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Jackson Hole is a valley in northwest Wyoming, 60 miles long and 15 miles wide, with the Teton Range rising 7,000 feet from the valley floor on the west side. The Snake River flows through the center of it, out of Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park, through the park's braided channels, past the town of Jackson, and into the Snake River Canyon to the south.
The fishing here is a float trip. You sit in a drift boat while a guide rows you through miles of river framed by the most dramatic mountain scenery in the lower 48, casting to native cutthroat trout that rise freely to dry flies. It's the most scenic fishing experience in America, and the trout fishing is genuinely excellent.
Want to fish the Snake yourself? Our beginner's guide to fishing Jackson Hole covers gear, flies, and reading the river. For more Teton water, see our Grand Teton fly fishing guide.
The Snake River, Native Cutthroat
The Snake River through Jackson Hole holds a healthy population of Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout, a subspecies found nowhere else on Earth. They're marked by spots smaller than any other western cutthroat, scattered like pepper across their flanks, and they're native to this drainage. Catching one on a dry fly, with the Tetons rising behind the river, is a connection to a landscape that hasn't changed.
The fish average 12 to 16 inches, with cutthroat over 18 inches caught regularly and the occasional fish over 20. They're not the biggest trout in the West, but they eat dry flies with confidence, fight well in the river's braided currents, and they're wild, every fish is a product of the river itself.
The Float Trip, How It Works
The standard Jackson Hole fishing experience is a guided float trip on the Snake River. You board a drift boat, a specialized, flat-bottomed boat designed for rivers, at an upstream launch, and the guide rows you downstream through 8 to 12 miles of river over a full day.
The guide reads the water, positions the boat, and calls the casts: "Cutbank, right side, 30 feet." You cast a dry fly, a hopper, a stimulator, or a small mayfly pattern, to the rising fish or the likely holding water, and the guide maneuvers the boat to give you the best drift. When a cutthroat eats, the river's current adds fight to every fish.
The float covers water that's inaccessible from shore, braided channels, side channels, log jams, and undercut banks that hold the best fish. The guide knows which channels are flowing, which banks hold fish at the current water level, and where to pull over for lunch on a gravel bar with the Tetons as the backdrop.
Grand Teton National Park sections of the Snake River require a permitted outfitter. Several guide services hold park concessions that allow them to launch and float within the park boundaries, where the scenery is at its most dramatic.
Seasonal Fishing
Spring runoff (May through late June) swells the Snake with snowmelt. The river is typically unfishable during peak runoff, high, fast, and cloudy. Guides shift to stillwater options (Jackson Lake, Slide Lake) and smaller tributaries during this window.
Early July through mid-August is prime season. The Snake clears, the flows stabilize, and the dry-fly fishing hits its stride. Hopper season, late July through September, is the peak of the peak. Grasshoppers fall into the river from the grassy banks, and the cutthroat key on them aggressively. Casting a foam hopper pattern against a grassy bank and watching a 16-inch cutthroat demolish it is the signature Jackson Hole fishing moment.
September through October is the local favorite. The crowds thin (the park empties after Labor Day), the fish feed more aggressively as they prepare for winter, and the fall colors on the cottonwoods and aspens turn the valley gold. The flows drop, which makes the river more wadeable and the fish more concentrated in the deeper runs.
November closes most of the park sections, but the Snake River below the park and the South Fork of the Snake (over in Idaho) fish through late fall for dedicated anglers.
Other Waters
Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park holds lake trout (mackinaw) and cutthroat trout in cold, deep water. Trolling and jigging from a boat produces lake trout that average five to ten pounds.
Flat Creek runs through the National Elk Refuge on the edge of Jackson and holds wild cutthroat in a small, technical stream. It's catch-and-release, fly-fishing only, and the clear, shallow water makes it a demanding sight-fishing experience.
The Green River headwaters near Pinedale (90 minutes south) offer a different character, bigger water, bigger fish, and fewer anglers.
When to Go
- July: Snake River clears, prime dry-fly fishing begins, the season opener
- August: Peak hopper season, the best dry-fly fishing of the year
- September–October: Fall fishing, the locals' favorite, fewer crowds, aggressive fish, gold aspens
- Winter: The Snake and park sections close; Jackson Lake ice fishing is an option
