Tag Archives: Green River

Lapping the C – Green River

Enjoying Our Moment, Swinging Bridge, Browns Park

“We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things.”

—John Wesley Powell

John Wesley Powell Likely Was One of the First White Men To See This View, 1869

A Storied History

In the spirit of 236 years of glory, I’m going to tell you a bit about ‘Merica and our Green River.  The river valley was originally inhabited by the Fremont culture, a people flourishing from the 7th century to the 13thcentury; their work can be viewed in rock art and cave overhangs. Eventually, the Shoshone and Ute peoples colonized the area for nomadic hunting purposes. While visited by the Spaniards and various trappers, the region remained unexplored. John C Fremont, legendary explorer, US Senator, and founder of the Republican Party, led an expedition into the region.

Modern Day View, Preserved Portion of Jarvie Ranch

The first complete expedition was led by John Wesley Powell in 1869, the second was in 1871; most of the nomenclature of the region was assigned on these trips. Powell’s expeditions were not without controversy.  Starting off in 1869 with 10 men and large gear carrying boats, they completed the expedition with 6 men. Four walked off, one successfully started a family in Vernal, Utah; the other three were possibly executed by Mormon Settlers. The Mormon Settlers claimed it was local Native American Indians. The true fate is still shrouded in mystery. Read the full account here.

Graves Visible From Road To Jarvie Ranch

Now for my favorite part of this story, The John Jarvie Ranch, founded in 1880 by an educated man of Scottish decent at Brown’s Hole. Located conveniently on the Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming border, Jarvie had significant mining and cattle interests. He distilled and sold Whiskey, while managing a general store, post office, blacksmith shop, and ferry. Jarvie made acquaintance with several notorious outlaws including: Matt Warner, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid. His ranch was a perfect location to hide out after a hard year of rustling cattle.

Christopher, First Fish On The Green, 2012

A Section

This 7-mile stretch of river commences at the boat launch under Flaming Gorge Dam, traveling through a red walled canyon down to Little Hole. This float is known for its aquarium feel, you can see the fish swimming below you in the crystal clear water. Also note, this section has the highest presence of rafters, though the Trout don’t seem to mind too much.

Brenton’s Day 1 German Brown Caught On A Section

On this stretch, we used a couple of tactics resulting in Fish On! The deep pools and seems of this section are ideal for nymph rigs. Brenton developed his rendition of a bead head Pheasant Tail and some small Midges, size 16 and 18.

German Brown Makes Its Hogan’s Heroes Style Escape
Dead Sculpin From Trout Stomach

B Section

Below Little Hole, the river widens and the canyon walls lower, allowing for new angling opportunities. Furthermore, on the B, you can start to throw the Hopper Dropper combo along the shorelines and back eddies. Making this section even more enjoyable is the variety of primitive camping opportunities along the river. Halfway down, drifters will encounter Red Creek Rapids, a Class 3 section on the river.  Upstream of Red Creek Rapids, is a long deep pool; fish activity is slow through here. We were able to coax some follows with articulated streamers.

B Section German Brown, Hopper on Grasshopper Island
A Trout’s Vantage Point

Lapping the C Section

Fish On! Indian Crossing Before Setting Out

Now onto the true wilderness fishing expedition! The Green River, for management and discussion purposes, is divided into the three distinct sections. The C-section is by far the longest and most desolate section of the Utah Green River; it winds 12 miles through a desert valley, terminating in the high walled Swallow Canyon. In the later part of summer, this section is renowned for its Hopper fishing.

Matt’s C Section Rainbow, Fooled By Nymph Rig Out

Day 1

This is our third day of living the dream, camping outside, fishing all day, every day. Having paid for a shuttle from Trout Creek Fly every day to this point, it was now our turn to use pedal power. To float the C, the preferred entry point is at Indian Crossing. It is also an option to use Taylor Flats, however, this will cost you a prime section of top water. Upon leaving the boat and gear at Indian Crossing; Brenton threw his Trek Navigator bicycle into “Toaster,” and drove the trailer to Swallow Canyon boat ramp. In my estimate, it takes about an hour to pedal back to Indian Crossing from that point, the road is shorter than the river here.

Brenton’s C Section Front Flip

Day 2

Hopper action picked up on day 2, everyone landed a fish on a Hopper. Matt took the crown with a 20-inch German Brown. All was well, except the sunscreen started to run low, for trips on this section of the river, I suggest ample quantities of sunscreen and gloves for your hands. Swallow Canyon was markedly unproductive; we attributed this to the low water situation.

Matt’s C Section 20 Inch Brown, Fooled By Hopper

Day 3

Fish were keyed into Yellow Sallies on the portion of river between Indian Crossing and Taylor Flats. Unaccustomed and out of practice on the dry, I missed almost every fish. There was redemption for Matt, and just as the weather changed for a thunderstorm, the Rainbows drilled in on Yellow Sallies and Triple Doubles.

Where The Eagle Flies

As I already mentioned, thunderstorms rolled in, and it was our last day on the river. In the distance, we witnessed a lightning strike. Then, there was a wispy spindle of smoke rising in the air! Brenton called the Forest Fire Service and reported it, luckily for us; the fire was over on a mountain ridge in Colorado. Needless to say, as the smell of distant smoke filled the air, we hurried up to the boat launch, packed our gear, and got the hell out of dodge.

Forest Fire Sparked By Lightning In The Distance

Threats to the Future

The Green River is one of the Blue Ribbon Fisheries in the American West. Technically, a tributary of the Colorado River; an error of history, due to Colorado having more political sway when the Colorado River Compact was signed. There is currently a speculative project proposed to build a pipeline, in order to transport Flaming Gorge water to the Front Range of Colorado.MKFF opposes this project, as it will damage the local economies, the environment, and Trout fishing. The residents of the Front Range should adopt new water conservation measures, in lieu of attempting to use even more water in the semi-arid region.

GBH – Nature’s True Fisherman

All of the Pics Here!

Part 1 – This Is Our First Rodeo

Part 2 – Prospecting Big Trout – Small Streams

Are you interested in a Guided Fly Fishing adventure on Utah’s Green River? Beehive Fishing Company, a Utah Fly Fishing Guide Service, offers a second to none Fly Fishing experience on Utah’s Green river.

Going Green For Twenty Twelve

Great food and service with a smile at Spring Creek Guest Ranch

Rumor had it the fishing was good on the Green River in late March.  Therefore, a weekend trip had to be made to assess the situation for myself.  An A and B trip was the plan and we took off after work on Sunday to get on the river first thing Monday morning.  Instead of camping that first night, we got a room at the Spring Creek Guest Ranch and stayed in luxury.

There’s something awe inspiring about rivers large enough to take a drift boat down that gets you every time.  Especially one with such a robust history of exploration as the Green River.  Although the river is nothing like it looked like in the 1800’s, mans’ impact has made the Green River below Flaming Gorge one of the most prolific trout fisheries in the United States.

Ted and Aaron stopping to fish an eddy
Healthy brown
Ted showing us how its done

After copious quantities of alcohol and several fish, day one had to come to a close.  Beautiful weather and the most ridiculous midge hatch I had ever seen we’re some of the highlights of the day.  Below are some from the night and the following day.

Jefe taking it all in by the fire
Best dinner on the river I've ever had
Best breakfast I've ever had on a river trip all thanks to Ted
Aaron getting prepared for Day 2
Jefe examining Matt's catch
Day 2 also had a pretty incredible midge hatch

Matt admiring his catch on his hand crafted YUM

All good things have to come to an end

In closing, the rumors aren’t true and you probably shouldn’t come here.

 

Green River October 2011

Sometimes you catch the fish, other times the fish catches you.  That was the mighty Green River this past weekend.  Like always, I have wanted to get back to the Green since the second we pulled the boat of the water.  Storms blow in fast in the fall and the weather is always unpredictable.  However, we’ve been having an Indian summer out in Utah lately and when Wednesday came around and the weather was looking prime for the weekend we decided to make it happen.

When Saturday morning came around, I heard a knock on my window just before 4.  Fuck, that’s when we were supposed to leave.  Seven minutes later I was dressed and in the drivers seat of the Toaster with the drift boat behind me.  We even managed to arrive at Trout Creek Flies ahead of schedule.  Good thing I forgot to procrastinate this time around and packed the boat the night before.

Sun up on the C

The B and C sections of the Green are my favorite for the lack of people and the size of the fish so naturally that is what we floated.  I was thinking that we would be fishing streamers since the browns are gearing up for the spawn, but the fish were still taking down terrestrials aggressively so that is what we stuck to.  Fat rainbows on the B, probably from eating all those hoppers throughout the summer.

There aren’t any pictures to go along with this story because my dog ate my camera a few months ago and you don’t stack paper when you only work two days a week and fish the other five.  Kyle had a camera when we launched the boat, but waded a little bit too deep without one of those waterproof ones.  Strike one.

Speaking of shit hitting the fan, my dog saw Ted’s dog swimming in the water and decided to take a dive in to say hello. In the process snapped the 7 weight Ted was kind enough to let me borrow since I’ve been getting real good at breaking rods this summer.  Strike two.

The second day was a slow start for me thanks to a little bit too much booze cruisin’ the day before.  I started out hucking some meat with the Sex Dungeon and a Sasquatch.  A couple of fish tried to roll it, but none were willing to take the bait.  I switched back to a cinnamon ant and a rainbow warrior dropper that seemed to be working rather well the day before and instantly felt the tug of a small brown.  Next cast, the rude boys started acting up.  Soon after Kyle and I were switching between oarsman and fisherman and I threw my bag of flies on the front seat and managed to snap my second fly rod of the trip that was not mine.  Strike three. Shit.  Good thing I have a boat, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have any more fishing buddies.

Luckily, these rods come with warranties and I was packing a spare for Kyle to use.  I kept on fishing with the seven weight with a broken tip, but it is what it is.  Like usual, Swallow Canyon boat ramp came up too soon.  After two days on the Green you just want more.  Hopefully, there will be at least one more trip out there this year.  Oh yea, the ride home went down smooth, without any fuck ups on my part.