rivers we fish!

Grey’s Reef

With 17 miles of private access on one of the rockies premier fisheries. Grey’s reef gives scenarios beginners will thrive on & experts will love!

fremont canyon

An amazing wade fishery, Fremont Canyon offers wade anglers and adventurous hikers stunning views and some of the coolest pocket water you will find anywhere!

The miracle mile

A true trophy trout fishery. With great scenery in a remote location anglers have the chance of hooking big fish here. This is rugged Wyoming fishing at its finest!

GREY’S REEF

Grey’s Reef tailwater located in Alcova Wyoming boast a number of 3,000 fish per mile with an average fish size of 16 to 18 inches. The controlled and stable flows produce an impressive average fish size making this section an always exciting experience. I would say the Reef section as well as lower sections of this tailwater comprise of about 92% rainbow trout, with some snake river fine spot cutthroat , a few large grayling, and some monster brown trout making up the rest of the population. But overall your going to be catching very nice sized rainbow and cut bow trout. Most of the Reef is a boat fishery. The top mile of river directly below Grey’s Reef Dam has excellent public wade fishing access, but as the river heads downstream you will need a boat to access most of the river flowing through private land. Below Government Bridge and through Trapper’s Route there is also plenty of public lands adjacent to great public wade fishing spots and good camping.

You can fish the Reef all 12 months of the year. A unique aspect of this amazing tailwater is that from January to December the reef is not only fishable but mostly floatable as well. Winter fishing here is tough to beat. Not only can anglers catch lots of trout, but large trout as well. Throughout the winter there’s usually a few severe cold snaps where floating the reef involves maneuvering the boat around and over ice. When these conditions are present I don’t recommend fishing, if its that cold I don’t think the frozen fingers are worth it. But overall you can count on the Reef being floatable almost everyday of the year. I challenge you to find another trout fishery in the Rockies that offers this level of winter trout fishing & floating.

Spring brings the busiest season of the year to the reef. Anglers from all over usually have the itch to fish after waiting all winter and the reef provides an awesome place to start your fishing season as winter ends and spring begins. Fish are stacked in the upper portion of the river usually crowded into their winter holes. Anglers can expect to nymph up a lot of fish this time of year. The lower sections of river usually haven’t started fishing all that well this time of year, so most boats and anglers are on the upper sections, while the fishing can be on the crowded side, its usually so good it doesn’t matter unless your main goal is solitude. Theres a reason its busy here in the spring, fishing is good!

Late Fall dry fly fishing!

As Spring wraps up the river flows come up and fish start to spread out. Lower sections of river start fishing very well. From Grey’s Reef Dam all the way to Casper anglers can look forward to spreading out and focusing on some awesome dry fly fishing that last from early summer throughout late fall. Starting with PMD’s in late spring, then moving to grasshoppers and big bugs through the summer, we finishing up the dry fly season in the fall with some of the best baetis and pseudo hatches the Rockies has to other. Not only are the hatches incredible, but the extent to which the fish key in on these bugs makes for some of the most fun dry fly fishing there is!

While I love the scenery and solitude of Wyoming, the fish of the North Platte are what made me want to call this place home. A good day here will set the bar very high for fishing. Experienced anglers will enjoy the size and fit condition of these fish while beginners will be thrilled to be hooking so many fish their first time out. Grey’s Reef tailwater is a diverse and mind blowing fishery that offers scenarios beginners will thrive on, and experts will enjoy.

MIRACLE MILE

To quote a good friend (jokingly but not really), the “Miracle Mile is like the NFL of lower 48 trout fisheries.” The land of the big boys. Flowing out of the Seminoe Mountains and Cortes Dam, it flows anywhere from 5 to 7ish miles before entering Pathfinder Reservoir depending on the time of year and snow pack. It is about a 45 minute drive down a long dirt road from Alcova WY. but it is always worth the drive. The Miracle Mile is all on public land, making it a perfect place for fishing, floating & camping. The Mile brings in different age classes of fish from Pathfinder Reservoir throughout the year for many different reasons.

Rainbows head in to spawn in the spring, with the suckers moving in to spawn afterwards in late spring with what I have noticed is a larger age class of trout (usually large rainbows) to eat their eggs and bugs that start hatching in the river. Summer comes and brings with it an awesome golden stone hatch (usually in July) that has impressive fish eating off the surface and gobbling up rubber legs below. Then comes Fall bringing the brown trout into the Miracle Miles system to spawn (this usually brings the crowds as well).

The Mile is known for large hard fighting fish. Heading up to there is always a bit more of a production but its usually worth the drive and extra effort to target big trout. I usually tell my guest when we are heading up there that the Mile can be a very moody river. You work for your fish up there. Sometimes there are windows where the fishing just isn’t very good. But at some point in the day the fishing usually turns on and anglers are rewarded. Other days it seems hard to keep fish off your rod. Whatever the day throws at you, stick it out, fish it hard and you’ll love this trophy trout fishery.

Last thing worth mentioning about the Miracle Mile is that there is NO SHUTTLE SERVICE that operates there. If you are coming with me you have to have a car and be willing to drive the 45 minute drive on dirt roads to get there and run a shuttle. I have never had any complaints about this drive, scenery is great and you get an sense of really being out in the middle of nowhere.

FREMONT CANYON

An impressive wade fishery, this section known as Fremont Canyon flows out of Pathfinder Reservoir and into a short meadow section (Cardwell Access) before flowing into Fremont Canyon itself. Fremont Canyon is a rugged canyon full of pocket water flanked by sheer vertical canyon walls. Although this is on private land, generous ranchers have opened all this for fishing access. Most of the water is being pumped through subterranean pipes into a power plant in the lower canyon only accessible by motor boats. Because of that, the outflow that anglers have to fish is a lot smaller then the North Platte’s other tailwaters. It’s base flow is usually 70 CFS (compared to the Reef’s & Mile’s base flow of 500 CFS). While flows do fluctuate throughout the year depending on water demands and reservoir levels, the flow is usually small and very wadable. If your coming in late spring or early summer check the flows because some years flows are significantly higher, still fishable but very different from its normal base level of 70 CFS.

Fishable all year, the meadow section offers angler excellent sight fishing opportunities. Smaller tippets and little bugs with a stealthy approach are usually the game plan. Early in the year around early March anglers can have the first good dry fly fishing for nice sized fish. This dry fly action extends throughout the year and is also a good area to fish if your looking for a couple hours of fishing. As the river exits the meadow and enters Fremont Canyon anglers have to do some rock scrambling. While fishing the canyon is very doable, anglers looking to explore this canyon should use caution whether entering the canyon from the top or further downstream in the middle of the canyon. This is a bad place to roll an ankle or take a big fall. The fishing and scenery of the canyon are terrific but it does involve serious rock scrambling and climbing. Big fish swimming out of Alcova Reservoir and into the canyon can be targeted here as well as the meadow above. Average size fish is approximately 15 to 18 inches but huge fish can be found here.

Fremont Canyon offers diversity for the anglers looking for some great wade fishing. A good night fishing area as well. If you don’t have access to a boat this area offers at least a couple days worth of fishing and scenery worth checking out.

Big Horn River (Thermopolis)

The Big Horn river starts up by Dubois WY and flows down through the Wind River Reservation along the amazing Wind River Range and then eventually into Riverton & Shoshoni WY where it enters Boysen Reservoir. Coming out of Boysen it enters a stunning canyon called the Wind River Canyon that offers anglers amazing scenery and good fishing. Anglers looking to fish this canyon should be mindful that it is on Native American Reservation Land and a tribal license that can be purchased in Thermopolis or at the gas station in Shoshoni is required to fish it. Once the Wind River exits this canyon and approaches Thermopolis WY it becomes the Big Horn River. This is called the Wedding of the Waters. There is no confluence the Wind just becomes known as the Big Horn here. From here downstream we have a permit that allows us to guide this great fishery. Starting in the spring, nymphing and floating this stretch can be good fishing. Some springs can have terrific baetis dry fly action too. As weather warms up and runoff subsides the Big Horn becomes a classic big western trout fishery. Streamers, dry droppers, you name it this river has it. Good fishing can be had all the way through the fall here.

Average fish size here is 16 to 18 inches. Compared to its lower lengths in Montana flowing out of Yellowtail Reservoir, this section is usually quite & lacks the crowds and traffic of the fabled Montana section.