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Jackson Hole Fishing Report

April 18, 2002

Snake River

Hi everyone,

Fishing season is finally underway and we're off to a pretty good start. Opening Day was very windy making things difficult, but the following day brought much calmer weather and excellent fishing. A plain ole Black Woolly Bugger was all you needed, fished low and slow.

Since that time the fishing has vacillated, as it always does this time of year, depending on the weather. During the pre-runoff fishing season you are always hoping for the happy medium of not too cold and not too warm. Too cold and the trout will not be very active, too warm and the snowmelt entering the river will lower water temperatures, again leading to not very active trout. The best days thus far have been the ones where morning air temperatures are above freezing followed by cloudy afternoons which help prevent too much snowmelt from chilling water temperatures.

While there has been some dry fly midge activity, and some anglers have reported activity on nymphs, streamers have been the way to go. But don't move them too fast or the trout won't even bother to chase them. Make them believe they have a good chance of nailing their prey (by fishing your streamer somewhat slowly) and they'll actually hit them pretty hard.

At the time of this writing the snow-water equivalent of the Snake River Basin stands at 77% of normal, up slightly from last week. Jackson Lake is 23% full while Palisades Reservoir has moved up to 40% full. Barring any surprises look for another early post-runoff fishing season on the Snake River and other area fisheries.

For those of you who may be planning a trip to Jackson Hole this summer we have created a new Fly Fishing in Jackson Hole -- Regional Overview section to our web site. Included are articles on recommended flies, equipment, techniques, tactics as well as area maps showing fishing accesses and tips for fishing various Jackson Hole streams. Check it out at http://www.highcountryflies.com/regional_overview/fly_fishing_jackson_hole_wyoming.htm . It's the most complete source of fly fishing information for Jackson Hole on the web.

Until next time… 

Guy Turck
High Country Flies

 

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