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Green River (Utah–Wyoming)

Location: Northeast corner of Utah near Wyoming and Colorado borders, about a 3½-hour drive from Salt Lake City. Take U.S. 191 south off I-80 just west of Rock Springs, Wyoming. You can also take 191 north out of Vernal, Utah. Commuter flight service and car rentals are available at both towns.

The Green River tailwater below Flaming Gorge Dam is 27 miles of trout-fishing paradise. The impressive Red Canyon is formed by the river carving its way through the north side of the Uinta Mountain range, where it meets with the high

Red Desert. This is Flaming Gorge country. The Green has it all: gin-clear water, aquatic vegetation, huge boulders in the river, and steep canyon walls. One of the things that helps make the Green River such a unique trout fishery is controlled water temperature. The dam was retrofitted with a set of penstocks to blend warmer water closer to the surface with water from the bottom to supply an optimal 55- to 60-degree water release temperature for the trout fishery. This has helped maintain a diversified aquatic plant and insect population not seen on many tailwaters. The river supports an incredible number of trout per mile, with estimates upwards of 16,000 to 20,000 fish. This is for the upper canyon, with an average size being 14 to 17 inches, with many fish over 20. The number estimate of trout is somewhat smaller downriver, but in the 2012 season, sizes grew the farther downstream you went. Included in all of

this is the variety and color of the trout. Different strains of browns, rainbows, and cuttbows inhabit the river. There are not the numbers of cutthroat left, but mixing with the rainbows has supplied the river with an abundance of beautiful, varied-color cutthroat/rainbow hybrids.

The Green is a somewhat large and intimidating river at higher flows. During low flows, however, the river can be very wader-friendly. The lowest flows are around 800 cfs. At this rate, parts of the river can be crossed—with care! Almost everyone tries to avoid the high flows, which generally occur in mid-May through mid-June. One real problem is that most anglers fish close to the access points. During the high-use times of the year, this means either a long hike or floating to get a little solitude.

In order to understand the river better, let’s talk about the three sections into which it is divided: