The Miracle Mile of the North Platte with Cowboy Drifters- Part 1

Last week I had the pleasure of fishing in Wyoming with my girlfriend Wendy, her mom Sharon, and her step-dad Mark.  On Saturday, July 18, we fished with guides from Cowboy Drifters Outfitters on the Miracle Mile of the North Platte River.  This will be a three-part series of the day.  I hope you find it informative and entertaining.

Mark, Sharon, Wendy, and I arrived at Cowboy Drifters Outfitters 30 miles outside of Casper, Wyoming on Friday, July 17.  The first impression of the place was outstanding.  The office/fly shop was new, organized, and well-furnished.  We were also introduced to Kurt, the shop manager.  You will not meet a nicer or friendlier person.  He was very knowledgeable of the fishing conditions in the area and was very helpful with picking out some flies.  His easy-going attitude made you feel at-home.  He remembered all of our names and was genuinely interested in getting to know us.  He is the perfect person to have as the front-man for an outfitter.

We then headed to our cabin to get unpacked and then headed to the river that was just 30 yards away.  I spent the evening fishing the North Platte unsuccessfully with a hopper and dropper.  I could see fish rising but struggled with the current, wind, and brush on the banks.  Not much to report here other than some frustration.  The next morning, we woke up to see 5 mule deer bucks right outside the window which was a beautiful sight and I hoped a good indication for how the day was going to go.

We met our guides at 7:30 to decide whether we should make the almost 1 hour drive to the Miracle Mile of the North Platte or to fish the Grey Reef section.  Brad was a little younger than me and Dane looked like he was still in high school.  Brad has guided there for 4 years.  Dane had guided in Colorado before, but this was his first full season with Cowboy Drifters.  Both were excited that we had picked the Miracle Mile and were enthusiastic and had a lot of energy.  There were lots of smiles, high fives, and laughs.  They said The Mile was fishing really well and that it was worth the drive. 

It was a long, pretty drive (20 miles of gravel roads) with lots of antelope and an open range.  I didn’t even know open range was a thing that existed anymore.  We didn’t see a home for miles but eventually arrived at a fishing village where we put in the boats.  Dane’s boat was a Clackacraft and Brad’s a Hyde that he bought earlier this year.  Mark followed Brad and Dane to where the float was going to end and then brought them back.  Mark, and Sharon went with Brad.  Wendy and I went with Dane.  It didn’t take long to realize that Dane was wise beyond his years.  We also found out that “babyface” was 23 years old and a college graduate.  He was also a former division one cross country runner and track athlete. 

There were LOTS of guide services and private boats were going on the water.  Almost every boat was a drift boat with a couple of rafts mixed in.  We drifted an area near the put-in quite a few times in order to let the other boats get down stream and spread out more.  It took a little time to get the first bite and I was either overly anxious or unprepared (can’t remember) so I missed that one.  I was able to hook the next fish, which was less than 12 inches, and sent the little fella flying all the way over the boat where he subsequently got off the hook.  I think it is safe to say that I was a little amped up with that one.  From there on, some fish were missed, but not many fish got off the line for Wendy and I.

Wendy caught the first fish and it was probably 14 inches.  I caught the second and it was 20 inches long.  We had some fist pumps and laughs between us and it was nice to get our first fish in the boat which took a little pressure off the experience.  Our excitement was appreciated by Dane and he enjoyed our enthusiasm.  He didn’t even mind when I did a double fist pump, yelled “I love you Wyoming,” and gave a loud “Woohoo!”  I didn’t realize that we had signed up fish of this size but started to realize that this place was living up to it’s name.  I also realized that the heavy line (we were using 3X tippet or 8.5 pound test) and strong drag was necessary to meet the ferocity and power of these fish.  They would make long runs, have violent head shakes, and try to hug the bottom but they could be horsed some because of the strong tackle.  Both guides informed me though that some fish could and would straighten hooks.  I cannot imagine fighting these fish on two pound line!  You would never get one in.  Dane informed us that the average fish size in the area we were fishing was about 18 inches long and that we would definitely be hooking and landing some fish bigger than that.