Green River (Wyoming) Fishing Guides and Conditions, Wyoming

About the Green River (Wyoming)

Most people who say Green River mean the Utah tailwater below Flaming Gorge. The Wyoming Green upstream is a different and quieter river, and in stretches it is a better one. It starts in the Wind River Range, runs south past Pinedale and Daniel as a classic western freestone with cottonwood banks and long gravel runs, then gets rebuilt below Fontenelle Dam into a cold tailwater that grows brown trout to sizes that surprise first-time visitors.

The upper river above Warren Bridge is public and heavily fished from the bank in summer, with cutthroat, rainbows and whitefish and a strong stonefly hatch in early summer. From Warren Bridge down through Daniel the river is floatable and mostly bordered by ranch land, which is where the drift boat trips run. Below Fontenelle Dam the tailwater reach to the Names Hill and Slate Creek accesses is the big-brown water, fishable year-round because the release keeps it from icing, and it fishes best with scuds, midges and streamers rather than the attractor dries that work upstream.

The Fontenelle gauge is the number for the tailwater. Releases here follow reservoir management and can swing hard, so check it the morning of a trip rather than the night before. Something in the 800 to 2,500 cfs range gives most guides comfortable floating and wading. Big irrigation-season releases push it much higher and move the fish tight to the banks; winter minimums leave it low, clear and technical.

Pinedale is the town for the upper river, Green River and Kemmerer for the tailwater. This is high, dry, windy country with long drives between accesses, so plan fuel and food before you leave pavement.

Access

Green River Lakes and the Upper Green (Bridger-Teton National Forest): headwater camping and wade access.
Warren Bridge Access Area: Wyoming Game and Fish corridor with numerous river access points and campsites.
Daniel and Sommers Bridge: valley accesses for float trips through the ranch water.
Fontenelle Dam tailwater access: the top of the cold-water reach, immediately below the dam.
Weeping Rock and Tailrace: BLM campgrounds and boat access in the tailwater.
Names Hill and Slate Creek: lower tailwater accesses toward the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge.

Seasons

March through May: tailwater fishes well before runoff; the upper river is high and cold.
June: runoff on the freestone reaches, tailwater stays fishable and often excellent.
July through September: the full river is in play, stoneflies early, hoppers and terrestrials later.
October through February: the tailwater keeps fishing all winter, midges and streamers, almost nobody there.