I was very excited to be heading to the Green River in 2018 after last being there in 2015. Back in 2015 I floated the A section of the river a few times, and the B section once. It was all good, but I remember the top of the A section being Cicada heavy, where big fish would rise from the depths in crystal clear water to take a large dry fly. I could see them coming and would have to not get too excited and set the hook too early. The lower part of the A was great on the right bank, away from the bank anglers. Fish would rise for dries like they were starving. The beginning of the B section was decent for dries and droppers, but I will never forget the streamer bite on the bottom of B section as the sun went down. I was throwing large (4-5″) dark streamers (know to streamer fishermen as “meat”) up onto the bank and yanking them off. Fish were jumping out of the water to get a piece of my meat. I couldn’t cast, fight, release and cast fast enough, I wished I had someone back rowing for me so I wouldn’t be missing great water as I was floating down river. It was stoooopid how these big fish attacked those streamers. I was in heaven. And I was REALLY happy to be going back to this fly fishing mecca in 2018.
The little town of Dutch John, Utah is in the middle of nowhere. There really isn’t a good bar that I know of. There is barely a restaurant. A few miles up the hill there are a few resorts, but I haven’t ventured up there to see how they stack up. In other words, this place is about the lake and river, that’s it. Civilization is an hour away either direction, North or South.
The river is a tailwater, meaning it is fed from the dam, and humans regulate the flow. It is a very long river, starting up in Wyoming, but dumps into Flaming Gorge where it is backed up by the dam. Where it releases from the dam is considered the beginning of the A section. Then, there are B and C sections that are floatable and fishable until the river flows into colorado. Each section is quite different, going from steep canyon in A section, to flattening out in the C section, with B having features of A and C.
I got settled into the RV park at Dutch John Resort, and started prepping my gear for a 3 day, 2 night, float. The plan was to put in on the A section in the morning and camp in the B section, then again camp in the C section, and pull out at end of C on the 3rd day.
World’s largest fly, at the resort.
I had to find a shuttle service to move my truck while I was floating, and instead of paying the guys at my resort $250 to move it, I found Western River Fly Fishers guide service to move it for $90. Score! “We goin sizzla!”
The fishing started off a little slow. I was pulling meat early, but no takes. I had a few nice fish follow the streamers, but something was a little off. I noticed that the MANY guide boats on the water were using bounce rigs with tiny nymphs. But I was in mecca, and no way I was gonna do that crap. I quickly switched to fishing small dry flies in the back eddies. U could sit there for hours and watch the fish gulping on small midges, mayflies and caddis later in the day. A well presented fly of the right size, profile and color would produce a take. I was having a good time, catching really nice, thick, well shouldered, 18″ browns and bows. Later in the day I found that they were really keying in on darker caddis patterns. I started to run out of flies as I was losing so many as fish would break me off or I would get snagged in a tree or something in the river.
I passed the B section and was still enjoying my time, but it was time to start pushing for camp as the sun was going down and I didnt want to be setting up camp in the dark. If I got settled in time, I could go fishing from the bank, throwing meat or possibly mouse patterns for HUGE browns in the dark, which is when they are on the hunt, moving up to a mile from their daytime holes. Of course, I had my bear spray and gun for any pesky varmints or tweakers who want a piece of me. I had booked a campsite on side of river below Red’s Creek, as I heard there were some decent back eddies there that could produce good fish. Right after Red’s Creek, and before my campsite is the largest, most dangerous rapid on the river. I was a bit nervous in Chase, as I heard Flycrafts were a little “Tippy” and this rapid has taken its share of brain surgeons. Nevertheless, Chase did just fine, just like Jenny did a few years ago. Got a little water in the raft, but no biggie. Whew. Crappy part was, tho, that Red’s Creek was blown out, meaning it was VERY muddy. You could see where the water from Red’s was running down the left side of the main river and the clean water of the Green was in the middle and the right. The farther down I went, the more the water was mixing, and thus the river from this point on was gonna be muddy, silty, and crappy fishing no doubt. Well CRAP.
I got to camp and set up before dark. I set up my new hammock, and boiled up some water with my new pack stove thingy and cooking/dining set. I poured the water into a premade hiking meal bag of some Pad Thai. That stuff is good. I was stoked and having a good time. I was watching fish rise out front of camp, and didnt feel the need to go rip any lips tonight. Fire and Bourbon would be enough. I was in a happy place. However, I was also cognizant of the new single life I had just embarked upon, and that night, at the fire, and in the hammock, gave me a lot of time to think and find myself. I haven’t been single for 25 years, since I was 18. Who am I? What do I like when Im not compromising? Who do I make dinner? LOL
The night was good. Fire sizzled out and I felt safe in the hammock, shielded from the MANY bugs, and had my pistol, just in case. I was exhausted so I slept well. I got up and going around 730, boiled some more water and had a little breakfast before packing up and loading Chase for the days coming float.
The B section fished pretty bad due to the murky water. I have a belief that in murky water I need to use larger flies and big dark streamers. This technique led to a few fish here and there. Some nice ones too, but nothing huge.
As I was trying to fish all the best spots, and row at the same time, I found myself battling in a corner to keep Jenny off the rock wall. Well, one of my oars found a crack in the wall and decided to snap in half before I could pry it out. The current was pushing me hard, and bada boom, bada bing, SNAP. Oh well, I guess this is why Utah law is that I had to carry a spare. To see how that ended, check out my other post about FlyCraft HERE.
I later found that my water was running low as I was drinking more than I had expected, and the meals were taking some too. Towards end of the B section there is an old historical homesite with an onsite caretaker. As I was rowing over to the bank my streamer found a nice brown trout. I dropped anchor and was reeling him him when the caretaker “Jamie” (huh) looked over at me and gave me a big thumbs up due to the bend in my rod. I landed him, secured Chase, grabbed some water bottles and headed up looking for water. Jamie guided me to a spicket with “good” water and chatted me up about the history of that place that seemed kinda cool, but bleek. They also had a nice restroom that I used to get a bug out of my eye, and wash up a bit. Ahh, feeling refreshed I was back at it.
I found a nice spot at the start of the C section that I pulled over for. I hooked another few fish in there, and of course, as usual, the one that tugs the hardest finds a way to break the line. Damnit. I need to start tying better knots. LOL Let’s call that fish a 26 footer. Why not, you can’t prove it wasn’t. wink
The rest of day the fishing really sucked rocky mountain oysters (which I have managed to not taste, btw) google it. I fished a lot of really fishy looking water with all of the techniques that my 1000 flies and 3 fly rods would afford me. Nuthin. The scenery was top notch tho, so, I couldn’t be too upset.
That night looked like rain, so I set up my tent in a beautiful area on the C section with lots of fishy water around it. I tried fishing after dinner and into the darkness with mouse patterns. Nuthin. Boooo. I tell ya tho, when my head hit the improvised pillow, I crashed hard. Not too much reflection happening that night. But, all day on a river gave me plenty of time for thought. Especially since the fish weren’t entertaining me.
The C section was much slower ‘frog’ water and fished very poorly, still being murkey. And besides a canyon way, it wasn’t very entertaining. Most of the day I just pushed Chase through the frog water towards the take out point.
The next couple days I floated the A section over and over, as half of the B section was blown out. I definitely ran low of caddis dry fly patterns, and to this day, 2 months later, haven’t tied any more up. Just having too much fun I guess.
From here, it is onto the upper Green River near Pinedale, WY that I have heard so much about. Stay tuned.
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