Description: About Snake River
Welcome to Jackson, WY, home to some of the finest dry fly fishing the world. The Snake River and its tributaries are some of the last places in the world that one can find Snake River Finespotted Cutthroat Trout, one of the 14 subspecies of Cutthroat Trout. These fish won the race during the last ice age and became the dominate species in the area, leaving the rainbow behind below Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls, Idaho. The Snake River Finespotted Cutthorat Trout are the gem of the valley, a beautiful bronze color with fine spots extended from their head to tail.
These trout have developed an aggressive nature that is needed to cope with the harsh conditions they experience. Winters are often long and cold, spring run-off is big and powerful and summer is often hot and dry. Thus, the Snake River Finespotted Cutthroat is a superb dry-fly eating machine.
Spring run-off usually subsides in late June and the Snake usually begins to clear and fish well by the first weeks of July. These dates are not set in stone, high water years and drought can affect the runoff process from year to year. It is wise to check with our store or monitor flows of our local streams utilizing www.usgs.gov, choose Wyoming and local for the Snake River flows. The Snake is a big river that demands respect and careful wading. 9ft 5wt and 6wt rods are necessary to fish the Snake and other big water effectively. WF lines and 9ft 3x and 4x leaders are staple.
Pre-runoff, anglers can find midges, Blue wing olives, Rthrogenias (March Browns), skwalla stoneflies, Capnia Stoneflies, as well as a multitude of caddis. Stoneflies start popping after run-off, with the water clearing and lack of fishing pressure, fishing can be quite fantastic. Salmonflies and golden stoneflies create quite a ruckus as fish gorge themselves on big buoyant dry flies. Pale Morning Dunes, Yellow Sallies, and Grey Drakes start hatching around the mid July. Hoppers and Terrestrials start to become important in July lasting into the dog days of summer and early fall. Hopper/Dropper combinations are very effective for covering two areas of the water column at one time. Fall time marks the beginning of Mahogany mayflies, Hecuba drakes, and the streamer season with elk bugling, aspens golden and the summer crowds gone. Thus, the cycle begins again.
Nearest Airport:
Jackson Hole Airport (JAC)
Hatches:
Stoneflies, PMDs, Yellow Sallies, Drakes and Caddis
Best Time to Fish:
Anytime
Best Stretch:
Jackson Lake Dam, Pacific Creek, Deadman's Bar, Moose, Wilson, South Park, Astoria, Elbow, West Table.
Best Access:
Jackson Lake Dam, Pacific Creek, Deadman's Bar, Moose, Wilson, South Park, Astoria, Elbow, West Table.
