eastern Idaho. He formerly worked at High Country Flies in Jackson, Wyoming.

---