Central Wyoming fly fishing was solid yesterday. There were a lot of boats on the water but some strategic maneuvering had them all but disappear. We had a number of boats on the water and made no adjustment due to the flush. A late start or holding back is not needed as the water is in fantastic condition and the fish are eating at all flows. Nymphing proved to be far more productive than streamers. Rigs were between 6′ – 4′. I fished a little longer in the AM due to the big water and the fact that it seems the fish were in water a little deeper than they would be if the flows were more consistent. They might be fudging a bit. By afternoon we fished short and light with bugs…PAL and Lazy Midge. A Grey Reef Section of the North Platte River standby. Scuds, leeches and worms all had plenty of attention.

Today looks even nicer than yesterday with mid 60s and almost zero wind. Monday and Tues a low pressure system with chances of rain then back to warm for next weekend!

Here are a couple misconceptions about Grey Reef:

1. It won’t fish well until run off is over. False: Grey Reef is ultra insulated by 5 dams upstream. We don’t have runoff. A very small amount of local snow pack can limit us to the upper 14 miles for 10 days to 2 weeks. This year, however, we have no snow left on the rim so water quality is excellent and it will open up much more water to fish. Of course, we are susceptible to wet spring snows. These might drop 6″ then a 50* bluebird day will melt it rapidly causing some water quality issues. Even then we may be off of the Reef for a day or two but we have so many great angling options your trip once though to be a bust will become a surprising lesson in taking full advantage of our guides experience and resourcefulness. The Grey Reef section of the North Platte River is often controlled to function in the exact opposite of run off. We will have low clear water while the rest of the fly fishing world is neck deep in mud. By the time freestones start to drop and clear our water levels rise for irrigation demand. That leads to the next misconception….

2. High water equates to tough fishing. False: The bigger the better! Sure the playing field just got way bigger with the same amount of players so it will be harder to find them, right? Not at all and quite the contrary. The bugs will end up right where the fish are willing to hang out to get them. A very simple equation that works every time. Unfortunately, I doubt we will see significant flows this year due to a healthy (but not overabundant) snow pack. I would love 5000cfs but can’t imagine we will get more than 2500cfs. 2500cfs is still a pretty good head of water!

3. Grey Reef only fishes well in the spring. FALSE! Take the Grey Reef challenge and try some other hatches and techniques. It will have you scratching your head and wondering why go anywhere else? Target Trophy Trout on streamers, pods of sippers, and so much water it would be tough to cover it all in a week of fishing.