Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing What flies for WY?

My g/f and I are planning a trip to Cheyenne, WY in the first week of July. We're planning on going to Yellow Stone area for a few days.

What would be a good choice of flies?

The rods I'll be bringing will be a G-Loomis stream dance #5wt, and a Sage TXL 00wt.

Mike

Very, very small ! My buddy (former CO guide) fishes 24 and 26 and outfishes everyone 5 to 1. Including some BIG Browns. Have drys and wets as you may/maynot get a hatch that early. (July is "spring" in Jellystone, wet and cool)

Water is gin clear if runoff is not too bad. Small and gentle is the secret.
(Green, New Fork, Grey's and all the lakes in the Wind River Bridger Wilderness)

The usuals:

Adams, dark/light cahill, black gnat, henryville special caddis, woodly worms.

Hornberg, muddler, and a couple of bright wet flies.

Crystal flash streamers from Percy's in Errol, NH.

Caddis and mayfly nymphs.

JEff

I don't know anything about the fishing by Cheyenne.
Around Yellowstone the water will be big that time of year. There is a ton of snow this year,and it isn't getting real warm any time soon.
Hopefully it will be clear. If you fish the Yellowstone River or the Clark Fork of the Y, you will run into salmonflies and other big stones, think size 2-6 stimulators and 2-8 stones/buggers.
The Lamar will fish well if clear, and on the other side of the park the Madison as well.
It could be epic. The big stonefly hatches don't always fish well, but you can also have the best dryfly day ever. All while throwing a fly the size of a baby sparrow, which to me is a lot more fun than trying to track a size 24 fuzzball.
As far as flies to bring, just bring what you have and buy what you need at the local fly shops. You will get up to date fishing reports and the right flies.

Unless you tie, I would wait till you get to the area. Stop in a shop before you get to the park. The Stores in the Park don't have much of a selection of flies. If you come in from Cody, I like Tim Wade's NorthFork Angler. In West yellowstone, I usual hit Blue Ribbon Flies. In Jackson I like Jack Dennis Fly shop. Hope you nail em!


ddj

Yes. The advice to purchase some local samples is sound. If you tie and pack your gear, you can then assemble some replicates. Those Yellowstone fish can change focus 3 times in an hour.

The one fly that I carry everywhere, and it typically produces, is a hare'e ear in a variety of sizes. I try upstream dead drifting first. If that doesn't work, a downstream wet fly swing may produce on cut throat.

And don't ever forget that all hooks fished in YNP MUST BE BARBLESS!

JEff

Fished a couple streams in the Winds-Brookies that hadn't seen alot of flies- Turk's tarantula's,House and Lot Varients, Adams
they all seemed to work. Ther's another Dry fly I like called the Go to Hell Varient that worked well on the Gallatin last summer. First week of July with the snowpack they've got- could still be runoff- Streamers?

Do not forget size 14 stimulators in orange and Griffith's gnat in size 18. Cuts cannot refuse

Lightning bugs and flash back pt's in 16 and 18's

and soft hackles too in 16-18 . swung and dead drifted

I used to live about 8 miles from the Grays, SW of Jackson, and I always did well with a Royal Coachman dry on that stream. The Salt River and Wyoming ranges aren't as high as Yellowstone and we always figured after the 4th of July snowmelt was considerably reduced on the Salt & Grays. The outfitters were generally hitting the South Fork by the 4th of July. I don't know what the snow pack is from last winter but that will have an effect on the Park and everything in that area.

snow pack is BIG this year.....was snowing in Jh a few days ago.

Sharps, the Salt is a gem. It cant support the pressure or boats coming down the canyon from JH, they just beat it to death. You live in Alpine, Thayne or close by? I love Star Valley. I lived in Kelly, WY for 10+yrs. The fishing on the S. fork coincides with the salmon fly hatch. It should be dirty water when it starts this year.

Mike-- lots can happen btwn now and July. Its going to be a big water year and a lot will be determined by run-off and how long it lasts. Jellystone is huge, not sure where you are entering the park, but if from the S., Jh side, stop at High Country Flies or Snake River Angler. If near West Yellowstone, stop at Jacklin's or Blue Ribbon. I'd buy local flies, those guys know whats going on when you are there.


my .02.

HuntKY, we USED to live in Star Valley, on Star Valley Ranch about 7 miles north of Thayne, directly across Hwy 89 and two miles east of Freedom Arms. I said we "lived" 8 miles from the Grays....and it was, straight east over the Salt River Range. By road it was closer to 25 miles.

The Salt is/was ok. It gets hammered by Idaho and Utah fishermen in the summer. I didn't fish it much after the 4th. Some of the feeder creeks coming off the mountains to the east were pretty good. McCoy Creek coming off the west side, near Alpine could be good at times. Crow Creek near Afton had its moments. Willow Creek was probably my favorite and enters Salt River at the bridge just north of The Narrows. I much preferred the Grays above the Little Grays up toward the Box-Y. The Hoback was fun but too close to Jackson unless you went way up it. Teton Creek near Driggs & Victor, Idaho was nice but with so much good fishing close to us I rarely made the trip.

Two of my all time favorites were Smiths Fork and La Barge but they were a bit of a drive....and Smiths Fork was wooly! I wish I'd fished them more when we lived there.

Cool deal Sharps.....I am very familiar with Star Valley Ranch and Freedom Arms. I've fished Willow and McCoy Cr, as well as Big Elk that dumps into Palisades. Spent a lot of time on the Grays, both fishing and 'biling up by the Box-Y.

I always liked the Salt, had a lot of buddies who lived down in Alpine, and many still do. All of them are fishing/hunting guides. Too bad some of the JH guides figured out that the Salt could be a good alternative when the Snake is high and muddy. If you aren't the first boat down a section, you are going to have a tough day on the Salt. I used to run up to Grover and float from there a lot. Not many boats up that high with the exception of Bart T.

The Hoback R. is great if you get away from everyone and float it. It can be a 'narly put in/float/take out depending on the water level, but always rewarding. I always took the day off and floated it July 4th from Stinking Springs- right through Spotted Horse, and took out at the Junction. You really found out what lived in that river when you pulled some big double bunnys through there. Some of the prettier Cutts you will find.

Silver Spiders work well in Michigan, but I don't recommend them for Wyoming.

I'd either call ahead or stop in to one of the West Yellowstone or nearby flyshops. Tell them when you are going, exactly where you are going, and they should be able to set you up. When I started doing this years ago my success went way up. They live there.

Good luck!

The Grays was always a busy place...year round! Once above Murphy Creek/Lakes it thinned out quite a bit in the summer. They used to have part of the Wyoming Stage Stop dog sled race up and back down the Grays, maybe they still do. We always went up to Alpine to watch the start. Those dogs and sledders are a hoot!

I worked with a guy who was a fishing guide during the summer, Tom Hruska, and he wouldn't hesitate to hit the Salt if the Snake was up and muddy. It holds some good fish but man, does it get hammered in the summer. Too crowded for me. Every access was full of cars with either Utah or Idaho license plates. I never fished the Big Elk, I guess that's on the Idaho side? Occasionally I'd head over the South End and fish Salt Creek and catch some Bonneville cutts. Lots of beaver dams and skinny water....small fish too....but a hoot to fish.

All this talk of Star Valley is making me homesick! I doubt I'll be making that trip with $3.85 gasoline....would that I could!

Couldnt go wrong using: Hoppers, Stimulators, Adams, Hares ears, Pheasent tails, copper johns, ect.

Sharps....I know Tom and Bethany Hruska well. Tom's a great guy, who does things the right way. He's killed some big bucks up in the Greys and does some guiding up there too.

They still run the Stage Stop through there too.