Snake River Angler Fly Fishing Report For July 5th, 2025

Snake River

Flows from Jackson Lake Dam stand at just under 2,000cfs.  A mess of hatches continues on all reaches with the lower reaches from South Park down to Sheep Gulch fishing best on the surface.  No matter what piece of water you fish, you should see PMDs, caddis, yellow sallies, Alloperla golden stones, Calineuria golden stones, and flavs.  Much of the action is occurring from around 10am until 3pm most days, although there is more than enough surface activity before and after this timeframe.  Riffles, seams, eddies, confluences, side channels, banks, and structure are all fishing well.  Nymph dropper rigs are working in the same water.

Streamers are producing best on the upper and middle reaches from Pacific Creek down to South Park.  Your focus should be primarily on tandem streamer rigs with two smaller patterns or solo or double moderately sized patterns.  Brighter and neutral streamers are fishing better than darker counter parts.  Go with sinking tips in the INT to 3ips range and target riffle and eddy current margins, seams, troughs, banks with slow to moderate currents.

South Fork

Flows at Palisades Reservoir are at approximately 13,000cfs.  Damn good fishing remains on the South Fork with salmon flies now around the vicinity of Gormer Canyon.  Golden stones, green drakes, flavs, yellow sallies, and PMDs are all popping on reaches downstream and we are seeing PMDs and caddis coming on a little stronger on the upper reach from around Irwin down to Pine Creek.  Surface action has been most productive in riffles and eddies, along seams, in side channels, and along banks and structure regardless of current.  Nymph rigs are working very well in the same water but are hammering it in riffles, seams, and eddies.  The most consistent action has been from around 11am until 4pm.  It is still definitely worth fishing dries before hand and after.

Streamers are working best on the lower reaches from Wolverine down to Lorenzo with moderately sized patterns performing slightly better than larger imitations.  Banks, structure, parallel drop-offs, the head of seams, and confluences are producing best.  Go with moderate to fast retrieves and floating lines or INT tips in the 12ft range.  There is a lot of activity in the top foot of the water column.

Green River

The Green continues to fish solid.  While golden stone, caddis, and yellow sallies are waning, there is still good emergences of gray drakes and PMDs – the former early in the morning until around 11am and the latter later from around 10am until 1:30pm.  Surface action is good with both attractors and mayfly patterns of various sizes from dawn until around 1pm, when consistency seriously wanes.  Fishing a dropper off of an attractor – 1.5’ to 3’ of dropper tippet –  can take production until around 2pm.  Undercut banks, submerged structure, overhung vegetation, seams, and eddies are all prime holding water to target.

Streamers are working just as well as dry flies and nymphs and are a good choice if fishing in the BLM campgrounds and Hatchery down to Huston’s.  Moderately sized patterns are performing better than larger streamers, but the big stuff is still doing VERY well from Hatchery down to Swain’s Bridge.  Focus primarily on banks, structure, seams, and confluences.  Go with floating lines or short sinking tips in the INT to 3ips range and variable retrieves with hesitations and pauses in line strips.   

Water temps are warming and will be getting warmer as we progress into July.  Keep an eye on them and be prepared for an early start.  Over the past decade or so, fishing should most likely cease around 2pm  when water temps cross 68 degrees.  Temps have reached 72 degrees on both the Green and the New Fork rivers most years since 2013.

Salt River

The Salt is in solid shape with good visibility and low but stable flows.  As on most waters in the area, there is a smorgasbord of hatches throughout the day including PMDs, caddis, drakes, golden stones, and yellow sallies.  Surface action is best in eddies, seams, and troughs.  Dry fly opportunities are good in the early morning hours until around 1pm when things slow a little bit.

Nymphs are best fished as part of a dry-dropper rig and are working in riffles, seams, eddies, and along banks and structure with moderate currents.  A wide variety of nymphs are producing, especially Perdigons, Zebra Midges, Psycho Mays, Peach Fuzz, and Flashback Pheasant Tails.