Cold day on the Platte

A nice rainbow that took the green leach pattern.

Spent a good day on the Platte yesterday with Jeff.  New license, patched waders, new wading jacket, first day out this new year.    For some reason, my feet were damn cold almost all day though the patched waders did not leak! Maybe I needed a warmer hat! Temps may have reached 40F but it felt cold to me all day. It was windy off and on with the occasional welcome calms but at other times there were serious gusts - strong enough that most non-Westerners anglers would sensibly call it a day. With a flow of 500 CFS the water was as low as I believe I have ever seen it. The Gray Reef holding reservoir is essentially empty. It was easy to cross the river below the dam at a number of spots going no deeper than mid-thigh.

A nice rainbow in Jeff took with the leech.

While the midges were actively hatching mid-afternoon a bead head midge pattern was a good bet.  Mid-morning when the fishing was slower I thought that perhaps something bigger than a size 22 midge might stir them to take.  I tied on a green leech pattern which Garrett had used so successfully on a similar day a few years ago.  As soon as I tied it on (with a midge dropper for good luck) I started hooking up regularly - with a slow drift though the deeper holes.  About 2/3 of the takes were on the leech though some fish still preferred the midge.   Sometimes it is hard to believe how the right patter at the right time can make such a difference.  I gave Jeff one and he did very well with it all day.

This was one that was working best.

Wade Fishing the North Platte

I fished the North Platte river for two days as a last hurrah to summer fishing.  Jeff and I drove up Thursday morning abandoning all manner of important business that could not wait til Monday.  The water was running high out of the Gray Reef dam at 2600 cfs.  At this level wading is a challenge and many people seem to just stay away - which is fine with me,  In my experience, the fishing can be very good when the water is running this high.  

Jeff wading deep below the Gray Reef dam.

I rigged up the Sage 5 weight 11 foot switch rod with a standard two fly nymph rig with a large white thingamabobber strike indicator.  The long rod is pure pleasure on big water like the reef.  I hardly ever bother with a two handed cast there but, when you've waded out to within an inch of the tops of your waders, that extra length means a lot.  The rod is light enough to cast single handed all day and the extra length makes mending a breeze.

We hooked up and caught fish throughout the day.  My largest was about twenty inches, shown in my net in the photo at the top.  That fish, and many others, took a Mercury midge tied on a size 20 Dai-Riki #135 scud/pupa hook with a body of slightly off-white/cream thread instead of the standard white. I should give an update on the pattern I'm using now which is a bit different from the one in the previous post. This has been my go-to fly when midges are on the menu which is almost always.  Jeff had good luck with the fish taking a silver bead headed Zebra Midge tied on the same hook. 

Around five we ate what passes for food at the sadly unbearable Sunset Grill in Alcova. I've sworn this place off more than once and I end up there again and again, it's the only place to eat in Alcova.  The Sunset reeks of stale cigarette smoke which is embedded in the very structure of the place. The food is almost as unbearable as the air. Having previously eaten hamburgers there, I ordered the fish and chips. The freezer burned fish tasted no better than fried breaded cardboard.  In contrast to the Sunset Grill, we stayed in the newer cabins rented out of Sloane's General Store. Can't miss it, it's the only place to buy gas in Alcova. For some reason, they call the cabins The Inn at Alcova but they are commonly known as Sloane's cabins. They are clean, they have fully equipped kitchens and gas grills and run $90 per night for two.  If we'd known we were going to stay there we'd have brought our own food to cook for ourselves.

Bead head caddis pupa pattern proved very effective both days.

After we choked down our dinner we geared up to fish again below the dam until after dark.  Just about the the sun went down, caddis started coming off the water and, in the failing light,  I managed to tie on a bead head caddis pupae.  I started hooking up right away and landed eight fish before I started to get too nervous about wading in the dark through the deep trough that was between me and the shore.  A headlamp would have been an excellent idea.

We met up with John in the parking lot who had driven up from Laramie with his drift boat.  We made plans to meet in the morning to float the river which I've only rarely done before.

Dredging for Winter Trout

Just back from Oregon, Garrett and I fished Gray Reef on the North Platte. Air temperatures around 28°F, it was overcast early and then cleared up in the late afternoon. We got on the water around noon and fished until the sun set. Amazingly, aside from some guys fishing from a drift boat below the boat ramp there was no one else there when we arrived. Downstream the river was slushy and not much farther down it was frozen. It looked like you might have been able to walk across the Platte four miles downstream at the Government Bridge access.  During the day a pair of fly fishermen showed up and then later a single angler came. None of them lasted too long. The single was throwing a Spey line. There were some duck hunters up on the impoundment.

Garrett was fishing the Beulah 10'6" 7/8 switch rod I got him for Christmas with the matching Elixer line (with no head) and a 12 foot leader, with an indicator, an AB splitshot and a green leech pattern as the main fly and various others for the dropper. He was hooking up all day on the leech pattern, landing around eight fish. I was fishing my Sage 9' 8 weight RPLX with a floating line and a 10 foot leader with an indicator, one or two number 4 split shot and midge patterns. I didn't do as well as he did (as usual) but I did hook up with four fish and landed one; a rainbow about seventeen inches.

The weeds were bad, worse than I remember seeing there. Apparently there was an issue with the dam this fall and the normal yearly flush did not occur. I'm sure the guides and flyshops will deny it but it seems to both of us that the average size of the fish has decreased significantly in the past couple of years. An average size fish below the dam used to measure around twenty inches and often larger; now the average size seems to be more between sixteen and eighteen inches. Garrett did not land one fish that he thought was over eighteen and mine certainly was closer to seventeen inches. Obviously these are beautiful fish and would be considered big most anywhere else, but the average sizes are not as large as they once were. All the hype about Gray Reef being the Big Fish destination in the lower 48 might have something to do with it. In warmer weather the run below the dam is lined with fishermen, five or six to a side, all day every weekend.

I've always though of the reef as a small fly tailwater and have been successful with midge patterns.  Garrett's success using the leech pattern has me thinking about that.  My hookups all came on a size 20 or smaller red midge larva pattern;  a bit of red thread on the hook with a rib of red wire.  My current theory is this: when the fish turned on for about an hour or so around two, they were happy to take my tiny offering.  At the other times, with the near freezing water and their sluggish metabolisms the bigger fly, fished slower and deeper, was just enough more appealing for them to take.  I came home and tied up some leech patterns.