Status Update

My friend gave me the idea to make a slight update. I haven't had a chance to do any fishing for the last few weeks, and it sucks. I wish that I could go and spend some time on the river. But, I have to work, make some money, and get some bills paid. I need to do all of this so that I have a job this spring. So I am driving a water truck in the oil fields (technically gas) of Utah. The pay is good, but the hours are long, and no where near as much fun as guiding. But with the good pay, I should have the money to buy a new car in time for guide season this year. A good rig, that I can rely on to get me where I need to go, in style and comfort. Even if this means that I am going to get a bit of a later start to the season this year. For all of you looking to come fishing with my, at the moment my start date should be somewhere around April 25th of this year. So I look forward to fishing with all of you. And wish that you all have a good winter, and don't go too crazy, and get some good fishing in while the timing is right.

This weeks fishing endeavors

Over the last couple weeks I have been able to get a little bit of fishing in. On Thursday afternoon a good friend came up to fish with me for a little bit. The fishing was fair considering the lack of real effort we put into it. The temps seemed to drop, and the wind picked up quite a bit. Making the fishing fairly poor.

Friday morning my brother and I decided to go wade down at little hole for a little while. We waded across at Catwalk shoals, and fished up the grassy bank. We didn't land any but each missed a few. And after about an hour or so, and fighting wind, and serious glare we took off without having landed a fish.

And while not fishing related. 

Saturday afternoon, my beloved Utah Utes football team capped off a perfect season, and made their way into the BCS for the second time in 5 years. What a great way to end the week. 

I look forward to following them to their bowl game and cheering loudly and proudly.

The loss of a great friend and mentor.

I got some tragic and saddening news this afternoon. My employer and great friend Dennis Breer passed away. Denny was a great proponent of the fishery on the Green often going to great lengths to inform the public and the powers that be about things that affected the river that we love. He single handedly created what is quite possibly one of the largest fly fishing outfitters in the country, as far as trips ran per year.

An avid outdoorsman, writer, fly tier, and great human being. He loved to teach and instruct everyone in the ways of his favorite sport. Taking young fisherman under his wing, and shaping them into great guides skilled in many aspects of the sport. 

I owe him a lot and will miss him incredibly. 

Season's A Wrap.

This year's season has been one wild ride. I have learned a few things, forgotten a few things, acquired a few things, and lost a few things.  We were very fortunate to see quite a few prolific hatches. It all started with the spring blue wings, carried through some amazing terrestrial hatches (Cicada's and Hopper's) and ended with an excellent fall blue wing hatch. I was able to fish a lot of dries, and dial in my skills on teaching a cast even more so. The nymphing was different every day. But all in all it was fairly good.

I finally got a newer car. One that I could rely on, was comfortable, and was honestly a lot of fun to drive. Unfortunately it did have a fairly high center of gravity, and if one were to lose control. It just happened to roll very well. Lesson learned. So now I get to go and find another newer car. 

Now that I am beginning the off-season, I get to devote more time to flies. I have already restocked on a few patterns that worked well this last summer, but should have time to make even more. I am now looking forward to next March/April when I can begin another season on the Green.

Been busy on the river; wish the fish could keep up.

It has been a long period of good terrestrial fishing. It pains me to see in heading down hill. After five months of the fish eating the crap out of Cicada's, Ants, and Hoppers, they have decided to up the refusals. As the days go on and the weather gets colder and wetter I find myself relying more and more on the nymph game. 

Through the August and the first week of so of September I was finding success fishing a small black chernobyl ant in the first six miles of river, and a larger brownish-tan chernobyl ant imitating a hopper in the last mile. But as the weather turned to more of a fall-ish pattern my nymph game has been what has carried the days. 

The fish have been responding well to nymph rigs of a wooly bugger trailed by a smaller nymph of some sorts in the faster shallower water. And in the slower deeper water either a deep somewhat heavy rig with either a worm and an emerger or a small gray bead and an emerger. This is definitely the time of year when patience and persistence are paying off. We are not seeing the spring nymphing days of 30-50 fish in a day, and are seeing more days in the teens and low twenties to the boat.

We are still seeing some quality fish, this has been attributed in my mind to the improved health of the fish from higher flows and abundant populations of scuds and aquatic worms in the water. 

In the evenings a fairly prolific caddis hatch has been happening in the last few miles of A through a bit of B, but the fishes major food supply has shifted back to midges and the small fall Blue-Winged Olives. 

As the season makes it's shift towards the end. I encourage all to come and fish the river to get some of those lingering feelings out of your soul before the cold drag of winter comes upon us. 

I look forward to this winter, tying; trying to update my stash with more bugs, and more varied. As I explore the intricacies in tying I look forward to keeping you updated with the new bugs that I am going to be playing with.

Keep in Touch,

John

Sorry for the wait.

It has been a very long time since my last post. I have been very busy working for the last few months and have avoided a long time around an internet connection.

Fishing has had it's plusses and minuses since last post. After our Cicada insanity through June we enjoyed another three weeks of absolutely gonzo fishing with our "Magnifica" Cicada's. These are close cousins to the little 7 year cicada's we experienced on the upper river. They are much larger, fished with size 2-6 imitations. Have a 13-15 year life cycle. And when these bad boys are out, the fishing is no holds barred. Big fish who are educated and reserved tend to throw caution to the wind. I have never seen so many 20+ inch fish caught within a 3 week period before. These large phenomenal bugs were on the B and C sections of the river and were the source of a lot of fun. 

Towards the end of the cicada's run the upper 5 miles of the a section of the river fished increasingly technical. I managed to do well fishing a size 12-14 black chernobyl ant in the first 5 miles of A, and either fat alberts, or brown Chernobyls in the lower two miles.

Flows this year have been going fairly strange, with mixed benefits. We had an extended period of high flows, and at the end of high flows, the powers that be started running the river at around 1600-2000 cfs a day. This was great, as a result of these heightened water levels we have experienced more abundance of food for the trout, more oxygen in the water, and more room. All of these directly influenced a greatly increased average health for the fish in the river. And for those of us on the river. It meant that we had less rocks that we could be hitting in the bonier stretches of the river. But these flows have been a bit deceiving and we have seen a few wrecked boats in the river. It still never ceases to amaze me at what can happen to people when they do not respect the river. 

As the summer draws to a close, we are still seeing abundant hoppers around the river in the lower mile or two. This has kept the dry fishing very well for the last little bit of the day. The dry is fishing increasingly more difficult in the top of the A section. But is still very doable, providing the patience to work for fewer eats, and many more refusals. 

As the fall approaches and the days get colder. We look at more days fishing nymph rigs, and less full dry fly days. We should be seeing an emergence of our small fall Blue Wings (pseudo's) which are fished well on the surface with very small mayfly patterns. And nymphing becomes even smaller and more delicate. Mostly fishing with sz. 20-22 zebra midges ( I find using black tungsten beads at this time to be more beneficial) and sz. 22-24 gray emergers, like the GT emerger, or my favorite, the gray RS2.

As always, I look forward to seeing you all out here, hopefully fishing with me.

-John

It's that Time

It has been a while since my last post. But I have been busy. Booked for the most part of June. The good thing is that since the last week of May we have been seeing more and more Cicada's on the water. These stellar bugs make fishing so much fun that It's almost easy. 

Cicada fishing started the last week of May, early in high flows. And since I was fortunate enough to be one of the first guide boats to throw cicada's that early I was able to catch more big fish then than I had ever before in my career.

The fishing went up and down through the end of May and in to June (mostly due to the weather). Every day that the sun was shining the fishing got better. It is finally starting to Peak.

One disadvantage lately is the amount of Wind that we are having on the river. Cicada's are very big wind resistant bugs and tend to make casting a little more difficult.  And the hazards are definitely there.

All In all I believe that the fishing is going to steadily improve as the flows drop and the fish get more spread out. 

I look forward to seeing you all out here for some amazing Green river terrestrial fishing Which is pretty much the whole reason that I became a Guide on this river.