Time: 9:30AM – 11:30AM

Location: The after bay above the town of Alcova

Fish Landed: 3

North Platte River 04/22/2015 Photo Album

In some ways Wednesday morning was more rewarding than the Tuesday float trip despite landing only three fish in two hours of fishing. The difference was that Steve and I were on our own wade fishing in unknown waters with flows rushing down the river bed at 2,400 cfs.

On Tuesday we asked Greg, our guide, for suggestions on where we could enjoy some success by wade fishing on Wednesday morning before we made the four hour drive back to Denver. He suggested the after bay above Alcova and gave us fairly specific directions. Steve and I remembered turning at a church and parking after crossing a wooden bridge from his description. After breakfast at the Hampton Inn on Wednesday morning, we made the drive west to Alcova and followed Greg’s directions. The town was quite small, and we could see the after bay from the highway, so we were able to locate his recommendation.

Just as he described, we found a wooden bridge and crossed to the southern side and parked in an open area on the eastern side of the road. Several vehicles preceded us, and in fact a fisherman already locked up the prime spot just below the bridge on the east side of the river. Before preparing to fish, Steve and I strolled across the bridge and stopped to gaze down river at the area occupied by the fisherman. Sure enough we felt an adrenalin rush as we observed at least 25 large trout spread out in the shallow flow between the main current and the bank. We both suspected that many of these fish were in spawning mode, but the size and density was enough to raise the heartbeat of any red blooded fisherman.

We continued to the north side of the bridge, and once again we observed a pod of generous sized fish in a smaller narrow space between the current and the bank. Unfortunately this area was much smaller than the occupied space, and it presented the adversity of numerous overhanging branches and required back hand casts from right handed fishermen.

We hustled back to the car, as several additional vehicles arrived during our surveillance mission. The prime spot on the south bank and downstream side of the bridge was occupied, and Steve was prepared to fish much earlier than me, so he chose to fish to the pod on the north bank below the bridge. When I finally rigged my rod, I crossed the bridge and descended a steep path to a spot above the bridge. The water here was rather deep, but moved fairly slowly, so I hoped I could tempt fish that were not visible due to the depth. I began fishing with a butterscotch egg and red rock worm that Greg gave us, but after standing in the waist deep water for 15 to 20 minutes and making numerous backhand casts, I became frustrated with the lack of action and the relative difficulty of my position.

I retreated back to the Santa Fe and pulled on a fleece top, as I discovered that standing in the water created quite a chill despite the relatively warm air temperature. The only option I now had was to walk downstream along a dirt path on the south side of the river. This path ran along the border of an elementary school, but the lack of lights and activity suggested that the school was not in session or perhaps not currently being used. I hiked downstream approximately a hundred yards and found a place to clamber down the steep bank over some large rocks.

When I reached the river’s edge I discovered a wide swath of smooth featureless slow moving water. The only positive to this section was the fact that the water was fairly deep. Surely there had to be fish in this deeper version of the water just below the bridge that was stacked with at least 25 large finned creatures. I began to methodically cover the water and worked my way upstream while cautiously hugging the steep rocky bank. Typically I made three casts with each one fanning out farther toward the middle of the river. In this way I covered lanes separated by 8-10 foot spaces. After each series of casts I moved upstream three or four steps and repeated the process.

After fifteen minutes of fruitless casting and methodical movement, I fell into a bit of a daze, and I was startled when I saw a slight dip in my indicator at the tail of the drift. I pulled myself out of my trance and executed a swift hook set, but I only managed to prick the fish as the hook came free in an instant. This did give me a ray of hope, so I continued my game of river coverage for another ten minutes when once again a twitch at the tail of the drift provoked an intuitive hook set. This time I felt the weight of a substantial fish and I played it to the point where I could see the stripe of a rainbow, but then once again the fish executed an escape maneuver, and I stood motionless feeling waves of regret.

Fat Rainbow Landed from Afterbay Area

Now I was certain that my method could yield results, so with renewed optimism I continued along the bank. I had probably covered one-third of the distance to the bridge at this point, but it wasn’t long before the process played out a third time, but in this case I managed to play a strong fighting fish that raced up and down the river until I finally exerted side pressure and brought it to my net. What a thrill and relief it was to finally have a broad seventeen inch rainbow nestled in my net! I was not certain I could repeat this success, so I snapped several photos and then gently released the noble silver and pink bullet back to its aquatic home. I contrived a method, persevered, and found success using one of the red rock worms that I tied prior to the 2014 trip. This was quite gratifying.

Proud to Land This Fish While Wade Fishing

On I went resuming my pattern of casting and moving until I once again hooked a feisty rainbow. The indicator only hesitated slightly on this fish, so I was quite pleased that I reacted and landed number two. This rainbow was around 14 inches, but it also appeared to be quite healthy and well fed.

Lack of Speckles on This One

The last fish was the smallest of the three landed in the morning and registered around 13 inches. It’s amazing how ones standards of size adjust when fishing a river that holds a pool of larger fish.

The gentleman below the bridge finally exited, and I could see Steve sandwiched between the bridge and the departing fisherman’s previous position. I methodically worked my way up the river to thirty feet below Steve, and here I could finally see the pods of fish spread out across the river bed just as they appeared from the bridge. I was skeptical that I could tempt these lunkers preoccupied with spawning, but decided to give it a half-hearted try. I lobbed several casts above the pod of three or four fish, and on the third drift I saw one of the fish move slightly to the side so I set the hook. Much to my amazement, the fish reacted, and it appeared that I hooked the trout in the mouth with the egg fly. Off the fish streaked, but as I maintained tension, I could feel a small give and then a reconnect. From past experience I knew that this indicated that the hook released from the mouth of the trout, and then the trailing hook found a home in the body. Sure enough when I finally skimmed the fifteen inch rainbow across the surface into the net, I could see that the trailing worm was embedded in the tail. I gently removed the intrusion and released the fine coldwater fish to its freedom.

A Drift Boat in the Afterbay

By now it was approaching 11:30, and Steve and I needed to return to Denver by 4:30, so we climbed the bank to the car and shed our gear and prepared for the return trip. I enjoyed the two hours of fishing on Wednesday morning because I proved to myself that I could catch fish in new water by developing a strategy and sticking to it. The North Platte River was fun, but I’m now ready for more aquatic insect hatches and hopefully some dry fly action. Stay tuned.