# Green River full report with pics 8/4



## cane2477

**Disclaimer** This report contains a story and pics not entirely related to the actual fishing, but to the trip as a whole. If you want just the fishing details, skip somewhere to the middle!

Now that the legal stuff is out of the way, I'd like to tell you all about my first ever trip to the green river. My plan was to wake up early, around 3:30am and hit the road, that way I could be on the river super early. I always wake up on time when fishing is involved, so i set the alarm and headed to bed. There must have been some mysterious force in the room with me, because when I awoke, it was 4:45am, not 3:30 and since I never sleep through an alarm, I'll chalk that one up to malfunctioning equipment. :wink:

Well, better late than never I suppose. I head to the fridge, grab my lunch I made the night before, throw on some shorts and and a shirt and i'm on the road by five after 5:00. The temperature on the digital display in my truck reads 70. That will be important in a few minutes...So I head out from Clinton (near Ogden for you southerners) and go to hop on I-84 in Riverdale. They must have just closed the on ramp to I-84, and I'm forced to detour about 5 miles out of the way. I get onto I-84 and head into Weber Canyon. Mind you, it has been about 2 or 3 months since I have been through the canyon. I knew there was construction going on, but this was bad! If you guys want a driving challenge, get your car out on the road 20 minutes after waking up, making sure you get a semi in front of you and behind you, throw in some gale force canyon winds and the pitch black of night, and try driving your truck in lanes that barely leave room for your mirrors to scrape by! White knuckle driving at it's best...good times!

I get out of the canyon, thanking God i'm still alive and still have both mirrors as an added bonus, when I start to feel a little chilly. I look up at that digital readout again, and notice that wonderful temp of 70 has dropped off to, oh, 41! That's right, 41! 9 degrees from freezing! This is about the time when I look down at the shorts i'm wearing and think to myself that if it's 41 on the Wasatch back, then imagine how cold it is at the green. So i'm faced with my first dilemma... turn around and go back through the canyon of death and get some jeans, or press on? Like any real man would do, I press on, hoping that the sun will warm things way up by the time I get there. In the meantime, on comes the truck heater.

I make it into Evanston with the heater still going strong, and notice something that I had suspected all along. Yes, we have been getting screwed. I guess Wyoming translated into modern English means "cheaper gas". That's right folks, make the short drive across the border and get you some gas for $3.83. That's about .32 a gallon cheaper than the Ogden area. But i'm sure the oil companies have a perfectly good reason why it is that way. Maybe the cattle ranchers let them drill on their property and get a break at the pump. Who knows, but that ain't right! :evil:

About this time, the sun was on it's way up and I caught this picture of the wind farm on I-80 as the sun came up:










The temp gauge started to climb with the sun, so I was happy to see that. I know there is a few different routes people take to the Green, and on this trip I took Wy 414 to Manila. One thing I love about the area we live in, is that the roads we have go through some of the most beautiful areas I have ever seen. This is one of the reasons I'm getting out of the Air Force after 11 years...I love it here and want to stay! Here are some pics of the beautiful scenery you can expect to see if you haven't ventured out that way before:























































After a good distance, I finally see some water...Flaming Gorge! Finally! Gorgeous Lake!










By the way, watch out for these fellas while your flying around those corners:










I about T-boned one of them around a corner, and would of have had plenty of T-bones for the winter at the same time... How do those ranchers find all their cows anyway? Guess that's why I'm not a rancher.

I finally make it to this cool bridge that crosses the Gorge:










And not far after that came the dam...pretty impressive if you stop and think about how those guys built these things and how they hold back 90 miles of water.










If you make the trip, make sure you get gas if you need it around Evanston. Trust me, you don't want to fill up in Dutch John.










Well, I had finally arrived and it was time for some fishing. I had already decided to start out at Little Hole, and make my way upstream. I took the turn towards Little Hole, and saw a scarred landscape. When did all this burn? I know nature runs it course at times, but I bet this area was beautiful before the fire:










I get to little hole, taking a second to snap this pictures from the overlook:



















A quick check of the temp revealed that I was worrying for nothing...63 degress. Perfect!
Like I said, my plan was to start hiking and see how far upstream I could get. The first place I wet a line was just east of Coney Island, as seen on this map and picture.



















I fished this general area for about an hour...nothing..zilch...I had my fly rod and was nymphing, as I didn't see any surface action other than guides on their boats floating by every 5-10 minutes. I tried a few different flies and couldn't entice a bite. So i moved on, up to Coney Island and tried my luck there. I tied on a #12 brown hopper, since their was thousands of them along the trail. First cast and I had a taker, lost him right at the net. Was decent size, but no whopper.

A few hundred more casts and finally got one to stick. Now this one filled out my measure net, and went right at 20"










I let him go and moved down a bit more, ending up just above dripping springs rapid. Keeping with the hopper and a small midge dropper, I casted a few casts into this are of the river, right behind some big submerged boulders:










After a few casts and watching educated browns come right up to my offering and turn away, I watch this hungry fish come 1/4 of the way across the river and slam my poor hopper:










This was my biggest trout of the day and actually of the year for me, as it hung over the sides of my measure net, and i'm estimating around 22-23 inches. I battled him into my backing has he took me to the opposite side of the river. I finally got him to the net and he flew out of the water and made another run, throwing the fly from his mouth, but as luck would have it, it ends up lodged just behind his head. I guess that was enough to make him submit, because he came to the net easily after that valiant attempt at escape. So yes he was foul hooked, but it started in his mouth, so he still counts in my book. Pretty fish.

After that epic battle and struggle for dominance, it was time for lunch.










MmMmM....can't you just smell that ham sandwich!

So i'm eating my lunch when I look down and realize that during that last struggle, One of my felt soles is gone from my wading shoe! Guess it was about that time to replace the soles...So, if you find a size 12 felt sole in the river somewhere...sorry about that, please pack it out for me! Oh, and if lose your felt sole, there is ZERO protection between sharp rocks and your foot...trust me on this one...matter of fact, go check yours right now before you forget, I'll wait for you...

Ok, now that you are back...I finished lunch and did some more hiking upstream, stopping to fish this spot, right around deadmans rapids if I remember right.










This guy came to the net, but flopped out of my hand right as I snapped the picture:










I also caught this guy somewhere in the river, just dont remember exactly where. It may have been before this last one...but anyways, here he is:










I caught quite a few more smaller fish, none really worthy of the camera, and made it down to about Mother-In-Law rapids, and then started back. It was a long walk, as I might as well have taken my felt-less shoe off, as it offered no comfort on all the rocks. All in all, was a great first trip to the Green for me. This river fishes totally different than most rivers I normally fish, very technical, but if you have patience, I think you will do well. Trust me, most fish will inspect your offering before taking it. Occasionally you will get the suicide fish that will bite first, then ask questions later. If you go, bring some hoppers! I didn't see any of the cicadas, but hoppers were everywhere, even down my waders. (be careful when it's time to pee).

On the way back, I decided to take 191 to rock springs, just to see some country I haven't seen before, and boy, it didn't disappoint! There was some great views to be had...here's a sample:























































I preferred the scenery on this route more than the way I came. It was a longer drive, but that's ok. Well guys, nothing more to report, I hope you enjoyed this, as it took me about 1 1/2 hours to get this all in here, hopefully it didn't take you that long to read it! I did catch a gorgeous sunset in addition to to the fish:










But, that sunset meant one thing...I was going to have to drive the canyon of death at night again!

Thanks for all your guys reports, I enjoy reading them all, even if I don't respond to all of them. Now go catch some fish!


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## UintaMan

Outstanding report man. I really enjoyed reading it as well as looking at the pictures.


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## Grandpa D

Great report.
I felt like I was there with you.
I had the pleasure of being at Flaming Gorge last month.
It is a real place of beauty.

By the way, it's also very habit forming,
Grandpa D.


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## Nueces

Very nice. Great pics of the fish, sounds like you had some good action and a great day even after the slow start.


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## LOAH

Awesome report. Nice to see some photos of an area I've never been to. Thanks.

Nice fish too.


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## orvis1

Trust me I can appreciate the work that it takes to put a report together like that! I haven't had a ton of luck at the green this year so your report gives me some hope! Those were some nice brownies you caught, thanks for sharing!


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## Werbs

GREAT REPORT! AWESOME PICTURES! THEY BROUGHT BACK OLD GORGE MEMORIES  AND THAT BRIDGE I JUMPED FROM IT A FEW YEARS AGO. BUT COOL REPORT!


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## wyogoob

Nice pictures.


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## svmoose

Very nice pics and report, looks like a very fun day.


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## nkunz

Great report! It brings back lots of fond memories of fishing and hiking the Green River trail.


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## Guns and Flies

Great report, I've never been there but now I feel like I have. I have always wanted to head down that way, and now I REALLY want to head down that way. I'm in Roy if you need someone to take the pictures for you and share the gas price next time :wink:


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## FROGGER

Great post, thanks for the reoprt, glad you got into some fish 

Thanks


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## RnF

Thanks for sharing, but you just made my day at work a little longer. I need to get back up that way in a bad way.


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## orvis1

Sounds like a whole group of us that would like that trip, maybe we should set up a weekend and share some expenses?


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## Guns and Flies

I'm in.


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## bucksandducks

Nice report! Beautiful pictures, and fish. Makes me want to sacrifice the 100 bucks in gas and go up there.


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## STEVO

orvis1 said:


> Sounds like a whole group of us that would like that trip, maybe we should set up a weekend and share some expenses?


+1, I would be in too!!!!


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## Werbs

orvis1 said:


> Sounds like a whole group of us that would like that trip, maybe we should set up a weekend and share some expenses?


+1, AND I'D LIKE TO PUT FACES TO A LOT OF YOU!


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## cane2477

Well I guess it's official! We got to get a trip planned again up there before it turns -30! I'm glad you guys enjoyed the report!


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## grousehunter

Awesome report!


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## skating miner

Thanks for the time you put into that report. Time well spent. Beautiful fish as well. Never been up there but i might have to check it out.


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## orvis1

fatbass said:


> Excellent report from top to bottom! It's been 32 years since I fished the Green. :?
> 
> Maybe it's time...


Your inner trout is calling your... Fatbass.... Fatbass..... You can wear your finest suit, silk gloves, and we will only fish size 30 dries. Nah Just kidding spin or fly bring some brew and after the rubber hatch ends on labor day would be a great get away!


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## seniorsetterguy

Just got back to reading the forum this morning...WOW! Great pics, great narrative..and brings back wonderful memories of that place. Nice work!

I love the Green. Although I'm not the greatest fly/stream fisherman...I still love the effort and occasional success.

As for a group trip...I'd love to join in if y'all don't mind an old timer. I'm on the way, for most of you...I live in Heber. I've got an Excursion with eight seat belts. If we filled it, it would qualify as an economy car!

Tchau,

Rob


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## luv2fsh&hnt

Holy Guacamole!!!!!!!!What a report!Way to go on the fish and the photography was totally awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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