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!
