Some thoughts on tactics for the Green River
Here are qualifiers for the comments that follow on this subject. These notes relate only to fishing the "A" & "B" sections during spring months. We have no experience beyond that time frame, nor do we have drift boat experience on this water.
Virtually any weight terminal tackle will work. However, we'd recommend 4-7 weight rods to play fish quickly and release them with as little stress as possible. All fish in this section are inevitably caught and released many times during each season. It's common to find flies embedded in their mouths. The fighting qualities of the fish reflect their knowledge that this (being hooked) has happened repeatedly before.
Longer leaders will be more successful than shorter ones. The more expensive polycarbonate tippet material is almost a necessity unless the water is slightly off color. 5X and 6X should be sufficiently small to disguise the tippet's presence.
While we've noted a few small stones to be present along the banks, hatches seem to be dominated by day long midge emergence's of various types, and heavy, prolonged blue winged olive hatches that may begin by 10:00 in the morning and continue erratically throughout the day. Cloudy days are obviously more productive than ones with bright sunlight.
If wade fishing these two sections from the parking area base at Little Hole, unless the fisher person has a method of crossing the river, all casting will be done on river left (as a drift boat guide would call it). Thus left handed or ambidextrous casters will have a far easier time making quality presentations.
Our experience is that blind casting nymphs to unseen fish is much less productive than sight casting surface flies to visibly rising fish. Early in the day it's tempting to nymph the seams for bottom feeding fish, but we continue to be more successful locating a single riser and casting specifically to that fish.
Large numbers of fish lie directly next to the path on the bank. These fish, while showing little interest in the presence of the fishermen passing by them, remain fairly easy to hook. Conventional wisdom would suggest that a downstream cast where the fly is the first thing the fish sees would be most successful. We've found the opposite to be the case. The fish are lying in six inches to one foot of water directly next to the bank. Using a longer low visibility tippet we've had more hookups casting directly over or slightly to one side of the fish & dropping only the tippet over the fish's head. The fly comes into view almost immediately to them that way. Care must be taken to drop the fly very quietly under these conditions.
Fly patterns present a problem. Most persons fishing this area will be buying flies locally or at least commercially. The fish in this water are quick learners. More success will be had by using slightly modified commercial flies or frankly, by tying the appropriate patterns yourself. We choose this latter approach.
The drift boats rowed by guides all appear to be deep nymphing with large strike indicators and the following fly patterns: scuds, bead head attractors, both trailed by small WD-40's, thread midge larva, etc.
For our wade fishing we prefer to sight cast to surface feeders. For midge's we use #18 & 20 very sparsely tied emergers using a flashabou body, peacock herl thorax, and stubby white or dun CDC wing. As with the blue winged olive patterns fished in the film, it's crucial to watch for fish opening their mouths since the fly will be invisible to our eyes.
Once the BWO hatches begin we use a combination of comparaduns, spent wings, Barr emergers, and an as yet unnamed stuck-in-the-shuck type emerger. These flies all seem to work fine in sizes 18-20, although #22 might be more effective in some conditions.
With the blue winged olive patterns it's critical - when casting to a pod of feeding fish - to change pattern type as soon as strikes cease.
Beyond the above notes we've had some success in the lower part of the "B" section with larger wooly buggers. Using that fly in the upper areas where the water is extremely clear has brought us no success at all. However, this type fly might be effective during the evening hours. We've not yet tested that theory.
That's about all we can add at this time. Contact us with any questions or comments.