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.

Cocks and hens on the North Platte

A beautiful rainbow cock in spawning colors.

I fished one of the North Platte tailwaters for the last day of the Spring break.  The temperatures were in the mid 50's and it was more overcast than not. There were some brisk winds and a few moments of calm which gave the river a mirror smooth surface in the section we were fishing.  The fishing was exceptional with fish consistently taking size 20 bead head midge patterns all day.  The rainbows are starting to move onto the spawning beds.  Jeff and I avoided the shallow gravel beds with some really large fish and concentrated on a deep run.

I started with a streamer and rather quickly had two hits but no hookup. I switched to a two fly nymph/midge setup after watching a number of good fish taking emerging midges in the film.  The standard rig consists of a thingamabobber above a split-shot (an AB or two AA's) pinched on about 8" above a pair of  flies separated by about 16" of 5X tippet.  For this deeper run the thingamabobber was chinched on about six feet above my splitshot. For most of the day, my top fly was an orange copper wire nymph with an angora thorax tied on a size 14 TMC 200R. I don't fish this fly much at Grey Reef but I don't know why since the red "rock worm" pattern that I often throw at the reef is very similar pattern. The fish in the photo above shows the fly. My dropper was a size 20 mercury midge.  Almost all the fish I took went for the mercury midge but this beautiful fish took the orange wire nymph.

A nice rainbow hen.

I fished the eleven foot five weight switch rod all day throwing an 8wt bonefish line.  I fished it as a long single handed rod almost exclusively making overhead casts.  This is a great rod for this kind of fishing - the extra length gives me significantly more reach in my casting and better mends.  I still haven't settled on the right line for this rod but the 8wt is serving just fine for overhead casting - it does not work very well for double handed casts.

Same fish as the top photo - the opening in the net is 18 1/2" from top to bottom.

This is an amazing fishery for anyone willing to fight the crowds - and of course, not everyone is. We fished from about 11AM to 3:30 PM.  When we arrived, it was very crowded - around 1PM people disappeared.  All we could figure was that the Greenies had a long drive back to Denver and had to get home.

Tying a Mercury Midge

The fly shown here is being tied on a TMC 2487 hook in size 24. The bead head is a Spirit River quicksilver glass bead in the extra small size. Thread is 8/0 Uni-Thread, the body is just a few hairs of white Angora goat and the ribbing is fine silver wire.

1. Put the bead on the hook and clamp it in the typing vise. This step is not as easy at it might seem, I need to wear a magnifying head piece like a jeweler might wear.



2. Wrap the hook back to near the bend with the white thread.



3. Tie in the silver wire and build up a bit of body with the thread.



4. I spin the tiniest bit of white dubbing on the thread and wrap forward, tying off the thread.



5. Wrap the wire ribbing forward, in the opposite direction of the thread wraps.



6. Tie off the wire and trim it off. Whip finish the head behind the bead. I use a Materelli whip finisher.