Two weeks playing on the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam…
Why we came…
Portions of the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam have 20,000 trout per mile…more than any other river in the U.S. And with special regulations, lots of those trout are good-sized. The Green River has been on my wish list since I was a teenager…it was time to check it off the list!
The beautiful Green River / All trout 15-22 inches long must be released
Flaming Gorge Reservoir
Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the Uinta Mountains
Flaming Gorge Reservoir
The campground…
Flaming Gorge Resort caters mainly to its lodge visitors, restaurant diners, and fishing clients. It has a few RV sites that are filled by employees and seasonal visitors that occupy spots the entire summer. However, during the “off season”, a couple of the sites are available to folks like us. We were in a spacious site between mobile homes. The RV pad was a long, fairly level gravel strip with grass surrounding it. Water, electric, and dump were in bad shape, but functional. Satellite reception was great from our site, but trees would make it tough from some of them. Wi-fi was nearly useless and cell phone varied from a weak 3G signal to nothing. The laundry facility was also in rough shape with only one washer (out of two) that worked. The RV and mobile home sites are definitely a second thought to the rest of the “resort”. In spite of all that, it was peaceful and we were comfortable. Next time we come to this area, we will stay at Flaming Gorge Recreation Services in Dutch John. New owners are definitely improving everything and it’s closer to the great fishing on the Green River.
At Flaming Gorge Resort near Dutch John, Utah
10 inches of snow on 11 May! It was gone just two days later.
Adventures…
The Green River…
The Green River is a fairly large river that begins in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains and flows south into Utah where it meets the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park. Much of the river runs slow and silty with minimal fishing opportunities, but in the mountains and below two dams, it usually runs clear with nice fish. The 30 mile section below Flaming Gorge Dam offers some of the best trout fishing in the U.S. amongst some beautiful scenery.
The river is divided into three sections: the “A” section is the seven miles closest to the dam; the “B” section is middle nine miles; and the “C” section is the lowest 13 miles that ends roughly at the Colorado/Utah state line. Up to 20,000 fish per mile inhabit portions of the “A” section. The number of fish decrease as you move down stream, but the size increases. It was amazing to think that thousands of trout were swimming in the holes we fished.
Arleen fishing a mile below Little Hole on day one
Day 1 fishing the Green River: It was brisk with temps in the mid-40s and winds to 20mph. There was still remnants of the previous days snow…it was chilly! We chose to start at Little Hole, walk a mile downstream, and work our way back up. We caught a couple of small browns and rainbows, but should have done better… we saw quite a few feeding fish but couldn’t figure them out. We stopped at the fly-fishing shop AFTERWARDS and got some needed knowledge and the hot flies. Lesson: Always stop at the local fishing shop BEFORE you fish!
First Green River trout, a colorful 12 inch brown
Battling a nice one in the “B” section 2.5 miles downstream of Little Hole on day two
Day 2 fishing the Green River: We started at Little Hole again, but hiked further downstream two and a half miles. The trail does not follow the river bank, but goes up and over a good-sized hill. We put our waders, boots, fishing gear, water, and snacks in our backpacks. It was a bit cumbersome, but necessary. Few people hike to this section… most people float through it in rafts or drift boats. We fished some big pools between the Cottonwood and Trails End campsites and did pretty good. We caught 15” to 18” rainbows and browns fishing the slow upstream eddies. This part of the upper “B” section was our favorite.
A thick bodied 17 inch brown trout / A healthy 17 inch rainbow trout
Arleen playing tug-o-war in the “B” section below Little Hole on day three
Day 3 fishing the Green River: We grabbed our backpacks and headed right back to the upper “B” section to fish between the Cottonwood and Trails End campsites. Our experience was similar to the previous day and we really enjoyed ourselves.
A very pretty 17 inch brown trout / Another nice rainbow trout
Arleen fishing the very scenic lower “A” section on day four
Day 4 fishing the Green River: We parked at Little Hole and hiked about two and a half miles upstream to fish the lower part of the “A” section. There is a nice trail along the north river bank the entire length of the 7 mile long “A” section. This section of the Green River has the most fish and gets the most fishing pressure. Most people don’t hike more than a mile from the parking areas, but it is very popular with drift fishermen. The fishing was steady for us with more 15” to 18” rainbows and browns. I caught a couple on big floating cicada flies… it was awesome! We really enjoyed the scenery and the fishing, but missed the quiet of the “B” section.
The lower part of the “A” section is very pretty
A rainbow and a brown trout, both caught on big floating cicada flies
The upper part of the “A” section on day five
Day 5 fishing the Green River: We parked just below Flaming Gorge Dam and hiked about two miles downstream to fish the upper part of the “A” section. There is a nice boat ramp, but parking is about a hundred feet above the river. There are two steep, but well maintained trails that descend to the river. Just like the previous day in the lower “A” section, we didn’t see many hikers, but we saw lots of drift boats. The fishing was slower for us and seemed to be slower for the drifters as well. We caught a few 15” to 18” rainbows and browns, a couple of them on big floating cicada flies. The scenery was spectacular, but the climb out was tough in waders.
About a mile and half downstream of Little Hole with a 40 pound backpack
Days 6, 7, and 8 on the Green River: We spent two nights in a tent! We considered this a warm-up test-drive backpack adventure to prep us for similar, but tougher adventures this summer.
We parked at Little Hole and hiked three miles downstream to the Trails End campsite in the upper “B” section. The trail climbs a four hundred foot hill, then undulates up and down before dropping steeply back to the river. It was tough with 40-45 pound backpacks, but we took our time and rested every 30 minutes…it wasn’t too bad.
We took minimal time to set up camp, slipped on our waders, and went fishing. We each caught a couple of nice rainbow and brown trout. Other than fishermen that floated by in a few drift boats, we had the river to ourselves. Though there was a campsite across the river from us, it was never occupied. The closest campers were 3/4 mile upstream and we only saw them when we ventured near their camp. In the morning before the drifters showed up and by late afternoon after the last one floated through, we were all by ourselves on the beautiful Green River. Slipping into the tent at night and waking up on the river bank was a special experience that we will always treasure.
It was windy the next two days so I waited for the winds to calm each evening to fish. For a summary of the evening fishing, see the description under the pictures below. We also went on a hike which is described under a picture below.
Our first backpack adventure was a success! Our bodies did ok and we had nearly everything we needed. We learned a couple of ways to be more efficient and look forward to backpacking the Wind River Mountains and Beartooth Mountains this summer.
We hiked 3 miles from Little Hole to the “Trails End” campsite (#8) and spent two nights in a tent
Posing in our tent at the Trails End campsite on the Green River / From the cliff above our campsite
We wanted to hike about 3 miles downstream to the Red Creek confluence, but the trail was too overgrown with willows. On the way out, we followed the river bank and it was tough. We made it a quarter mile past the Big Pine campsites and decided to turn around (3/4 mile from where we started). On the way back, we chose to climb above the river, and parallel it back as much as possible. It was a longer route, but easier to navigate. In the picture above, our campsite is under the two tall ponderosa pines, even with and to the right of Arleen.
Fighting trout on the Green River near the Trails End campsite
Fishing the point near the Trails End campsite. Note the lower red cliff just above and to my left…the cliff is discussed below
Picture on the left: This 80 foot high cliff was just downstream of our camp. There was a steep, but easy trail to the top and right along the edge. From the top, we had a great view both upstream and downstream. Occasionally I spotted trout feeding directly below. I also watched drift boats fish through the football field sized pool…only one person noticed me watching them from above. During our two and a half day tent adventure, I scampered up there at least 10 times…it was my special spot!
Picture on the right: I am fighting a trout from the point in front of our campsite. That’s our tent to my right. In the right side of the picture, you can also see a part of the cliff mentioned above.
Sunset on the Green River. I fished until after 10pm two nights in a row. Both nights I experienced a flurry of hits a half hour either side of sunset working a small leech fly slow and deep. After it got totally dark, I got a hit every 30 minutes or so on big streamers. I caught a mix of rainbow and brown trout 15” to 18” long. I love fishing in the dark with all my senses fully alert and feeling that sharp tug as a fish hammers my fly! Plus there is always the potential that I will hook one of the truly huge night-feeding monsters.
Calder Reservoir…
There are quite a few lakes within 50 miles of Dutch John and Vernal, Utah. We saw that Calder Reservoir, one of the three Diamond Mountain Lakes, had special regulations so we wanted to check it out. We are glad we did… it is now one of our favorite trout lakes!
We arrived the first day and saw 5 or 6 fly-fishermen fishing near the small boat ramp. One of them was fighting a big trout that made all kinds of ruckus with heavy splashes. Then we noticed a whole bunch of big trout cruising around the shallows… the large rainbows were in spawn mode! We got excited and made haste to launch our kayaks. Initially the fishing was slow for us, but Arleen broke the ice with a hard fighting 21 inch rainbow. The winds picked up forcing us to beach the kayaks and fish from the bank. That’s when we put on size 10 or 12 black with red ribbing chironomid flies and started nailing them! We caught 10 rainbows that were 19” to 22” long. All of them were heavy fish and mostly in dark spawning colors. Some of the old males had battle scares and were really impressive. We knew Calder Reservoir was special and vowed to go back the next day.
The next day we left the kayaks at home and walked straight to the small dam. The winds were a bugger, but we made it work. When the winds calmed and the water went flat, we could see a bunch of trout chasing each other within 10 feet of the bank. Those trout ignored our flies as they focused on making babies. So we cast beyond the fish we could see and let our chironomid flies sit stationary. The fishing wasn’t non-stop, but it was consistent with 4 or 5 opportunities each hour. We’d be standing there with our flies 30 feet in front of us, chit chatting and trying to decipher the trout’s antics. Then a strike indicator would dip under the water, we’d set the hook, and all hell broke loose as a 20 incher took off on a splashy run… it was so much fun! We caught about 15 trout, all of them 19” to 22” long. It’s some of our best fishing since we hit the road.
Calder Reservoir, Utah…great lake! / A 22 inch rainbow trout
Arleen getting dragged by a nice one
A 21 inch rainbow trout
Fighting a monster near the dam / A thick-bodied battle-scared 22 inch male
Arleen with some impressive Calder Reservoir rainbow trout
Three years in the trailer…
May marks our third year living in the trailer! We are still very happy and have no regrets. We have tentative plans each year for the next 10 years and every time we look at a map, we see that a lifetime of adventures await!
The maiden voyage to Ainsworth State Park, Oregon on 20 Apr 2011
Next…
We are in Boulder, Wyoming and will spend the next month exploring the spectacular Wind River Mountains!
Parting Shots…
Horses and deer in our back yard / A bald eagle at Calder Reservoir
Two 5 foot long bull snakes…the one on the left has a rodent in its mouth. We saw more snakes in two weeks along the Green River than the rest of our lives combined! None of the snakes were poisonous.
Snug as a bug in the tent on a chilly morning
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