Fishing the Snake River with Grand Fishing Adventures- Part 1

The second guided trip of Wild West trip found us on the Snake River just south of Jackson, Wyoming.  Mark had booked the trip through Grand Fishing Adventures out of Teton Village, Wyoming.  We checked in with the outfitter the day before and signed our wavers and confirmed our trip.  Since Mark booked the trip, I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of fish numbers and size.  The gentleman that we talked to informed us that we would be fishing exclusively for cutthroat trout.  He also said that the average size of the fish were 10-12 inches.  We were also informed that we would be fishing dry flies exclusively.  It was also mentioned that landing five fish in a morning was normal.  While I would have liked to hear more gaudy numbers, if they all came on dries, then that was a pretty good compromise.  

This was also a trip that Mark was really looking forward to so that added to the excitement.  He wanted to catch some cutthroat and he was almost giddy about the idea.  I also thought that everyone would enjoy some dry fly action.  Nobody in the group had ever had a great day of dry fly fishing and I’ve only had a few good ones.  I think most fly fishermen would agree that catching a trout on a dry fly is more satisfying than any other method.

We were also informed that we would be fishing for Snake River Fine Spotted Cutthroat.  While I knew there were multiple subspecies of cutthroat trout, this was one that I was unfamiliar with.  I had heard of Greenback and Yellowstone Cutthroat, but this subspecies was new to me.  After talking to the outfitter more and doing a little research, my excitement went through the roof!  Come to find out, these fish are only native to this river.  YOU CAN ONLY CATCH THESE FISH IN THIS RIVER…sort of.  Fish have been taken from this river and transplanted other places but the fish on the Snake are all native and have called it home for a long time.  I have only caught a handful of wild trout in my life so the opportunity to catch wild trout that are native to this river was a pretty unique experience.

There is another component that was hard to overlook prior to the trip.  I had been informed that Teton Village was a swanky place, but I just had not realized how swanky it was.  What I am about to say, is not an exaggeration.  This was such a classy looking place that I expected a Kardashian to walk by at any point.  

We met our guides. Mitch and Will, a little before 8 at the outfitter.  Right off the bat, you could tell a difference in their personalities and I don’t mean that in a bad way.  Mitch was older and seemed a little more detail oriented.  He has fished this river for over 15 years and seemed a little more serious.  Will on the other hand was younger and more jovial.  He laughed and joked more and had more of a “we’ll figure it out as we go” mentality.  I was excited to fish with both of them and have two different experiences. 

We had a 25 minute drive to the put-in on the Snake.  When we arrived, the first thing I noticed was how big the river way.  It was wider and faster than I was expecting.  I was hopeful that this just meant more habitat for fish which hopefully translated to more fish looking at flies.  (I actually found out after the trip that there were 3,500 fish per mile in the river).