THE GORGEOUS GREEN RIVER

Our annual trip to the Green River in Utah was another one filled with fun and surprises.

Upon arriving at 1 pm the Friday of Mothers Day weekend, we were greeted with some very wintry weather as the rain and snow seemed to be socked into the canyon and made for some very tough fishing all afternoon at Little hole.

We again stayed at the Vacation Inn in Manila Utah and made do with cooking for ourselves as this Inn had all the accommodations of a 1 bedroom apartment. But the next morning when we woke up, the snow was piled high on our truck and we were very concerned we might not make it over the pass and to our Guide and driftboat that was awaiting us 30 miles away at Dutch John. Ask Frank McMahon or Martin Mahanti about the two semi trucks stuck side by side on the mountain turn. 1 hour and 20 minutes later we arrive and were greeted by our guide Brian Shipley from Kingfisher Drifters, from Loveland, and we prepared to set sail into the Green River Canyon and a 7 mile fishing expedition. The first for both Frank and myself.

We launched off at the dam and within 5 minutes our guide had us into fish. But what seemed to surprise him early that day was the number of fish rising so early in the morning. Needless to say he asked if we wanted to do some dry fly fishing and from that moment on we proceeded to have one of the greatest dry fly days we could have ever asked for. I hope we wore Brian out in him releasing all we caught on his special pattern of the Blue Winged Olive as we were definitely enjoying ourselves in catching our share that day.

In guiding us to where we needed to put our fly to landing the many fish we hooked into, Brian was the best guide we could have asked for. We got into so many fish in the first 2 and a half miles that when we looked at the time, we had spent 7 hours in the canyon with over 4 miles to go. Frank and I were so worn out that we just sat back and allowed our guide to cruise us thru the most gorgeous scenery we have ever seen from a small boat. That was an experience well worth the time and I would love to do it again soon.

Sunday, Mothers day. the weather had turned for the good as the sun was shining and the fish were plentiful as we fished near the dam. Martin and Frank and I watched as the many Drift boats and pontoons headed down the canyon we had spent the previous day in, knowing that they were going to have the time of their lives. But what was most interesting was that after all the floaters headed out, we were virtually alone on the river. The Green river, on a Sunday and we had the entire section to ourselves.

Except for the sneaky little lunch grabbing chipmunk of course. We fished all day Sunday and there were very few times when were not able to land some very nice rainbows, cutts and browns averaging 15 plus inches. The flys we had seemed to be what we needed and by the end of the day, we agreed that this could not have been any better if we had ordered such a day.

We fished till after noon on Monday and met up with Ron Hill and his neighbor Will and talked about the float trip they enjoyed the day before. we landed more fish that day as Frank took some slide shots for our December slide show. The fish we caught that day were well worth the film and we hope they look as nice then as they did while we were enjoying their company.

Already looking forward to next year and I hope more people can make it as we missed Jimmy and Fred as they arrived the day we were leaving. All in all there were 7 people this year from our chapter that made it and I am looking forward to hearing the stories from all of them as we toss back a few and talk about the one that got away...and to see how big it becomes as the story is retold. If you have never fished the Green or wondering if it is still what it used to be, I highly recommend you take a trip up there. I have never been disappointed in our trips to that part of the country.

See you on the river,

Bob Untener
Trip guy

	Frank and guide, Brian
	Viewing Beauty
If you have pictures from this trip I can add them.
Added comments and words would be desireable too