Tips by Dennis Breer
Owner, Trout Creek Flies, the premier guide service on the river

(Dennis wrote these as part of a monthly column for Utah Outdoors magazine. We run it here as a 4-part series.)

Jan/Feb/March
April/May/June
Oct/Nov/Dec

July; August; September

The year 2000 season on the Green River is shaping up to be a humdinger! The cicada hatches in June were tremendous and the great fishing they stirred up should continue well into July and beyond.

We do have the potential for the emergence of an even larger 13- or 15- year species of the cicadas to appear in July and August, which would cause even less-than-rabid fly fishers to drool. But even if they don't arrive and June's naturals fade from the river; cicada fly patterns will be extremely effective for some months to come as attractor-style flies.

Add to that a full line of aquatic insect hatches and terrestrials and you have the recipe for the best fishing offered anywhere in the Western states. Among the aquatic insects are caddis flies, pale morning duns, and craneflies later in the month. In the lower reaches of the river you can add callibatis, damsels and dragonflies.

In addition to the cicada factor, the terrestrial base will be in full bloom: grasshoppers of every sort and color, beetles, ants, even the possibility of a visit to the river from the Mormon crickets that are said to be abundant this year all will combine to provide a great food base for a bulging Green River trout population.

This is also a great time to fish your favorite attractor dry flies such as Royal Wulffs, humpies, stimulators and such.

Notice I haven't mentioned much about nymph fishing? Well, you can effectively do that year-round on the Green. In fact the dry/dropper technique works wonders most of the year, but summer is the time when the dry- fly approach really steps for- ward as the best and, for most of us, the preferred technique.

But a cautionary note is in order as we settle into summer: July is also a busy month for our area in terms of recreational visitation.

Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area attracts lots of vacationers to the reservoir, nearby mountains and Green River. Many of them end up on the

river as rafters, which means that during your fishing trip here you will undoubtedly need to share the river with these folks.

July also has two major holidays, the Fourth of July and Pioneer Day, a state holiday on the 24th. Both bring extra people to the river. I'm not saying that you should not visit or fish the river during those time frames, but if you do, keep your expectations in line with the reality that there will be plenty of folks around.

On a personal note, this report is an anniversary for me of sorts. It was one year ago this issue that I submitted my first Green River report for Utah Outdoors. It has been lots of fun and I have made many new friends in this effort. Thanks for the wonderful response I have received from you, the readers, and the great support of the Utah Outdoors staff. Hope we can keep meeting right here for many years to come!

August

What a difference a year makes! Last August we had just come down from near-record high river flows. This year (2000) we are in a state of drought and having very low flows. The average flow per day is lower than we have seen on the river for more than eight seasons, at 1300 cubic feet per second (cfs ) compared to our normal 1700 to 1800 cfs for August. We are seeing, in essence, the basement of the river this season. At this level it's easier for the walking anglers to wade the river and harder for the floaters in some areas to dodge rocks. Floaters should especially use extra caution in Red Creek Rapids. It is a bone pile of rocks at low flows and should be scouted for safe passage.

But even with this change in flows, the river still fishes well. This is a great time to fish your favorite attractor -style flies such as humpies, Wulffs, stimulators, etc. There will be several aquatic hatches to watch for as well. Caddis will be very active in the evening hours. Pale Morning Dun mayflies will also be pre- sent many days. Emerging craneflies will be active in the wee morning hours. As in all warmer months, I can't overemphasize the importance of the Green River's terrestrials to successful fishing. This is probably the prime month for hopper fishing and on a slow day or when encountering that fussy big brown trout that refuses all else, a black ant (#14/16) or beetle pattern in the same sizes can work magic. This spring we had possibly the all-time best ever cicada hatch in May and early June. Though the naturals are gone now, you can still have great fishing success using cicada patterns as an at tractor fly. These and other large dry flies also work well with droppers below them.

Here are a few pointers on why and how I approach fishing dry/dropper combos. This technique is deadly effective because it allows you to fish a dry and a nymph at the same time, thereby appealing to a broader range of feeding trout. The flies are connected by first tying a tippet to the hook bend on the dry fly. Then the nymph is tied onto the tippet's other end. The flies I use for the droppers typically have metal beads placed at their heads before they are tied to help them sink. Tungsten beads are the most effective. The dry fly needs to be able to support the weight of the dropper fly so that only a tug from a fish will sink it. The dry fly thereby becomes your strike indicator. Bead head nymphs, as they are known, can be tied in a number of standard pat terns such as pheasant tail nymphs and a number of midge patterns.

In setting the depth for the dropper (length of the tippet), I key on several things. First, the deepest I ever fish this way is under three feet (generally around 30 inches or less). If the tippet is longer it becomes hard to cast with- out tangles. If you need to reach a greater depth then go to a standard nymph rig.

Early in the day I fish at 24-30 inches because the fish are generally staying tighter to the bottom. Then I fish sections of river water that match up well with the depth I have set. As the day passes I find you can shorten (up to 12 to 18 inches) as the fish move up in the water column and become more active. I will go shorter than that (as close as four inches) when I observe fish feeding at those levels. If they are cruising and feeding at six inches, then set it at six. This requires watching for the fish and their activity from pool to pool and from morning into afternoon and making adjustments when necessary. Use this technique whenever you need to buoy a fly at a certain level in the river to keep it near the fish's feeding level.

September

September gives visiting anglers the best the Green River has to offer. Beautiful fall colors will adorn the mountain and riverside vegetation, optimal river conditions and fishing that will be good enough to please most any angle, are just a few of the highlights.

Fall Baetis and midge adults will return when the heat of the summer fades to cooler fall weather. These aquatic hatches along with caddis and a plentitude of terrestrials will mean that the river has a full plate of food to offer the trout and an abundance of angling opportunities for visitors.

All techniques will catch fish at this time of year. But especially nice (because water temperatures are controlled through the Flaming Gorge dam) the opportunities to dry fly fish for rainbow and brown trout will continue through much of the fall. Fall brown trout will be working aggressively to gain as much weight as they can before the spawning season in November and December, making them especially venerable. Fly pattern selection can vary as widely as from midges to Chernobyl Ants, but attractor flies such as Stimulators and various Trudes are also a great approach to angling success.

Though the numbers of visitors to the river stays high into mid September, their makeup is different when compared to other river users encountered during the summer months. Except for weekends, most of the rafters are gone after Labor Day weekend (most schools will be back in session by then) leaving the group that remains comprised mostly of serious anglers.

While I have learned to accept other river user groups on the river through the years, it is nice to have the bustle and noise associated with them finally fade. One word of warning about possibly the most all around ideal month on the Green River, it is fast approaching the time when the weather can turn to the first signs of winter, be sure you are prepared for all the possibilities. Then all that is left to do is to just be prepared to catch lots of fish.