September on Idaho’s legendary Snake River is prime time—it’s not a matter of what patterns will work, so much as how you want to fish. Hoppers and leech patterns are a standby, while dry-fly purists can cast a size-18 dun during the afternoon hatch. The variety of fishing styles are endless, the fish are voracious and usually larger than average. But what if you could cast only one pattern during an all-day fish? And, just for kicks, let’s say once that fly was lost, you were done for the day. What pattern would you choose?

The Jackson Hole One Fly Foundation hosts the One Fly each fall and has benefitted the natural resources of the Snake River watershed since 1986.

Each year, the event hosts 40 four-person teams of anglers, each angler paired with a local guide on a specific stretch of the Snake. A member of a competing team is placed in the other seat of the boat. Each guide runs a tight ship, acting as judge and jury in terms of how the day will go. They determine if the anglers are following event rules and are the final judges in the measurement and release of each fish caught…

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above Carter Andrews and Oliver White fish Wyoming’s Snake River during full-blown fire season.

Photo: Brian Grossenbacher