Tailwater · Mixed · Wyoming, US

Snake River

Snake River Overlook

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.

Today · About as good as it gets
Czech Nymph
Forecast · Today
About as good as it gets
On the feed top to bottom — start on the rises with a dry, drop a nymph if they stay down.
90% projected
Today's fly
Czech Nymph
Czech Nymph
Conditions on the water · Today
Live gauge
Level
Falling
2.72 m
Dropping after lift
Water temp15.1°C
ClarityClearing
Weather7°C
WindN 5 km/h
Pressure1030 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 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°

A dam sets this river's temperature, not the weather, so it can shift several degrees within hours when the release changes. It also warms as it runs away from the dam.

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
Good — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Likely species
Chironomids
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 11am

12pm(now) — Western Blue-Winged Olive

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 25%
Peak emergence window3 food groups active

Peak activity at 11am — Western Blue-Winged Olive (Western Blue-Winged Olive, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Supporters see the full sub-surface read.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 as a supporter.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

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

Through the year
0–3 scale · October 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
Other water nearby · 2
South Fork Snake River
46 km
81
Cutthroat trout · Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Teton River
54 km
74
Cutthroat trout · Rainbow trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Snake River Overlook
  2. 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 75%
How the 79 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time45 × 13%5.9
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity62 × 12%7.4
Conditions total= 80
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
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