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Fly Fishing
in Jackson Hole |
Fly Fishing In Jackson Hole
Upper Gros Ventre River & Crystal Creek
Upper Gros Ventre River
Open Season: April 1 - October 31. Runoff season typically runs from early to mid-May through late-June/early-July during which time the river is unfishable.
Best Time of Year to Fish: From the end of run-off through August. Longer if there are sufficient amounts of water.
Best Time of Day to Fish: As with most cutthroat fishing, middle of the day is best, excepting early or late hatches.
Species: Snake River Fine-spotted Cutthroat Trout, whitefish. Brookies are in some of the tributaries to the upper Gros Ventre.
Access: From Jackson, drive north on Route 89/191 into Grand Teton National Park. Once in the park, take the first right (about 7 miles from town) onto Antelope Flats Road. Follow this road for about 1 mile past the Town of Kelly and take a right on Gros Ventre Road. Following Gros Ventre Road you will soon exit Grand Teton National Park. Continue on past Lower Slide Lake (the road now switches to gravel and dirt and can be rough at times), over Russell Hill (beautiful views), and past Red Hills Ranch. Soon thereafter you come to a bridge which crosses the Gros Ventre River. About a mile from the bridge are the campgrounds shown on the above map.
WARNING: While normally fine for passenger cars, the gravel/dirt section of Gros Ventre Road can be very slick when wet, and may even be impassable. Waiting for things to dry out may be your best option if caught in a heavy rainstorm.
The best water resides between the Gros Ventre River/Crystal Creek confluence and Upper Slide Lake. This entire section is public land and can be accessed at various points along the way via spurs leading off the main road down to the river. Wading upstream from the campgrounds (either the Gros Ventre or Crystal Creek will need to be forded) is also a good option.
Hatches: Caddis in size 14 and yellow stoneflies in size 10 from late June through mid to late July. Then the usual hopper scene for the rest of the summer.
Flies: Royal Wulff, Humpies, Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators, Trudes, Jay-Dave's Hopper, Tarantulas.
Points of Interest: Russell Hill, which is the high point between Lower Slide Lake and Red Hills Ranch provides fantastic views as well as the opportunity for spotting Bighorn Sheep. It also provides some white-knuckle driving when wet.
Trumpeter Swans can often be seen (from a distance, bring the binoculars) at Upper Slide Lake, which is really not much more than a widening of the river and not nearly the size of Lower Slide Lake.
Comments: This section of the Gros Ventre River is not quite as fast as the section below Lower Slide Lake but is otherwise similar in character. Overall the wading is still slightly on the rugged side due to the river fording and bushwhacking you'll need, or want, to do from time to time.
Crystal Creek
Access: About 1 mile after passing the Crystal Creek Campground you'll come to a small bridge which crosses Crystal Creek proper. You can walk up from the campground or fish downstream from the bridge. Upstream from the bridge is private property. 150 yards or so past the bridge take a right like you were heading towards Red Rocks Ranch. Where the road forks, bear left up a rugged dirt road which is impassable when wet. At the end of the road is a small parking area and kiosk.
NOTE: If, after taking the right leading to Red Rocks Ranch (but prior to bearing left at the fork), you encounter a large No Trespassing sign. Rest assured you are not trespassing as long as you bear left when you come to the fork in the road. Hopefully by now, the location of the sign has been changed, but too many times in the past we have encountered Wyoming ranch owners attempting to intimidate law abiding citizens from accessing public lands which may border private ranch land.
At the same time, we realize that some people will end up trespassing onto the ranch property. However, we do not feel this justifies misleading and attempting to intimidate the public. We do not advocate trespassing on private property, but we will also, to the best of our abilities, make it a point to inform the public where their lands reside and how to legally access them.
Anyways, from the kiosk/parking area there is a short stretch of public land along Crystal Creek which extends downstream to the ranch, which is bordered by a fence. Cross the fence and you are trespassing. Everything upstream of the fence is public.
From the parking lot you can also ford Crystal Creek and follow a trail upstream for about a mile to a nice meadow. Do not be tempted to follow the old trail which leads upstream from the parking lot without crossing the creek. The trail, which leads into a steep, narrow canyon soon becomes washed out on very steep slopes with gravel acting as ball bearings. Furthermore, the soil composition consists largely of clay. This trail is treacherous and should be avoided. You may have made it up this trail a long time ago, but such is no longer the case.
Comments: Hoppers are the number one food source most of the time. Make sure you've got plenty of hopper patterns and Tarantulas.
