Thaw and Flush


March is an exciting month. It’s the time of year where anything can happen with the weather. It will snow a foot one day, and then be 50 degrees on another. The river that has been frozen down stream will start to open, and the banks will start to come alive. The beginning of spring. Things will start to thaw and the North Platte River will be hub for activity. It is to many, their favorite time of the year to go Fly Fishing! Floating is an amazing way to see everything from deer and antelope, all the way to turkeys strutting their stuff on the banks. Oh, and did I mention the fishing is fantastic? The Reef Fly Shop has the best early season package in the business! 2 nights in a cottage and 1 day of guided fishing on Grey Reef for $600! Until March 15 where we return to regular season rates. Get it while it lasts!

Every year the North Platte River is flushed near the second week of March for ten days. The flush is when the Bureau Of Rec slowly bumps flows up from our current 500cfs to 4000cfs and then back down slowly to 500cfs over night. This cleans out the “junk” if you will on the bottom of the river. Over the year silt and debris covers some of the bottom and prime spawning habitat for our fishery. The high flows clean this from the bottom moving it down stream away from prime spawning habitat. This year however, with the remaining ice and cold weather in the extended forecast. Coupled with the current bridge construction taking place below Alcova Dam, dates for the flush have not come out yet. There are a few factors to think of with this. We don’t want the flush to be late, as this will wash away where fish have already spawned. However, we do want a flush to clean up the bottom, creating more prime spawning habitat. With a little luck, hopefully the weather warms up and it will get back on track! We will continue to update everyone on the flush plans and schedule as we gain more information.

We recently have made some changes to The Reef Fly Shop and it is starting to come along nicely! Click the link here to check it out. https://youtu.be/xWb4pN_G43I Although we have the project going, we are still open. So stop in to grab your gear and see the changes yourself!

We’ve made it out to the Miracle Mile a couple times in the last few weeks. Braving the elements. This is always a challenge this time of year. Roads are a pain, wind blowing, and cold temps make it hard. But can be well worth it. Swinging streamers, we were able to connect on some great fish! The Miracle Mile road had some drifting and slippery spots so be careful if you are going to make the trip out passed Alcova!