Big Hatches And Big Fish!!!

Warming weather and stabilizing water flows are giving way to prolific hatches and big fish! Sorry for the nonexistent fishing report for awhile, but I have been a little busy with many great adventures and projects. Cabin number 3 is about finished and will be available for rent at the end of the month. This place is going to be above and beyond first class living. I have also been doing some traveling in search of the giant salt water fish that frequent my dreams nearly every night. With excuses aside it's time to let you in on what's happening here on the best tailwater in the country. I am very very excited about our population of fish th

is year. We have been blessed with an average age class of fish that rivals any trout fishery on this planet this year. Each day my guides and myself have been averaging 40 fish days with most being 18 inch plus. These fish are big and they are HOTTT! This is my 15th year being able to guide fishing trips on this river,  and for the first time in a long time it is starting to feel like the good ol' days. The crowds are way down and the fish are way up!

The rig we have been using as a staple is as follows:

Egg Patterns in oranges and greens

Leeches (brown and natural) in sizes 8-10

BWO nymphs sizes 18-20

Midges (black and brown) in sizes 18-20

Red Rock Worms in sizes 12-18

The water flows are stable around 1,000 cfs, so we are still using long leaders. Clear water has us using 4x tippet, and longer sections between flies after a fairly heavy split shot. Fishing seams and tail outs of runs have been our most productive locations. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave the spawners alone! There are still lots of fish on the spawning beds and these fish are very vulnerable to stress and death may result because of the stress. One of our guides has put the time into researching this issue. The neocortex is extremely small in a fish not allowing them to feel pain, however hooked fish release a stress hormone, that could result in death played to long, so remember to use correct catch and release practices. Leave spawning fish alone and let them replenish our wonderful resource. There is no challenge nor reward in catching these fish.

With our wonderful fishing right now we are seeing a solid amount of cabin rentals. These fully furnished cabins are adequate for the fanciest taste. Please give us a call if you are looking for high class lodging on the country's best fishery. Hoping we can have the opportunity to provide you with an experience of a lifetime! God Bless

Happy 2009!!!

Greetings sportsmen and sportswomen! Happy New Year to you all! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I want to invite you all to the fly fishing show in Denver Colorado this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Jan. 10-12) at the Merchandise Mart. This should be a great show and always a great time to see old and new faces and chat fly fishing. We will be booking lots of fishing trips and cabin rentals at this show so if you have your spring dates in mind come see us at the Cowboy Drifter booth or give me a call to make sure you get your desired day/days on our wonderful North Platte River. We are looking forward to another wonderful fishing season. Last year was by far our best dry fly fishing year yet. Each year it has gotten better so we expect this year will follow suit and continue to amaze the most avid fly angler. The river is still producing high numbers of fish. The Grey Reef section is still maintaining around 3,500 fish per mile and those numbers gradually increase the further down stream you get towards Casper. The average size of trout last season was around 17 inches which means this year the river should be packed full of 18 plus inch strong wild fish.

We are going into our second full season of providing lodging to the public. The cabins are available for anyone, guided or unguided fishing groups, tourists, or just the average Joe looking to get out of town and relax on the river's edge. These cabins have been a huge hit and are already getting lots of bookings for the upcoming year. Availability is limited so act fast if you would like to experience high class lodging with mind blowing scenery at a inexpensive price.

One of the best benefits of a tailwater is it's year round fishability. The Grey Reef is one of the finest if not the finest of it's kind in the world. Some of my guides and myself have had the opportunity to get out and battle the tough North Platte River trout here lately. One of my guides caught a great 22 inch girthy rainbow on a leech pattern a couple of days ago. Chatt Wright, one of Cowboy Drifters finest clients, caught several great 20 plus inch rainbows and cutthroats over the Christmas holiday. Mark was even able to break away from his stressful operating room lifestyle the other day and catch several quality fish below the dam. He definitely still knows how to use a fly rod:) There is still a little too much ice on the riverway to float but there are still many great spots open that offer some wonderful wade fishing opportunities.

The set-ups we have been using the past couple weeks and will continue to use throughout the winter months are as follows:

black and tan midges sizes 18-20

orange and gray scuds sizes 12-14

rock worms sizes 12-16

black or brown leeches size 12

The fishing has been really good as it normally is in the winter but our weather has been keeping us from spending all day up to our waste in the sub chilly water:) With strong winds and warming temperatures the ice should be clearing out in the next week or so making it accessible for the drift boats. If any of you haven't experienced the winter fishing on Grey Reef you are missing out. This is the time of year where you can boat high numbers of really big fish but you need to be able to handle any weather condition mother nature might throw at you. Zero to very little competition can be expected on the river as well. If cabin fever is setting in and you are getting anxious to get out and dust off the ol fly rod and reel give us a call. I promise you will not be disappointed with the quality and numbers of fish you'll battle with.

I hope to see you all at the fishing show but I understand that many of you will have other commitments. I wish you all a very wonderful, healthy, and prosperous 2009! Look forward to hearing from you soon. God Bless!

The Biggest Fish Ever Caught on the N. Platte River!!!

Zach with a good ol rainbow!!
Clay gettin it done!

Shawn Engberg with a big ol rainbow!! We had a blast!!!

I thought you might enjoy a picture of a true giant caught on this river. It was caught on a San Juan worm and took around 20 minutes to land. It measured over 45 inches and bottomed out a 30 lb. boga grip. No telling how much this monster really weighed. We truly experienced something amazing getting to hook and land this fish.

The calendar says middle of November but our bugs are still hatching and the fish are still coming to the top and eating them. We are getting into waterfowl hunting mode but it is hard to get away from the great top water fishing we still have. The past few trips I've done dry fly fishing has been the main focus. A friend and I went and did some wade fishing from around 9 to noon and there was still plenty of bugs on the water. The water is getting pretty cold though, temps. around the 40 degree mark so the bite is getting later. Mornings haven't been real productive until the sun gets up a ways and starts getting everything warmed up. Once it gets warmed up though the fishing has been pretty good. Streamers have been pretty slow but the nymphing has held us through until mid day when the blue wings start popping. From then on we have mainly been strictly throwing dry's. Our set-ups lately have been as such:

Nymphs: Dark leeches (brown and black) sizes 8-10
Red San Juans size 10
Rock Worms sizes 6-10
Midges sizes 18-20
BWO nymphs sizes 18-20

Dry Fly's: Blue Wing Olive size 16 with a BWO dropper size 18 and you're set.

If you are wanting to come up and enjoy some of the finest fishing around and some of the beautiful days in the forecast give me a call. The cabins have been really popular so give me some notice if you want to stay in the finest lodging on the river. Also, we've had a lot of interest for booking cabins already for next spring so if you're planning on coming get a hold of me as soon as you can.

As far as waterfowl hunts go check the calendar on the website for open days. These days are very limited. Typically Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays are the only days we hunt to ensure quality hunts for everyone throughout the week and the entire season. Hunting was real good last weekend for our opener. 26 birds were killed in a day and a half. There are a lot of birds in the area right now and are sure to be a whole lot more coming as soon as the northern birds get here. Due to a cold spring most of the farmers lost their sugar beets so were forced to plant 90 day corn so..... there is a lot of feed there. I have never seen so many picked corn fields in my life. In theory this should keep most of the geese around all season barring the start of another ice age:) There are only a couple of open days left in December but January and February are open. If you would like to experience a great goose hunt over decoys shooting birds right in your face give me a shout. I hope you all are having a wonderful year and also hope you all have a very safe a happy holiday season as it is quickly approaching. Don't forget about Cowboy Drifter clothing and /or float trip or goose hunt gift certificates for gifts this holiday season. If there's anything we can ever do for any of you please let us know. Thanks for your business. God Bless!

Big Heads Eatin Hoppers

It has been a great summer here on the North Platte River. Fishing has stayed awesome clear through the summer. Actually I think it has been better than even in the spring. We have been catching big fish everyday on dry fly's, nymphing, and streamers. We are catching fish everyday on big foam hoppers believe it or not. I know you've heard there is no dry fly fishing here but whoever said that just doesn't get out enough or knows what to look for. Take a look at this big bow with a huge hopper in his mouth caught sight fishing him along the bank. The water still looks great with good clarity and a chilly 61 degree temperature and no floating moss! This has really helped with our unbelievable fishing lately. The bureau of rec. will be dropping the flow back down to the winter flow of 500 cfs towards the end of the month and we all know what that means. The water gets even clearer, the dry fly fishing becomes epochal, the streamer fishing stays way hot, and the nymphing will be very productive because the fish will again be more concentrated. I can't wait, I love the fall!! If you haven't experienced a fall trip here this is the year to do it. I foresee it being the best ever. If you like throwing streamers and dry fly's you'll be blown away at what we have to offer. If you have the summer blues and want to get out and experience the best trout fishing in the west come on out and fish with the most experienced guides in the area. I promise you won't be disappointed. Don't forget we have public lodging available now as well. First class homes that come with everything you need. If you are looking to book a cabin and or fishing trip for this fall check your calendars and schedules and get ahold of us soon to reserve your day as we are booking up fast. Hope everyone is doing well and our economy isn't getting you down. I know fuel prices are high but nothing can take away the excitement of a great fly fishing trip with friends and family and enjoying what's important in life. Those memories last forever. Let us know if we can help you plan that trip of a lifetime. Take care and hope to hear from you all soon. God Bless!

Whats Been Hot: Streamers-browns,tans,blacks, and whites sizes 4-8
Nymphs-leeches,big rock worms,san juans,trico's,& pmd's
Dry's-hoppers,turks,caddis,pmd's,& trico's

No Crowds and Great Fishing!

Fisherman and fisherwomen, I thought it was my obligation to let you know that the fishing on the North Platte from Grey Reef down is fishing extremely well right now. Let me explain what is different. Normally July and August are slower months for flyfishing here because of the water temperatures and the moss. This year is way different. Great spring moisture kept our river flows down until the very end of June and then the Bureau of Rec. raised the flow to 1640 cfs. That is way down from a normal summer flow of 2300-2500 cfs. The 2300 cfs flushes moss down the river constantly as 1640 doesn't. For the first couple of weeks after they raised the flow to 1640 there was a push of moss and we expected that would happen. Now the river has stabilized, cleared up, and the fishing is awesome. Just ask Randy and Steve who nymphed up huge numbers of 16-20 inch fish yesterday landing only one under 16 inches. Or ask Dave who threw streamers all day and boated close to twenty large fish. We are also seeing lots of fish feeding on top if it's dry fly fishing that you like. No matter what style of fishing you prefer it's here and now. I caught a 20inch fish yesterday on a hopper showing some clients how to fish dry's. One of the greatest perks to fishing right now is there are no crowds. I have been guiding everyday and have not seen another boat for the past week and fishing is hot right now! We project that the fishing will be great clear through August and then when they lower the river flows to 500 cfs at the end of August we will get into our best fishing month of the year, September. If you like throwing streamers and dry fly's you'll be blown away at what we have to offer. If you have the summer blues and want to get out and experience the best trout fishing in the west come on out and fish with the most experienced guides in the area. I promise you wont be disappointed. If you are looking to book a cabin and or fishing trip for this fall check your calendars and schedules and get ahold of us soon to reserve your day as we are booking up fast. Hope everyone is doing well and our economy isn't getting you down. I know fuel prices are high but nothing can take away the excitement of a great flyfishing trip with friends and family and enjoying what's important in life. Take care and hope to hear from you all soon. God Bless!

Whats Been Hot: Streamers-browns,tans,and blacks sizes 4-6
Nymphs-leeches,rock worms,san juans,trico's,& pmd's
Dry's-hoppers,turks,pmd's,& trico's