When to Come and What To Expect:
Fly Fishing: Outside Yellowstone National Park – July – Snake River
The Snake River flows across the Yellowstone National Park into Teton National Park where it dumps its water into Jackson Lake. From the Teton National Park to Palisades Reservoir, there is approximately eighty miles of first class cutthroat trout water in the Snake River. Jackson Hole Valley is one of the most beautiful places in the United States.
The Snake River is usually clear enough from the Spring runoff to fish beginning about the middle of the month of July. It gets better towards the end of July but it all depends on the snowpack and weather that melts it. If conditions are right, it can provide some of the most enjoyable float trips there are in Yellowstone Country. Native Snake River Fine Spotted Cutthroat trout and Yellowstone Cutthroat trout make up its population. These fish will rise slowly to take dry flies and then fight hard to the boat. The only disadvantage in fishing the river is you probably want be able to take your eyes off of the beautiful snow covered Teton Mountains long enough to know if a cutthroat takes you fly. They will range from ten inches to eighteen with twenty inches not that uncommon.
You don’t have to fish the Snake from a drift boat but you will enjoy the trip more, catch more fish as a general rule and see more scenery. There are plenty of places to wade along its riffles and side channels. It is standard procedure on some of the sections that are floated to stop and do some wade fishing.
The methods used vary during the last of July, but combination flies are popular such as nymphs drifted below large flies on the surface. The cutthroat are usually not very picky and fly patterns are not critical. You will do better fishing imitations of whatever is hatch, of course, but larger stonefly nymphs and streamers work great for searching the water.
Normally the water is flowing fairly fast and you will just have to take your shots along the structure and banks from the fast moving drift boat but it all depends on the releases from Jackson Lake. That is why large dropper rigs and strike indicators are popular setups for the Snake. If you plan on fishing the greater Yellowstone area in the last part of July, the upper Snake River on the south side of the park is one place you should consider.
Copyright 2012 James Marsh