Fall is here

Its been awhile since my last post due to September being just slammed and fishing staying spectacular here, in Jackson.  The days seem to fly by at the beginning of fall here and being on the river everyday with great people makes them go even faster. 

Lewis with a nice cutty.  Good work this One Fly, man!!

The Jackson Hole One Fly Tournament was a huge success and ran on September 8-9.  Given Only one fly per day, teams compete over the weekend to catch big trout on the Snake and South Fork with the guide serving dual purpose as judge.  Congrats to one of my great clients, Lewis Lee for winning 3rd place individual angler high score!!!  
As always, the One Fly was fun and intense and I can't wait for next years!

Post One Fly is always incredibly busy here and this year was no different.  September is usually simply fantastic fishing due to the flows maintaing around 2200 CFS, the cooler mornings and different weather patterns of fall, and the shots at big fish.  If you can set the hook on a weary, subtle cutthroat trout strike this time of year, you're typically going to be rewarded with a nice, fat, fall cutty.  

I've had some really great days this summer/early fall on the river with clients and friends alike and to be perfectly honest, although I love my own, personal autumn fishing, I always get a little bummed as it all winds down.  With a couple guide days left and a few more possible trips, the season isn't quite over yet and there are plenty of great days left to be had.

The view of the Tetons in the fall can't be beat 

Flows at this point have dropped to about 300CFS at the dam and the river is now low and set for winter.  Fishing is still great, although sometimes a little slow, and the fall weather is stunning.  Please call or email if you have any questions or would like to book a trip.

Here are some pictures from the fishing as of late.

Stay posted for some client videos as well as a new Seasons edit coming out soon!!

peace.

Had another great day this week fishing with Mike on Deadman's to Moose.  We got an early start and were quickly rewarded with tons of action all throughout the morning.  The cloud cover really brought the fish up to dries and provided an nice departure from the intense sun and afternoon heat we've been accustomed to lately.

Thanks for coming out Mike and I hope to see you soon!

Snake River Fishing

I've had some great days fishing the Snake lately.  This season has been a superb one so far and I've been super busy fishing with clients.  As of late, the big fish have (finally) been more plentiful, accepting of flies and rewarding good drag-free drifts.  All over the river, log jams are fishing well and side channels and riffles are also holding nicer fish.  Chernobyls, smaller ants and terrestrials are all turning fish along with smaller flies like PMDs, caddis and of course, Adams.  After a slow start, the Snake is really starting to fish to its potential and I've been very fortunate to have some great folks in the boat.   

Today I fished with Dick and Darcy up in the park and was very impressed with the quality of dry fly action we had.  Tricos provided a near blanket hatch in the morning and early afternoon and fish feed on surface flies hard almost all day.  After many nice fish came undone early on, we started to get in the groove and Darcy ended up racking up the numbers.  We boated many nice cutthroat between 9-14" with an occasional 16+ giving us the slip.  

This nice, surprise brown was landed while fishing to a pod of voracious cuttys with a simple trico.
I had a great day fishing ya'll and I hope to see you soon!

The Snake is fantastic fishing right now!  Book soon as we are really getting busy on the river and stay posted for a South Fork report.

Crazy Evening Flats Fishing

Just got back a few days ago from my most recent trip down to Charleston.  I'm leaving to head back to Jackson in a matter of days so I when Kenny called me late Friday night to get in one last day or two of redfish fishing, I didn't think twice (it didn't hurt that ol' Kenny's Berfday was Sunday and we partied hard, happy berf sooooooooooon!).

I left NC early on Saturday morning and got to Chuck-town around 1 and headed straight out onto the water with Kinnison and his older brother Robert.  The tide was shaping up to be best for fishing around 5ish so we had plenty of time to slam beers on the boat.  This time around we focused on the waters of Kiawa Island and the many flats surrounding that area.  After doing some exploration in a creek adjacent to a $ Kiawa Golf course we headed to a productive flat.  As the water flowed in we all hopped out of the boat and waded to what looked like great water.  Kinnison's buddy Trent was in another boat within sight of us and was posted up on a decent flat as well.  After seeing one fish tailing and not having much of a shot at him I could hear Trent in the distance hooked up with a nice red.  Bastard.  As it turned out, the tide wasn't quite as big as predicted, not nearly enough water ever made it into our flat and the fishing suffered.  Luck was not on our side, but  thats how it goes sometimes; we barged up with Trent and hung out until we had to head back.


The next day we fished the afternoon/evening tide again and I have to say, it's great to finally be able to fish these "gentlemen's tides."  Most of the best tides I've fished typically involve hungover, bleary-eyed skiff rides out to the flats so it's refreshing to get out for an afternoon trip now that the tides are later.

The decision was made to hit up the Wando again as some of the flats in that area can retain tide water for quite some time.  We motored straight to a familiar creek, anchored the skiff and hopped out to wade the vast system of relatively hard bottom grass flats.  After waiting for for the tide to bring in enough water, the fish tails started popping up.  While the first part of the tide proved to be challenging, with reds feeding skittishly and infrequently almost like they knew we were close by, fishing had to get hot soon.  Kenny had some decent shots but no takers and soon we realized that our best option was to explore and find more productive water.


We searched the expansive flats for awhile and finally settled on a great looking flat perfectly located beside a deep feeder creek that would hopefully allow fish to stay in the area feeding longer due to the convenient entry and exit point.  We couldn't have chosen better, and sure enough, while other flats had receding water and fleeing fish, our spot had plenty of water and happy fish all over.  The tails started wagging and the fish started foraging hard.  


The fishing got crazy good really fast.  The shots we had at some fish were simply stupid.  I had fish tailing happily two rod lengths away at times.  On one occasion I was stripping leader to keep up with the red chasing my fly; needless to say, the hookset was not the best handshake I've ever had.  All told, I ended up hooking three reds in a matter of one hour and Kinnison landed a nice redfish just as we started losing the light.


As the day turned to evening, the sunset brought a fiery glow to the flat and per usual, the fishing instantly turned off just as abruptly as it had started.  Stay posted for the video edit from this trip and the many others that I had so far this season down in Charleston; It should be done soon.


This marked the best evening of redfishing I've ever had and was one of the most fun trips I've had down in the SC flats.  I won't be able to return until the fall as I'm now preparing for the loooong trip back out west.  Fishing has been great in Jackson and I look forward to getting back to some familiar waters and fishing with clients.  This season should stack up to be an epic one!  If you haven't already booked with myself or Jack Dennis Flyfishing Trips you can reach me at weldonjones@gmail.com or give Bruce a call at 307-690-0910.





I'll be west soon.

Chuck-town

A few weeks ago I went back down to Charleston to visit my fishing buddy, ol' Kenny.  He used to live in Jackson and has since relocated to SC.  He's got a skiff and has acquired quite a bit of know-how when it comes to catching redfish.  Catching reds DIY can be frustrating without much local info so wrapping your head around the tides and knowing the best flats are things I leave up to him.

This trip we choose to fish some flats close to Mt. Pleasant, just off the Wando.  Fishing just off the higher traffic Wando River seems un-productive until you get to some of the flats on the first part of a flood tide; the flats literally come alive with tailing redfish.  Standing on the bow just watching the water enter the flat and the exact moment when all of a sudden redfish start to feed is a sight for some eyes that haven't seen tails in quite awhile.

The fish were happy for the most part.  We must have seen 20 damn reds and had legit shots  at maybe 4 of those fish.  Kenny got a nice one that wasn't tailing in dense grass like many of the others.  There were so many fishing tailing that at one point I was casting to about 3 fish at once.  Unfortunately for me, they weren't as receptive and it was hard to present a fly in the dense growth.  After some pretty tough days on the flats just seeing all those fish made for a great morning.

After fishing to happy reds for about 45 minutes solid, all of a sudden, the tails disappeared.  The tide was finally going back out and our window was closing.  The flats we were finding productive were perfectly situated beside deep water creeks being feed by Wando water and must have served as a nice exit once that water began to recede.

Such a sick day to finally see some super active reds!!

Oh yeah, the tide was so big the day before that we came back to the ramp to find it gone, and Kinnison's car muffler deep in water.  The Ex-ploder's seen better days.

Bass Tourney

While spring run-off surges past the solstice and officially into summer, I'm left realizing that this time of year (and the alternate autumn off season) are the main times I fish.  Guiding season is of course the same as prime summer fishing months and I rarely get to fish much during that time.  What is great about fishing primarily in the spring/early summer and fall is the fact that you become creative with the limited time you get to spend on the water.  Personally, fall, while colder and unpredictable, is my favorite time to fish: Less people, low water, hungry fish, good hatches, oh, and nothing but time.  

The inaugural Bass Tournament 

Now, however, in what seems like a "pre-pubescent" summer, it's time to get creative and fish some clear water....somewhere.  The carp tourney was a blast, lake fishing is on, so what to do?  Head up to Ririe Lake outside of Idaho Falls for the 4th annul Bass on the Fly tournament.  This time of year, again, is mostly slow trout fishing and luckily for the competitive angler there is a multitude of solid fly fishing tournaments to distract. 

First Bass Tourney teams

Ririe Lake is loaded with smallmouth bass as well as some healthy cutthroat and kokanee salmon, so it's the perfect locale to forget how bad our rivers look right now.  Its a great time to fish due to limited options on streams as well as the fact that come those prime summer months, ski boats pretty much ruin the fishing on the Lake.  Smallies in Ririe range anywhere from very small to upwards of 2-3lbs; nice size for smallmouth.  The past few years I've always competed in the event with team mate Jeff Currier and his wife Granny.  In the first year of the tournament we bagged 3rd place and again in the fall tournament we finished 3rd.  We were both hungry for a better podium as well as some cash prize to cover our travel and entry expenses.  The tourney is always fun as hell and bass are a kick in the pants, plus Currier and I love the challenge.  The Bass tourney couldn't have come at a better time.  

We headed out June 18th at 5:45 from Victor to go straight to the Lake for check in.  This year without the backing from WY BASS, we had to improvise.  Boots Allen came in huge, and as far as I know, organized most of the event.  Thanks so much for hooking it up Boots!  With a max of 5 fish over 12 inches to qualify, the heaviest total weight would take first place.  With a big fish category thrown in the mix, it was gonna be a fun day.   With aerators cranking in live wells (catch and release), motors firing up, and stoke high for this years tourney, the familiar faces took off from the dock around 8am to hit everyones favorite holes.

Currier and I hit some of our better known spots on our long motor up to our main honey hole and secured 2 fish at 12 inches right off the bat.  We were pumped and on the board.  The fishing was slow at first yet soon we began to get into them.  A sloooooow strip on a sinking line rigged with double clousers proved effective.  Our hole was reliable as always and we quickly were replacing our first fish with our new hogs.  Just before noon I hooked the biggest bass I've ever caught on Ririe that later weighed in at 1.7 lbs!!!  Currier and I were both fired up as always and knew we were in contention.  As the fishing continued to slow in the afternoon, the beer consumption didn't and we ended up happy to hopefully have our heftiest catch yet on the lake.

We motored back to the 4:00 weigh in very pleased with our catch for the day.  As it turns out after official weigh in, we scored 2nd place and I missed the biggest fish by 0.7lbs!!  We were so pumped and the cash prize didn't hurt either.  Yet another bass tournament for the books, and this one was just as fun as the last.  Thanks to everyone who continues to support the Smallmouth Tourney and show up consistently every year and thanks agian to Boots for getting it organized!!!

Although this years tourney was done, the fishing was not:  we all convoyed up to Island Park for the Henry's Fork Ranch opener the following day!!

Lake Lovin'

Still a hefty snowpack

This time of year can be tough on an anxious fisherman: nasty weather, dirty water, and typically, just not much decent fishing.  With our snow pack something like 300% over average, run off is here and not clearing up any time soon.  Luckily for us here in Jackson, once the ice melts, we have some great lake fishing.

Stillwater fishing is one of my favorite ways to catch big trout on a fly and after the carp tourney on Blackfoot, I was still itching to get after it.  Even when the rivers have finally cleared, I'll still sometimes forego a river for the big, open water of our lakes.

So, with recent word that Jenny's getting turned on, as well as some sunny, warm weather in the  forecast, West, the Juice and I headed out to Jenny Lake.  The weather was fantastic and the fishing not so much, but if nothing else, it was just good to hear my old 2 stroke purr.  She's a hoss, but after a long winter I'm always curious to see how she runs. 

Fishing was a little slow due to the fact that the lake just recently iced off.  The good news is although I had many fish chase and follow the fly without eating - all the way to the boat at times -  fish are moving.  We ended up boating two after feeling a few shy tugs, and turning many weary fish.  West landed a respectable cutty right towards the end of the day and that was that.