Southwest Wyoming Fishing Report

Signs of Spring are starting to show themselves in Southwest Wyoming, but there is still a lot of snow out there. Snowpack in the Upper Green River Drainage is at 107 percent of normal, the Lower Green River Drainage is at 117 percent, and the Upper Bear Drainage is at 120 percent. The day time temperatures are still chilly and the water temps are still quite low. Therefore, fish are still holding in deeper, slower, winter holding water. Lots of whitefish are sitting in the riffles. If that’s what you are into, get after it. Snowmelt has been leading to blowing out of rivers in the afternoons. Stay high to avoid runoff. Flows below Fontenelle Reservoir have been around 973 CFS.

There has been a lot of midge activity on the days that the wind doesn’t blow the bugs off the water and some baetis are showing up. If you are nymphing, scuds, San Juan worms, and midges will get the job down. The dry fly fishing is pretty subpar, but if you see some fish rising you can get them with a cluster midge.. The streamer fishing has been good. Fish the slower, deeper runs with darker streamers and you should have some success.

Small Stream Fishing Report

With Utah sitting somewhere between 111 and 205 percent of average snowpack, snow is still the major issue when it comes to access on many of Utah’s smaller streams. Focus on tailwater fisheries as well as rivers with paved roads leading to them. I’ve seen some cars stuck in some precarious places as of late.

With that being said, April is a great time to begin to be adventurous. The Provo is busy with the baetis and midge hatches popping off. Baetis and midges come off on a lot of other rivers as well. Who knows, depending on where you are at, you might stumble upon a March Stonefly or early caddis hatch as well. When exploring, be mindful of the weather and that if a river is crystal clear in the morning, runoff could cause it to become unfishable in the afternoon.

I like to fish small streams with a dry dropper rig this time of the year, unless fish our rising. If they are rising you should probable tie on something that matches the hatch. Some of my favorite point flies are a peacock cluster midge in a size 16 or a Paracricket or PMX in a size 12-14. It terms of droppers, I like a size 18-20 zebra midge, size 18 pheasant tail, or a size 16 prince nymph. If you are fishing streamers, think smaller. A Scuplizza or Zonker in white, black, or olive should do the trick.

Weber River Fishing Report

Water releases from Rockport Reservoir are still at 25.1 CFS. By Coalville the flows are around 65 CFS. Below Echo the Weber is flowing at 1.75 CFS. Throughout the I 84 canyon the Weber picks up more water and is flowing at about 125 CFS once it gets to Ogden. Eventually these flows will ramp up since the Weber drainage is sitting at 133 percent of normal snowpack.

I like to give the fish a rest when the flows are this low, but that’s just me. If you are fishing trying to fish the Weber this time of the year, you will find the fish heavily concentrated in the deeper runs. They love sow bugs, especially the tailwater sow in a size 16 or 18. You will see some baetis activity, but not nearly as much as you will find on the Provo. Usually a purple or natural juju baetis in a size 18 will do the trick. There is also some spring midge activity on the Weber. Again not nearly as much as on the Provo, but fish will hone in on smaller gray midges earlier in the day. I would cover that activity with a size 22 gray WD40. I have heard of a few people throwing streamers on the Weber. The white or natural zonker as been the streamer of choice for those anglers.

Any day now the flows will begin to ramp up. Spring is in the air. Look for caddis activity to start heating up in the coming weeks.

Small Stream Fishing Report

If you are trying to get after it on some of Utah’s smaller streams, definitely focus on tailwater fisheries with paved roads leading to them because most mountain streams are frozen over and the access roads are covered with several feet of snow. With most of the state sitting between 117 and 181 percent of normal snowpack, we should have a good amount of water this summer. This is great news because last year was the driest water year on record in Utah.

Warmer weather and longer days are here. Look for baetis hatches midday into the afternoon and midge hatches to come off throughout the day. When the hatch is on and the fish are feeding I like to fish a single midge or baetis dry fly on 5x or 6x tippet or fish a dry dropper midge with a small beetle or cluster midge with a zebra midge tied about 2 feet behind it. Other Winter small stream flies that I like are scuds, prince nymphs, midges, especially the blood midge, and smaller streamers, especially sculpin or leech patterns that are slowly dredged through deeper holes.