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!