After the last big rain event Grey Reef was blown out for a few days. But now it is back in shape and the fishing(nymphing) is about as fun as it gets! Caddis, midges and a few straggling baetis are whats popping and the fish are starting to focus on sally and pmd nymphs. Lots of fish are sitting up in the riffles, making for some pretty awesome sight fishing opportunities. Our Grey Reef guide rigs have been short and light…2-4ft with a #4-BB split shop, depending on the depth and speed of the water.
Tag: grey reef fly shop
Cold Snap
Well, the arctic blast has officially arrived in Central Wyoming. Overnight lows are expected to dip down around -10 degrees with a projected windchill to -30 degrees. Wow! This is without question the coldest weather of the 21-2022 winter season. With these colder temperatures, we would expect over the next couple of days for Upper Grey Reef to lock up in spots, so make sure to check-in with us if your thinking about floating.
TRFS guide Chris Scholtz was on the water yesterday with anglers, Dave and Nichols. They floated Upper Grey Reef and from the sounds of it, the fishing was pretty spectacular. Not really any bugs to speak of but the fish were more than happy to eat a red or purple san juan, a red or purple reef worm and/or a chocolate leech. 4-6 feet, one AB in the shallower run and two ABs in the deeper stuff. A pretty simple but effective rig we’d say.
A Little Taste of Winter
We have had a beautiful fall to say the least. Mild temperatures, clear skies and very little wind. It was only matter of time before we had to start seeing some weather…well, because it’s October and we live in Wyoming. Last weeks storm blanketed our area in a nice layer of white, with Casper seeing 14″-18″. As I write this report, we are supposed to see another dose of snow today and tonight. The nice thing about it, it will be sunny and 50F by tomorrow.
With the changing weather, we’ve had a mixed bag of fishing. Foul weather days have been consistently producing some awesome streamer fishing on Grey Reef. Standard fare…rusty trombone’s, goldie’s, and/or black peacock buggers. The calm, high pressure days have still be giving our guides and guests plenty of opportunities at the dry fly game. We are still seeing some tricos in the morning, with psuedos and baetis being the late morning-afternoon program. So if your headed our way make sure you are set up for just about anything. This is the time of year you could throw nymphs, streamers and dries-all in the same day.
Trico Time!
As we hit the middle of August Tricos are in full swing here on the Reef and the fishing is still great! We are seeing a very healthy Trico hatch from early in the morning until about 9-10am. If you’re nymphing black RS2s and Mayhem Midges have been the ticket. We haven’t been seeing too much surface action for the Trico hatch, but if you hit it on the right day you can have some shots at sipping trout. Throwing smaller mayfly patterns or trico specific flies might get these sippers to eat. As the day goes on PMD’s, Yellow Sallies, Caddis, and Stoneflies have all been in the mix and productive. As was the case in early August, some sort of flashy bead head with an emerger off the back can’t really be beaten when nymphing. We have yet to see hopper action pick up, but that may mean just a later and greater season on that front. Of course we have to cover the topic of grass and weeds in the river as well because this time of year is when they really pop up. Surprisingly this year it isn’t that bad yet, but it seems like the grass is growing by the minute. The key to fishing when the weeds really come in is finding where channels open up and drifting your nymph rigs through there. Looking for faster current and deeper shelves where there grass doesn’t grow as high should be your target. Your first instinct may be to shorten up and lighten up in order to drift over the weeds, but you’d be surprised to see how many trout are actually living in the grass, making drifting a little bit deeper through the channels much more effective.
That’s all for this report, hopefully next report we will be able to give you all some good news about the hopper bite!
Post Storm Fly Fishing Report and Grey Reef Flush Update!
While most of Wyoming and Colorado was hit by a major winter storm Alcova and Grey Reef hardly got an inch of snow! The roads are all opening up and the weather this weekend looks prime! Our cottages are full this weekend, but we still have guide availability. Please Call the shop for updated Miracle mile road reports.
The flush of Grey Reef is NOT happening this year due to a few different circumstances. Do not worry, the fishing has been and will remain good. We saw increased flows in October last year and that cleared out a ton of sediment and debris from the spawning areas. Honestly the fishing every year is usually the same pre flush as it is post flush. It’s just kind of a different and fun way to kick off to the season. We just beefed up our snowpack with the last storm and should hopefully be able to fill some of our reservoirs.
Flies: Fishing has been really good on all three tailwaters, conveniently the flies are similar for all of them. Leeches in brown, olive, natural #10, Reef Worms in red and purple #12-18, Scuds in olive, pink and orange #14-16, Pheasant Tails #16-18, Mayhem Midges black and purple #18-20, All day May in olive #18, PAL #16-20, and Rhinestone in #18-20 have all been great patterns the past few weeks!
Flows: Flows are low and will stay that way for the next few weeks. The only change we are supposed to see is Grey Reef go back up to 500 CFS from 400CFS
Grey Reef-400 CFS
Miracle Mile-500 CFS
Fremont canyon- 72 CFS
If you have any questions feel free to stop by the shop or give us a call!
Spring Weather is Here! North Platte Fly Fishing Report!
Spring is finally here and we couldn’t be more excited! The fishing has been great and have guide trips out quite a bit! The weather looks great for the next ten days and the fish are on the feed! We still have our shoulder season rates going through March 15th and some availability left! Call the shop and lets get your 2021 fishing season started off right!
There has been no official announcement of the 2021 Flush. We will update our social pages and this report once we have confirmed dates. The flush is historically set for the second week of March.
Grey Reef- 500 CFS Fishing has been great on The Reef as you would expect from the North PLatte’s most consistent fishery. Leeches have been the top producer. Chocolate, natural and olive are all working well. Reef worms in red and purple, the Reef’s PAL, mayhem midges, tubing midges, and the Rhinestone are all getting fish too! The river is open from the Dam to Government bridge!
Fremont Canyon/Cardwell- 75 CFS It has been pretty busy up there so you might want to sixe down your tippet and get a little “techy”. Mini rigs for midges and good presentations! The PAL, Tubing midges, Reef worms, Rhinestones, Mayhem Midges, and pheasant tails.
Miracle Mile – 530 CFS Fishing has been good lately but also have to deal with some crowds. Leeches are still the go to followed by Reef worms and san juan worms, the PAL, rhinestone and mayhem midges. Theres been sgreat midge hatches out there everyday!
Give us a call or stop be the shop if you have any questions!
Welcome to 2021! North Platte Fly Fishing Report!
Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a fun and safe holidays. We are back to being open everyday of the week from 8:00 to 2:00 and still have some awesome deals in the shop before our 2021 gear arrives. We had guides out over the past week and had some good weather and great fishing! We fished The Mile, Afterbay, and Grey Reef, as usual The Reef outshined them all.
We have our shoulder season rates going on until March 15th: Half Day Guided trip- $350, Full day Guided trip- $450 1 night in a cottage and 1 full day guided fishing-$575, and 2 nights in a cottage and 1 full day guided trip- $625. This is a great time to fish the North Platte with no crowds and good fishing!
Flows are up in Fremont and the Miracle Mile as they are filling up Alcova reservoir. Miracle Mile is flowing at 1,200 CFS and Fremont is around 2,2,00 CFS. They are still very fishable just focus on the slower tailouts and edges of runs.
Flies are similar on all three tailwaters right now: Pine Squirrel leeches, Reef Worms, Scuds, Mayhem Midges, tubing midges, the LAZY, the brassie, and RS2’s have all been working. Some days it definitely pays off to be shorter, lighter, and higher up in the water column. Other days it seems you have to be deep and heavy, so I always start off short and light and work my way down from there. Streamer fishing has also been working: Goldies, Rusty Trombone, kreelex, peacock buggers, and all peanut envys are the go-tos.
If you have any questions or want to book your next trip give us a call or stop by the shop!
Indian Summer
What a great time of year! Flows are at winter levels and the weather is beautiful. Highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s with light winds(with the exception of yesterday), day after day.
GREY REEF: Grey Reef is in excellent condition! The water is clear from Grey Reef Dam to Glenrock. Lots and lots of water to fish! Tricos are the name of the game in the morning, especially on the upper river. 5X tippet to a parachute adams with a trico spinner dropper has been our go-to setup. Once the dry fly fishing subsides our guides have been switching over to the nymph program or a big dry/dropper setup. 3.5-5ft, 1-2 BBs attached to the following flies; prince nymph,tung teaser, pat’s rubber legs, san juan worm, PAL, and/or a foam wing RS2.
MIRACLE MILE: Pathfinder Reservoir is at 61% capacity, making the Mile fishable to the Sage Creek confluence, below Chalk Bluff. Water conditions are excellent and nymphing is the name of the game. 3-6ft, 1-3 BBs attached to the following flies; prince nymph,tung teaser, san juan worm, UV leech, pheasant tail, and/or a foam wing RS2. For the devout we are getting some fish to eat the streamer. Standard fall fare-rusty trombones, goldies, mini sex dungeons and mini peanut envy’s.
FREMONT CANYON: The water has been off-colored for the past few weeks in Fremont. Fishing remains fair and nymphing has been the most productive method for catching fish. 4-7ft, 1-2 BBs attached to the following flies; bh prince nymph, bh pheasant tail, reef worm, and/or a foam wing RS2.
Hoppertunities Abound! 7/20/2020
The fishing lately has been really fun, a good mix of nymphing, hoppers, and even a handful of streamers! Flows just dropped on The Mile and are still holding steady on Grey Reef and Fremont, but we do expect a drop in soon. The Weather has been in the low 90’s with some breeze in the afternoon which is a perfect storm for hopper fishing! If you haven’t experienced the hopper hatch on the Reef now is the time. We should have great dry fly fishing all the way into October!
The Rig: We’ve been fishing a really similar rig on all three tailwaters lately, an attractor up front like a Pat’s Rubber legs, Pine Squirrel Leech, or a san juan worm. We follow that up with a bead head fly like a Prince nymph, Pheasant Tail, Hare’s Ear, Poxypack PMD, Demon Sally or a tung teaser. For the bottom, some form of emerger as been good, midges and tricos in the AM switching to sallies, caddis and PMD’s in the PM. We’ve been fishing 3-4.5 Ft indicator to weight with 1-3 “BB’s” as our weight. 3x leaders going to 4x tippet on the smaller flies.
Miracle Mile 2,000 CFS- Clarity is off on the mile due to the reservoirs turning over, but that hasn’t affected the fishing. While the Golden Stonefly hatch is all but done the PMD’s, and Caddis are in full swing. You can try to throw some hoppers along the banks but nymphing has definitely been producing more fish.The is some floating vegetation but it’s really not too bad, it gets more prevalent the closer you get to Pathfinder. Right now the last bit of current before you reach the reservoir is around Chalk Bluffs. Use caution when driving around down there the lake is dropping and leaving the banks really soft. It is very easy to get stuck in that black stinky mud!
Fremont/Cardwell 1,600 CFS- Clarity is also pretty green right now, again it hasn’t affected the fishing. Fish are in all the cool “fishy” spots: shelves, drop offs, riffles and seams. We don’t recommend venturing into the Canyon section right now with the water being so swift.
Grey Reef-Casper 3,600 CFS- The clarity is great on the Reef and gets slightly green as you get closer to Casper. There is some floating vegetation out there if you stick to fishing the faster water and banks it’s not too much of an issue. The best thing you can do is make a proper backcast and most of that stuff comes right off. The hopper fishing has been insane some days and okay on others. South Fork Chernobyl, More-or-less hoppers in purple, pink goldenrod and tan, and the donkey kong hopper have all been winners! We’ve also been throwing some sallies behind our hoppers like the Headlight Sally, #16 rubberleg Stimi, or a clownshoe Sally.
As always if you have any questions or want top book your next trip give us a call at 307-232-9128!
NORTH PLATTE RIVER FLY FISHING REPORT 1/25/2020
Fishing has been great this week! Weekend temps look awesome, highs in the low 40’s and upper 30’s. Upper Grey Reef down to Lusby has opened and is floatable, we don’t know about anything lower than that. Shoulder season rates are going until March 14th $450 for a full day guided trip, 2 nights in a cottage and full day guided trip for $650
Fremont/cardwell is still at 500 CFS and will be there through mid February. They are doing warranty work on the power plant and are diverting the water through the meadow/canyon until they’re done. With this larger water focus your efforts on the slowest water you can find. Inside corners and tail outs have all been producing.
Miracle mile is also fishing well! The road out there is definitely passable, just be cautious of side roads. The drifts can be deceivingly bad. Fishing has been good nymphing, but especially with streamers. Keep your retrieve slow!
The BigHorn in Thermopolis fished great this week! Nymphing was solid with leeches, Annelids, and sow bugs. Streamer fishing was also productive, the olive peanut envy was our best fly. Fishing the slower flats with a fast retrieve on a sinking line worked best for us. We are offering a shoulder season special $475 for 1 day and $450/day for a multiple day trip!
Nymphs: BH Brassie, Flashbag Midge, Red Midge Larva, Juju Midge, leeches, Reef Worms, and Scuds.
Streamers: Rusty Trombone, Goldie, Kreelex, peanut Envy, DWFC Flash Minnow.
Dries: Brooks Sprout Midge, small Parachute Adams, Matt’s Midge, and a Griffiths Gnat.
As always if you want to book a trip or have any questions stop by the shop or give us a call at 307-232-9128