The conditions of the Green River have improved by a very wide margin, with a huge positive change in terms of flows and clarity. Most stretches are reporting two to four feet of visibility, and big fish are moving on streamers. Hitting the banks and soft water seems to be doing the trick, and lots of quality browns and rainbows are being turned.

This past week, the New Fork River saw flows rivaling even peak flows of last year’s runoff. However, it’s now dropping steadily with the cloudy weather we have had the past few days, and the worm hatch is on! The New Fork had water up over the banks, which means the river was flooded with terrestrials and worms for the fish to gorge themselves on.

The Green River below Fontenelle Dam saw a slight drop in flows in the last day or so, which is likely to improve clarity and open up more soft water where fish can hold and feed. Small bugs will still be the ticket down there, fished on inside bends and eddies where the fish can rest and eat.

The story of the Bighorn is very similar to last week. Flows are steadily holding around 3,000 CFS, and fish are still very active. BWOs are popping off left and right, and for a few hours a day, it feels like summer dry fly fishing! Trout are still hanging out in the meat of runs and riffles during the middle of the day, and when bug activity decreases, nymph fishing is great.