North Platte River, Wyoming Fly Fishing with Four Seasons

 

I’ve been excited for this day for quite some time.  How cool is it to have an opportunity to float the North Platte river on a gorgeous day with my good friend Kevin Hansen of Rod & Rivet and our new friends from Four Seasons Fly Shop in Laramie, WY.  I was super excited to meet Jeff our river guide for the day.  Jeff was not only an incredible guide, but an incredible person and a joy to spend the day with.  

 

 

When we launched in the morning, there were hundreds of small trout surfacing constantly.  I’m sure many of you can relate a small sense of frustration sitting in a drift boat while your guide is rigging up your rod with the perfect set up, while trout are rising all around you.  Clearly I’m not a very patient person, I’m only human!  

Today, I brought two rods with me.  El Jefe in six weight would be my primary nymphing rod, and El Jefe in eight weight would be my streamer set up.  I always bring multiple rods for multiple set ups on a trip.  You never know when you will need a back up or in this case, a streamer rod.  

Jeff knew this river extremely well, and expertly rowed us to each hole that had been holding fish recently.  The North Platte is a beautiful river that winds through the canyons of Wyoming.  We quickly got into trout.  

 

 

Kevin opted to fish a streamer a good portion of the float.  This technique can be somewhat frustrating because if your partner is nymphing, they will generally get more action.  The other side of this is that when a fish hits the streamer, it’s generally a beast.  Kevin only moved one fish while streamer fishing, but we both got a great look at it.  A 20 plus inch brown came out of nowhere and nailed it like a freight train, snapping the line.  I’m glad I saw this fish hit too, otherwise Kevin would have been left with a fish story.  

 

 

The best news of the day for me was that out of three boats on our float, I won the most prestigious award of the day.  There was an award for the largest fish landed and an award for the smallest fish landed.  I’m pretty sure that the fish above, even though it wasn’t the best photo, had the honor of the largest fish until one of our friends landed a killer of a rainbow, just over 20 inches long.  My award, which frankly may have required more skill was for the smallest fish landed.  Let’s be honest, when fishing with tiny flies, any large trout can inhale it, but even a size 18 or 20 midge looks HUGE next to a three inch trout!  Tight lines my friends!

 

 

 

 

By the way, it’s not possible for me to hold my hands out any further to make this fish look larger!!!