Snake River Angler owner Will Dornan says there’s never been anything like the current level of interest in hiring a fly-fishing guide to take a day’s float in Jackson Hole.
And the increase in use, tension at boat ramps and competition for a limited number of permits are most palpable, he said, on the 13-mile stretch of the Snake that flows between Wilson and South Park, where Teton County manages the river. The permitting system there and enforcement of rules that are supposed to uphold the Snake River Management Plan have failed, in the lifelong resident’s view.
“Run it permitted, and run it correctly with law enforcement,” Dornan said. “If not, get rid of it.”
Dornan’s frustrations with Teton County’s administration of the Snake start with what he contends are too many guides vying for too many daily permits. During the busy time in the heart of summer many of the 25 commercial fishing boats that can launch daily at the Wilson boat ramp are allocated to commercial fishing outfitters who can reserve up to four floats a day. Leftovers are available first come, first served, to anybody, although they’re supposed to have a client who’s booked a trip.
Allegations are flying that outfitters are sitting on permits and abusing the system. And some permits are now changing hands business to business, which the county is allowing. Other operators, Dornan said, are circumventing the regulatory system altogether, launching when boat ramp attendants aren’t around to verify that a trip is permitted.
A drift boat sets off down the Snake River from the Wilson boat ramp in the summer of 2018.
Other fishing guides share the concern. Due to overuse and cutthroat trout that get pounded, Jackson Hole Anglers owner Dave Ellerstein said that the Wilson-to-South Park stretch of the Snake River has become the “least desirable section” in the valley. Teton County’s system of distributing permits — which was designed to give smaller guide companies a chance in the market — isn’t working, he said.
“The county tried to reinvent the wheel, despite everything that’s going on around them,” Ellerstein said. “And it just has failed.”
Until 2014, commercial use on the 33 miles of the Snake River through the privately owned portion of Jackson Hole was mostly unregulated and a free-for-all.
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