March is here, the weather is great, and the fishing is FANTASTIC! Fishing on all three tailwaters has been consistently good, with midge hatches coming off daily.
Miracle Mile- The flows have remained around 550 CFS and the water temp is still in the mid 30’s. Nymphing has been good with leeches, scuds, reef worms and midges. We are still focusing on the slower deeper runs and tailouts. Streamer bite has also been good using brighter streamers on the sunny days, like The Reef’s Goldie, and olive streamers on the more overcast days, like the Crystal Bugger or Super Yummy.
Fremont/Cardwell- Nymphing has been excellent! We been throwing smaller bugs and that seems to be working better than the larger flies. Patterns like PAL, All Day May, red flashbang midge, and a Foam Post RS2 have all been our top producers. The streamer bite has been slow in this section, but you can still get a few on the more overcast days.
Grey Reef-Casper – Water temp yesterday at 3:00 PM was 37 degrees. There was a awesome midge hatch yesterday and the fish were keying in. A tailwater Tiny in black and a Grey RS2 were the hot flies! Hope everyone gets up here and enjoys this beautiful weather great fishing! If you have any questions or want to book a guided trip or a cottage stop by the shop or give us a call. Dont forget the flush starts on Monday 3/7!
Fluctuation of North Platte River Flow Downstream of Gray Reef Dam
MILLS, Wyo. – The Bureau of Reclamation, in response to a request from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, has scheduled a series of fluctuating flows in the North Platte River downstream of Gray Reef Dam.
The purpose of the fluctuations is to improve trout reproduction in the river. This spring, the Wyoming Game & Fish has requested flows for ten consecutive days. The Wyoming Game & Fish will collect data before, during, and after the flushing flow in order to evaluate its effectiveness.
On March 7, flows in the river below Gray Reef Dam will fluctuate from 500 cfs to 4000 cfs according to the following schedule:
HOURS GRAY REEF OUTFLOWS (cfs)
00:01 to 01:00 a.m. 500
01:00 to 03:00 a.m. 2000
03:00 to 07:00 a.m. 4000
07:00 to 08:00 a.m. 3000
08:00 to 09:00 a.m. 2000
09:00 to 10:00 a.m. 1000
10:00 to midnight 500
This schedule will be repeated daily on March 8 through March 16. After completing the flushing flow on March 16, the flows below Gray Reef Dam will return to 500 cfs. The schedule may be modified depending on river ice conditions.
The flushing flows are expected to clean the spawning gravels of fine sediment which has accumulated over the winter. The fluctuations in the river flow will be achieved without loss of power generation and the water released from Alcova Reservoir will be restored downstream in Glendo Reservoir.
The public is urged to use caution during this period of rapid fluctuation of flows below Gray Reef