Floating the Green River Below Fontenelle in a Pontoon Boat

It’s been ten years since I’ve used my Fishcat pontoon boat.  That was back in the day when I was a scout leader and my son Gary was a varsity scout.  I added a platform and additional seat to the boat so two of us could float.  I would be in the rowing seat and Gary would be up front.  One particular week-long outing on the Green River below Flaming Gorge, Gary and I would put in each day after the mid-day rain storm.  Starting the float this late in the day meant we would have the whole river to ourselves.  Below Mother-in-Law Rapids was our favorite hole to fish.

Getting the pontoon boat out of storage last September reminded me of those days.  The water was so low that the last mile of the float Gary and I scraped bottom most of the way.  My next trip down the Green was in my drift boat which I’ve since sold. 

Last September’s trip was also on the Green but the section below Fontanelle.  Ron had just acquired a pontoon boat and he invited me to go on the trip.   

He has a Landcruiser and a trailer with a motorcycle.  This served as our shuttle.  There are no commercial shuttle services available in this stretch. 

We would leave the motorcycle in camp and drive up to the put-in below the dam.  We would then float and fish, mostly pulling over at good-looking spots and fishing.  

When we would get back to camp at Weeping Rock, Ron would hop on the motorcycle and drive back to the put-in.  

He would then put the motorcycle on the trailer and drive back to camp. This was a fabulous way to fish the river. 

One day Ron drove the truck and trailer to the take-out at the bridge, left them there and rode the motorcycle back to camp where we started the float. 

This was mid-September and the weather was gorgeous; maybe a little too gorgeous.  We caught quite a few rainbow trout on small nymphs but only one brown on a streamer.