Fly fishing the Salt River is a unforgettable experience. The Salt River begins in an intermittent spring river near Afton, Wyoming, in the area west of Jackson called Star Valley. The Salt acquires a number of small spring fed tributaries and is a rich water course that is home to both brown and cutthroat trout. Depending on winter snow content and time of year, floating portions of the Salt River is enjoyable because of its more intimate surroundings that include eagles, waterfowl and wildlife.

Years of cattle grazing and riparian damage caused major siltation in the Salt. Over 20 years ago Wyoming Game and Fish Dept. with help from EPA grants developed projects that stabilized many miles of river banks. Despite two back-to-back flood years that destroyed lots of the anchored log revetments, the Salt’s clarity has improved substantially and is considered a fine dry and wet fly fishery.

At the same time that bank stabilization projects were instituted Wyoming G&F biologists revisited the Salt’s put-and-take cutthroat stocking management program. Experimental distribution of Bar BC cutthroats into the Salt system was so successful that cutthroat stocking is no longer necessary.

Two separate populations of brown trout also in habit the Salt. Resident river fish are found throughout the length of the river and usually perform spawning activity from October through November. Brown trout from Palisades Reservoir enter the river around December and January to also utilize the Salt for spawning.

The Snake and Salt both have sections with special tackle and artificial bait restrictions.