Grey Reef – Flows are Irrelevant

Posted on by Grey Reef

The start of the Grey Reef flushing flow is coming up this Monday, March 20 so we feel like it’s a good time to talk North Platte River flows and how they impact fly fishing production or “quality”. Flows are going to start with a smaller burp of water this year to help nudge some lingering ice out of the way before a bigger push a day or two in. The first day will likely not be quite as turbid as you might be used to and far less than we remember from decades past when Grey Reef was way more silty. Is the flush an event every angler needs to be here for? No. Creative anglers do well and process anglers not so much….especially in the beginning. This isn’t a jab, just the truth. The process anglers will do great after the flush is over.  It does, however, present a huge opportunity for folks to grow in their angling. When you have an epiphany that shatters your preconceived notion, it’ll change your approach forever. This is the progression of an angler (guide). The progression of an angler is the best possible thing for a fishery, the fish and those who are your students/guests. It is really a built-in path to being more conservation or preservation minded and it is entirely done by gaining a skill set.

Flows through the season ultimately don’t matter much. During the spring season when warm water temps do not threaten the well being of the trout, 500cfs winter flows to 8000cfs flood stage, is all good. Keep in mind we don’t have traditional runoff. We like big water and this comes down to being creative and confident with all flows and hatches rather than process driven. We love  changes in flow because it moves fish to cool new places and keeps it interesting. It doesn’t change the quality of fishing…at all.

Low flows in the summer fish great but do present the chance of overly warm water on many western drainages. Lucky for Grey Reef , it has been a long time since we’ve had sub 1800cfs flows during the warm weeks.

Some flow changes we aren’t super fond of. Not because of the fishing but because of the effort or the way it impacts time. 2500cfs fishes great but has a strange way of negating eddies. Slack water is pretty handy, especially when rowing the boat. Late in the season when flows drop back to winter levels…the river moves sooooo slow. Sometimes it makes it feel like time is standing still. But, fishing is great and it is better for AM trico spinner dry fly sessions and afternoon psuedo surface snacking. This is a guide problem and not an angler problem… you all are catching fish and the places they are coming from seem a little more evident.

Don’t sweat the flows…they don’t really matter. We don’t have runoff and we don’t have hoot owl restrictions for warm water. We can’t imagine it’ll  happen this year with our awesome snowpack. Bottom line is Grey Reef is an incredibly productive and consistent year round fishery. It’s like a loving, even-keeled and understanding spouse that isn’t afraid to party.

 

Fremont Canyon Before Disneyland

Posted on by Grey Reef

Cruising through social media this morning and the above picture immediately caught my eye. Our friend, Bill Bohman Art on Facebook and  @billbohmanart on instagram, crafts some really cool art that is often fly fishing centered. I have a set of Bill’s traditional fly pattern prints displayed in my family room. In reality, our family is not into the fly fishing art theme but, man…he hits the mark. His depiction of this scene instantly had me traveling back to a time before Fremont Canyon, aka Cardwell, had been manufactured and developed into what I often describe as a Disneyland fishery.

In the early 2000’s the Cardwell Access Area project was completed. This project had 4 major players that collaborated to develop the meadow below Pathfinder Dam and above the next entrance to Fremont Canyon. The Cardwell Family agreed to allow public access, the Bureau of Reclamation agreed to a 75 CFS minimum flow from Pathfinder, the Wyoming Game and Fish agreed to stock and manage the fishery, as well as, install pit toilets and parking areas while the Wyoming Fly Casters helped with the plan and raised cash and awareness. Voila! A small stream experience emerged from nothing…or did it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on this fishery, this development has really been an overall benefit to anglers, the local visitation economy and the scenery. What most folks aren’t aware of is that there was already a thriving fishery, hiding in plain sight, with amazing access. It was a little sad when the track hoes showed up to manufacture a small stream bed in the meadow to optimize the 75 CFS minimum flow but we could also reasonably predict the consequences and realized it wasn’t a heartbreaking event then or now.

There were no fences, trails or trespassing signs. The traditional river bed is what you expect from a good-sized river whose flows were diverted through a tunnel carved in the canyon wall. Pathfinder is a granite block dam that seeps water. There was always some water coming from Pathfinder upstream and fish could access Fremont Canyon via Alcova Reservoir below…a fishery existed. Access also existed. Fremont Canyon has always been one of Wyoming’s shock-and-awe geologic features but it was only recognized by a few sightseeing locals and the local climbing community. There is a good road through the canyon and there was a sandy two track approach from Pathfinder Rd to the perfect campsite right at the mouth of the canyon. It was best when the North Platte River was released to flow down the canyon. It was hard to sleep, despite the ideal sandy spot to toss your sleeping bag,  with the river roaring as it entered the mouth of the canyon. The beers flowed nicely while consumers were sitting on the diagonal rock layer depicted in Bill’s art above. Similar to a rock concert, being so close to the powerful, smooth tongue of the river as it dropped in encouraged tight lips or necessitated a pretty boisterous conversation.

The campsite was a sandy depression, flanked by the cliff and fronted by junipers that separated the fire pit from the river. One late night at the campfire my buddy pointed beyond me and firmly said “what are you doing?”. Knowing he wasn’t talking to me but rather something behind me, I immediately became concerned for my well being. A couple frogs had popped out and joined us at the fire. I survived that scare.

The Fremont story that has been the most impactful to my development as a guide, angler and my outdoor recreation ideology happened one afternoon after taking our guests/anglers to Miracle Mile for a few hours of wade fishing. North Platte Lodge was in operation prior to the Fremont Disneyland development but I would divert through the canyon after fishing the Mile to blow my guests’ minds with the views, and if they were game, drop in for some fishing. This particular afternoon I was leading another group along with my guests. The other guide was pretty inexperienced and not at all familiar with Fremont Canyon fishing. We parked along the road and I pointed he and his anglers to the prime hopper water in the meadow. The potholes in the slough were always good for a couple hopper eaters each. Easy pickings and some really impressive fish! I took my anglers around the bend and into the canyon. After a couple hours we emerged and the other guide was nowhere in sight…nor was his vehicle. We reunited back at the lodge and I asked where he went. He explained that as they were rigging their hopper rods a Game and Fish warden drove up and asked what they were doing. He stated the obvious and the warden replied with “there are no fish in here, we haven’t even stocked it”. That zapped all of his confidence and embarrassed him in front of his guests. They left without ever making a cast. I don’t recall how we did that afternoon in the canyon but I will never forget the lessons of that day. I often reflect on that experience and how misguided it was on several levels. Decades later we still struggle with these issues from all players in this story. Erik

 

Evolution of a Tailwater – Grey Reef

Posted on by Grey Reef

Scrapbook memory from 1996. “The Meat Hole”  pre North Platte Lodge. Looking downstream to the “Outhouse Hole” aka Pete’s Draw.

Things change. Sometimes we accept them and other times we feel it degrades our experience enough that we discontinue pursuing it. Sometimes these changes are clearly laid out and other times they are a slow progression and, oftentimes, a bit mysterious. The Grey Reef section of the North Platte River has maintained a mythic, prolific and in demand status while it has slowly transformed from the fishery we knew before guides hit the scene. The “old” Grey Reef was amazing but so is the “new”. We aren’t suggesting that the change stemmed from the presence of guides or as a result of being an angling destination, but it is a fun place to start and nostalgic to reminisce.

What is now known as Grey Reef has been through a series of changes over the past 100+ years. The construction of Pathfinder Dam in 1909 started the transformation, then came Alcova, Seminoe and Kortes Dams, in quick succession, between 1938 and 1951. Arguably, the most important feature is the tiny Grey Reef Dam, completed in 1961, a mile below Alcova Dam and/or the initiation of the flushing flows in the mid 1990s.  Crack open a beer and let’s remember when… 

Things really got going at Grey Reef once the little Grey Reef Dam, sitting right between The Reef Fly Shop and North Platte Lodge, was constructed. This tiny impoundment has enough storage to regulate flows downstream of Grey Reef and isolate them from the continual change in power generating demand of Alcova and all the hydro units upstream. Naturally, this cultivated a very robust trout fishery. In those years the river was known for its modest population of huge brown trout (much like Miracle Mile a quick skip upstream between Kortes and Pathfinder). In the mid 1990s the Wyoming Game and Fish and Bureau of Reclamation agreed to start a new program of flushing flows to mimic high water events that is designed to displace accumulated silt. Silt was a big problem. Not only was it contributing to an almost complete lack of successful spawning recruitment, but it was scary to wade as you’d sink into deep black goo and getting stuck in that quagmire was a real concern.

The first 7 or 8 years of the flush was a 5-day event both spring and fall. The fall component was cancelled after repeated issues with dislodged vegetation clogging the intakes at the Casper water treatment plant and the cooling units at Dave Johnston Power Plant. The fall flush was insane streamer fishing! Man, those were the days. The Spring flush was lengthened to a week and within the past decade was extended to 10 days.

We have very vivid memories of water that was never really clear. A few feet of visibility was our benchmark for “clear” water. Later in the season we’d be fishing in pea soup. No joke, the water was green and thick with suspended organic stuff or fines. However, the fishing was awesome. We had some good dry fly opportunities and streamer fishing was solid at times but nymphing was ever present. A lot of the same flies have been in our box for over 25 years, but a couple of must-have daily patterns don’t get the same use that they used to. Red Blood Midges and Scuds just don’t seem to be as productive as they were in the days of green water. The fall baetis hatch doesn’t seem to have the same interest slightly below the surface like it once had. Now that interest seems to be on the surface.

We had a huge water year in 2011 and it kind of seems like a monumental moment when there was Grey Reef before 2011 and Grey Reef after 2011. Prior to that date it was the same as we always knew it, not really clear, nymphing, lots of our trophy class fish (25” or better) were rainbows. 2011 was also a prolific hopper year and that’s when focusing on grasshopper fishing really became part of the conversation. It is strange to think about now but there were 3 drift boats sunk that season, due to flows upward of 8000 cfs, and we couldn’t even start the process of searching for them until the following spring. That’s when the water would always be the lowest and clearest.

Since 2011 Grey Reef has progressively become clearer and that has been paralleled with a marked increase dry fly fishing and a delayed response to streamers. The Grey Reef dry fly season is mid-July through October…and it’s awesome! The streamer season that used to ripen around mid-September is now mid-October through mid-November…and it’s awesome! Of course, all the same hatches are still in play and the trout respond to nymph rigs, always.

Reservoir levels, turnover and gully washer weather events don’t seem to have changed much over the years. Did the huge flows and Pathfinder spilling in 2011 super charge the gradual impacts of the first 15 years of the flushing flows? Did subsequent big water years amplify that progression to dry fly and clear water? Has the extended spring flush had a larger than expected impact? The water quality seems to have improved but why do we see more trophy class brown trout now when 20 years ago it was rainbows in the majority?

Are the Browns Running Yet?

Posted on by Grey Reef

Crisp nights, warm days and changing leaves. This fall has been sublime! Central Wyoming is always graced with really nice fall conditions but this one is unique. What is justifiably un-unique this time of year is that our shop phone rings with the age-old question, “are the browns running, yet?”. This conversation really only has two places it can go assuming we are “in season”.

The question is nuanced and complicated, ha! No it isn’t. It is about one or two specific brown trout activities and most often a confused blur of both. Late in the season browns spawn. They move to their zone to build a nest, go a courtin’ with a little fighting, and hope the result is a bunch of little browns. Also, late in the season browns become a little more rowdy and clobber young of the year fish, crawdads or whatever else they can get in their mouths…kind of like bears.

Of course, we don’t condone fishing to spawners. These are fish that are visibly on the Redds and actively spawning. But we do condone and encourage folks to go out and target browns ambushing prey in areas with cool structure that are disconnected from actively spawning fish. Soooo, our answer sometimes becomes nuanced (no it doesn’t and we aren’t serious about the use of the word nuanced) because we need to isolate these two activities. If we simply answered yes, we may be sending the message to go ahead and fish to the spawners – a practice we feel is illegitimate and harmful.  It would be really cool if that practice disappeared forever. If we say no…it would probably be a lie and that may discourage folks from catching the fish of their lifetime using a practice that is, by all authority, a perfectly ethical (and fun as hell) approach.

Our answer will generally be something like “the browns are definitely getting fired up” or “’tis the season”. This is to encourage the next question, which we always pray is “are they on the banks and chasing streamers?”. Whew! Kindred spirits and we can suggest a few streamer patterns and a good float to go pound the banks. If the next question is “are they taking beads or on the beds” then we try our best to address it in a way that highlights the current hatch and the associated dry fly and nymphing opportunities, streamer potential and what our guides’ experiences have been the past couple days. However, we will piggyback that little diversion to “please don’t fish to actively spawning fish” for obvious reasons and “we don’t peg beads” and “to0 good of fishing to revert to eggs this time of year”.

You all know our stance on barbs, beads and spawning trout. Success is easily found without employing any of them.

The answer is “yes”.

 

PS don’t forget your dry fly rod

 

Will the Fly Fishing Media Please Stand Up?

Posted on by Grey Reef

We aren’t perfect but we operate way different than the new fly fishing outfitter and guide norms. The industry has been crickets when it comes to addressing misguided pros and cultivating a solid foundation for the future of the fisheries.

Are there any great guides anymore?

 

WY Wyoming?

Posted on by Grey Reef

WYOMING ISN’T REAL

 

Wyoming (WY) is an interesting place. It is a large piece of land with very few inhabitants. There is a revolving door of folks moving in and folks moving out. A transient oil and gas workforce who’s #1 focus is love of place, oops, money…until it dries up. But a large majority are a very steadfast base that wouldn’t ever consider leaving. WY boasts a meager 580,000 residents sprinkled into 97,914 square miles. That’s just shy of 6 people per section (square mile) or 640 acres. We are proud to battle with the antelope for the crown of the most populous critter in this arid and high-altitude square. Sorry goats, we’ve got you by a margin but we still have tons of respect for you. Plus, WY is the center of the antelope (speed goat or properly known as the Pronghorn) universe. Most of the world’s Pronghorn reside within 300 miles of our busting, 30 resident metropolis, of Alcova, WY. Our low population is synonymous with lots of elbow room and why we despise tagalongs on the highway. Pass respectfully and keep moving or back WAY off…like 200 feet. This same concept applies to the line at the grocery store, hunting, fishing and camping. Maintain lots of room, no unnecessary congestion – simple, this is Wyoming. 

Wyoming isn’t a super habitable place in the grand scheme but is the ultimate in short bursts. Summer is really amazing, warm but not hot by most of the union’s standards, dry and lots of big blue-sky days. Spring and fall, we have several of them every year, rarely act like they’re supposed to. Both will give up some traditional weather but both tend to cherry pick stints of summer and winter. This is part of the reason we have a revolving door of boom-and-bust economy “residents”. That, and the wind. The wind is no joke. No, it isn’t always windy because, as the joke goes, Nebraska doesn’t always suck and Utah doesn’t always blow. The funny thing about those of us who complain the hardest are those who don’t have serious outdoor winter recreation. That is, people who wouldn’t ordinarily spend time outside anyway. (HINT* embrace winter outdoor recreation including fly fishing for longevity in WY) The wind is really a winter and early spring phenomenon and why we have pretty solid air quality.  If you don’t recreate outside in the winter, we are sorry, not sorry about the wind messing up your hairdo on your way into work or blowing your grocery list off of the dash board. We park into the wind and open one car door at a time.  There are a lot of benefits to the wind as well. Every one of the aging Front Range “fly” fishing Bros wearing a visor who storms in and makes a big, super-astute declaration about Wyoming’s wind, goes back to the Front Range. Huge bonus! Just teasing, Brah. Wyoming is not for the weak and if the weather were a little less rowdy, we’d have several times the population. Most of the steadfast folks are here because people make them uncomfortable, and they occupy too much space, breath down your neck and make too much noise when they are on the water or in the field. It is a matter of priorities. We embrace the conditions that keep the population low, first and foremost. Be real careful about professing how important you and your money are to Wyoming’s wellbeing when you’ve been reprimanded for stepping out of line with the way things are done here. Your ill-behaviored presence, self-aggrandized by money, will never supersede the Wyoming way of life. 

Low populations serve hunting, fishing and a myriad of other recreation really well. The part that seals the deal is all the awesome hunting, fishing and other rustic outdoor opportunities. Low populations aren’t all rosy, though. We acknowledge the economic struggles that come with fewer customers, we acknowledge a smaller tax base that limits wasteful and unnecessary overdevelopment of every recreational opportunity and we acknowledge that we have fewer soulless franchise restaurants. We also acknowledge a glaring lack of awareness from most of the folks who are charged with “managing” our outdoor industry and amenities. There isn’t a great pool of knowledge to pull from and that pool is reduced to kiddie sized once most of the capable folks are faced with electing to take government jobs.  

WY is an emotional place. If you don’t believe it, just be around the day after the big game tags are drawn. That’s a pretty warm and fuzzy experience. WY is a safe place. We all have had the winter highway gear requirements driven into our hair. Have water, a sleeping bag, and some other things I can’t remember but very few of us have them along…but it’s the thought that counts, I’ve heard. Also, nearly 70% of WY households own guns. That stat could be irrationally confused with 70% of homes have gun toting psychos and we’re ok with that. Be careful to limit the term households to houses, that stat also applies to all the vehicles on the road. 70% (unofficial stat pulled from nowhere) of Wyomingites also wear muck boots as their daily winter footwear. Looks and smells weird but function over form, y’all. Muck boots are not a substitute for waders, however. If your fishing guide shows up with muck boots you are a captive to the boat for the day, you ain’t getting out to wade fish. 

WY is a loving and caring place. If a stranger is broken down on the side of the road it will only be a matter of moments before someone stops to help. There is so much competition to be the one to save the day that it can become a real safety hazard. We lose our minds and will forget to check traffic before throwing a U-turn in the middle of the highway. On big snow days there will be dozens of roving, built 4 wheel drive trucks at the ready to jerk any unfortunate low ground clearance cars out of a drift…for free! They say central WY is the most charitable place in the nation, there are even flags flying in downtown Casper to make sure you know it.  

All jokes aside, we love Wyoming for the very things that more refined folks hate about it. That’s why there is an unwritten rule that neophytes aren’t allowed to discuss the wind or make knee jerk, highway observations about our big, vacant swaths of sagebrush steppe equating to “nothing”. Wyoming is so much more than Devil’s Tower, the Grand Teton, Old Faithful or Jackson Hole. It is just like fishing Grey Reef, the seemingly boring and featureless chunks in between the exciting water are often the most productive and interesting. Train your eye to see beyond a single dimension and welcome to Wyoming.  

 

 

Stay tuned for some upcoming articles

#1 Voices Carry- The Things We Hear Guides Tell Their guests

 #2 a multi part series The Evolution of a Tailwater – The Ongoing Transition of Grey Reef and Miracle Mile

#3 No Compromises – Why we voluntarily apply massive limits to the way we approach guiding anglers and why we are more successful and the fishery is better for it.  

 

 

 

 

The Pelican Logo is the Middle Finger to the Industry

Posted on by Grey Reef

 

When North Platte Lodge and The Reef Fly Shop were acquired by longtime NPL guides Trent Tatum and Erik Aune in 2007, they recognized a failing in the industry and created an ill-received logo to counter the Amateur-Pro Bro Fly Fishing Culture. Many fly anglers have an aversion to pelicans because of the perceived “competition”. Very few have a legitimate position based on pelicans adversely impacting fisheries, but we recognize that very limited reality. What we didn’t know at the time was the coming social media influencer filth and snagging trout with pegged bead rigs becoming the “guides choice” fly fishing approach. We were really targeting the entry-level magazine writing and film media, the lackluster “innovation” from the manufacturing side and the “pro guides” incurable need to crowd into the obvious water because nobody showed them how to fish the rest of the river. It is an industry often driven by copouts and doing it the easiest way without any thought of the ramifications and with disregard for fish and fisheries.

The latest development to satisfy the incompetent guide program is over fishing small sections of water. Never leave fish to find fish, right? That is a mantra developed and adopted by those who are entry level…fly fishing guides should not be entry level. However, they are clutching to the comfortable and easy water like the Old Bag to her marble rye (gratuitous Seinfeld reference). Spending all day back rowing the few runs that encompass a five mile float or lapping the same couple/few mile sections of river twice in one guide day. This is abusive. It is one thing to spend an hour or two wade fishing a run and hooking a few fish but another thing entirely when it is treated like production on an assembly line…day after day, the same water, twice a day, running over the fun water to get to the dark water. How boring for a guest and how mind numbing for a guide who knows there are and how to target fish in really cool spots doing things directly related to bugs and their behavior.

Some of you know, you’ve moved beyond and can never go back. Give ’em the bird. This Pelican is for you.

What Happened to the Fly in Fly Fishing?

Posted on by Grey Reef

 

The fly fishing trout outfitting industry is interesting. In many cases, the competing outfitters are sharing a public river and targeting the same animals – over and over. This isn’t akin to hunting where the venue is much larger and not linear in flow, the season is shorter and your target is generally removed from the population or physically unaffected. Rivers are essentially narrow one-way water conveyors so you are oftentimes in traffic much like a traditional road. And yes, you deal with both consciences and asshole drivers. On top of that we are all trying to fool a finite quantity of trout that we handle and return until the next handling. We can all see how the fish was treated previously. There are different schools of thought, really it is a combination of experience, mentalities and self-imposed limits that forms a threshold for decency on how to accomplish whatever it is you and your guests view as success.

We are a proud relic in the industry and this is why we do not ideologically mesh well with our contemporaries. This is also why we have some strong disagreement with the action/inaction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Dept and the Bureau of Land Management.  We all have to contend with the results of each other’s actions. Obtuse mistreatment of the trout, the river and surrounding lands are reflected the following day, week, month, year and decade. These consequences are always predictable and should always be avoided. It is disconcerting when those we view as professional, educated or holding the best interest of the industry are actually leaning on that misaligned conception to celebrate the very things that cause disintegration of the condition of the experience and the existence and condition of the river and the trout.

Are we perfect and without fault? Of course not! We have the most stringent self imposed limits of anybody in the industry but think a revamp of the regulations would be a great way to make us even more accountable. Grey Reef to Government Bridge could really benefit from a max of 2 hooks per rig, barbless and no snagging/pegging. Let’s start there!

 

 

 

 

 

Crisis Therapy – No Pressure but Hurry Up and Live

Posted on by Grey Reef

Read below for some quick results to your frequently asked Wyoming Fly Fishing questions:

At some point we all need a spell. If there is one thing we are very confident in is that our guests, while they are visiting us in Alcova, WY, will enjoy a valuable departure from the quagmire of current events. We are powerless to make it any other way. You can’t help but to get caught up in this big empty landscape with fun people and awesome fishing. This will be our 24th season and we’ve had a fair bit of panic but it always turns out in our favor, the North Platte River is always good to us and guests return.

Over the past couple years we’ve tiptoed around and kept our nose to the grindstone. It has all worked out beautifully. So well, that we added an incentive to visiting multiple times a year. Our return trip discount was a game changer for guests and The Reef Fly Shop and North Platte Lodge staff beginning in 2020 and we are continuing that program. Our corporate rate has also been popular with most of our full-lodge groups. Our off season rates are also still in effect this week. Killer deals on guided fishing and fishing/cottage packages. We are all bombarded with news of rising prices and limited supply, so how about a price break and a bumper crop of fish and fresh air? Lodging and guide availability is also great if you have some flexibility in your dates. This off-season we’ve also made significant investments in both properties. We know you’ll notice and enjoy the updates. What never changes is our guide staff’s dedication, experience, and conscientious approach to fly fishing. The kitchen and house staff are a godsend.

Grey Reef FAQs:

The Spring Flushing Flows: The Bureau of Reclamation has tentatively scheduled a gate check and typically the flush follows. Historically, it begins on the third Monday in March but let’s not hold our breath and just enjoy the awesome spring fishing as it continues to ramp up. The highest volume fishing of the season is going on right now and will continue throughout the spring. It put Grey Reef on the map.

Runoff: This is a common concern for folks who aren’t familiar with spring Grey Reef fishing. We don’t have runoff, fishing is awesome…its that simple.

Warm Summer River Temps: Hoot owl closures have become increasingly common on Western trout rivers. Low water and warm summer temperatures heat up the waterways to a point that the rivers are closed to fishing completely or throughout the bulk of the day while poor conditions persist. We’ve not had critical temps for 20 years. The five reservoirs upstream create a large supply of cool clean water throughout the year and isolate Grey Reef from runoff.

Meals: If you want high quality, wholesome, plated meals while you visit us in Alcova, WY you want to book the North Platte Lodge. Meals are only available to lodge guests and are not available as a stand alone option for those in the RV sites, cottages or staying offsite. Book the lodge, get the unmatched fly fishing package – THE location and most experienced guide staff…slam dunk.  Book the cottages, get a great vacation rental with a full kitchen and grill. There is a cool apres fish scene at the shop, grab a beer in The Reef Fly Shop and kick back under the covered patio with likeminded anglers. There are a couple prepared food options in Alcova and the staff recommended Silver Fox Steakhouse is 25 minutes away on the western edge of Casper, WY. Groceries are also available near the Silver Fox.

 

 

The Maxillary Process – Six Steps

Posted on by Grey Reef

The Maxillary Process is the part of a trout’s upper jaw that extends down to and overlaps the mandible or lower jaw in the corner of their mouth. It is a thin piece of cartilage that connects to the fish’s face by soft tissue and gives trout their tough appearance. The condition of the maxillary process is great way to assess the general health of the trout population and where the anglers and guides land in their angling attitude. It’s a litmus test of the general angling mentality. Kind of like how you might make a judgment about a neighborhood if cigarette butts are piled up in the gutter and junk cars are parked in the front yard.  You could similarly align missing and mangled maxillary processes up with guides and anglers who practice abusive, entry level “fly” fishing techniques. The Maxillary Process is also an angling mindset and our longstanding ideology and action toward preservation of Grey Reef, Fremont Canyon and Miracle Mile. Our ethos has always been foreign, if not unheard of,  in the fly fishing outfitting industry. Plainly, we function to catch fish but we go way above and beyond to preserve the health of the fishery and the trout.

Let’s be real, sticking a hook into a fish’s mouth, removing it and releasing the fish isn’t the least invasive way to massage our sportsman’s machismo. The fly fishing culture, on the surface, has always been a front of exemplifying a sporting tradition. That tradition is about conservation, preservation including an acute regard for the fish and the waterways. There are a lot of abusers who hide behind that image. They don’t give 2 shits about the Maxillary Process and wouldn’t  recognize its absence in the social media influencers grip and grin photos.

What can you do about it?

#1, look at each and every fish and fish picture. Are they damaged? is the Maxillary Process missing? Contemplate that and give a shit. Did you damage the fish you just landed? Contemplate that and give a shit.

#2 stop using pegged bead trout snagging techniques. There is nothing as destructive and lame that has come about in the fly fishing world. It used to be limited to the rookie Alaska guides but has trickled out and become many angler’s and guide’s only avenue for “success”. Hooking fish on the outside of their mouth mangles them. To most of us, the point of fly fishing has always been to trick them into eating your fly, match the hatch…you know, FLY fishing. Tricking them to eat a plastic bead that you pull out of their mouth to snag them with the hook a few inches away is gross and is devoid of skill and requires almost no knowledge or experience.

#3 Pinch your barbs, its better for the fish and better for you to develop angling prowess and some humility. Anglers and guides who routinely and unconsciously pinch their barbs don’t lose more fish than non pinchers. They develop skills and muscle memory that the other don’t. Pinching your barbs creates better anglers and does far less damage to the fish.

#4 Step down one size of tippet and rod weight if you are fishing too much rod. Ease up on your hook set. Be quick but don’t employ so much horsepower…it isn’t necessary. Over gearing is as bad or even worse than under gearing. This advice is contrary to popular fly fishing lore. Become and adept angler and land fish quickly with lighter equipment that applies less pressure to the fish. There are some dumb fly fishing mantras that need to be tossed up on the bank. Always fish your leader one and a half times the depth of the water is just as dumb of a concept as over gearing to land fish quickly.

#5 Hook a few fish and move on. We now see guide services float the same couple mile stretch of river twice in one day. This practice is brutal and amateurish. Progressing as an angler means you need to try other things and other spots. Hook a few and move on.

#6 Ask why you never see pegged bead rigs stuck in the gill plate like you often see a picture of a little dry fly pinned in the trout’s beak. Is it less than kosher?  Even the hacks that do it on the daily don’t want to record their (mis)deeds?

 

This gorgeous Miracle Mile rainbow isn’t smiling. The Maxillary Process was likely ripped off by a pegged bead “angler”.  Photo: Josh Stevens NPL/TRFS Guide