I am in the process of booking my annual trip to the Green River and looking for three people to share the experience. This will be my seventh trip, and I look forward to it every year. We fish the Green below Flaming Gorge, which Orvis has ranked as one of the top-ten fisheries in the world. You will catch fish.
This is a great place for both the experienced and those new to fly fishing. Depending on the weather, we will be mostly nymphing. If we get some rain or snow, then the green drakes come off and we will have some dry fly fishing as well.
Read Terry Hall's account of our 2002 trip.
Travel to Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 17th
I will reserve a four-wheel drive. We have about four hours driving each way from Salt Lake City to Dutch John and then to Vernal and Salt Lake City. Once we are at the Ranch, we won't have much driving.
We will be staying at Spring Creek Ranch. This is working ranch of fifty-five square miles in Wyoming. It's eleven miles north of Dutch John. I have two double rooms booked for us.
The rooms are in two mobile motel units with each unit of four rooms sharing a bath. I was worried about it the first year, but it worked out fine. Check out Terry's article above—he would definitely go back again. They provide a full breakfast every morning. Lunch is provided by the guides everyday.
We will check out of the Ranch the morning of Tuesday, April 20th and fish all day.
We will then drive to Vernal, Utah (about 1.5 hours) and spend the night. That gets us out of the mountains and we only have highway driving to Salt Lake City on the 21st.
I stay at Best Western in Vernal. Last year, we booked two rooms—two queen beds in each room, non-smoking—for $55 + 10.75% tax per room for the night; or $31 per person.
We will have plenty of time to sleep in and drive to Salt Lake City. We can go to the Natural History Museum in Vernal, go to the Dinosaur Quarry, see the Indian petroglyphs, and visit the restored cabin before we leave Vernal. This is actually more interesting than it sounds here.
Best deals have been on Southwest and we want to be able to book as far ahead as possible for the best fares.
We have Doug Burton and Darren Bowcutt confirmed for three days - April 18, 19, and 20. Check out the link at the bottom of Terry's article for an endorsement of both Doug and Darren. They are great guides.
5wt rods are fine—we don't need anything heavier. If you have 6 or 7wt and want to use those if it gets windy, then bring them. You won't need any flies, leader or tippet or any equipment other than rods and reels. They provide all that stuff for us. We won't be doing any wading so you don't need to bring that stuff. You will want to be planning on cold weather and rain clothes. Weather range in April is from 18 to 75 degrees with sun, rain, wind, and snow all possible in one day. So, layer. There is room in the boat to bring a water-proof bag of clothes.
| SW Airfare (from Oakland) | $178.20 |
| Car | 125.00 |
| Gas | 16.50 |
| Spring Creek Lodge | 150.00 |
| Fishing License | 32.00 |
| Guides and Boats | 562.50 |
| Tip for Guides | 112.50 |
| Vernal Motel | 31.00 |
| Total Per Person | $1,208.00 |
| per Day of Fishing (3) | $403.00 |
Other expenses are nominal: lunch between Salt Lake City and the Ranch, dinner every night, and breakfast and lunch on the way home.
Let me know if you would like to sign up for the trip or if you have any questions.