This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Few have spent as much time on the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam as guide Ryan Kelly. He sent a little goody to my email candy bag over the weekend and I thought I'd share his deep reflections on the current complex scenario on my home water.

Thanks for the interesting read and great pictures Ryan.

We walked out the door Halloween night and promptly passed Charlie Card, the northeast coordinator for Trout Unlimited, accompanied by his wife and youngest child. Next up was the door of Emmett Heath, known as the dean of the Green who generously spoiled my children with an abundance of suckers.

As we continued going door to door in Dutch John, our candy collecting expedition led us to many of the past and current individuals who have had or have influence on the Green. All of these homes greeted us with handfuls of candy, as is the norm in our small fishing paradise, until the very end. We came to the Mosley's house. They were offering one piece of candy. One! Really, but it was a big full-size candy bar that each mischievous disguised youngster could choose from.

Ryan Mosley is the biologist in charge of the Flaming Gorge Project. His home was a similitude to the current state of the Green River. Do you want more fish or bigger fish? Ryan and I began to discuss the current state of the river and our expectations for this fall. Currently the river has significantly lower numbers of fish.

For example, the tail race section, or approximately the first mile of river below the dam, has dropped from 22,000 to 13,000 fish over the last three years. On the other hand, the fish have increased an inch and half on average length and are beefier as well. There have been a number of possible reasons for the decline of fish. Rainbow stocking has decreased while an attempt to bring back cutthroats to the river began.

Approximately 20,000 cutthroats were introduced to the river over the last three years. The returns on these fish are zero. That's right, a big goose egg. No cutthroat have shown up in electrofishing returns, and the number that have been caught are almost just as low. Their disappearance is hard to figure out and consequently the attempt to return native Colorado cutthroat will be abandoned.

Catch rates have been significantly lower this fall than in past years, more specifically involving the A section. B and C sections have fished about the same as past years. Angler feedback suggests that they are disappointed with the numbers, but ecstatic about the size. Another possible unintended consequence of having less fish has been the perceived increase in sculpin in the river (I use the word perceived, because actual sculpin numbers are extremely difficult to know). While most traditional methods of fishing on the Green have been slow this fall, using sculpin imitations and techniques have been productive.

Eating sculpin is more efficient for growth rates than eating bugs. The down side for anglers is that the fish may not eat for a while as it digests the sculpin. If the fish aren't eating all the time, it's much harder to catch them. More sculpin means bigger fish, but harder to catch. So it brings us back to the question we discussed under the Halloween moon. Do we want more fish, or bigger?

I believe that the lack of fish being caught is do to a lack of insect activity this fall. The hatches have been smaller in numbers. Fly fishing is food driven, and more specifically, bug driven. Lots of bugs make for active fish, or in the case of the upcoming month, lots of eggs make for active fish. I think we will see lots of big fish in the coming weeks.

You may want to try something creative like an egg stealing sculpin. Umm...that might make for a great Halloween costume next year. Well, creative at least.