At first I thought I might take a day and hike down into the canyon and fish on foot, alone. I decided it would be a better idea to hire a guide and float the Teton canyon, after considering the terrain, the remoteness, and the huge rattle snake population. My wife sent me on this float trip as a gift for our first anniversary. What a gift, I'm luckiest man in the world to have such a wonderful wife! When I asked if she wanted go, she said yes at first. She quickly changed her mind when she saw the video. She spent that day at the spa instead; not a bad trade off, if you ask me.
I left Jackson at 5:45am to meet George, my guide for the day, at 6:30am at the shop. We threw my gear in his car, pumped a little air into the raft and hit the road. As we were driving to the river, George tells me they call the Teton canyon and the two near by canyons the potato gorges because they are surrounded by potato fields. The unique thing about the potato gorges is that there is no indication these canyons are there. Most canyons or gorges are visible from a distance because you can either see down into them or their ridge rise up above the surrounding landscape. Not the potato gorges. The land around the potato gorges is flat, and the canyons are narrow and and deep concealing them until you're near the edge of one.
This section of river get very little fishing pressure because of the difficult put-in and the very limited number of guide permits for this water. As it turned out, we were the only boat in the canyon. We were fortunate enough to have the place to ourselves that day.
When we arrive at the put-in, the George began to ready the boat. I went to the edge of the canyon to take it all in. I looked down at the river, a thousand feet below, and at the nearly vertical path that is the only way to get down to the water. George told me that about half of his clients get to the edge and want to go somewhere else to fish when they get a look at the way down. Not me. I got excited! I had been thinking about that moment for months. I couldn't wait to begin my Teton canyon adventure, I couldn't wait to descend into the canyon and fish this river.
George straps everything into the boat as he prepares to drop the boat down to the water. I ask if I can help. George replies "your only job is not to kill yourself." He gave me a ski pole for added stability on the way down and he started to push, pull, and belay the boat down the side of canyon. It takes about a half hour to get to the bottom. Once at the river, we put some more air in the boat and rig the rods. We rigged one rod with a big foam dry fly and the other with a tandem streamer rig.
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| Looking up at the ledge we had just gone over |
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| Looking up from the botttom |
We began with the dry fly. I cast into a seam near the right bank. A fish rises, the fish eats the fly, there is a violent splash, the splash settles quickly and the fish swims back swims off. The hook just didn't stick. This happens a few more times. I'm not sure if I'm setting the hook too quickly or if the fly is too big for the fish or if I'm not setting the hook hard enough. I don't know what the problem was. I was getting frustrated. George tells me to let the fish eat and wait until the fish turns its head down before I set the hook. Cutthroat eat slowly. I slow the hook set and we change flies.
I keep fishing, determined to land the first fish for the day. I was working the right bank and some pocket water, drifting the fly through every fishy spot. Nothing. Another drift, a twitch here and there, George was quietly saying "eat it, eat it" as if that was going to convince the fish to cooperate. I'm not sure he knew he was talking out loud. I finally boat a small cutty and get a little fish slime on us. Once the first fish is boated, I think we both felt a little better and get into a grove. Things improved from this point forward.
There was a lot of pocket water, some riffles, runs, and pools. There were a few big rapids that would be the envy of any white water trip. The canyon's steep walls were beautifully sculpted by nature carving out towers, natural arches, and other formations in the rock.
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| Notice the ladder like formation in the rock |
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| Notice the natural arch that looks like a hole in the middle of the rock |
I had heard that there was a guy bitten by a rattle snake last year. It turns out it was Georges friend that got bitten. They were kyaking through the canyon and his friend climbed up to this arch to get a look at the rapid around the bend. The guy stuck his hand through this natural arch and got bit. George rushed his buddy to the hospital which he said was over an hour away. His friend recovered after being treated.
The average fish in the canyon are twelve to fourteen inches, big fish are about sixteen inches, any fish larger than that are trophies. When we got to a deep pool below a rapid, we decide to try the streamer rig. Wham! Fish on and it's a big one! We couldn't see how big, but we knew it was big. There was a bit of tension as I fought the fish and George sat ready with the net. The fish finally came up to the surface, exposed its size, when it was ready to submit to the net. When we net the fish, the George measures it. It was nineteen inches and had really thick shoulders. It was a gorgeous fish. The George told me this was the largest fish to come out of the canyon this season. I'm skeptical, but it was still a fantastic fish.
We stopped for lunch. We anchored in the shade under a tree. The George unpacked lunch. First he hands me a real plate and silverware, not a bad first impression. The plate was blue and had an image of a fish painted in white in the center of the plate, a nice touch. George provides homemade pasta salad, fresh grapes, sandwiches with all the fixings, and some of his wife's homemade peach gingerbread for desert. Guide lunches don't normally make much of an impression, but this lunch was was prepared with care. It was the best riverside lunch I've had. When I'm fishing on my own, I usually don't eat much. I may stop fishing for a moment and eat a granola bar, nothing like the spread George laid out.
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| We had lunch in the shade under this tree |
After lunch, we continued to fish the streamer rig and worked our way down river through some slow water the George called a pond. The pond was deep and dropped off at the bank like the deep end of a swimming pool. At one point several fish were competing with each other, chasing to down streamer. None ate the fly, oddly enough. I caught a few more fish on the streamer when we got back into some faster moving water that was perfect for the dry fly. We switched back to the dry fly rig. I caught several more fish on the dry fly before we got to the next pond. George cruised through the pond so we could spend our time fishing better dry fly water because the dry fly action had been so hot. Where the first little edge seem dropped off, a fish came up and ate the fly. George and I both got a good look at the fish. It was huge. We were both really excited to net this one. The fish fought a good fight, but finally is was ready to come to the net. This was the biggest fish of the day and maybe the biggest fish of my trip out West. The fish was twenty one inches of beautiful cutthroat trout! It was larger than the last big fish, which was the largest fish to come out of the canyon until this fish was caught. The fish was so impressive, George wanted to get his picture taken with the fish too! We took our pictures and released the fish. At this point, I'm was convinced that these were the two biggest fish to come out of the canyon this season. Why else would the guide want his picture taken with the fish?
The rest of the float produced many more fish, but none as memorable as the twenty-one inch beast we netted earlier. When we get to the pull-out, George left me to fish for a bit while he hiked up the dirt road to get the car. I fished the water near the pull-out without any luck. I didn't really care, the day had been amazing. I'm was still riding the high from those two huge fish and the many others brought to the net. It must have been a forty to fifty fish day. Who knows? There were too many fish to count. I'm sure I missed or lost twice that many.
Throughout the trip, George kept saying "the best part is getting the fish to eat." When we left the shop in the morning I was convinced it was more frustrating to lose a fish than to not see a fish all day. After this experience on the Teton and my time with the George, I'm convinced he's right. Seeing a fish rise from the depths and eat a fly off the surface is the ultimate fly fishing experience. Landing a fish is great, but fooling a fish to eat a hook, disguised as a food, is simply amazing.
The Teton Canyon is unique and special place. It was pleasure and privileged to fish this seldom visited section of river. The adventure of it all was simply awesome. There is no better word to describe the experience. The climb down, running the rapids, the remoteness, and the sheer beauty of the place alone made a lasting impression. But it was the fishing that put this place over the top for me. The many, many fish willing to rise to a dry fly or aggressively strike a streamer are what transforms this place from just another beautiful place to fish into a truly unique and amazing fishery, its that special thing that sets this place apart from other places of equal beauty. This float trip through the Teton canyon was the best fishing experience of my life, in one of the coolest natural place I've ever been. I've already begun to plot my next visit.
George was as good as guides come. He was a master on the oars and knew exactly where the fish would be. His efforts, skill and knowledge of this special fishery were an essential part of making this the best fishing experience I've ever had. I owe him a great bit of gratitude for his efforts that day. For him, it was just another day at the office, but for me, it was the best day on the water I've ever enjoyed. George, if you read this, thanks again for an unforgettable day.
