Tailwater · Mixed · Wyoming, US

Snake River

Snake River venue image

The Snake through Jackson Hole runs under the Tetons themselves, which makes it hard to keep your mind on fishing, and it's home to the Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat — a distinct native form found almost nowhere else, peppered with tiny spots and willing as anything to eat a dry.

Tomorrow · A proper day on the water
Czech Nymph
Forecast · Tomorrow
A proper day on the water
A proper day for it. Work the seams with an upstream nymph, switch to the dry when they show.
75% projected
Today's fly
Czech Nymph
Czech Nymph
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Steady
3.42 m
Water temp15.4°C
ClarityClear
Weather13°C
WindN 5 km/h
Pressure1014 hPa
Rain · recent0.1 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Cutthroat Trout
Warm — slow
15°C est.ideal 9–15°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Cutthroat Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Water at 16.5°C — above the cutthroat trout caution line (16°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
terrestrials
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 7am

12pm(now) — Trico

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 59%
Also:Reed Smut49%
5 food groups active

Peak activity at 7am — Trico (Trico)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
2
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Western Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Pale Morning DunHatch
2
3
3
2
TricoHatch
2
3
2
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Cutthroat Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Wyoming licence
  • Native fine-spotted cutthroat conservation rules apply — handle and release gently
  • Flow tracks the Jackson Lake Dam release.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Cooler water nearby · 1
Water here at 16.5°C — the fishing's alive, but these are cooler if you'd rather rest the warm water.
Teton River
54 km
~11°C
Cutthroat trout · Rainbow trout
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Snake through Jackson Hole runs under the Tetons themselves, which makes it hard to keep your mind on fishing, and it's home to the Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat — a distinct native form found almost nowhere else, peppered with tiny spots and willing as anything to eat a dry. It's a braided, log-jammed drift-boat river below Jackson Lake Dam, the flow set by releases, not weather. You float it, throwing big attractors at the bank willows. The fish aren't huge but they're native, beautiful, and eager, and the scenery does the rest.

  • Mixed
Conservation note

Native Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarkii behnkei) — a distinct, conservation-significant form. Handle gently and release.

The full read · show the working · for Cutthroat Trout · confidence 80%
How the 32 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature54 × 28%15.1
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time45 × 13%5.9
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity54 × 12%6.5
Conditions total= 66
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
Cooler water — back toward the 9–15 °C ideal band — would lift the score and ease welfare.
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 April → 31 March
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts