I’ve always told anyone who wanted to come on a ski vacation to Park City to plan it the first week in March. The snow and the weather are the best at this time of year. And the fly fishing is surprisingly good if you’re willing to venture a bit out of town.
I used to go fly fishing in March over on the Green River below Flaming George Reservoir. I used to take my dogs and make a trip to down to Section “C” for the blue-winged olive mayfly hatch that occurred every day roughly between noon and 2pm. Fishing a size 16 Parachute Adams seemed to work the best for me because you could see the white “parachute” instead of trying to see a blue winged olive fly on the water as well.
I’d leave Park City early in the morning and drive the three hour plus drive to arrive at the Green River around noon. I had previously checked with some of my fishing guide friends to make certain the Red Creek was not running dirty to spoil the dry fly fishing downstream where I planned to fish. This can happen during spring run-off.
During the hatch I’d catch fish after fish as the trout ate up these floating insects. It was incredible. After the fish stopped rising, I’d swing a streamer or bounce a nymph the rest of the afternoon to catch a few more. Then it was time to build a nice campfire, have a good dinner and enjoy a few cocktails. I’d sleep in my station wagon with my dogs and have a great nights sleep.
The next morning after breakfast I’d fish with a sink-tip, as I had the previous afternoon, until the blue wings started to hatch and fish began rising to feed on the floating bugs. Then it was several hours of dry fly heaven. When the hatch ended, I had caught so many fish that I was ready to call it a day. I’d pack up the dogs and head home with dozens of fishing memories.
Jan Peterson