Tailwater Tribe Fly Fishing Tour (Day 3): The Green River (The Smell of Prickly Pear)


You know what a music lover I am.  One of my favorite songs by Steely Dan is "My Rival" from the album "Gaucho," which starts with the lyrics: "The wind was driving in my face, the "smell of prickly pear."  I can really relate to that now, but more on that later.  You can listen to the song while you read the rest of my post. Now that I've scratched off the Frying Pan on my "Rivers I have to fish this Summer" list, I was on a new quest.  Cameron at Frying Pan Anglers strongly recommended the Green and I could not resist!  The next morning I got back in the F-150 and drove through 220 miles of grueling Colorado and Utah badlands country.  Just like Colorado, Utah is simply breathtaking.  It was all I could do to go more than 15 minutes without stopping to take a pic.  Entered Flaming Gorge National Forest and finally wound up in the town of Dutch John, Utah where I found the Green River Fly Shop.  These guys were really fascinated that a country boy from Mississippi with a drawl to match would drive 2200 miles to come fish their river.  They hooked me up with a Utah license, a park pass and some killer cicada and san juan patterns I'd never seen before.  After taking their advice, I drove to the recommended public access at the Flaming Gorge dam, assembled the G2 in a 20 mile an hour wind and proceeded to hike down the "foot trail" to the water below.  Let me qualify the term, "foot trail."  This trail is a hazardous scrim trail of jagged rock, prickly pear cactus and other potential calamities.  In other words, I was having fun!  I'm not sure how far I walked but I would dare say it was over 1,000 feet to the canyon below.  Now I know why they call it the Green River.  It is a gorgeous shade of emerald beneath the gin-clear waters.  The water was still a bit high for much of a wade, but I managed to jump in for about five hours and pound several fat bows.  I would be remiss in saying that I lost SEVERAL large fish, but I did.  For some reason I had trouble finishing the deal.  Don't know how many I lost, but it was a very large number.  The Green is a gorgeous experience that I will have to do again...this time in lower water or in a drift boat.  Here a couple pics of some fat bows that didn't get away... 

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