Wyoming Swing Starts Tomorrow

[Bill Babler]

Yes white fish and a sucker. 
Due to the amount of rain this Summer everything was totally green. No hoppers in the water and I really can’t remember seeing any walking the bank where it was permitted. 
Most our dry fly fish were on caddis or ants. 

That 16 miles of dirt/rock road going up to the lake was just about impassable due to the washouts. The 16 mile stretch took us almost 2 hours to drive in a 4X4. There were some ATV’s  up there but no campers at all once you left the black top road. 
 

I believe they may have set a record for the wettest summer season. 

Water was beautiful at Pinedale and just flat ugly at Casper. 

I had originally planned to take my Alaska gear and camp and fish on our own with a couples of guide trips, but the Dr. I went with would just not have any camping or fishing without a guide. Just the big water stuff.  

I’m not a huge fan of little spring runs, but I would have loved to have time on our own that we didn’t get. 

We were also in a very small SUV that he insisted on taking and that car just could not handle those roads. Totally bottomed out immediately when we tried  

I’m from the Ozarks and know bad roads but at both Casper and Pinedale they were the worst I have ever driven on.
5 mph would knock your teeth out. Our guide said he has been guiding there since 2010 and this was the worst he had ever seen them. 

They had not been going up to the lake as the shuttle service refused to go on the road ( I can see why.) 

He brought a 4 hp motor so we could drift and then motor back up.  Said he would not go back again this season. 

Probably why this was the best fishing we had the entire trip. 

Pinedale was totally full of hikers and mountain bikers.  Some of the hikers were thru hikers on the Continental Divide Trail.  It comes within 5 miles of Pinedale and goes thru the Wind River Range.  It’s a resupply and rest stop for them. 
Man, they were all gaunt. Some of those people looked like scare crows. There were a couple of guys I’m guessing 6’3” they might have weighed 135. 

Alway thought I’d like to walk a stretch of it, but theses folks are devoting 6 months on a thru hike from Mexico to Canada. Grueling. 







 

[tjm]

1 hour ago, Bill Babler said:

small SUV that he insisted on taking

That would have had me backing out at the beginning. Although I know the roads in the west are better now than in the '70s, I still would have insisted on something with off road capability, based on memories of 70+ miles of rutted mud to feed cattle, and two hours off pavement to camp and fish for stockers. Something with two spare tires too.

Maybe I'm an optimist but over all your adventure sounds about like I imagined it when you were planning it. A lot of territory in a short time. Plus unusual weather all year and they have new snow already in Ca.

 

[Bill Babler]

Actually, he bought a BRAND NEW FORD BRONCO for the trip. It has less than a 3000 miles and when he tried to start it the day prior to our trip the total electronic system was out.  
They picked it up Saturday afternoon and we were leaving at 6 am on Sunday morning. Said it would be out of commission at least to the middle of the week so we took his wife’s SUV.   It’s an all wheel drive, but not the ground clearance for those roads. 

10 days later the new ford was still in the shop. 
Distance wasn’t really the problem as much as the water conditions on the N. Platte, on Grey Reef and the Miracle Mile. 
Everywhere was a ride but better water would have saved the day. 
No complaining about Pinedale with the exception of the road up to the headwaters of the Green River. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

I was lucky as a kid my dad took me out west (Wyoming and Montana) all the time.  I was never overly impressed with the fishing.   Except some private access streams that he had access to.  Those were off the charts.  
I think we’re spoiled with our tail water fishing.  But if you look at it as a whole experience of the area and scenery it’s great.   Like a vacation with some fishing mixed in.  

[Bill Babler]

We’ll put. 
I want to preface this. Since Covid, these resources are under EXTREME PRESSURE. 

As you all know, I’m a snoopy visitor that just love conversation.   In speaking with the guides there is a never ending amount of trips or clients continually on these Western rivers. Frankly unlike our tail races they just cannot handle that much traffic, both fishing and floating. 

Thus the Fishing expectations of the guides we were with was minimal. 4/5 fish and twice that many bites in an 8 hr. day was considered good.  Any less was just fishing and anything more was gravy. 

Trey said he has been out 91 straight days, and was booked full till the 2nd. Week of October.  Twin Rivers employ’s 28 guides on a daily basis. 

Said when he started with them they had 4. 

At Casper they had 41 full time guides at the shop we went out of and our guide Devon said there were 240 guides working full time in the Summers till November. 

Those are Lake Fork numbers in its hay day. 

Trip was nice but there are lots of other options available. 

As snagged said. Take a nice Western vacation and enjoy the scenery. If you get a day in the water, that’s great. 
 

 

[Skeeter ZX190]

On 9/5/2023 at 10:09 AM, Bill Babler said:

As snagged said. Take a nice Western vacation and enjoy the scenery. If you get a day in the water, that’s great. 

 

That's what the wife and I just did.  We went up I-29 to Sioux Falls and then I-90 to Buffalo Wyoming.  Drove up into the Bighorns and was able to fish 3 different streams.  Rock Creek, Clear Creek, and Crazy Woman Canyon Creek.  Caught fish everywhere I tried.  All small, but the scenery was breathtaking.  Caught the trifecta, rainbows, browns, and brook.  On our way home we went to Ft. Laramie and then to Scottsbluff Nebraska.  The bluffs at Scottsbluff are worth the time and effort to see. 

 

[Terrierman]

We took an impromptu trip out to Salida a couple of weeks ago.  To me it's the best Colorado has to offer.  Great weather, scenery, food all that.  The Arkansas was a continuous raft display, with guides and a couple of sports.  Husband and wife mostly.  I didn't even fish, we were just vacationing.

[Skeeter ZX190]

3 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

We took an impromptu trip out to Salida a couple of weeks ago.  To me it's the best Colorado has to offer.  Great weather, scenery, food all that.  The Arkansas was a continuous raft display, with guides and a couple of sports.  Husband and wife mostly.  I didn't even fish, we were just vacationing.

Didn't even fish?????

Phil, put two "shame on you's" in Terrierman's official file!  😁

[Quillback]

I tell you what started the fly fishing craze in Washington was that movie -  A river runs through it.  After that movie ran, all these people started showing up, who had never fished in their lives, trying to fly-fish for trout, and even worse, steelhead.  Fortunately the fishing remained good as they were not much of a danger to the fish.

Washington and Oregon both have some great fishing and scenery.  

Dang Bill, that was some adventure you were on.  Reading that has scared me off of Wyoming.  

 

[bfishn]

5 hours ago, Quillback said:

I tell you what started the fly fishing craze in Washington was that movie -  A river runs through it.  After that movie ran, all these people started showing up, who had never fished in their lives, trying to fly-fish for trout, and even worse, steelhead.  Fortunately the fishing remained good as they were not much of a danger to the fish...

 

 

Big Time.. I had the trout farm then, and they came out of the woodwork. They came by my place when they failed somewhere else and spent some dough to go home with a mess of big ones and a story to tell. That type was close to half my business then.