How the Rich Fish

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In their quest for the best fishing, avid anglers are spending $200,000 to $750,000 to create and stock personal streams with computer-controlled conditions.

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Some avid anglers travel thousands of miles to fly-fish for trout in the rivers and streams of the Rocky Mountains. Don Felsinger can cast a line from his patio. Over 2 acres of man-made ponds and streams stocked with native cutthroat trout surround the 8,000-square-foot-home that Mr. Felsinger and his wife, Jenny, built on 15 acres in Jackson Hole, Wyo., in 2015. “When I only have an hour or two, I will just walk off on my porch and fish my own water,” said Mr. Felsinger, 69, the retired chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy who spent about $16 million to create his home and trout redoubt at 3 Creek Ranch—a gated community with a Rees Jones-designed golf course, 3 miles of private trout streams, and a full-time fishing coordinator. “My passions in life are playing golf and fly fishing, and I get to do both.”

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If he ever tires of his own trout, he can fish 3 Creek Ranch’s exclusive trout streams, tributaries of the nearby Snake River. The Felsingers’ homeowners association fees—about $20,000 a year—support continuing maintenance of the fisheries, and entitle them to private fishing trips with Jim Brungardt, 3 Creek’s fishing coordinator. Sale prices for large lots at 3 Creek Ranch are now meeting or surpassing prerecession levels, according to Todd Domenico, owner of the ranch development’s real-estate company, who said the ranch currently has 81 homes with another 17 under construction; four homes are on the market, priced between $4.1 million and $19.8 million, along with 15 remaining lots.

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