Location: Between Grey Reef dam and boat launch ramp
Time: 4:00PM – 6:00PM
Fish Landed: 3
Each year on the first weekend of January the Fly Fishing Show visits Denver, CO and this year I gave my friend Steve Supple a call and asked if he was interested in joining me. He agreed and we met inside the doors shortly after the show opened on Friday. We browsed the various booths at the show and agreed upon a series of presentations to attend. One of the presentations that piqued our interest was the one on the North Platte River in Wyoming and specifically the Grey Reef stretch just west of Casper. Neither of us had ever fished this water in spite of it being only a four hour drive from Denver. Four hours may seem like a long trip, but it isn’t much further than the Frying Pan River and shorter than destinations such as the Conejos River, Rio Grande and Green River. The guide service at the show was offering a special of $300 for a guided float trip if booked and taken prior to April 1. Steve and I agreed to talk closer to March and possibly book a day of fishing on the North Platte.
As February flashed by I kept trying to remember to check back with Steve to see if he remembered the presentation and if he was still interested in joining forces for the float trip. I got caught up in skiing and Brady and Kara’s wedding and pretty much gave up on the idea when I discovered an email in my inbox from Steve. Apparently Steve had made plans for another fishing trip, but it fell through at the last minute, and he was interested in doing the Grey Reef trip. I quickly replied back that I was in, and Steve went ahead and contacted the guide service and booked the guide and lodging near Casper. Steve selected the Red Butte Ranch Bed & Breakfast as it was associated with the guide service and offered river access.
We made plans to drive to the Red Butte Ranch on Monday, March 25, departing Denver at around 9AM. This would enable us to check in at the guide service and the bed & breakfast and then we could potentially spend a few hours wade fishing the river. The guided float trip was booked for Tuesday and Steve and I decided to do some additional wade fishing on Wednesday before returning to Denver.
As the trip approached I kept a close eye on the weather and unfortunately a storm moved into Denver and dumped 10 inches on Saturday March 23. After the storm moved out, the air temperature high hovered around 32 on Sunday and the forecast for Monday was highs of 32 again. I checked Casper, WY on my weather app and learned that Casper could expect a high in the upper 30’s. This was moderately better, but still quite cold for fishing. Highs on Tuesday were projected to be upper 40’s near Casper.
Steve arrived at the appointed hour on Monday and we quickly tossed my gear in his Subaru Outback and began the journey. The trip was uneventful and we arrived at the guide service by 1PM and checked in with Liz and paid for our day of guided fishing. Our guide was Greg, and he lived with Ruth at the Red Butte Ranch so this was turning out to be quite convenient. Next we visited the fly shop that was next door to the guide service and inquired about flies. We learned that flushing flows were being initiated from Grey Reef dam, and it was important to work around the releases. The surge of water was released in the morning and then worked its way down the river at a pace of three miles per hour. The fly shop suggested driving to the area below the dam in the late afternoon as the flush would have already moved downstream.
The hot patterns were eggs and worms and leeches so I purchased a few of each. The rainbows were in the early stages of spawning so the flush knocked eggs loose and these served as food for downstream rainbows. The high flows of the flush caused the water to go over the bank and dislodge worms, so this explained the success of the worm flies. The worms were referred to as rock worms and annelids. I also purchased a Wyoming fishing license for each of the days we expected to fish, and then we were off to our lodging.
The Moon Above Wyoming Horizon
When we arrived we met our guide, Greg, and he showed us our room and offered the heated garage as a place to put on our waders and prepare to fish. We took advantage of this and gathered our clothing and gear. I decided to string my rod in the warmth of the garage as I anticipated cold numb fingers once we arrived at river’s edge.
The drive to the river was approximately nine miles and we pulled into a nice dirt parking lot next to the river. We were right below the dam and quite a few fishermen were circling the pool created by the torrent of water gushing out of the large pipe at the bottom of the dam. I put on my neoprene fingerless gloves and wore my down vest under my waders. Steve and I moved over to the river and began fishing a series of nice stairstep runs between the dam and the boat ramp. I decided to go with the nymphing setup that Taylor Edrington taught me and added a chenille egg and red annelid below the thingamabobber. Almost immediately Steve hooked and landed a couple fish, but I wasn’t having any luck and after five minutes or so I became snagged to something on the bottom of the river. The water was too deep to wade close, so I ended up snapping off both flies.
I retreated to the bank and labored to replace my flies as the cold temperatures now began to take their toll on my hands. There was a mild breeze as well that enhanced the evaporation and that in turn further chilled my fingers. I managed to tie on another pink egg and a red San Juan worm that I made myself as I’d only purchased two of the annelid style flies at the fly shop. Once again I began casting to the seam and softer water between me and the strong run approximately twenty feet away, and once again I got snagged to the bottom. This time I decided to wade out a bit in an effort to save my flies, but alas, this proved to be futile and I broke off two more flies. I was pretty frustrated at this point, but to make matters worse, I stumbled on a rock as I waded back to the bank, and caught my balance by thrusting my right arm into the river. I prevented a full dunking, but my three layers on my arm were now soaking wet and I gashed my middle finger on my right hand on a rock.
The small wound began to bleed so I walked down to Steve and asked if he had bandages. He told me he had some in the car in a green bag, so I returned to the car. By the time I reached the car my hands were so cold that I could barely feel the scrape, but I found a towel in my bag and dried my hands and placed a bandaid around my finger. I plunged my hands into the deep pockets of my down vest and held them there for quite a while until they were warm enough to resume fishing. I was really regretting leaving my ski mittens in the suitcase back at the ranch.
When I returned to the river, I decided to abandon the area that had created an hour of frustration and moved downstream below Steve. Finally in a nice riffle area the indicator paused and I set the hook and battled a fine 17 inch rainbow that grabbed my chocolate San Juan worm. At least all my frustration paid dividends with a fine fish landed as my first fish of 2013. I continued working my way down the river and managed to land two more rainbows on a chocolate San Juan worm.
The New Zealand Room at Red Butte Ranch
By six o’clock Steve and I were on the verge of shivering so we decided to quit and return to the warmth of the lodge. It was a great move, and after hot showers, we drove back to Casper and ate dinner at the Armor Silver Fox. After dinner we found the nearby Wal-Mart and I purchased some hand warmers. Greg suggested that we get up by 6:30 so we could get an early start on Tuesday. All I could think about was how cold it would be that early in morning on a day forecast to reach a high of 49 degrees.