Cowboy Drifters: https://wyocowboydrifters.com/
Now it would stand to reason that fishing the same stretch of water, with the same guide, and the same flies would yield similar results. However, this is fishing that we are talking about. Nothing is predictable and nothing stays one way for very long!
Wendy (the wife) and I fished with Dane (the same guide as the previous day) and Mark (Wendy's step dad) fished with Colt (a guide from Cowboy Drifters Outfitters). We put the boats in near Alcova, Wyoning, and floated all the way to the Cowboy Drifters fly shop/office. It was the same float as the day before which was on the Grey Reef Section of the North Platte River. We had nymphed all day on day 1 and that was the plan for day 2. Tricos, yellow sallies, RS2's, and PMD's were tied onto our lines. We ran 2 and 3 fly rigs under an indicator at all times with fish hitting different flies in different locations at different times of day.
Right after we started our drift, Wendy got a bite on her first cast but the fist got off before it could reach the boat. The same thing happened minutes later. Unfortunately, that was going to be a trend for Wendy throughout the morning. The same thing had happened to me on the previous afternoon so I could relate. It's a rough feeling. When you're either not getting bites, or losing fish, or if the worst happens and you're doing both, it can really knock down your confidence and make you feel snake bit. As so often happens though, things turned around for her in the afternoon. She boated one fish before lunch and then 6 after lunch.
On the other side of the boat, I came out on fire. I landed five fish before lunch and only lost one of them. Most of the fish I landed were in the 18 inch range and were HEALTHY! Every single one of them pulled like a team of mules. Jumps and aerial acrobatics were common as well as pulling drag. This was a heck of a confidence boost and I was in a groove.
Close to lunchtime, we decided to go down a side channel and then eat lunch near an island. There was a shallow area with riffles that dumped into a deeper, slower area. On my second cast into the shallows, my flies made their decent into the depths. One of them got absolutely trucked by a fish. When I state that it hit the nymph like a dump druck doing 90 down the interstate, I mean it. The fish came completely out of the water with it in his mouth before I could even set the hook. If truth be told, it probably set the hook on itself. Over the next 5 minutes or so, the fight raged! He got into moss, got into grass, went under the boat, tried to sit in deep water. At every turn I thought I was going to lose this fish and if it hadn't been for Dane maneuvering the boat with deftness and precision, I would have lost the fish. I'll be honest, I didn't know how big the fish really was...until Dane got it in the net.
You can see the fish at the top of this post. It was a legit 20 inch fish and thick! It wasn't one of those long, skinny, mountain stream fish. This thing was a tank with a Lamborghini motor! This was the fish that I will remember distinctly for a long, long time. It was my fish of the trip and the one that didn't get away!
After lunch, Wendy caught fire and things slowed down for me. We each landed a fish within site of the boat ramp which made it a tough pill to swallow when Dane started rowing towards the bank. We both love this place. The fish, the landscape, the wildlife, and the people make us want to move to Wyoming and become permanent residents. We love Missouri and will stay here, but Wyoming has gotten it's claws deep into us and we have fallen head over heels for this amazing place. I cannot thank Cowboy Drifters, Dane, Adam, and Colt for their hospitality. This special place was made even more special by them and everything they did for us. You cannot go wrong in choosing to stay and fish with them!
Cowboy Drifters: https://wyocowboydrifters.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment