Just outside of the resort town of Jackson, Wyoming, you will find the only 'fly only' water in the state of Wyoming.

Flat Creek, which winds through the National Elk Refuge, is a tranquil area where you have to hide from the trout, treat the fragile environment with care, and always obey stream etiquette. It is the only public spring creek water in the Jackson Hole valley.

Local fly fishing services point out that this is not a "quantity fishery, it is a quality fishery". And given that the quantity of fishermen has increased here in the past ten years, Flat Creek’s growing popularity is making the fish even more wary. This is a place where you sit and wait, or stalk behind grasses being careful not to let your shadow fall on the water. There are no trees. Flat Creek is a large meadow that lies between several buttes. The further you move out into the meadow, the more likely you are to get views of the distant Tetons, or Sleeping Indian Mountain.

Refuge waters support a wild population of Snake River Cutthroat trout as well as rainbows and brookies. Multiple hatches can occur at one time. So understanding exactly what is hatching, and where the hatch is in its cycle, is critical to your success. This is not a fishery for beginners.

There are only two access points into Flat Creek. As you leave the town of Jackson and head toward Grand Teton National Park, there is a dirt parking lot on the right just past the Wildlife Museum. The second access is off the National Fish Hatchery entrance road just a bit further north. There are wader dip tanks situated at each entrance. Please use them in order to prevent the spread of whirling disease.

Flat Creek is open from August 1 to October 31. Fishing licenses are sold at the Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center at the south edge of the refuge.