Weber River Fishing Report

Water releases from Rockport Reservoir are at 121 CFS. By Coalville the flows are around 262 CFS. Below Echo the Weber is flowing at 193 CFS. Throughout the I 84 canyon the Weber picks up a lot more water and is flowing at about 943 CFS once it gets to Ogden. Snowpack in the Weber River Drainage is sitting at 1,975 percent of normal (runoff has not come close to peaking yet). Due to snowmelt the Upper and Lower Weber are kind of out of the picture for fishing, but it is game on between Wanship and Coalville.

The Mother’s Day Caddis have arrived. Look for rising fish, especially in the evenings. I like to present a size 16 or 18 Matthew’s X caddis to these fish. If fish aren’t rising on the Weber, they love sow bugs, especially the tailwater sow in a size 16 or 18. Don’t forget to cover the subsurface caddis activity with something like a size 18 birds nest, a smaller prince nymph, or some other caddis larva of your choice. You will still see some baetis activity, but that hatch has pretty much come to a close for the season. There is also some spring midge activity on the Weber. Fish will hone in on smaller gray and dark midges earlier in the day. I would cover that activity with a size 22 gray WD40, bling midge, or a smaller zebra midge. I have also heard of a few people throwing streamers on the Weber. The white or natural zonker has been the streamer of choice for those anglers.

Utah Small Stream Fishing Report

Snow and runoff is still the major issue when it comes to access on many of Utah’s smaller streams. Focus on tailwater fisheries or spring creeks as well as rivers with paved roads leading to them. The higher elevation streams are unfortunately still off limits in a lot of places.

The weather has been wet and cold this Spring, but the fishing can be straight fire in June. Look for cicadas, stoneflies, crickets, ants, caddis, midges, and green drakes. Rivers that aren’t running high and off color have lots of hungry fish.

I like to fish small streams with a dry dropper rig this time of the year, unless fish are rising. If they are rising you should probably tie on something that matches the hatch. Some of my favorite point flies are a chubby Chernobyl ant, cicada, Paracricket, PMX, or a tan stimulator in a size 10-14. It terms of droppers, I like a size 18-20 zebra midge, size 18 pheasant tail, a size 14-16 prince nymph, size 16 birds nest, or a size 12 green drake nymph. If you are fishing streamers, think smaller. A Scuplizza or Zonker in white, black, or olive should do the trick.

Southwest Wyoming Fishing Report

It has been a wet Spring. Snowpack in the Upper Green River Drainage is at 222 percent of normal, the Lower Green River Drainage is at 185 percent, and the Upper Bear Drainage is at 316 percent. With all the snow and cooler temperatures, peak runoff is still a while away. Cooler temperatures have kept the flows into Fontenelle Reservoir at around 2,300 CFS, but sunny, warmer weather is on its way. Flows coming out of Fontenelle continue to hold around 1,750 CFS, full power plant capacity. Fontenelle Reservoir is sitting at about 48 percent of live capacity. There has been no new word on when or if the flows will increase.

There is still quite a bit of midge and Baetis activity in Southwestern Wyoming. If you are nymphing, scuds, San Juan worms, midges, and baetis will get the job down. The dry fly fishing is okay, but if you see some fish rising you can get them with a cluster midge or a baetis cripple. The streamer fishing has been fair. Fish the slower, deeper runs with darker streamers and you should have some success. Water clarity has also been an issue due to snowmelt and quite a bit of rain over the past few days.

Green River Fishing Report

Flows have remained the same on the Green for the past couple of weeks. Words of the peaking of flows are starting to make their rounds. It will either happen before Memorial Day Weekend or after it. I will update you posted once I get word. The nighttime flow is 950 CFS, it increases to 2,025 CFS at 8 AM, and then to 2,500 CFS at 5 PM. The Upper Green River Drainage is sitting at 100 percent of average snowpack and the Lower Green River Drainage is sitting at 89 percent of average. River temperatures are around 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

With the constant changing of the weather patterns, fishing can be fantastic or just good. In the mornings and the afternoons the midge hatch has been pretty thick. The Baetis hatch is starting to taper off, but on a rainy day you can still see a fantastic hatch. Fish are still honed in on midges and scuds in the morning. In the afternoon, the fish are feeding on the baetis moving around. The streamer bite has still been pretty good on the Upper River on overcast days with the white Sculpzilla, the Articulated Goldie, and the Olive Peanut Envy. There has been some cicada activity and more and more fish are starting to eat the big bug, but not enough to sound the alarms.

Due to melting snow up in Wyoming, Red Creek is flowing and the lower river is pretty off color. Therefore, the fishing has been consistently inconsistent on the lower river. If the river clarity is good, the streamer bite has been decent and you will see fish feeding on baetis in the afternoons.

For dry dropper fishing, I am always a fan of the Chubby Chernobyl Ant. Mainly because it is ridiculously easy to see, but even during this time of the year a fish will occasionally eat it. I am fishing either a zebra midge or baetis between 2 to 3 feet below the dry.

There is no shortage of flies that will catch a fish during a midge or baetis hatch. Some of my favorite dries are a peacock cluster midge, Matt’s Midge, the Mother Shucker, CDC Baetis Dun, the Film Critic, or a Baetis Cripple.

When I am nymphing on Upper A, I’m fishing a small gray scud and a zebra midge. Once the Baetis hatch gets going on Lower A and Upper B, I am still nymphing a zebra midge because of all the midges still around and a baetis emerger. The Radiation Baetis and a Flashback Pheasant Tail have been my go to emerger patterns lately.