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Fishing Browns Park
The Other Green River
Vol. 4, #11, June 15, 1990
By Jim Brearton
The Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam has been divided into three
sections. Section A is from the dam to Little Hole. Section B is the stretch from Little
hole to Brown's Park, and Section C is from Brown's Park to the Swallow Canyon take out,
just past the east exit of the Swallow Canyon gorge. Each section is several miles long
and the last section ends just a few miles from the Utah/Colorado border.
Access to Sections B and C is somewhat restricted due to distance and
road quality. The float from Little Hole to Brown's Park presents no problems with rough
water except for the area where Red Creek enters the river and faster water and large
boulders create problems for Mackenzie type boats. A short portage solves the problem and
rubber rafts can navigate this area most of the time. One can drive to Brown's Park from
the south or the north. The south road begins as one leaves Vernal to the north and gets
real rough toward the end as it drops down to the river. The north road is much better,
but also much longer. This road takes off from the highway to Rock Springs about nine
miles past Dutch John. The turnoff is well marked and after 21 miles of travel on a
well-maintained dirt road one reaches Brown's Park.
This is a state road that hooks up with Colorado so it gets lots of
attention. At Browns Park a network of roads parallel the river and there is even a
Bridge crossing the Green at Taylor's Flat, some 2 miles back upstream from Brown's Park.
In many respects this truly is a completely different river than the
dam to Little Hole stretch. This is sparsely vegetated, open desert country. The river is
lined with Cottonwoods with an occasional Ponderosa, but gone are the steep, red rock
canyon walls, except for the Swallows (a slow meander through a high, narrow canyon devoid
of foot trails at the end of the Section C float). This slower, deep section starts to
pick up trash fish and characterizes the Green from the Colorado border on to the Gates of
Lodore, a popular white water rafting area.
The differences between the lower and the upper stretch also extend to
the characteristics of the river and the fish. The open terrain causes the river to flow
in a much more even pattern, with long riffles and even-depthed runs. The bottom is rocky
and boulder-strewn, and the fish are dispersed more widely than on the upper end, where
the fish line up along seams and in runs, between pools and fast water. Estimates of fish
numbers are way down from the upper end, also (from as high as 13,000 fish per mile near
the dam to just 2000 fish per mile at Brown's Park). Brown trout are dominate on the lower
end, with other species not able to withstand the temperature variations and the increased
silt load. Browns are harder to catch, and, in fewer numbers, this is not the
"Disneyland" of fly fishing like the upper end has been labeled.
With this preface let me detail my float of Section C a few weeks ago.
I floated with my friend of several years, Emmett Heath, a guide for Western Rivers
Flyfishermen. Emmett has fished the Green from Little Hole to Colorado long before its
recent popularity. He has floated each section hundreds of times as a guide. He shares the
river as he floats it, recalling hundreds of fishing successes or spots of special beauty.
The river is his best friend and he treats it with both passion and reverence. He is one
of the most powerfully built, huge men I know, but also one of the gentlest. When he talks
about his concerns for the river, I listen.
The crowds on the upper stretch are disturbing to everyone and both
Emmett and myself and anyone who has fished the lower sections would hope that this area
could maintain its tranquility. We saw only one other boat on this day. This lower section
has some built in checks and balances that help keep the crowds down. It is much less
accessible. The fish are fewer and harder to catch. It is not as esthetically pleasing to
some and the river is harder to read. Also, one the main inhibitors is Red Creek. Although
just a dry wash most of the time, when storms are present it picks up and throws clouds of
red muck into the river from the clay basin well before Brown's Park, making fly fishing
an impossibility. Most days I've fished the Green there has been at least the threat of
rain.
This day we were blessed with clear skies and beautiful river
conditions. The wind was ominous all day and my backcasts suspended parallel to the water
like a frozen rope in the gale force assault. We threw large dries, cicadas, humpies, even
a salmon fly pattern when I ran out of cicadas, and raised fish on all patterns. In an
afternoon of fishing we probably raised 20 fish, hooked a dozen, all browns in the 17 to
20 inch range, except for one small rainbow. There seemed to be lots of little rainbows
near the Burnt Tree area and some planting has occurred. Emmett reports that large
rainbows and cutthroats are regularly hooked but our experience proved the preponderance
of brown trout in this section.
Most of the fish we took were right up tight to the bank in smooth
glides between boulders or in riffles the entire width of the river. Fishing reminded me
very much of the Madison outside the park. Most of my misses were caused by setting the
hook too fast. The water is so clear one can see the take from the upright position on the
boat long before the fish reaches the fly and it is so hard to wait!! One fish took my
salmon fly pattern while my head was turned as Emmett screamed for me to strike. By the
time I set the hook the fish had totally engulfed the fly, my most solidly hooked fish of
the day.
One large brown slowly rose to my fly from a lie Emmett deemed worthy
of a cast, took the fly and headed back down as I set the hook. It instantly shot up in
the air 3 or 4 feet and the fight was on. I landed that one, but another large fish took
my fly right next to the shore and, as was very common, headed for midstream and shelter
when it felt the hook. I rapidly stripped in line but when the fish saw the boat it headed
upstream like a freight train as I tried to play out line. With line everywhere flying
after the fish the inevitable happened, the line caught around the leg braces and the fish
was gone, soon to be halfway to Little Hole. Great memories with a great friend.
Emmett let me try my hand at the oars while he worked his cicada
pattern. I found that to be harder than it looks and I soon got us in some real trouble,
but Emmett hooked some fish in spite of my problems trying to avoid rocks, drop anchor,
net fish, etc.
As I experienced the river here, I was glad for the absence of crowds
and hope it stays that way until some tighter regulations are enacted and enforced. Sooner
or later the crowds will discover this section of the river. Hopefully it will be a
better, more conservation minded fisherman, not interested in numbers of fish but in
quality fishing that is attracted to this area. We've got time to protect sections B and C
and prevent some of the problems present on section A. Slot limits, such as on the Provo,
protecting the larger, reproducing fish, limits on number of boats allowed per day, catch
and release only sections, special fees designed to reduce the number of fishermen and to
pay for garbage collection and enforcement are some things that come to mind.