# Green River On The Fly



## pintail (Apr 20, 2008)

A couple weeks ago 2 of my friends and I decided to make the trek to the Green from Bountiful. We got there at about 9:30 and were on the river freezing our butts off by 10. About every five minutes we had to brake the ice out of our eyelets until about 11. It was the prettiest day i have ever seen up on the Green. We fished till dark and did pretty well stripping buggers. Nymphing was slow but we managed to get a few early in the day. had each had 2 poles with one rigged with a dry fly incase a hatch broke out. Sure enough mid day they stared to rise and slurp. We were throwing size 22 BWO's at them but they wouldn't even look at them. The flies hatching were like a size 26 -28 which we didn't have. We caught a couple planter rainbows up by the boat launch at the dam. I guess they had just planted a bunch in there recently. The ones i caught had no fins from living in a concrete tank at the hatchery. It was a great day to get out.


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## Flyfishn247 (Oct 2, 2007)

Great post, reminds me how much I miss that place.


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## nate1031 (Jul 2, 2008)

Cool report! Looks like fun. I like that c&r net, where'd you pick that up?


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Looks like a lot of fun. Are there restrictions on what type of vessel is allowed to float the Green (ie: are float tubes okay)?


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

I have seen dudes float it in tubes. I guess it depends on the flow levels and how big of balls you have.


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## flyfitch (Sep 22, 2007)

I believe the only restrictions are no motors. I have seen people in tubes. (nuts) I would at least use a pontoon. I have seen many people do it in their pontoons and I have thought about it, but figure I will just stick with the drift boat. Much easier to carry a cooler of .....soda. Thanks for the report. When fish rise on the green, I always do well with a griffith's gnat. It looks like a bunch of those tiny bugs, piled up together. It works great.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

Back in the 90's I floated the Green, many times on my float tube.
I never had a problem and the fishing was great.

Sometime about 2000, the Feds tried to make it law that any vessel that was used to float the Green, below the dam must have a minimum of 4 seperate air chambers.
This was never enacted but I haven't seen a float tube go down the Green sense then.
Back then, you were required to carry an extra fin with you, when floating the Green on a Tube or Toon.

I don't know if float tubes are now banned or not.

Funny side note.

The first and only time thet I took my Pontoon down the Green, I tipped over going through the waterfall that's about 1 mile below the dam.

I have only floated the Green in a raft or drift boat sense that trip.


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## MN transplant (Jan 4, 2009)

never been that far south. by the looks of the fish it seems it may be worth a trip. Ill wait til the hard decks gone and go from there I suppose.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

MN transplant said:


> never been that far south. by the looks of the fish it seems it may be worth a trip. Ill wait til the hard decks gone and go from there I suppose.


Some of the more seasoned diehards on here may flame me for this, but what the heck- I doubt it will make too much of a difference...

Winter and early spring are two of the BEST times to fish the Green. As was mentioned, fish can be caught on streamers and nymphs, but if you catch it during a hatch, the dry-fly action can be incredible. Plus there is a lot less pressure during this time. Not many people want to layer up and wear a coat to fly fish, so you may only see a few other people out there.


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## MN transplant (Jan 4, 2009)

thanks for the the info. I won't tell anyone. :wink:


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## pintail (Apr 20, 2008)

nate1031 said:


> Cool report! Looks like fun. I like that c&r net, where'd you pick that up?


That is my buddy that has that net. I think the brand is Brodin? Pretty sure at least. I do know for sure he spent about $145 on that bad boy. Its a very nice net as you can imagine.


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## nate1031 (Jul 2, 2008)

Ouch. That's a pretty penny. Nice net.


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## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

Looks like fun, thanks for sharing. I need to make a spring trip down there. I love floating the Green in my pontoon, its alot of fun. I heard float tubes werent allowed anymore? But im not sure...


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Nice report. I just read through the fishing guidebook and I couldn't find anywhere that it expressly states that float tubes are not allowed on the Green. I found where it said you couldn't have a boat with a motor... but that was it. I would think a life jacket would be a must and I'd probably only do it when the weather is a little warmer so you don't freeze to death if you do tip or get your waders filled with water. I'm thinkin it might be pretty pleasant to go up there and float it in shorts and a t shirt in the summer.... heck if you tip, just go for a swim. Used to talk to a guy named Curtisfish that used to go down the river fishing out of an old military raft and they'd pull over in certain places and dive for the gear folks had dropped all up and down the river. Pretty cool pics he sent me of some of the stuff.... Anyone ever night fished up there?


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## RnF (Sep 25, 2007)

Chaser said:


> MN transplant said:
> 
> 
> > never been that far south. by the looks of the fish it seems it may be worth a trip. Ill wait til the hard decks gone and go from there I suppose.
> ...


Chaser,

Not sure if I would consider myself a diehard, but telling folks this wont matter much. The weather and temps weed everyone out. Not too many people would be willing to deal with winter conditions there... especially when it's only 10 degrees for a high with 30mph winds.

You are right, winter can have amazing top water action. I catch more fish on top this time of year than during the summer.


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

Float tubes are not allowed by the Forest service or BLM. Any of you remember the days when float tubes were common? Everywhere you looked guys were going through rapids upside down. Several people would get killed every year and have been illegal for a few years now for good reason; many anglers died because of them.


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

That net is the Brodin Ghost series. Same attributes of a rubber bag but MUCH MUCH lighter. You can get them for around $90. 
http://www.bearsden.com/product8308.html


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## martymcfly73 (Sep 17, 2007)

flyguy7 said:


> That net is the Brodin Ghost series. Same attributes of a rubber bad but MUCH MUCH lighter. You can get them for around $90.
> http://www.bearsden.com/product8308.html


Or you can get one similar @ cabela's for about 50 bones.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

RnF said:


> Chaser,
> 
> Not sure if I would consider myself a diehard, but telling folks this wont matter much. The weather and temps weed everyone out. Not too many people would be willing to deal with winter conditions there... especially when it's only 10 degrees for a high with 30mph winds.
> 
> You are right, winter can have amazing top water action. I catch more fish on top this time of year than during the summer.


I figured it would be harmless considering how few people are willing to get out in winter conditions, but I wasn't sure how big of a secret it is to serious Green River guys that the action on dries can be red hot this time of year.


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

Just as RnF stated, the Green will never see good numbers of people in the winter because of the weather. I tried to push anglers to go fish (or go on a guided trip) over there for years. Few would bite. That is why places such as Western Rivers, Flaming Gorge Lodge, and Trout Creek offer such deeply discounted trips in the winter.


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

flyguy7 said:


> *Float tubes are not allowed by the Forest service or BLM*. Any of you remember the days when float tubes were common? Everywhere you looked guys were going through rapids upside down. Several people would get killed every year and have been illegal for a few years now for good reason; many anglers died because of them.


Is this on any forest service or BLM land with floatable water or just on the Green and why does it not say this in the Guidebook? I would think that would be pretty important info for folks wanting to attempt that. Is there something at the river that says no float tubes? There are some stretches that look nice and flat that I would imagine could be pretty easily portgaged if you knew where rapids were and could kick to shore before you reached them.


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## nate1031 (Jul 2, 2008)

flyguy7 said:


> That net is the Brodin Ghost series. Same attributes of a rubber bag but MUCH MUCH lighter. You can get them for around $90.
> http://www.bearsden.com/product8308.html


Thanks! I've seen the cabelas one too.


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