Trout Creek Flies Dennis Breer Dies in Accident

Tragically for those of you who may not have heard, Dennis Breer, founder and owner of Trout Creek Flies and Green River Outfitters, had a terrible accident while moving his beautiful but very large and heavy pigeon coop on November 6. Nobody is certain what caused it to fall, either high wind gusts or just slipping off the braces but we believe he was killed instantly. We are all so sorry, for he had so many followers and friends around the country. He will be deeply missed.

Here's an article reprint from yesterdays Salt Lake City Tribune:

The Utah fishing community is mourning Dennis "Denny" Breer, who died Thursday in an accident at his home in Dutch John near Flaming Gorge Dam in Daggett County..

Breer, 59, owned the popular Trout Creek Flies guide service and store in Dutch John, catering to anglers headed to the Green River.

An accomplished pigeon racer and breeder, Breer was attempting to move a large coop in his backyard when it fell on him Thursday morning.

"It is just absolutely tragic," said friend Emmett Heath. "This is going to affect the river a lot. No one had his knowledge of the river and the influence that he had with all the different powers [that manage the Green River]. Now, somebody else is going to have to fill the bill."

Few people attended more meetings regarding management of the Green River than Breer. He was not afraid to speak his mind when it came to protecting the resource..

"Rivers are a precious commodity . . .they aren't making any more of them. I want my granddaughter's children and their grandchildren to have the same opportunity to experience the Green River like I have. A lot of people take rivers for granted and we just can't do that," he told The Tribune.

By Brett Prettyman

Everett Heath and Dennis' wife, Grace, are continuing on with Dennis' work on the Green River, as Denny would want them to do. Please give them your support.

Flows back to summer levels, Colorado Cutts now stocked

As of July 7 the releases are now down to an average of 1500 cfs, and are projected to remain that level for the summer. In the past sumers the flows have reached the basement levels of 850-1000 cfs, but that doesn't appear to be the case for this summer...for now! We'll keep you posted.

Another new development on the Green is that Fish & Wildlife has started stocking the river with Cutthroat Trout, this time of the Colorado Cutt variety. In the past F&W successfully stocked the Green with the Snake River Cutt strain, and the Colorado Cutt version should do even better, as they are being stocked in their native environment -- geographically speaking. The Green River is part of the Colorado River drainage, so even though the origin of the Green is high up in the Wind River range in Wyoming the strain now being stocked should acclimate very well.

Another great thing about the recent stocking is that in addition to the catchable 10-12" fish stocked, it has been reported that some larger Colorado Cutthroat were also included in the stocking, some rumored to be large broodfish in the 20"+ range!

Flows returning to normal spring/summertime flows

Our annual spring releases to simulate runoff prior to the construction of the dam are underway. The releases were at a high of 4600 cfs.

Starting June 15 flows are being reduced -500 cfs at 1:00 am daily until flows are at 1225 cfs on June 21, 2008. Current flows today are at 2160 cfs.


The water temperature is currently at 58 degrees, and is slowly rising as the day temperature soar.

No Foolin' April 1st brings spring to the Green. Summer can't be far behind

Green River Drifters guides Bomar (Greg Tipton, pictured at right with Glen Brogren of Minneapolis) and Doug Roberts showed how great Spring fishing can be on the Green...you just have to know where the fish have been hanging out all winter!

The author was part of an annual "spring boyz frozen fishin' outing", this year to (where else) Utah's Green River. We fished the "A" section with three boats/guides and 6 flyfishermen, and the real estate addage, "location, location, location", proved true for flyfishing success. Doug had been on the river every single day throughout the winter, and that knowledge parlaid into the most fish for his boat and clients of the three.

RS2's were the overwhelming choice of the "takers" on this outing, while small bead head PTs and other baetis imitations also worked well. The conditions were also perfect for streamers, but the fish weren't interested at all. The :45 minutes of the day we unsuccessfully lobbed Wolly Buggers and Goldilox were the only lapse of action we had all day.

Most of the action was of the Rainbow variety, with a few more Brownies taken downstream as we got closer to Little Hole. Overall, the fish looked very fat and healthy for overwintering, so it looks like the spring should shape up nicely for good times on the Green...especially on the "A" section right now.

The start of spring runoff has stained Red Creek a bit, and the cooler spring has slowed the thawing of the big snow we had over the winter (largest accumulations of snow seen in these parts in years!). Right now, the lower part of the Green past Red Creek Rapids can be fished successfully with streamers now, but will undoubtedly become unfishable as we enter into full runoff.

The best fishing right now is between 11-2:00 pm, and on the weekdays you'll have the place to yourself. Weekends are starting to pick up somewhat...but with gas in the $3.50-$4.00 per gallon range, you probably won't experience "combat fishing" which can occur if the famous annual Green River Spring Baetis start showing up. Definitely worth a trip here...and a good idea to carpool to save gas this year!