A few weeks ago, I mentioned we were going on this trip and said I would report. A beautiful canyon (immediately below the Flaming Gorge Dam and Reservoir), nearly invisible water, and lots & lots of highly educated trout. We had a great time and actually caught some fish; the son/heir landed a 17” rainbow and 12 or so others, all but one over 13”. We have good gear and pretty good casts, but our totals were nothing like those achieved by ‘guests’ on guided drift boats. Their catches were going about 60 to 80 fish per day. The put-in was a tight spot and the Forest Service seems to gear things for trailered drift boats and small rafts. We had to inflate our 14’ boat about a half mile up the hill and cart it down to the ramp; this added about an hour to our usual rigging time. If we were to do this again, and we would like to do so, it would be different. We knew this would be something of a scouting effort. I would like to pay for two of us on a guided boat the first day ($395). Then using our own boat, we would fish the first part of the river (“Section A”) a few more times applying what we learned about what dry fly/nymph/streamer to use on specific water and where to put the terminal tackle. We could camp each night at the take-out (“Little Hole”) or nearby. The time to go is when the cicadas or Mormon crickets are hatching--the fish are voracious and lose their natural caution because of the meaty bugs. Foodwise, we had bacon-wrapped filets the first night, grilled chicken pesto fettucine the second, frito pie the third, and spaghetti with spicy sausage and sauce the fourth night. Breakfast was chorizos (Basque) or Polish sausages wrapped in flour tortillas. Instant oatmeals and yogurts. We were de-emphasizing the food. The Food Saver thing is a great asset for this sort of trip. As far as rapids, this portion of the Green is a joke. The two books we had on the river stressed the powerful and difficult rapids. Nothing but riffles and rock gardens--about as difficult as a flooded parking lot in a light breeze. The one rapid that was a problem was just too shallow so Mrs. Idahorn2 and the son/heir had to walk around it. The Lower portion of the Green in Southern Utah is real serious, but the Flaming Gorge Tailwater is strictly for fishing. We saw elk, otters and beavers, mountain sheep, herons or cranes, eagles and several osprey. The osprey actually did their diving act three times. That is a real train wreck, but the birds just get up and fly off--two out of three times the bird had a fish. As usual, even with several lists, I forgot some items. No real problems, but I do wish we had been able to sit in our camp chairs. I thought some of the camps had water so I brought only one 6 gallon jug, but we had plenty of fluids.... All in all a great place for fishing, but a guide may be a good investment the first time out.
sounds great i remember seeing some green river rafting co's in Moab. Is this the same section of the river?
Nice, thanks for sharing. As far as the fishing setup, if it's just a little off from what the fish expect, it ain't happening. Damn their eyes.
Beautiful place, but the water is cold only in comparison to the Brazos or some such. The South Fork of the Boise River is bone-chilling painful and not really good for fishing until it has run aways from the mouth of the dam. If they could moderate the temperature in the Boise, perhaps it would improve to the level of the Green--it is a good fishing stream.
