Cowboy Drifters Fishing Report

The River Is Wide Open And The Huge Fish Are Hungry! We're The Only Boats On The Water Everyday And Catching The Biggest Fish Ever!

2012-02-03T20:34:00.023-09:00

I hope this newsletter finds you doing well! I would like to thank those of you who came by the Fly Fishing Show and those who came to my presentation on "Catching Huge Fish On The North Platte River 365 Days A Year." The show and presentation was a huge success! We had over 100 people at most of the presentations. The bookings also were fantastic! At the show alone we scheduled over 70 trips for the months of February and March. This is by far the best time of year to fish! We have been several trips lately as you can see by the trophies and for the next couple months the fishing will only get better. The giant brood fish have begun there voyage up river to start their spawn in a few weeks. These huge fish are gorging themselves in preparing for their strenuous exhausting spawn season. The river's at 500 c.f.s right now so the huge fish are crammed in small areas and making an easy target. Hungry pre-spawn fish in small areas and no other boat traffic is a recipe for the best day of trout fishing you have ever seen. I promise!
In the next couple days we will going full-time for the rest of the year. We have trips on the books everyday until the end of March. We still availability and hope that you all have the opportunity to come up and experience the best trout fishing you have ever seen! Don't think because it is February that you can't fish the Gray Reef. This is by far the best time of year to catch huge numbers of huge fish! The winter thaw is upon us and we usually experience nice weather for the next couple month's before our spring snow storms return. If you are anxious to get back out and throw a fly please don't wait. Give me a call and we can get you set up for a trip of a lifetime! With that I am even making the deal better and easier to make happen by offering a 2 person fully guided full-day float trip including lunch, beverages, a nights lodging at our first class cabins, and lots of huge fish for $394.50 total!!!! This is a deal that can't be beat as well as the fishing!

If you want to try a fishing trip on your own and don't need a guide still let us accommodate you in our first class cabins that sit directly on the bank of the world famous Grey Reef section of the North Platte River. These cabins are fit for the finest but are as affordable as a motel 6.

I am also excited to let you know that we will be teaming up with Fly LLC. this year on the upper stretches of the North Platte and Encampment River out of Saratoga Wyoming. Anndee Meyer who is one of Cowboy Drifters top guides will be running a shop and guide service on that scenic, blue ribbon, world class trout fishery. We are excited and forntunate to be teamed up with Anndee's program and see nothing but great things to come for all of the Cowboy Drifter and Fly LLC families. This is a great combination that is going to give all of our wonderful friends even more great opportunities in fly fishing adventures. Anndee will be sending out a newsletter in the near future to let you know of great opportunities that can fit any fly anglers needs.
Thank you very much for your continued support and making this Cowboy Drifter's best year yet! Without you it wouldn't be possible. Give us a shout and let us help you put together the trip of a lifetime. Also please make a note that Cowboy Drifters website has changed to http://www.cowboydrifters.net/. Take care, keep in touch, and God Bless!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-29T07:50:00.014-09:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this news letter finds you doing well! This is definitely a time of year to reflect on just how fortunate we all are. We have the opportunity to eat warm meals, live in a warm house, and sleep on a nice bed. This is far different than many others out in this world today. I am also thankful for each and everyone of you. Without your business and continued support I would not be able to do this for a living and spend all the wonderful time in the outdoors with you like I do now. I have many people who are still doing fishing trips with me multiple times a year that have been coming back to fish with me for 17 years. Thank you so much! Family is the most important thing in the world and I have shared so much time with many of you that you are becoming like family to me. This is why I strive myself and always have to be the best I can be and what I do. Thank you all for the support, motivation, and drive. I hope everyone of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving and Holiday season!
As you can see by the photos we are still guiding all the time. The fishing has been AMAZING! We have been averaging over 100 fish per day out of the boat and that if not more in our wade fishing trips. With the water low we have a lot of options right now. This is important when we cant ever tell what the weather is going to do this time of year. This insures us that we can always go fish no matter the conditions. We have heaters in our boats so the anglers stay nice and toasty but have only had to use them once. We are still getting some unbelievable dry fly fishing! The water is getting more clear each day and it seems as if every fish in the river is looking up for an easy meal. This is an awesome time of year to catch a huge fish! We have been catching huge Browns and Rainbows lately with the occasional cutthroat. Look back at last Decembers fishing report and notice the quality and numbers of fish we are starting to get into. This should carry on until March then the Bureau of Recreation will be raising the river flows. Check the weather and if you can get away for a day or two give me a shout and we'll see if we have an opening and get you into some of the biggest fish of your life.
If you are a waterfowler then your time of year is now. We have had several goose hunts already and have limited out on Canada's everyday by 8:30 in the morning. We have even killed some snow geese and even a rare Ross Goose. With good limits of birds and only a 2 1/2 hour drive from Denver this is something that anyone can do. There are more birds in the area now than I have ever seen this time of year. This year I have heard from three times the amount of hunters so please call soon if you want to hunt geese from now until the middle of February. I have been guiding goose hunts in Platte County for 16 years and I promise this will be our best year yet! If you are a serious goose hunter or a beginner that wants to give it a shot give me a call soon! We only hunt 3 days a week to ensure every hunt is a great one so all spots will fill up. Don't miss out on this outdoor experience. It is truly breathtaking!
If you want to try it on your own and don't need a guide still let us accommodate you in our first class cabins that sit directly on the bank of the world famous Grey Reef section of the North Platte River. These cabins are fit for the finest but are as affordable as a motel 6. Thank you very much for your continued support and making this Cowboy Drifter's best year yet! Without you it wouldn't be possible. Give us a shout and let us help you put together the trip of a lifetime. Also please make a note that Cowboy Drifters website has changed to http://www.cowboydrifters.net/. Take care, keep in touch, and God Bless!

2011-10-26T18:44:00.018-08:00

I hope this update finds you doing well! We have had the best year to date and in my 17 years of professional guiding this river, this year I have seen the biggest trout ever caught on a daily basis. This river is fishing as well as any river on the planet. If you want to catch a giant fish on a dry fly now is the time. Rain, snow, sun, clouds, doesn't matter you will find giant fish sipping Blue Winged Olives everyday. If you like throwing huge streamers for predacious giants then same thing, now is the time. If you enjoy drifting nymphs under an indicator, well again, same thing, now is the time for a trophy of a lifetime. We typically fish really low this time of year but the relentless pressure of guide boats on those lower stretches have severely declined the quality of fishing. Fish numbers down there were great early this fall but the pressure has definitely decreased the size of the average fish and also the numbers. I remember when we would have 50 fish plus days and average fish over 22 inches but now it is significantly lower. We have however found water that is producing those giant fish on a daily basis. We have found several stretches of river where we have been the only people on it for the past month or so and as you can see from the pictures the water is producing the biggest fish being caught right now. The water is running at a crystal clear 500 cfs. The BWO hatch right now is absolutely amazing! You must see to believe. The picture to the left shows several getting ready for take off. Last year we had great hatches and amazing days on dries clear through December and with this years high water I expect to see the same action all fall and into the winter. November 1st we will begin to run our winter special of $300 per day per boat. Nobody can beat this deal. You will have very high numbers of hook ups, you will catch giant fish, you won't see many if any other boats, and you will be fishing with guides that have the most years of experience, and most importantly the hardest working and funnest guys and gal to be around! The late fall and winter are the best times to catch that huge fish you have always wanted to put in the net. We have many clients that are willing to vouch for our incredible fall and winter fishing. Feel free to contant them or just come see for yourself. The gentleman holding the giant 31 inch brown to the left just left from his 3rd trip with us of the year and his 17th year of fishing with me. I am honored to still be taking him fishing. He was one of the customers in the very first guide trip I did. You too can catch a fish like that with us so if you want to come and try your luck at fish of a lifetime and spend a day with some of the countries best trout fishing guides please give us a call. If you want to try it on your own and don't need a guide still let us accommodate you in our first class cabins that sit directly on the bank of the world famous Grey Reef section of the North Platte River. These cabins are fit for the finest but are as affordable as a motel 6. Thank you very much for your continued support and making this Cowboy Drifter's best year yet! Without you it wouldn't be possible. Give us a shout and let us help you put together the trip of a lifetime. Take care, keep in touch, and God Bless!

Water Is Going Down And The Fishing Is Heating Up!

2011-08-31T10:09:00.014-08:00

I hope this newsletter finds you doing well! It has been an unbelievably busy summer. The river will begin it's annual decline to 500 c.f.s. starting September 1st. It will take most of the month to get there because of the gradual drops but it's on it's way down. This will really heat up the fishing. I apologize for the lack of communication. I had a surgical procedure done on my back this past week which will hopefully help me finish the fishing year. I have been very fortunate to have several great guides working with us this year. They are working extremely hard and learning something new every day that insures every customer the best possible day of fishing they can have. The river is down finally and is scheduled to drop some more here soon then drop down to the winter flows of 500 cfs in the next month. The water is staying cool and getting more clear each day that we don't have rain. This is aiding in some great dry fly fishing in the morning's and evening's and any cloudy spell during the day. There are still some yellow sally's coming off but pmd's and caddis are the main hatch. We are having some decent trico hatches early and are gradually making their way down the river. We are also getting some crane flies and will be getting a decent golden stone fly hatch anytime. The rigs that have been working best for us lately have been nymphing big stones under an indicator. We have been dropping worms, leeches, pheasant tails, hares ears, caddis pupae, and micro stones off the stone flies and have really been doing well. Streamer fishing has been good when you land the fly right in their living room. Fish have been staying deep because of the clear skies and with the large amount of food floating down the river they aren't having to move very far to get full. The best strategy has been hit your spot, strip your slack, and dead drift with occasional slow strips. Hopper fishing is picking up and we are starting to have some decent hopper action blind casting banks. You can also feed the fish hoppers if you visually see a riser. Drift a hopper over his nose and he'll eat it. Stimulators and elk hair caddis have also been effective dry flies. If you have ever wanted to get into the warm water fishing for bass and carp we have the opportunity for you. We have been fishing for bass and carp on warm water lakes our entire lives and have figured out the techniques and times to get you into hundreds of pounds of fish to the boat daily. dry fly's for carp and casting streamers to the rocks for the smallmouth bass have been taking up most of our time. The great thing about this is that it is only 2 1/2 hours from the Denver area. If you have ever wanted to catch our freshwater's strongest fish and battle the tough fighting smallmouth up to 5 pounds all on flies then please get ahold of me before fall sets in. Again, I apologize for the delay on the updates and will hopefully have more time to update more often. I love being on the river and will end up spending over 250 days on it this year. Guiding is my passion and consumes most of my time. Unfortunately it doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to work on the computer. The more we are on the river the more successful you will be when you come fish with us. The other outfitters can say they have the most experienced guides but the truth is "Nobody has more days on this river than I do." We will continue to work hard to gain as much knowledge as we can to ensure you the best fishing trip you can have on the North Platte River. The Cowboy Drifter guides and I would like to thank you very much for taking the time to read this report and when I get time I will keep you updated on everyone's amazing trips and the fish they have been catching. Our cabin schedule fills up fast and is showing that it's going to be a very busy the next couple months with hunting season and world class fall dry fly and streamer fishing here, so if you want to come and try your luck at fish of a lifetime and spend a day with some of the countries best trout fishing guides please give us a call. If you want to try it on your own and don't need a guide still let us accommodate you in our first class cabins that sit directly on the bank of the world famous Grey Reef section of the North Platte River. These cabins are fit for the finest but are as affordable as a motel 6. Give us a shout and let us help you put together the trip of a lifetime. Take care, keep in touch, and God Bless!

The Only Thing High Water Has Done To Our Fishing Is Make It BETTER!!!!

2011-05-15T17:22:00.016-08:00

High water has been so beneficial for this unbelievable fishery! We are experiencing as good of fishing as we have ever had. High water is really making our fishing big. It is helpful in a lot of aspects..... First it cleans out the old mossy, muddy, silty, debris, making a clear, clean river. Second, the high water helps protect the spawn beds from trampling wade fisherman. And mostly..... it disperses the fish and lowers the competition for food. I am estimating that if we continue to have the high water levels each spring and all summer it won't be long before we are taking about 30 plus inch rainbows. One thing I have to make very clear is that IT IS NOT OKAY TO FISH THE FISH ON THEIR SPAWNING BEDS!!!!! One thing that I have seen is that since an article in a recent local newspaper based on comments from a local inexperienced guide, a lot of people are fishing towards the banks. My guides and myself don't believe in directly fishing to trout on tan spawning beds and yes they are all along the banks. The high water levels have pushed the spawning population of rainbows to the banks. Both sides of the river. My guides and myself put our boats near the bank and we run over bed after bed after bed the whole way down the river on either side. This has caused a little distress with me. My friends at North Platte Lodge are the only other outfitter that is not fishing towards the bank to the shallow tan spots that are the areas where our future is being produced. Please, if you have a trip with another guide here besides Cowboy Drifters or N.P.R.L. ask them why you are fishing towards the banks where the fish are doing their spawning. This is a wild fishery and our future depends on our current preservation.

As always have to apologize for the lack of communication. I have been extremely busy and do not have the luxury of sitting in front of a computer on a daily basis doing fishing reports or making my website get more hits and move up to be the first on the search list. I am a fishing guide as you can probably tell by my emails, newsletters, and fishing reports:) I wish there was away to show everyone that we do catch the most fish on the river and that my guides are as professional and experienced as any guide around and being on the river is a passion and it's what we believe in and not an 8 hour (or 6 hour like other guide services on this river) daily job and our happiness comes from showing and watching people catch fish and have the experience of a lifetime unfortunately I am not getting out to everyone. So, if you have any suggestions to help make our marketing and Cowboy Drifters business a better please let me know. We are staying busy but the river really seems to be slow. I don't know that the economy has kept a lot of people from participating in their hobbies or what it is but the number of boats on the water is definitely WAY down. Please don't let the times keep you away from doing what you love. If there is anyway we can help you set something up I am willing to work with you and get you back in action on the countries best trout fishing river. As you can see by the recent photos fishing has been incredible! The annual attack of the giant brown trout is going on right now as the water temps have increased a few degrees and water levels have moved the carnivorous beasts to the banks. This makes it a lot easier to drag a hearty meal in front of their face. Huge dark streamers that are as heavy as spark plugs have been the main diet of these monsters. The nymph fishing is still red hot and today proved that good guides, right flies, and the right length and weight you merely have to flop the flies off the side of the boat and you will be successful. Skip and Maynard landed well over 100 fish today and each of them caught their biggest bow to date on this river. I had a single who had never fished here before and as soon as he got the hook set figured out it was lights out and he hooked one right after another. Egg patterns, rock worms, leeches, san juans, some midges, and bwo nymph's have been the diet of choice. I truly would love the opportunity to show you all and prove to you that this is the BEST trout fishery around and show you an unforgettable experience of a lifetime. All you have to do is call me. If you aren't satisfied (which I promise you will be) you don't ever have to come back. I believe and stand by everything I write you and there isn't a better time to come than this year. Our fish are numerous and huge. Please feel free to visit my website and look at the monsters on the trophy trout page and you will be blown away! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this report and when I get time I will keep you updated on everyone amazing trips and the fish they have been catching. Our cabin schedule fills up fast and is showing that it's going to be a very busy next 4 month's so if you want to come and try your luck at fish of a lifetime and spend a day with some of the countries best trout fishing guides please give us a call. If you want to try it on your own and don't need a guide still let us accommodate you in our first class cabins that sit directly on the bank of the world famous Grey Reef section of the North Platte River. These cabins are fit for the finest but are as affordable as a motel 6. Give us a shout and let us help you put together the trip of a lifetime. Take care, keep in touch, and God Bless!

Can't Get Much Better!!!!

2011-03-22T08:04:00.026-08:00

First of all I'd like to say that I hope you are doing well and also apologize for my lack of updates. Cowboy Drifters has been extremely busy the past month. We have now done over 80 trips so far this spring and I personally have only had 3 days off in the past month. I am definitely not complaining! Even though we have had our fair share of wind the fishing has been so amazing that I don't want to miss a day on the water with the fear that I might miss out on something! Consequently, I don't have a lot of time to work on my website or newsletters and even returning phone calls and emails sometimes within the day I get them. I do apologize but I'm sure you all would much rather go fishing with guys who are on the water everyday rather than an outfit who is working on their website and blogs and fishing reports and sitting in front of a computer all day everyday. As you can see by our recent trophies we have had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some real giants! truly fish of a lifetime. There have been a couple days were the fishing has been slower where the anglers are only hooking 50 or so fish each but majority of the days anglers have hooked at least double to triple that number. With those numbers you are bound to hook into one of our North Platte giants! River flows have been increasing everyday for the past 2 weeks. We are currently just over 3,000 c.f.s. I have heard from the bureau that this is the flow that we will be dealing with for the foreseeable future. This is a great thing! The rainbows are now spawning and their redds are in deeper water so wade fisherman won't be able to target them and tromp through their beds. this also allows the young fry good cover on the banks to grow and mature. It does make wade fishing extremely difficult but with our great rates right now anyone can afford a float trip. Let the pro's of Cowboy Drifters guide staff show you a fishing trip that will surely be one of the top fishing experiences of ones life. This past week 2 of the other outfitters started doing a couple trips but most days we are still the only crew on the water. One thing for sure our guys have had the opportunity to stay right on top of the fish as the river flows increased. The other guys can't say that. This is a huge benefit we have in our favor!
The rigs we are using right now closely resemble the ones we used last summer when the river was out of it's banks. The typical day calls for leeches, eggs, rock worms, some scuds, and if you get bored of catching fish after fish and want to try hooking them with something a little more challenging try some midge patterns. The water clarity has been great so we aren't having to use big stuff yet. The river has been fishing all the way to Government bridge but by the time you get to Bolton Creek she starts to get a little dirty. I suspect with warm temps we will experience some run off for at least another week.
I am getting excited for April as our temps. should warm the water a bit and really get our fish aggressive. We have a pretty full schedule but still have plenty of guides with open days. IF you are ready to get away and catch a ton of huge trout, please come see us. I guarantee that our guys have lots more experience and know a lot more about the fishing and river than anyone else out there right now. Trust me, I have been out everyday except 3 since January 30th so I know who has been out and how often they have been there. Our guides have been out in wind, snow, shine, or whatever mother nature throws at them and to me more importantly have been out in those conditions on their days off learning and working to get better and better each day, so when we say we are the best and the most experienced guides on the river it's the truth. For example... I have guys working today and some that aren't are on the water right now experimenting and researching new water and new ways to make sure your trip is one you will never forget.
The cabin rentals have also been busy. We have been keeping our first class cabins occupied. With the weather getting nicer and spring coming the amount of Do-It-Yourselfer's is also increasing. Anyone is allowed to stay at our cabins so availability is limited. We have already booked much of July and August with anticipated good hopper fishing. If you have any plans on coming up for a float trip or just a fishing trip on your own but need lodging please call and book well in advance this year. With the incredible hopper fishing the past few years word has gotten out and we are expected to be busy and with our bookings already will be busy for sure.
We really do appreciate all of your support! Your business means more to us than you could imagine. I am blessed in many many ways to get to do what I do and be around great people like you each day of my life. Even if you can't come be with us this year please check in from time to time to let us know how your doing. Hope to see you on the water soon, God Bless!

Year Of The Giants!

2011-02-21T18:15:00.016-09:00

Our predictions have been very accurate thus far when it comes to very large numbers of giant rainbows. Every client has caught a fish of a lifetime this past couple of weeks. My boats for the past couple weeks have hooked well over 100 fish per day. I know that there is a certain website who claims the river just opened up in the past couple days and fishing should start getting good but I'm here to tell you and show you pictures that it has been for awhile and we've been on it and enjoying the solitude of being by ourselves on the water. We had 15 boats out last week and I'm confident that every fisherman would say that it was one of the best fishing trips they've ever been on. We did have a lot of wind on Tuesday and Wednesday but still hammered the fish. Thursday through Saturday were great weather and the fishing was incredible. This week looks like a carbon copy of last week except possibly lighter winds. Either way we will be out there searching for everyone's fish of a lifetime.
What has amazed me is the freakish size of the fish we are catching. Clients just aren't catching one huge fish but they are catching several fish that make me say "OH MY GOODNESS" every time! We are having an absolute blast watching people battle these bruisers. As usual I apologize for not keeping you more informed and i do apologize for not updating the website more often but I have been on the water everyday and with as many boats as we've been putting out busy to say the least. I will try to do better.

As far as bookings go it looks like the economy might be coming back a bit. We have another busy week this week with 18 boats out so I'm hoping the weather will be at least a little generous to us but if not we will be bundled up and rod's bent. As we begin March we continue to stay somewhat busy with only 2 boats out daily so there is room that week for a few anglers. The second week of march we unfortunately full on the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 12th but the other days that week there are a couple openings. The last 3 weeks of March we have openings everyday. We have multiple boats out each day but still have room for 1 or 2 boats majority of those days. If you or know someone who would like to catch tons of giant fish and possibly catch the biggest trout of their lives give me a shout and I'll help you put something together. There are still some openings for April and May as well but those months will definitely fill up for sure as our first 70 degree days should be showing up right in front of the years biggest snow storms:) I am real happy to be in full swing with another year of incredible trout fishing. I know i won't be able to see you all this year but hopefully if you can make it up we'll be able to put at least a day or two together to spend on the best trout fishery in the country and spend great time with good conversation and outstanding fishing. Keep in mind our early spring special running through March of $394.50 for 2 people including a nights lodging in our riverside first class cabins and a full day guided float trip including equipment and lunches and of course all the waters you can drink:) This is only $197.25 a person for the best trout fishing around and truly great accommodations right on the bank of the North Platte River.

One last note. We are expecting another great hopper season this summer and lodging is filling up in the months of July and August so plan ahead this year because the secret is out about our huge fish eating the biggest foam grasshopper flies you can throw. Please take care and keep in touch. If you ever just need to chat fishing feel free to give me a shout and I'll happily share the daily fish stories. Hope to see you on the water soon, God Bless!

Getting Started On Another Great Year!

2011-01-20T07:39:00.019-09:00

And the winner of the float trip give away is.........................Bob Shackelford from Ft. Collins Colorado. Congratulations Bob. I just wanted to thank you all coming to the Fly Fishing Show this past weekend at the Denver Merchandise Mart. I always enjoy going down to the show and hanging out with such great friends. It has been fun building such great friendships in the fly fishing past time. You truly make our business a success! We booked over 70 float trips this past weekend for the month's of February and March. I Have also booked another 30 boats since I've been back. Thank you very much! This is very exciting in that i get to show a lot of people the wonderful fishing we have in the early spring that has been kept such a secret. I promise you will not be disappointed! It proved to be another very successful show.

I am very excited to have met so many new friends and look forward to building onto our giant Cowboy Drifter family. We are excited about the upcoming year. I feel that this will be our best year so far. We have had incredible fishing for the past 17 years and from what I'm seeing thus far this winter we could have one amazing year for big fish.

I would like to explain the reasoning for my continued persuasion for you all to consider fishing in February and March rather than April. April has always been a great month for fishing and more than likely always will be. However, the weather over the past few years in April have been horrendous and forecasts show that this April will probably be one of our worst yet. You cannot go back in time so when you book or plan a fishing trip in April and the weather turns out to be horrible and you can't make it you will not be able to go backwards and be there when i say"should have been here last month." The reason February and March are the best Two month's to catch lots of huge fish is really simple. The river is at 500 c.f.s. and will be until the Bureau of Rec. flushes the river the 3rd week of March. The fish are in a more concentrated area. The giant brude fish in the river even down below Casper are beginning to run up river to the Grey Reef to spawn. These fish are staging in the deep runs below their preferred riffles and are gorging themselves preparing for their spawn. This is why we catch such huge numbers of GIANT fish. This year we are predicting that from the flush on the river will be running at 2,500 c.f.s. which spread the fish out and the majority of the big fish will be up in the shallows spawning anyway which we will NOT fish. The other outfitters may be starting their guide trips at the end of March this year which is a week earlier than normal so the river traffic will increase. I have guided several float trips lately and have not seen another boat on the water. In the past 16 years I have done a ton of trips in January, February, and March and have never seen very many if any boats. There are a lot of people concerned about the weather during February and March. Typically we are very nice in February and March. It may be strange but those two month's we rarely get much wind. This is because we aren't getting warm air masses from the southwest. Temperature change causes wind. Warm air masses over cold land masses causes wind. Add moisture to that and you get big snow storms. That's why April and May are our two worst month's for weather. If you book a trip at anytime and the weather looks like it's going to be bad we will reschedule your trip to your next available opportunity. I have been a professional fly fishing guide for nearly 17 years and still spend at least 250 days a year on the water and there is nothing that I would rather do than take people fishing and watch them have a day they will always remember and watch them catch the fish of their dreams. This is my entertainment. I get my joy from watching other people smile. I would not steer you wrong. I will always do my best to provide the best fishing trips possible. We strive on being the hardest working guides and having every single guest come back again and share their memories with all of their friends. This is our guarantee and that's why our customers catch so many big fish! I hope this has helped you understand our reasoning for why we want you all to be here in February and March. We tend to cancel more trips in April than we actually go out on. There will be some nice days in April just don't know how many :) If that happens to be the time you have to go then we will take you! You will catch lot's of fish. Say your prayers and cross your fingers for nice weather because it can happen. However, February and March there are a LOT more days where the weather is nice. You can expect temperatures to be in the 40's and 50's and like I said, very little wind.
I hope you all made it home safe from the show and for those of you who didn't make it I hope you were also safe in your weekend travels. Please give us a shout if we can help you set something up. We will be offering a great spring rate that can't be beat! Our full day two person float trips will be $300. Two person lodging will be $94.50 per night and three to four people will be $189 per night. Since we have the only public lodging on the banks of the Grey Reef the cabins do fill up rather quickly. These are great cabins. Full kitchens, very nice furniture, flat screen TVs', dish network, comfortable beds, nice deck overlooking the river, BBQ grills, and private wade fishing right in front of the cabin. Anyone can stay at these nice cabins whether they fish with us or they are do-it-yourselfer's. Bring your own boat and we can guide you one day and get you dialed in then float on your own the next. It is always better if everyone on the river is on the same page.

We appreciate that you try to use cash or check for your payments during our special. We are phasing out the credit card machine due to the many problems we are having with that process. If you need to use a card that is fine we will just have to add 5% to the final statement. My personal guide schedule for the months of February and March is close to full with the exceptions of a few days. Our guide staff is chomping at the bit to get you out on the water and trust me they have been spending a lot of time out there coming up with new tricks and techniques to ensure you have the best trip possible. Please take care and if you have any questions or would like to set something up please give us a call soon. We want you ALL to be able to experience this time of year and let you see for yourself just how amazing it truly is. Have a great year and hope to see you on the water soon! God Bless & Good Fishing!!!!

Hopper Fishing At It's Best!!!

2010-08-12T07:55:00.013-08:00

I hope this newsletter finds you doing well. As I anticipated the fishing this past month has been unbelievable to say the least as you can see by the recent photos. If you talk to anyone who has fished with us they will tell you that it was the best top water fishing they have ever seen. We have been hooking 40 to 50 fish a boat just on hoppers. I had a single angler yesterday in my boat and he fed 50 plus fish and only threw grass hoppers all day. The takes have resembled great white sharks eating seals on shark week. The average size fish we have been tangling with has been around 19 to 20 inches with many fish reaching the 2 foot long mark. Nymph fishing has still been consistent. We have been using leeches, San Juan worms, caddis larva, and yellow sally and pmd nymphs. If it is the really big fish you are after streamers are the way to go. We have also done several streamer trips recently with great success. The water is really clear and still running at 3,000 cfs so the fish are hammering big bugs stripped off the banks. I have been fishing this river for a really long time and i have never seen anything like the fishing we are having right now. I expect that the hopper fishing will still be great through the middle of September. We also are getting some great trico hatches in the mornings. This will continue for another good month or so. With the high water we haven't seen the fish really keying in on the tricos on the surface. The river is scheduled to run at 3,000 cfs until the end of September. At that time the Bureau Of Rec. will drop the flows to 500 cfs until next April. That means that we will have more epical fishing from October clear through the winter. I want you all to be able to experience this unbelievable experience so we will be offering $300 full-day float trips until the end of the month. Check your schedules and get ahold of us soon as our calendar for the rest of the month is pretty full. September we will be going back to our normal $350 trips. We have been booking trips for the fall everyday and it looks to be a real busy September through November. This is an unbelievable deal for a trout fishing trip on the finest trout fishery in the country! I promise you will be amazed! If you wish to wade fish or float on your own you can still utilize our lodging. Our cabins sit right on the banks of the fabulous Gray Reef section of the North Platte River. Lodging availability is limited so check your schedules and calendars for the fall and book your cabin reservations soon. Thank you for checking out our site and your continued support! We greatly appreciate it! We look forward to hearing from you and having the opportunity to providing you with the fishing trip of a lifetime. Give us a shout soon if we can help you plan a trip.

I had the opportunity to take a couple days off and go on a long hike up into the Big Hron Mountains with my brothers and a friend of our's to try our luck at the rare Golden Trout. The 36 mile hike was rough but well worth it! I included a couple pictures that i thought you might enjoy. Take care, keep in touch, God Bless and let's go fishing!
Our Cabins Fully Equipped Kitchen Bar and Living Room with Flat Screen TV Bunk Bed Bathroom
Call us at 307 331 2031 to book your next fishing trip at the Gray Reef.

We're here to help you!

Sincerely,
Jason

Get Ready For The Best Trout Fishing You Will Ever Experience!

2010-07-05T18:20:00.010-08:00

I hope this newsletter finds you doing well. Summer has gotten off to a crazy start! It finally started warming up around the middle of June unfortunately the rain kept coming. Combination of high snow pack and lots of late spring rains and snow in the mountains caused some serious water issues! Our reservoirs are full and going over the spillways. I have never seen the North Platte River running as high as it got in the middle of June! The flows got over 7,000 cfs. This caused some damage to places along the river and many roads. The water is finally on it's way down. This is very exciting because the fishing is about to be better than ever! With the high flows so long it has really cleaned out the river and kept the water temperatures down. The water is also becoming gin clear below the dam. As this all comes together, a perfect dry fly storm will be created. We have been looking forward to this for month's now and is finally upon us. I was out with a friend last evening after I got done guiding to see if there was any dry fly action to be had and blind casting big foam grass hoppers seemed to be the ticket. We caught one fish that was in the 22 to 23 inch category on a very veracious take! The time is now to think about the best trout fishing you have ever seen! I want everyone to experience this unbelievable fishing so I am putting on a summer special to get everyone the chance to come see what dreams are made of. The great news is that although the dry fly fishing will be phenomenal, the nymph fishing and streamer fishing will be equally as good! Perfect time to bring the whole family for a fly fishing trip of a lifetime! This deal can't be beat and worth WAY more than the price I promise! Satisfaction is guaranteed! The nymph fishing has been very good through the high water. We have been catching good numbers of huge fish everyday! As you can see by the pictures, there have been some rather large browns caught lately as well on streamers. The nymph set up has varied a little from spring, we have lengthened our leaders considerably and added weight. We have been doing real well on leeches, San Juan worms, rock worms, and PMD nymphs. The streamers we have been using are big black, olive, tan, or brown heavy streamers. Getting deep and slow stripping is a key with them! The recent hatch and dry flies have been PMD's, Yellow Sally's, Caddis, and a few BWO's still hanging around. Check your schedules and give us a shout! I promise this trout fishing you will see in July and August will compare if not beat the best experience you have ever had with a fly rod in your hand. Availability will be limited due to this great deal and excellent fishing so we look forward to hearing from you soon! If your travels don't bring you this way this summer please have a safe and wonderful summer! Our 2 person fully guided, full-day float trips, will be $300 for the months of July and August. This is an unbelievable deal for a trout fishing trip with the most experienced guides on the finest trout fishery in the country! If you wish to wade fish or float on your own you can still utilize our lodging. Our cabins sit right on the banks of the fabulous Gray Reef section of the North Platte River. Lodging availability is limited so check your schedules and calendars for 2010 and book your cabin reservations soon. Thank you for checking out our site and your continued support! We greatly appreciate it! We look forward to hearing from you and having the opportunity to providing you with the fishing trip of a lifetime. Give us a shout soon if we can help you plan a trip. Take care, keep in touch, God Bless and let's go fishing!

The Largest Rainbow I Have Ever Seen Caught On The North Platte River!

2010-05-19T13:23:00.035-08:00

We are finally starting to have some nice weather. We are long overdue for summer to arrive! However, our extended winter and spring has kept our water levels high and really cold. This will insure that we will have great water conditions and wonderful fishing all summer long!

My brother had a client named Doug Schultz who caught a rainbow that
measured 29 1/4 inches! This is the biggest rainbow I have ever seen caught on
this river, weighing well over 10 pounds!

As you can also see by the recent trophy pictures we have been catching some huge browns as well.

We have been doing real well on dry flies recently when a cloud passes over and the wind is light. BWO's, midge clusters, and adam's dries have been the flies of choice. Our nymph rigs haven't changed much. I have gone with a little longer leader and a little more weight but the fly set ups are the same (egg patterns leeches, rock worms, & bwo nymphs.)

We are now offering $350 float trips. We realize that times are tough and people need to start budgeting their money and looking for deals. Well this is a deal of all deals! Your trip includes lunch, drinks, equipment, and a really good time catching lots of big fish! We have the only public lodging on the famous Grey Reef.

The first class cabins sit only feet off the bank of the North Platte River. The cost for 2 angler for a nights lodging and a fully guided full-day float trip including your lunch, drinks, flies, and fishing equipment is only $444.50.

The total price for 4 anglers will be $889. This is an unbelievable deal for a trout fishing trip with the most experienced guides on the finest trout fishery in the country!

If you wish to wade fish or float on your own you can still utilize our lodging. Our cabins Lodging availability is limited so check your schedules and calendars for 2010 and book your cabin reservations soon. Thank you for checking out our site and your continued support! We greatly appreciate it! We look forward to hearing from you and having the opportunity to providing you with the fishing trip of a lifetime. Give us a shout soon if we can help you plan a trip. Take care, keep in touch, God Bless and let's go fishing!

Really, Really, Really Big Fish

2010-04-23T11:45:00.015-08:00

I hope this newsletter finds you doing well! We have been experiencing some of the best trout fishing i have ever seen! We are still catching lots of fish and some have been huge! We have landed a 27 plus inch fish every week! Our numbers are still good as well. Fisherman are hooking around 30-40 fish a day. The fish are averaging around 19-20 inches and really starting to pull hard! Our rigs haven't changed a whole lot. We are still fishing leeches, eggs, rock worms, and midges. The Rainbows are still spawning so PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, be careful and don't fish the shallow riffles where these fish are reproducing. This is a wild fishery and we depend on the natural reproduction to ensure that we will have continued amazing trout fishing for years to come. If you see a cleared off spot in the gravely areas in running current in water that is less than 3 feet deep please stay back and let the fish do their thing. This area is called a redd and this is how you can tell where you shouldn't be fishing for the next couple of months. We all who enjoy this resource appreciate your courtesy. The river is starting to get busy and the number of boats have gone way up! It is crucial that everyone is on the same page to ensure that everyone has an enjoyable and successful day on the river. If you bring your own boat and float please be courteous and use good river etiquette. When you get to a run don't run right down the middle of it. Also, don't dig your oars deep into the water column as it displaces fish. If you need to pass then do so on the other side of the river along the bank or on the inside of drifting boats so you aren't spooking fish into lock-jaw. Lastly if you aren't completely sure where the fish are holding in the runs start inside and gradually work your way out. Using this technique you will find them without spooking them first. All of the runs right now are holding lots of fish so you'll have the opportunity to catch fish all the way down the river without having to catch excessive numbers of fish per run. I try to get my guides to make a couple passes per run, catch 3-5 fish, then move on. Keep in mind conservation and preservation are the number one goals on this river and beating up a certain run over and over again isn't good for the fish or the whole river system. Lets all be conscientious and work together and keep this the wonderful trout fishery that it is. From now on we will be offering $350 float trips. We realize that times are tough and people need to start budgeting their money and looking for deals. Well this is a deal of all deals! Your trip includes lunch, drinks, equipment, and a really good time catching lots of big fish! We also have the only public lodging on the famous Grey Reef. The first class cabins sit only feet off the bank of the North Platte River. The cost for 2 angler for a nights lodging and a fully guided full-day float trip including your lunch, drinks, flies, and fishing equipment is only $444.50. The total price for 4 anglers will be $889. This is an unbelievable deal for a trout fishing trip with the most experienced guides on the finest trout fishery in the country! If you wish to wade fish or float on your own you can still utilize our lodging. Our cabins Lodging availability is limited so check your schedules and calendars for 2010 and book your cabin reservations soon. Thank you for checking out our site and your continued support! We greatly appreciate it! We look forward to hearing from you and having the opportunity to providing you with the fishing trip of a lifetime. Give us a shout soon if we can help you plan a trip. Take care, keep in touch, God Bless and let's go fishing!

Best Trout Fishing I have ever seen...

2010-03-14T18:22:00.014-08:00

There is nowhere else on the planet where you can do that with wild trout on a river!

In all of the 18 years I have been fishing the North Platte River and fishing in general, I have never seen fishing as good as we have experienced in the past couple of months. From time to time we have had a chilly day or two but catching the size of the fish we have been and the numbers of fish, it is definitely worth it! Two days ago we touched near if not 100 fish! In this trip there were only 2 fish under 17 inches.

Our rigs haven't changed a whole lot. We are still fishing leeches, eggs, rock worms, and midges. The Rainbows have started spawning so PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, be careful and don't fish the shallow riffles where these fish are reproducing. This is a wild fishery and we depend on the natural reproduction to ensure that we will have continued amazing trout fishing for years to come. If you see a cleared off spot in the gravely areas in running current in water that is less than 3 feet deep please stay back and let the fish do their thing. This area is called a redd and this is how you can tell where you shouldn't be fishing for the next couple of months. We all who enjoy this resource appreciate your courtesy. From now until the end of March we are offering $300 float trips. We also have the only public lodging on the famous Grey Reef. The first class cabins sit only feet off the bank of the North Platte River. The cost for 2 angler for a nights lodging and a fully guided full-day float trip including your lunch, drinks, flies, and fishing equipment is only $387.50. The total price for 4 anglers will be $775. This is an unbelievable deal for a trout fishing trip with the most experienced guides on the finest trout fishery in the country! If you wish to wade fish or float on your own you can still utilize our lodging. Our cabins Lodging availability is limited so check your schedules and calendars for 2010 and book your cabin reservations soon. Thank you for checking out our site and your continued support! We greatly appreciate it! We look forward to hearing from you and having the opportunity to providing you with the fishing trip of a lifetime. Give us a shout soon if we can help you plan a trip. Take care, keep in touch, God Bless and let's go fishing!

Our Cabins

Fully Equipped Kitchen Bar and Living Room with
Flat Screen TV

Bunk Bed Bathroom

Call us at 307 331 2031 to book your next fishing trip at the Gray Reef.

We're here to help you!

Sincerely,
Jason Hamrick
Cowboy Drifters

Winter Trout Fishing At It's Finest!!!

2010-02-04T19:05:00.011-09:00

I have had the opportunity to guide fishing trips ever since Christmas with the exception of the time we were at the Fly Fishing Show in Denver and I have not seen another boat on the river. We have caught and landed at least one giant measuring over 23 inches, hooking several others, and also landing over 30 fish per boat nearly every time with a 19 inch average. Needless to say the fishing has been outstanding! We have also had great weather. Only 2 trips have we had any wind and chilly temperatures. Beieve it or not this is normal for our area this time of year. With great weather and no pressure on the river we are definitely getting spoiled and are off to a great start to 2010. Our set-ups have been as follows: 9 ft. leaders, 0.6 g's of weight, brown and rust colored leeches, orange scuds, rock worms, and brown and black midges. The key is not spooking the fish and getting a great drift. The water is cold and clear and the fish are spooky! We have been staying in close and fishing out towards the deeper water. This is important because if you run over the run and the fish you will ruin the run for yourselves and any others who are fishing it. Just remember... you can always move out deeper but if you run over the fish the first time down the run you've blown it. I have been guiding this river for 16 years and in my opinion this is definitely the time of year to catch the fish of a lifetime. A lot of the biggest rainbows we have ever caught have been caught in February and March. I believe that the reason for this is that many of the brood stock work their way up the river to the Grey Reef where they will start spawning the middle of March. They are hungry and are in prespawn mode. Another main component is that the river is running at 500 c.f.s and the fish are more concentrated. The river flows go up in April and the fish spread out making it harder to pin-point their location. With this being said we have made a deal for you that will be hard to resist. From now until the end of March we are offering $300 float trips. We also have the only public lodging on the famous Grey Reef. The first class cabins sit only feet off the bank of the North Platte River. The cost for 2 angler for a nights lodging and a fully guided full-day float trip including your lunch, drinks, flies, and fishing equipment is only $387.50. The total price for 4 anglers will be $775. This is an unbelievable deal for a trout fishing trip with the most experienced guides on the finest trout fishery in the country! If you wish to wade fish or float on your own you can still utilize our lodging. Our cabins Lodging availability is limited so check your schedules and calenders for 2010 and book your cabin reservations soon. Thank you for checking out our site and your continued support! We greatly appreciate it! We look forward to hearing from you and having the opportunity to providing you with the fishing trip of a lifetime. Give us a shout soon if we can help you plan a trip. Take care, keep in touch, and God Bless!

Goose Hunting and Trout Fishing At It's Finest

2009-11-17T11:48:00.007-09:00

We have had an incredible year of fishing! I don't remember fishing ever being as good here in the 15 years I've been guiding here as it has been this year! The river has dropped down to it's winter flows of 500 c.f.s. and has become crystal clear. We are getting great midge hatches right now. The water is cold and the fish have become more localized. Nymphing is the way to go right now. You can have great success right now with very high fish numbers! This is also a great time to strip streamers for those giant browns that inhabit these waters. An angler can expect to have a 40-50 fish day easy. The browns have starting spawning as well and there are lots of giants making there way up river. This river holds numerous browns from 10-20 pounds. In my opinion the winter months are the most productive times of the year to fish. It can be chilly but dress warm and I promise it will be worth it! With the season change also brings us our waterfowl. We have started our duck and goose season and it looks to be a great year. We have limited out on greenheads and canada geese so far on every hunt. We also are seeing several snow geese right now which is unusual but also a great sign of what's to come. Our waterfowl hunts are located in Wheatland Wyoming which is only an hour north of the Colorado border. If any of you like to shoot ducks and geese this is the place for you. We have clients that chase waterfowl from Canada to Texas and they have all said there is no need to go anywhere but with us in Wyoming. We killed 502 Canada Geese last season and look for even a better year this year. Only one hunt last year we did not shoot a limit of birds! Our schedule is filling fast but we do still have room in the calendar for some great opportunities on a duck or goose hunt of a lifetime! Dont forget about our river cabins where a guy or gale can have a do-it-yourself hunt or fishing trip right outside your cabin door. Take advantage of the best fishing ever on the best trout fishery in the lower 48 and come experience the fly fishing trip or waterfowl hunt of a lifetime. If you have any questions or want to set something up give me a shout at 307-331-2031. Hope you have a great and prosperous winter! I look forward to seeing you soon! God Bless!

Changing Leaves, Crisp Mornings, and Big Fish!

2009-10-02T06:25:00.013-08:00

The mornings are crisp, the leaves are turning colors, the hatches are strong, and the fish are hungry! We have had an incredible year of fishing! I don't remember fishing ever being as good here in the 15 years I've been guiding here as it has been this year! The river has dropped down to it's winter flows of 500 c.f.s. and has become crystal clear. We are getting great trico, bwo, pmd, caddis, midge, and crane fly hatches right now. We also still have plenty of hoppers around making for great surface explosions from huge fish. We have even caught some great browns on hoppers recently. Our biggest fish of the day have been typically been taken on hoppers. Fish ranging from 18 to 25 inches. Nymph fishing has really been productive with fish numbers caught around 50 per angler per day. If you like streamer fishing then now is the time to come battle these giants beasts on big bugs. This is the time of year where streamer fishing is at it's best and the fish of a lifetime is just 1 cast away! We are expecting that the fishing will stay strong clear through November and we should catch some really huge browns this fall as they begin their spawning preparation. Our schedule is filling fast but we do still have room in the cabins and with guides on the water. Take advantage of the best fishing ever on the best trout fishery in the lower 48 and come experience the fly fishing trip of a lifetime. If you want to fish on your own that's fine you are still welcome to rent one of our first class cabins right on the bank of the beautiful North Platte River. If you have any questions or want to set something up give me a shout at 307-331-2031. Hope you have a great and prosperous fall! I look forward to seeing you soon! God Bless!

RED HOTTTT FISHING!!!

2009-07-15T13:45:00.006-08:00

Hello Everyone! Sorry for the lack of communication this year so far. We took over the whole operation here and lost the newsletter service. I have gotten a new one but don't know how to get it set up quite yet:) Anyway, i wanted to touch base with you all and let you in on what's going on here on the wonderful North Platte River. The fishing right now is as good as I've seen it this year. The water is running at 1300 cfs and the temperature is still in the mid 50's. The water is full of food and we are catching fish about every way possible with a fly rod. Our hatches right now are midges, caddis, yellow sally's, PMD's, BWO's, trico's, crane fly's, and some hoppers. Evenings have been real good dry fly fishing and nymphs and streamers have been the ticket during the day. We caught a 22 inch fish on a dry fly 2 days ago and hooked one yesterday on a dry that was pushing 24 inches. I had a gentleman in my boat a coupledays ago who hooked 67 fish with around an 18 inch average! We were nymphing leeches, worms, and pmd's. The past couple of years this has been the norm in July and August. I know there are outfits out there saying not to fish in July and August because it is hard on the fish and that is true if the water temperature reaches 70 degrees. However it wont even come close to reaching 70 and the 55 degree mark fires these fish up. They are very active and fight extremely hard. The fish lately have been very acrobatic, getting in the air several times as they rip line from your reel. The point is that the fishing is incredible and I would love for all of you to experience it! I have dropped the price of a float trip from $375 to $300 per day. This $300 rate is only good for July and August. I want to get people here to show them how amazing the fishing is in the summer and you get to enjoy the warm weather rather than freeze to death like we commonly do in the spring:) I hope everyone is doing well and hope to hear from you soon. Let me know if I can help you set anything up or if you'd like to come fish on your own don't forget about our wonderful cabins sitting on the river bank. Out the front door is where the best dry fly fishing in the west takes place! Take care and keep in touch! God Bless!

Big Hatches And Big Fish!!!

2009-05-13T19:32:00.011-08:00

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!!!

2009-01-07T17:43:00.007-09:00

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!!!

2008-11-19T14:15:00.018-09:00

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

2008-08-13T11:16:00.009-08:00

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!

2008-07-22T09:13:00.012-08:00

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

And The Rains Came!!!

2008-06-05T08:42:00.005-08:00

Well we have definitely had some good moisture. Bad news is that the river isn't fishable below Government bridge but the good news is that the Bureau of Reclamation shut the river flows down to 500 cfs. This has turned the fishing on the grey reef section absolutely epochal. It is probably as good as I have ever seen it. High numbers and huge fish are all jammed into a more confined area now which is making your chances of running a fly in front of their nose pretty good:) The good ol' rock worm in sizes 14-18 followed by a BWO nymph in sizes 18-20 on a 9 foot leader will be all you need. Try various BWO nymphs but they have all been working well. The best part is that lots of fish are looking up and we have been having entire days of dry fly activity. BWO's are the bug of choice. We have been using a larger size 14-16 parachute adams for the point fly and then dropping off a size 18 BWO behind it. Amazing!!!!!! They are tearing it up. We even caught a big rainbow and a parachute hopper that we were using for a point fly so the angler could see it two days ago. Truly something everyone should experience. You have all seen what kind of fish this river produces just imagine catching 50 of them a day on dry flies. Unfortunately this won't last all summer. They will have to bring the water levels up again but it won't be for a month or so. Then it will be time to start chasing huge browns with streamers and nymphing the lower sections towards Casper. This river this year will fish good clear through July. We will probably slow down a bit in August because of the heat but be back in action with the streamers and dry's from September 1st until mid November. This is definitely something very special and doesn't happen often so if you can break away and see trout fishing at it's absolute best give me a call and we will help you set something up. Hope you are all doing well and look forward to seeing you soon. Wear your sun screen and God Bless you all!

Warm Weather Arrives and Look What Happens!!

2008-05-19T17:52:00.014-08:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated the fishing report but we've been real busy catching tons of fish. We will continue to catch tons of fish but I will do better and update the fishing report more often:)
Looks like summer is here! What a change. We go from winter to summer within a day. I guess that's what you get in wonderful Wyoming. The river flows are up to around 2,300 cfs and temps. are still in the mid 40's. This is very good for the fish and fishing throughout the summer. We will still be able to fish and do real well through July this year. We are also opening up a new adventure that you all need to experience. We will be running an operation on the upper Platte out of Saratoga, Wyoming floating the Platte and Encampment. This is still one of the best freestone rivers in the country. Huge hatches for amazing dry fly fishing and extremely hungry fish get you high numbers of beautiful wild trout that will test the best fly rod made. A more detailed news release on this endeavor will be released to you soon as we will be booking that section up real fast. As for the Grey Reef the dry flies are already starting. I stepped outside the cabins last night before bed and caught three nice rainbows between 17 and 19 inches on a BWO dry. Just one of many attributes to staying at the Cowboy Drifter Cabins. Nymph fishing is still real productive as a lot of the fish are finishing up their spawn and are moving back down into the runs. We are catching several fish between 19-23 inches in our 9-11 hour day. You can expect around 50 hook-ups but these crafty trout with a lot of current on their side seem to win a few battles. Rock worms in various sizes from 10-18 and brown and natural leeches in sizes 6-8 are the nymphing set up most commonly used. We are also doing well with midge patterns in sizes 18-20 in the morning and BWO nymphs in the afternoon in the same sizes. Streamer fishing is also good right now when you can get a day where the water has decent clarity. Some giant browns are starting to be caught on the big nasty's. Big streamers dark in color seem to be the ticket. My personal opinion is that it really doesn't matter what color it is as long is it is in front of their nose. As I said before, the fishing should be outstanding through July this year and definitely the upper river would be a fishing experience of a lifetime trip for those of you who haven't done it and if anyone is interested in chasing those double digit browns with big streamers please contact me soon. This is the chance of a lifetime to catch the biggest trout you have ever caught and I promise the Cowboy Drifter Guides know how to get it done. Book your summer streamer trip soon because we are really getting busy. We will be getting into summer mode soon so you will need to check your calendars and let us know if we can help you set up a trip of a lifetime. Hope to see you on the water soon. God bless you all! Jason

Flush Is Done And The Fish Are Frisky!!

2008-03-31T07:45:00.013-08:00

Hope you all are doing well. We have had some tough weather to deal with lately but we are still catching plenty of big pre-spawn rainbows. We also have caught a couple of really nice browns this past week who have been following the bows up the river in anticipation of getting fat on rainbow eggs. The fishing just keeps getting better everyday and hopefully the weather will cooperate and do the same. I can't imagine how many fish we would have been catching this past week if the wind hadn't been playing havoc on the fisherman's drifts. We are consistently producing 50 plus fish hook-ups per day and when the wind gives us a break that number jumps way up. Nymphing has been the ticket. Not much has changed with our set-ups. The hot flies are rock worms in sizes 12-18 depending on the water clarity. The leech patterns have also still been red hot. Browns, blacks, and olives have been the main colors in sizes 6-8. The midges have really been popping well when it warms up and johnny flashes, disco midges, and zebra midges seem to be the hot fly. We have been throwing black, chocolate, red, and occasional grey's for colors. The sizes have consistently stayed in the 18-20 range. I have seen a few baetis nymphs starting to appear and even an occasional adult B.W.O. on the water. It won't be long and the B.W.O.'s will be out in full force. Streamers are still working well as long as you use a very slow retrieve. Our best colors have been whites, tans, blacks, and olives in sizes 4-6. The river flow are stable at 500 c.f.s. and are supposed to stay that way until May. Our water temps. have been ranging between 35 and 38 degrees. Still way cold! The rainbows are staging and starting to spawn so remember to stay off the shallow gravel and be careful not to wade through the redds. PLEASE don't fish the spawners. There are plenty of fish in the runs still and sight fishing to spawners only increases their stress level and hurts them in the long run. This is a natural fishery of wild trout so lets do our part to conserve and manage this resource for people to enjoy in the future. Fishing will be totally closed off between the two cables below Grey Reef from April 1-30. Please let the fish do their deed and we will have an unbelievable fishery for years to come. Thank you! We still have cabins available for public lodging on the river bank at Lusby. April is one of the hottest month's to fish the North Platte and our schedules are filling up so check you calendars and let us know if we can help you set up a trout fishing experience of a lifetime. Keep in touch and hope to hear from you all soon.

Spring fishing means BIG FISH!!!!

2008-03-16T13:36:00.005-08:00

Here we go again. It's that time again folks and we are more excited than ever. With several new additions to Cowboy Drifters and a full service Fly Shop opening real soon we can't help but think this is going to be a great year for us all. The cabins are done and available for stays now. We have had several guests so far and have had nothing but great praises about them. This is the only public lodging on the upper part of the river so even do-it-yourselfers can enjoy a peaceful river side stay with an outstanding fishing run just a stones throw away. Sure wish gas prices weren't so high but I guess we have to play with cards we were dealt. This is probably the main factor in us not raising our prices for 2008. We are keeping our prices the same as we have for the past few years because we want you all to be able to come back each year and have a great experience with us regardless of the state of our economy. Just please remember to take care of your guide at the end of the day. We appreciate it.
Fishing so far this spring has been amazing. We have definitely seen last years age class of 16 inch fish grow to 18 plus inches this year. As always they are some of the hardest pulling fish in the country. Steamers of choice lately have been rabbit flavored in whites and tans and John Barr's Slum Busters both in sizes 4-6. Both of which are not on shelves yet but will be coming to the Cowboy Drifters Fly Shop soon located next to the Lusby boat ramp. Nymphing as always has been red hot using the standard rock worm and leech combo. With very clear water conditions smaller flies have seemed to be working better. 14-18 on the rock worms and 8-10's on the leeches. The rock worms are obviously red and best colors for the leeches have been brown or olive. Midges have also started popping real well so if you are having a slower day and want to switch things up a bit go with a size 18-20 midge pattern in black, brown, or red. Even though we don't fish many egg patterns with fish staging for the yearly spawn I have heard that egg patterns have also been getting pretty hot. With that in mind PLEASE remember that this is a natural fishery of wild trout so let them do their deed and PLEASE DON'T FISH THE REDDS!!! This takes absolutely zero skill and it does put a lot of un-needed stress on the fish. PLEASE be sportsman an sportswomen and let them be. It is our job to educate, preserve, and lead by example. Thank you! Just remember to give thanks and and praise to God for giving us all the opportunity to experience all of the wonderful creations on this earth, our families, our friends, and the breath we take everyday.

Moving In With Pups On The Way!!!!

2007-11-11T17:55:00.000-09:00

Well, we are finally getting moved in and settled down. It has been a long process but the end is in sight for the construction. We have moved into our house out here at Lusby and the rewards and peacefulness are well worth the wait. We are looking forward to sharing the experience with all of you and hope you get to enjoy the solitude here as well. The cabins will be open to guests after the first of the year. We are planning on attending the flyfishing show in Denver in January and will be taking bookings then. We anticipate the reservations will fill up very fast as we are already taking reservations for 2008. Truly a great environment with blue ribbon fishing just a stones throw off the deck of the cabins. Very scenic views of the river and surroundings from the decks and windows. You will have to see them to get the full appreciation of the experience here. Check your calendars and give me a shout to book your fishing trip and cabin reservations.
We will also be getting an addition to our family soon. Our two labs have made a planned connection and will be having a litter of baby labs in the middle of December. We are really excited to see how good these hunting pups will turn out. Truly some great genetics and personalities bread into these dogs. The parents have been phenomenal so far and I'm sure they will only get better with age. The mother is a full blooded registered black lab and the male is a full blooded registered yellow lab. We could really have a mix of colors here. It will definitely be hard getting rid of the pups so we would love to see them go to the best homes as possible. Check out the pictures of the parents on the home page soon and make your requests for these sure to be awesome pups.
As for the fishing, we are entering winter mode here which means colder temperatures but great fishing. The Bureau Of Reclamation conducted a fall flush this year and it has really gotten rid of a lot of the moss and cleared the river up. We are seeing several fall spawning rainbows on the reds mixed with a few of the giant browns that call the North Platte their home. Remember reproduction is very key here and letting the fish spawn and do their thing is imperative to the longevity of this river system. PLEASE don't fish the spawners and your rewards will be great for many years to come.
We have been doing quite a few trips lately and have several still on the schedule and our hot patterns have been this: Leeches in black and brown from sizes 10-6. The trusty rock worm has been our hottest pattern in sizes 18-6. It seems that the further down the river you get the bigger the bug seems to be the most effective. As the river continues to clear the fly size will go down. Midges have also been a good pattern early. Best colors have been black, brown, and red in sizes 20-16. Remember the flows are down to 500 cfs so you don't need to use a lot of weight but make sure you still have a long enough leader to get down in the deep runs. Long drifts down deep seem to be key. We are still seeing a few BWO's and are even catching a few fish on dry's in sizes 18-16. Keep your eyes out for sippers and you will get the opportunity to hopefully feed some of our big Platte River trout a tasty dry fly.
I will leave you with this: One of my best buddies Rob Coddington told me the other day, "You never know what the river of life has in store for you and if you hold on to the bank and hang onto now you will never get any better or any further along, but let go of the bank and float with high hopes and to the best of your ability, the current will no doubt ably lead you to things far more greater than you could imagine!" Take it as you will but what great words of inspiration they are. I hope you all take care of yourselves and loved ones and keep in touch. Let us know if we can help any of you with anything. God Bless!!!

Sorry, but I am having trouble loading pictures. I will get them on here soon.

DRY Fly Fishing in the Wind

2007-10-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. I have been having trouble with
trying to get a fishing report on the website so I
thought I would just send out a quick email and let
everyone know what is happening on our end of the
world. The fishing has been absolutly awesome this
fall. We have had a few windy days but are still able
to feed fish dry flies regardless of the 40 mph wind.
Amazing huh? The water is crystal clear and the fish
are definately looking up. We have landed several
over 20 inches and one of Mark's clients even landed a
24 inch rainbow the other day on a dry fly. Not to
mention all of the toads that have got away.

September was an extremely busy month with fly shop
and lodges constuction as well as fishing every day
but it is all coming together. The shop will be dried
in today and the lodges are be set on the foundations
next monday the 8th. We are all very excited as the
end is in sight and everything is looking great. We
will begin taking bookings for the lodges in the next
month or so for next year and with limited number of
lodges (3) I would recommend doing so earlier than
later. The lodges hold 4 fisherman each and come with
bbq, full kitchen, dining room, large deck, and 2 bed
rooms. The lodges overlook the river so evening
cocktail hour should be very comfortable.

October fishing availability is filling up but we do
have a hand full of days where we can get you out to
enjoy world class dry fly fishing, beautiful fall
colors, huge fish, and most of all a great all around
experience.

Our goose hunts in Wheatland start the 1st week of
December. I need to hear from those of you planning a
trip but have not gotten in touch with me yet. I know
I have spoke with several of you about the hunts who
were interested but only have very few days of the
entire season open on the calendar. If you have a day
scheduled lets touch base and start making
arrangements for lodging and meeting places for the
hunt. We are very excited about the projected bird
numbers this year and along with some cold weather we
should be in excellent shape. If you like waterfowl
hunting or would like to try it this is the year for
it.

Anyway, I need to get caught up but I just wanted to
drop you a line and keep everyone up to date. Thank's
for the support and hope all has been well with you
all. Look forward to hearing from you and in the mean
time "GOOD FISHING!!!"

Jason Hamrick

Yellow Leaves, Crisp Mornings, & Big Trout

2007-09-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

Hey there fishing friends. We are steadily moving along in our construction progress on the river. Cabins are being delivered next week and hope to be set by mid October. We will be renting the cabins out starting next year. We are very excited about this and hope it improves the fishing experience for you the Cowboy Drifter fishing family. The fly shop is coming along and will be in full function next season as well. We will be carrying everything an angler will need to have to benefit his/her trip including anything else they may need for future trips.

The fishing here is as hot as ever. I can definitely say that I have been on the river everyday for quite some time now and the river is as hot as I have seen it this year. Great numbers with a very healthy average size keeps me getting up each morning excited for the day. Streamers are the hot ticket right now as well, as the top water bugs. Dry fly fishing has been improving each day and with a cloud or two you can experience a dry fly frenzy of a lifetime. Anthony Stelakis stuck a 21 inch bow today on a size 18 BWO dry. Talk about exciting. BWO's, PMD's, Caddis, and Crane Flies are the choice hatch right now.

Take a day and get out to enjoy our wonderful Casper area. The leaves are changing and the mornings are delightfully crisper so don't waste a day caught up in the hustle and bustle. Remember you only get so many sunrises so enjoy them while you can. Everyone, take care and let us know if there is anything we can do for you. Thanks again for being a wonderful part of our lives.

Construction Is Under Way!!!!

2007-08-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

Jason and Nikki as construction begins.

Sorry folks it has been so long but hopefully you will understand. Nikki and I sold our house in town and have been building our new residence and fly shop out at Lusby on the river. Our Cabins will be hopefully finished by October and for the shop, well.... maybe in a month or so. Meanwhile we are staying where there is not much phone service and no computer access, so...... needless to say communication has been a bit of an issue. But anyway now with the good news. Fishing is surprisingly still pretty good. You can't expect spring or fall like numbers but you can still catch fish. I has been pretty hot and the river is starting to get mossy but September is just around the corner. Speaking of September, we do have a couple of days that are still not fully booked yet in September and October so check your calendars and come spend a day with us. If you enjoy streamer fishing and dry fly fishing you don't want to miss the opportunity to fish our river in September and October. Granted the spring fishing here is good but it is real hard to beat the fall here.

On the river the hot flies have been: Leeches in brown and black and an occasional hot head. Any sizes on the leech patterns. We are still fishing pmd nymphs along with yellow sally's and some caddis. Sizes have increased to 14's and 16's do to diminishing water clarity. Don't be afraid to fish a big pheasant tail either. Streamers have also been real good using black's, tan's, olive's, and brown's. I have also gone up on my streamers sizes to as big as you can chuck them.

It won't be long and the summer irrigation water will be getting shut off and the river flows will drop back down to around 500 cfs. This is scheduled to happen the end of August or first part of September and when it does the fish will again start looking up and eating trico's, pmd's, caddis, and also some bwo's will start showing up again. Till then, don't let the hot weather slow you down. Grab a water bottle and go fish!!!!!!!!

Here is some photos of the past month some here and some not. I apologize for not having all of the pictures but they are on my nonworking computer.

Eric with Cabela's and a lifetime hen brown on the reef

Huge Taimen Dan Bailey. SWEET!!!!

Chatt Wright now hooked on Tarpon and Snook!

George with his 6,000th tarpon

Red Hot Fishing On Red Hot Flies!!

2007-06-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

George Brown with 2 great fish on the Platte!

Father and son Dworak with an awesome Reef double! Sweet bow on the reef for John!

The Jones Boy's with a couple of beauty's from the Reef!

Well as you can see the fishing has really, and I mean really picked up. Not that it was ever slow but those few days after they raised our water flows up, it was a bit mossy and tough on the patience of the anglers, but know it's a different story. Water is holding steady around 2,300 cfs , the water is cool (51-53 degrees,) and the fish are hungry. The rock worms have been the ticket lately in sizes 14-18. In the mornings midge patterns, mainly black, sizes 18-22, and PMD and BWO nymphs in the afternoons sizes 18-22. Don't be afraid to throw on the reliable leeches. Natural and brown have been the most productive for us. I will honestly say folks this river is fishing as good as I have seen it. Take a break from the everyday grind and lets go fishing. We have plenty of room on our calendar for July and trust me, with these low water temps the fishing is going to stay way good for a good month or two. Keep us in mind and let us know if there is anything we can do for you. Get outside and take advantage of God's great gifts!!! Check out the photos below of C.D. family photos from their journeys around the world.

You keep on pullin Tanner Coddington! Nice sea run brown from S. America Chatt!
Your doing GREAT!!!!!

Cool Jack Chatt! Chris Kelley with a great Northern on fly!

Heck of a Stripper From Cali. Rempe with a sweet Barracuda!

Rempe with a huge King! Awesome bow on a dry fly Kreyfish!!!

Here Comes The Water!!!!!

2007-06-10T13:43:00.000-08:00

Well, our water has finally returned. Tonight the Bureau of Rec. will be starting to increase our river flows from 500 cfs to 750 cfs and will go up every night 250 cfs until it reaches 2,000 cfs. Thank goodness. I was about to find a way to make money harvesting moss. The fish are still feeding and are easy to catch......before your flies get totally mossed over. Anyway, as you can see the fishing has still been real good. Streamer fishing is hot using just about anything ugly. We have been fishing a lot of black, brown, and rusty colors in the usual sizes 2-6. Nymph fishing has been real good but like I said a little tough with the moss. As long as you realize you are going to catch a lot of moss and have patience you will have a great day. Barr's PMD Emergers, Foam Split Backs (baetis and PMD), Hare's Ears, RMC's, and of course.... Rock Worms and Leeches. Nymph's size 18-20, Leeches size 6-8, and Rock Worms size 6-18. The further down river you get try the San Juan in wine or red. We are still running around 9 feet of leader but have really lightened up on the weight. Water conditions for the next couple of days might be kind of tough due to the flushing of moss but it will help push out the muddy water caused from last weeks rain and snow. In the mean time, tie some flies, get your stuff ready, book a float trip, and go watch a rodeo. Good luck Cowboy's and Cowgirl's at the CNFR this week in Casper. For those of you planning a fall trip throwing streamers and dry flies and the rivers biggest trout, check your schedules and get a hold of me soon as our fall availability is becoming limited. Take care everyone and have a safe and relaxing summer. Keep us in mind and give us a shout if you ever need anything. Cowboy Drifter sweatshirts should be in this week. Tight Lines and Let'r Buck!!!!!

ALL WORK, NO PLAY...........

2007-05-22T14:57:00.001-08:00

Here are some other pics from recent trips. Hope all of you have planned a fun summer outing and hopefully you will stop in and see us if you are traveling through the area. Things are going well for me, just chasing doctors and having a ball doing so. I have still been able to come out of retirement for a few trips, but as you can see I have been doing a little fishing myself.

The little man is my nephew Colten. Colten and his dad Dennis are hooked. It only took about 4 years to finally get my father-in-law and brother-in-law out on the boat, not because they didn't want to, but because I was always busy guiding. It sure is nice being able to enjoy my family on the river. My wife and I are trying to get out more so don't stare if you see one of the prettiest women to ever walk the earth in my drift boat.

Hope all is well.

God Bless,

Mark Hamrick

Man It's HOT! And So Is The Fishing!

2007-05-21T06:11:00.000-08:00

Well, my wife and I made it back from Florida on our annual tarpon trip and to my surprise.....The fish were still biting. The water has cleared from our spring snow storm finally and fishing is good the entire length of the river. Strategies have changed a bit do to the low water and it's clarity up top. Fortunately it has made for some real good dry fly fishing on the upper stretches that a lot of people have never got to see. It has gradually been getting better each year and with the evolution of this fishery nothing ceases to amaze me anymore about this river. Water flows are at 500 cfs and are scheduled to go back up to normal within the next two weeks. This should cause quite a situation with the early moss build up we have. When they start pumping the flows up it is going to be like a second flush and I'd imagine the large quantities of moss we have accumulated will be busted loose and filling the entire water column. Don't quote me on that, it is only a prediction. Anyway, lets focus on now. Streamer fishing is hot right now as you can see "Streamer Stu" with 2 real nice browns caught on black rubber buggers on a size 4. Other great colors are brown, olive, and tan in sizes 4 and 6. Nymph fishing rigs have shortened back up with the low water and the bug sizes have have dropped as well. Rock worms (size 16-20,) baetis nymphs (size 18-22,) black midges (sizes 18-22,) and yes we are still catching fish on the ol' reliable leech (size 8.) Our dry fly rigs are 10 feet to a parachute BWO (size 18) and dropping small baetis nymphs (size 20-22) off those. Check out Lil' Willy Chapman and his first fish on a fly rod. Good Job Willy! And just to show you how early we start em at Cowboy Drifters, pictured below is the cutest lil' cowboy of em all....My little nephew Cael. He didn't catch any fish that day but did get to put his little hands on a couple of turtles and toads. Watch what you say about the picture of that beautiful lady in the blue....That's my wife. Just thought I would spice up the scenery a little. That's about it so keep in mind how blessed we are to experience the things we do on a daily basis and cherish each moment. I am truly lucky to have the opportunity to do this for a living and have such a wonderful wife who helps me along and supports what I do. Our excellent guide staff keeps us running and we should all thank them as much as any. Thank's guys and keep up the good work. It has been a very busy year so far and I hope you have all had wonderful trips with us. We do pride ourselves on provided you with the best experience you can possibly have and worn out or not we will continue to do that. Thanks for your business and let us know if there is anything we can do for any of you.

Wind, Rain, & Cold Can't Stop Cowboy Drifter Fisherman

2007-04-23T10:19:00.000-08:00

The weather has... I would have to say..... been a little tough lately. Extremly high winds, not real warm, and sometimes wet but the fish are still biting. Large crowds on the upper river have got us moving around a little bit and taking advantage of the entire river and it has been paying off. It's always great to take people new places and show them new water they have never seen before and catch big fish in the process. We have been fishing from Gray Reef all the way to town. Not all at once of course. We have spent some days the past week searching for more big browns and it has shown to pay off. Scott Rodgers landed a real nice brown on a big black sculpin pattern tied on a size 2/0 streamer hook, (big fly!) "Streamer Stu" stuck a good Cutt-bow below Gray Reef as well on a big black ugly. Streamers the past week have picked up a little and we are still chucking big (size 2/0-4) black, olive, and some tan streamers. Nymphing has been good! Where ever you go you are going to catch fish. 40+ fish days have been real common using the same ol' gravy train. Red Rock Worms (size 16-8), Leeches (size 6-8), BWO nymphs (size 18-20), San Juan Worms (size 8-10.) The water is up (2,000 cfs) and fish are definately moving in out of the fast stuff. Still need a long leader and plenty of weight but fish inside seams and you will catch fish. Anyway, it has been good to see some old friends this past week and even meet some new ones. We hope everyone had a great trip and a safe trip home. We always look forward to seeing you all and if there is ever anything we can do for you feel free to call any of the "Cowboy Drifters!" Just a reminder... the fall fishing here is out of this world and that schedule is filling up, so if you want to come experience the best streamer and dry fly fishing the west has to offer set aside a day or two and give us a shout.

YELLOW BELLIES

2007-04-19T14:04:00.000-08:00

Well, if you don't know already we like hunting big fish and we are pretty successful. Not to brag, but these are some awesome fish. We have been getting at least one BIG BROWN a day when streamer fishing. A day hasn't gone by where we haven't delivered.

Thats all for now. Just a quick pick-me-up for all of those with SPRING FEVER.

Mark

I Like Big Bugs and I Cannot Lie!!!!!!

2007-04-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

When fishing big bugs ya never know whats going to happen??? With higher water and warming water temperatures we have been in search of the good ol' "Yellow Bellies". It is nice to have fisherman in the boat that are willing to sacrifice fish numbers for size or rather nymphing for streamer fishing. It doesn't always work out for the better, but when it does it is well worth it. Ask this young lady after catching this awesome BROWN while stripping streamers on Saturday (it was around 25 inches and fat). This big daddy brown trout ate a size 2 dumbbelled eyed black, Grim Reaper. With a name like that it ought to catch the fish for ya, huh!!!!

Regardless, that is one cool fish. Ya want to know the best thing though, this fish is awaiting the next BIG BUG to come by and with everyday that goes by the streamer fishing will continue to get better.

Well, enough about that fish. The fishing in general is still really good. The water is up to 1704cfs. The fish are starting to move toward the inside seams and spread out with increasing flows. You will need to add more weight to get down to the fish with the higher water as well.

There are plenty of fish in the main runs eating rock worms (size 8-16), leeches (size 10, Black, brown), and BWO's (size 18,20) so there shouldn't be anyone fishing the redds....Right??? I mean honestly, I don't pull you out of your bedroom when you are..... well you get the picture. So let us all leave the spawning fish alone and enjoy the wonderful river that God has put here.

Here are a few pics from the last few days. Great Job guys & gals!!!

It has been hard not guiding every day, unless the wind is blowing of course, but I have been able to do trips pretty much every weekend. I know I won't be able to see alot of you as much as I used to but it doesn't mean you are not missed. Thanks for your continued support. Hope to see ya soon!!!!! Preferably on the water and not the opreating table.

Mark Hamrick.

Breaking News!!!!!!

2007-03-29T09:12:00.000-08:00

Cowboy Drifters has a new member in it's family! Congratulations to C.D. guide Shane Schaffner and his wife Linzy on the birth of their new baby boy. Lil' trout bum "Nolan Fletcher Schaffner." He weighed in at a whopping 7 pounds and 9 ounces and measured 20 inches long. Nolan was born on Friday March 23rd. Congratulations Schaffner Family. We will be thinking about you!!!!

Man I Love My Job!!!!!

2007-03-28T08:13:00.000-08:00

We have teamed up with Cabela's and the boys came to see what all the hype was about. Well, they got to see it alright. I got to witness one of the most amazing days I have ever seen on this river this week. There where fish everywhere and hungry ones too. I am not exagerating when I say there where over a hundred fish caught per boat. I wouldn't have believed it either if I wasn't there to see it. Anyway, it's hard to tell what the hot flies were because it seemed like anything in the water was getting eaten and it wasn't like the fisherman could have caught more than they already did. We stuck with the ol' reliable rock worms and leeches. We did increase the rockworm size to a 6 and still fished the leech in a size 6 as well. Leech colors were crawdad orange, brown, and black with some fish caught on the natural as well. Plenty of midges have been hatching as well as a few BWO's. Midge cluster dry patterns have also been working on top to sipping fish when the wind hasn't been blowing. If after a real giant throw cream/white or olive streamers with a real slow but irradic strip. Fish inside seems with light weight and you should really get into them. Try to keep from digging your oars and fins in the middle of the runs because with the water being as clear as it is fish are getting spooky and blowing out easy. Fish are spawning right now and will be for the next month and a half so enjoy the sights of nature taking it's course but PLEASE don't cast to the spawners.
I was fortunate enough to spend 2 days on the river with my friend Rob Ganger and his 2 daughters Payton (7yrs) and Maddie (10yrs). These two youngens casted by their self, mended their line by their self, set the hook by their self, and faught and landed their fish by themselves. They did need help holding the fish because they were so big, but you get the picture. Anyway, Maddie caught the slam here last year and again caught the slam 2 days ago. This was Payton's first trip and look how she did. Both caught several fish each day and did a wonderful job. I guess that is what sets Cowboy Drifters apart from the rest. Anyone can catch fish and have fun on the river no matter what sex or age, and Cowboy Drifter guides love to make it happen. GOOD JOB! Maddie and Payton. We'll look forward to seeing you 2 again next year.

FLUSH+PRESPAWN=BIG FISH!!!!!!!

2007-03-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start with this to get you a little excited about what we've been up to lately.

Check out Lil' Eastman with his giant Platte river Hog, and Matt and Dan, and Larry and Dave and Joe and so on and so on. The fishing is red hot and no other way to put it. We have seen fish sipping dries, we have slammed huge fish on streamers, nymphing is always good (with the exception of the day my poor folks drove up here to spend the day with me on "mud creek". They can fly fish too. No visibility and dazed and confused fish combined to make for a little slower day. They caught fish it just wasn't like our normal 50-75 fish day. Note to self and everyone else....first day of the flush.......dirty water.) The streamer bite is back on pretty good. The other day I got to take an old buddy Dave Woodward and his friend Joe down after the flush and streamers was the ticket. Dave's first fish was a beautiful 22 plus inch rainbow, his next fish was big hen brown, and yep you guessed it, his third fish was a giant pure cutthroat. That is folks the North Platte Slam. Some say you include the cuttbow in that which he caught several of later in the day anyway so way to go Dave. Joe wacked several real big fish as well. The ticket was olive and of course tan/white. The Home Lumber crew brought their big sticks again and showed us again that they are a forse to be reconed with. Dan Lowe caught a HUGE cuttbow, while Bruce, Larry and Dan had to settle for only several 20 plus inch pigs. Our nymphing set-up has been as constent as the wyoming wind. Red rock-worms in size 6-14, leeches in any color sizes 6's and 8's, and dropping off midges in tan, brown, or black sizes 18-20. Pretty simple!!! Anyway, I have to get back on the river today so I'd better get going. I know Tom Cooper and his crew are chomping at the bit to get their fish on the next fishing report. Till then.......go fishing and remember if you can see them in fast current on gravel.....THEY ARE SPAWNING! Help us preserve our wonderful natural river. Thank's for everything that you all do for us!!

Warm Temps. And Scalding Hot Fishing!!!

2007-03-13T12:21:00.000-08:00

Who cares that is has been in the 70's the fishing is hot. With most of the ice gone off the banks now the flushing schedule is set for next week (March 19th-23rd.) Good thing too because this past weekend we started seeing several fish on the redds doing their deed. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, leave our spawners alone. Remember if you can see them and they are in less than 4 feet of water then they are spawning. Thank's to them we have a wonderful river that is full of non-stocked wild trout and for that we should let them be for their and our benifit. Like I said, fishing the past week has been steadily picking up. "Streamer Stu Tanner" caught the slam on Friday picking up a huge cuttbow and a pig brown to go along with his nice couple of rainbows and cutthroat. Meanwhile his son Henry nymphed away with rockworms (size 10-14), leeches (size 6), and lil' black midges (size 18-20) compiling a good number of hard pulling fish. Streamer fishing has slowed way down for some reason but you can still pick up a big fish looking for a big meal. Great thing about early season streamer fishing, It's very rare to catch a small fish. Mike Rempe was also able to catch a big cuttbow stripping a light collored streamer real slow through the deep runs. Nice fish Mike and look........NO WIND!!!!! Amazing folks but yes it does happen. I had my friends Matt and Angela Schenck out enjoying the weather on Sunday and we managed to catch a lot of fish and I mean A LOT of fish nymphing. Streamer action was slow but the big fish couldn't resist the rockworms. We didn't need any other fly that day. Thank's for coming and letting us experience a great day of fishing with you. We appreciate your business and hope everyone who fishes with us enjoys their trip and takes home memories that will last a lifetime. We'll still see more snow but for us Spring is here. Get your rods out, dust em off, string em up, and LET'S GO FISHIN!!!!!!

With Spring Coming....Fishing is HEATING UP!!

2007-03-05T09:46:00.000-09:00

Wow, who would believe that Spring is already around the corner? We have had the chance to get out a few times over the winter and float, when there wasn't an ice dam at Lusby, and have had some very productive days. Here the last couple of weeks the temperatures have been eliminating some of the ice and warming up the river just enough. The fishing has been great.

From the Reef to Lusby: This weekend the recipe was as follows: Rock worm (size 8-16), Midges (size 18-20; any color), Leech (size 10), with about 9 ft. to your #1 weight. That rig is what it's all about, and a dead drift of course.

The water temps are still pretty cold below Lusby, but there is some fishing to be done. Below Lusby, fishing seems to be about the same with the addition of the good ol' San Juan worm.

Slow crawling small streamers is a good way to catch some big fish this time of year as well.

Well, with Spring brings change and change is good... right? I hope so. I will not be seeing some of your smiling faces as often this year. I have taken a new job with Depuy Spine, which is a Johnson & Johnson company. I will be covering medical sales for Neuro Surgeons in Casper and surrounding areas. I actually get to sit in on surgery's which is way cool. It is a wonderful opportunity and I have enjoyed my new job so, so, so, much so far and am setting my goal to be a "lifer" here. Try not to miss me too much, hahahah! I will still get to get out on the weekends, so hope to see you all very soon.

Jason is doing well and he had a good season with his bird hunting down in Wheatland. He has already started his spring trips to Florida. A couple of weeks ago he was down there and caught several snook, and 2 TARPON (15-30lbs) FROM A SEA KAYAK. Pretty cool huh? He will be going back down in April to catch some of the big boys.

All-in-all the Cowboy Drifter Family wintered very well; our wives haven't left us, our dogs are still alive, haven't slept on the couch for any great periods of time, the river still has water in it... for now that is, the inlaws still like me, and most of all, God is continually blessing our families each and every day.

There are two guarantees in life
(1)-everyone in life will let you down at some point,
(2)-Jesus WON'T
Have a wonderful day,
Mark Hamrick

Would You Like a Little Snow With Your Fishing?

2006-11-17T11:58:00.000-09:00

Ok, Ok, Ok........ I know it has been a coon's age before the last post
but I really have been super busy, and the older brother uses his computer illiteracy as an excuse. So that leaves me trying to get a fishing report in-between my 18 hours of school, teaching at a local elementary, guiding on the weekends (and skipping school during the week to guide), assistant wrestling coaching duties at Kelly Walsh High School, and most of all trying to spend time with my beautiful and loving wife leaves me little time, or I forget, to do the good ol’ fishing report. While Jason is off hunting deer, geese, coyotes, and…………………, well you get the picture. So, to the fishing.

The fishing is definitely starting to change. We are moving our way back up river to the Gray Reef section where the moss is actually thinning out very fast. We have had a tough fall as far as water clarity, but each day it seems to get better. With the reservoirs so low, especially Pathfinder, any wind seems to mix the lake up pretty good and give the water some discoloration. And as many of you know, we don’t lack the wind, but it is actually clearing up really nice. The fish are eating on midges (gray, black, red - size: 18-22) , the rock worm (size 16-12), San Juan worm, leach, scuds (orange, tan – size: 14-16), and the occasional streamer. We have downsized our streamers because the fish are not quite as active as they used to be due to the lowering of the water temperature. The nymphing is really effective on the Gray Reef section right now. We have been averaging around 40 fish days, and have been catching some huge fish too.

These pictures at the top of the page are from a rather cold day of fishing, but the big fish were eating thank God. I don’t think the temperature got above 26 degrees all day which really commends the Denver Boys on sticking it out. They had foot and hand warmers in, well almost ever part of the body imaginable. Lucky for me I was rowing and didn’t get as cold as the fisherman.

I will be on the river tomorrow and hope to get some more pics for you all. I will be signing off hoping to see you soon. Don’t forget to book your GOOSE HUNTS as the calendar in filling up.

Mark Hamrick

Some streamer fish from a couple of weeks ago that will blow your mind. These fish are definitely Big ol' fish with attitudes.

WHERE MY HOGS AT?

2006-09-27T13:36:00.000-08:00

So, I know it has been a long time coming but in between my 18 credit hours of school, guiding full time, and spending time with my wonderful new wife I don't have a lot of spare time. So I will give you a quick run down. FISHING IS AWESOME!!!!!

We have had a bit of moisture in the past couple of weeks so we have had a couple days here and there where the water has been a bit colored. We have been able to catch fish those days, but it is the days inbetween where the water is good and clear that the magic happens. We have been streamer fishing mostly using browns, olives, and tans, but brown with yellow/orange rubber legs has been the most productive.

I will let you in on a little secret, the DRY FLY FISHING is back! The blue-wings are out-and-about and with the overcast days we have been having the big fish showing their noses. I had a friend/client of ours, Ray Rivera, who is a Cali boy get "tight" on at least 15 pigs on dries in one day. I have to give him props because, and this is no joke, he caught every fish he cast to on dries that day. The dude was on fire you could say. Another funny thing that happened on his recent trip was how this report got its name. We were coming down the home stretch of his last day of his week of fishing with us. We were coming up on some really good structure and with a great cast into the rubble and 2 strips of the fly Ray says, "Where my hogs at?", at that moment a HUGE, and I mean HUGE, fish came from the depths to claim his prize. Upon crushing the CD streamer (brown & gold), not more than 2 inches from the surface, the bow splashed the two of us as Ray was finishing his famous line in which I will never forget. Is all I could say was "He is right there", of course with some minor editing and facial expressions. So, needless to say it was a great way to top off Ray's trip and to give me some motivation to get my school done so I could get back on the river.

I do have to say that there is some excellent fishing to be done now until mid-November, so give us a jingle. Try to plan ahead because we are booked up pretty solid, but would love to fit you in.

Fish bum for life,

Mark

The fish ended up landing in the water, but check out his face. Funny stuff!!!

Water's Dropping & BIG Fish are Chasing! Streamers That Is!!!!

2006-08-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow anglers. The Bureau of Rec. dropped the river flows, finally. We are currently running at about 1000 cfs and scheduled to drop down to our winter flows of 500 cfs. The moss is moving out and the fishing is fabulous. I guess it is time to think about getting those fall fishing clothes out and get those streamer boxes filled. I can't believe it is already here. Anyway, I know several of you were interested in a fall fishing trip, which is the best fishing this river has to offer. We still have some open days in September and October so check your schedules and lets catch that 10 lb. fish. Remember, in the fall we fish lower. Prettier scenery and much larger fish. We will have the opportunity to throw dry flies, streamers, and yes we can still nymph with indicators. I just thought I would touch base since I hadn't heard from some of you. I don't want anyone left out and I know you are all very busy so.....turn the computers off and lets go fishing. Hope all is well and look forward to hearing back from you.

Jason Hamrick
Cowboy Drifters
http://www.wyocowboydrifters.net/
307-333-4041 or (Jason 307-331-2031)
(Mark 307-259-7717)

We were strippin’ streamers the last two days and caught some hogs. I know most of you probably think that Stu never works because he always has huge fish pics on our website, but he is a great streamer fisherman and the last time I checked you can't catch these HOGS at your desk. I also have to give Jim (The top two pics) an A++ for his streamer fishing. He is a "newbee" at chuckin' streamers but he did an awesome job as you can see. Well here is my good word for the week and hope this will give all of you HOG FEVER.

Good colors right now are tan/white, olive, and a brown yellow combo. As Jason said the water is lowering and the fish are a little easier to find, and man are they hungry. Talk to ya soon, Mark.

Thank God for High Water!!!!!!!!

2006-08-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

Well, as many of you know trout don’t like 100 degree plus temperatures. But, thanks to high water for most of the summer our fishery is still producing lots of fish. In the past we would have to be especially careful this time of year with over stressing the fish. I’m not saying will still don’t do that now but the high water has kept out water temps lower than in the past yielding to fish that still like to eat. The fishing is still good and we seem to be catching bigger fish.

The nymphing rigs are still a leach pattern of some sort. We have been using a natural colored pine squirrel leach, size 10, and the good ol’ San Juan. The caddis are starting to become more abundant so you can’t go wrong with a cream Rocky Mountain Caddis, size 14or 16, and a hare’s ear, size 14 as a dropper off a leach or San Juan.

Now, the fishing that has been real successful has been stripping streamers off the banks. When it gets hot the fish have a tendency to move to the banks for a little shade and relaxation. They are some big fish too. We have been using several different streamer patterns. The bait fish are getting bigger so your natural colors, gray, are good along with black, and brown & yellow combos work fairly well.

Just a reminder to everyone wanting to get in a fall fishing trip before old man winter sets in, we are starting to book up lots and lots of days starting in late August through October. So, give us a call so we can get you set up for the amazing fall streamer and dry fly season. Jason talked to the Bureau of Reclamation and they are going to start dropping the water at the end of August so the fishing will be on fire in early September.

Well thats all from me... Catch on the river or the golf course..Yeah!!!!!

Hoppers on the Platte!!!!

2006-07-20T16:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I know I said I had two pics of fish that had eatten hopper's well here they are. Also, my under-water camera works, and Chad likes carp. Ha ha.

(and I have to give Mr. Valdez an "Adda Boy" for the cast he put on that fish)

Fishing Dries to Wedding Bells!!!!!!!

2006-07-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

Hey there fishing friends and family. Well another one gets hitched. Jason and Nikki got married down in the Florida Keys this past week and of course Jason got some fishing in. A couple of firsts for him down there were one, he caught a PERMIT, and two, he caught a BRIDE. Yeah, not too many guys can get away with those two things at the same time, but Jason never seizes to amaze us. Well good luck to Jason and Nikki! May God bless you both!!!!

OK, so the weather here has been everything but cool, but the fish are still eating. I know I don't think the fish on the North Platte here around Casper ever stop. We have still had some good days of Dry Fly action, and the streamer fishing is still really good. We still are fishing PMD's, Yellow Sally's, Caddis, and we have been dropping them off the good ol' incredible edible HOPPER. Big ones too. The best thing about that is that we are actually getting a few fish eating the hopper. It is way cool to see on this part of the Platte for sure.

The nymphing is still good as you can see by Casey Bramlett and his girl friend Marcy. There is still some big fish wanting to get bigger. We caught most of our fish on a leach or pheasant tail. We had a good day up on the Reef. We had to go up there due to muddy water closer to town but the water has cleared up and the closer to town the better the fishing for sure.

Oh yeah, this here brown was caught by Scott Reed on a big ol' streamer that I tied, haha. Good work Scott, fun day man!!!!

The little ones below are the Faxon kids and I think they might have out-fished their Dad that day, but you Might have to ask Greg on that one. I think Traci even out-fished him too. Just playin Greg.......

So, if you are thinking of something to do before the school year creeps any further get out there and wet a line. You can't go wrong.

Well, I will leave you with a couple more pics to try to give you some incentive to get your wheels a turnin'. Double on Dries!!!!!! Brown on Streamer!!

So, there you have it. The fishing is good, ALL the Hamrick boys are MARRIED (Edna thought that was never gonna happen) and LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!

WOW that is a busy one, until next time.

God Bless!!!!

Mark Hamrick

DRY FLIES!!!!!!

2006-06-30T17:49:00.000-08:00

Well I know it’s been a while and I know I always have an excuse, but I think my excuse this time is a pretty good one. I am a “Newly Wed”. I know, way cool huh. I think so any way. I got married to a local girl who is now Mrs. Shelby Hamrick. Sounds good doesn’t it, and she fishes too as you can see (thats her to the left). To go with that Jason has been down in the Florida Keys preparing for his upcoming wedding as well. He will be getting hitched on July 15th down in the Keys. We all wish him luck. Ok, so enough about us.

The fishing is still good. It isn’t spring anymore, but we are still catching lots of nice fish. The PMD’s and Yellow Sally’s are here and in full force. We are also fishing the incredible edible leach. The basic rig right now for nymphing is some sort of a PMD pattern, Mercer’s poxy back size 14-16, pheasant tails 14-18, amber stone’s 14-16, leaches size 10, swimming caddis size 16, and the ol’ San Juan too. We are also picking up lots of fish on streamers, pretty much tan and black, and DRY FLIES. Yeah you read it right, DRY FLIES. With the PMD’s and Sally’s coming off the fish in the Bessemer Bend area are coming up to the top quite regularly. There isn’t a lot of dry fly activity above Government Bridge but further down river we have caught some big fish on top.

The moss is getting worse and the river is still high as ever but as far as we know the fish are still eating and if you can stand a little heat in the afternoon there is still some good fishing to be done. So, don’t give way to a little moss and good ol’ sunshine and get out there and enjoy, and if you don’t want to do the work yourselves we have some fish bums that would be more than happy to get you on some fish of a lifetime. Well that will be it from me I have to hit the tying bench and crank out some flies for my trip tomorrow.

See ya on the water…………….

Mark Hamrick

Funny Things Happen on the River!!! And other places...

2006-05-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

Wow! I had an unreal day on the river the other day with some southerners that really had never even seen a fly rod before. Brian and his son Adam were along with our good buddy, Cooper on a wonderful sunny day on the “Reef”. Adam was the fish slayer of the day. He had never even had a fly rod in his hand so I guess you could call it beginners luck. He is 12 years old and boated close to 35 fish, HIMSELF. His dad Brian, was right there with him putting the boat to over 60 fish in the net. Here are a couple of shots of Adam, one of the fish wasn’t very photogenic as you can see. So as you can tell you don’t have to be an expert to catch fish here on the North Platte, you just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy the day and the fish will come.

Here are a couple of fish that were caught on DRIES Monday, May 22. The one is a cutty that would weigh around 4 pounds, (Chad Plummer caught him) and the other is a nice BROWN (I got that one). Yep, a brown on a dry fly on the North Platte in Casper. I know most people say you can’t fish DRIES here, but I disagree. It would be safe to say that from here until who knows when that a couple of fish a day can be caught on dries. So, those of you that want to catch huge fish on dries, I know where to hunt them up. I’m not saying we will catch a lot of fish on top, but you will catch some big boys.

Also, a wonderful peacock bass caught on fly by our great friend Doctor Suell. Congrats on an awesome fish and keep your destinational fishing pictures coming for our Cowboy Drifter community to enjoy.

Oh, here are a couple of BROWNS we picked up on streamers the other day too.

The North Platte is Full of Surprises

2006-05-24T06:34:00.000-08:00

Well, once again I am really slacking on my fishing report but I am glad to say that I am done with finals and school is out for summer. Yipeeeee! So, that brings me to the other thing that has been keeping all of us at Cowboy Drifters extremely busy, "wackin fish". We are still catching lots and lots of really nice fish.

The egg patterns have seemed to slow down a little and most of the fish are done spawning and moving back into the main runs. With the egg pattern slowing down, the baetis are in full force. Our morning rig is a rock work (size 16), a grey/olive WD-50 (size 18-20), and a grey Johnny flash (size 18-20) is really working them over. We have still been fishing the inside seems since the flow is 2,439 cfs. The afternoon rig depends on the cloud cover and the hatch. You can keep the same stuff on all day if it is cloudy and the bugs are coming off. The high water has been good to us guides. I was conversing with another guide and we were commenting on if it has ever been this good in the past and we both concluded it is way awesome right now, well just like I always say......"this river never seizes to amaze me".

I would just like to say thanks to our guides and Cowboydrifter Die hards out there who have continued their support for our business. OUR guides are always working to get better, find new water to fish, and most of all do what it takes to make your experience an experience of a lifetime, most of the time being the first group of boats on the water and the last ones off.

Research & Development..Continued!!!!!!

2006-05-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

Well, Jason, Chad, and Jason's fiance Nikki went for another day of R & D and it worked out very well. The weather was a little nicer than the last R & D day and the fish were lots bigger. This big brown was pushing 26 inches ( the one on the left), but a perfect specimen of an untouched wild brown trout. And just a solid porker hen on the right. It doesn't get much better. And this is the North Platte River?????????????

Days off don't come too often and when they do we have to get our fill of strippin streamers. As you can see the weather was not for your fair-weather fisherman, hence we had the day off. We went South in search of the big yellow fin and found a couple. It snowed pretty much all day but it was awesome to spend some quality time with my brother Jason and talk about what we do best, FISHING.

Get out and get fishing!

mark

The BWO's Have Arrived!!!!

2006-05-01T06:36:00.000-08:00

Well, sorry for slacking on the fishing updates but Cowboy Drifters has been extremely busy. The weather has been outstanding for the most part the last couple of weeks, well an occasional snow storm, but the wind has been pretty mild. With the lack of wind and nice weather we have been able to actually see some BWO's on the water before the wind blows them away. The fish are starting to come up to the top for blue wings on the lower stretches, as far as Bessemer Bend, but just a few. It will start to get real good here in the next couple of weeks and I am pretty sure a person could get some good dry fly action soon. We have still been spending most our time on the Reef section because it is hard to leave those big fish up there. We are still consistently catching lots and lots of fish every day using the rock worm (size 16-12), WD-40 (size 18/olive), orange egg (any size) and the occasional leech in the late afternoon. We have had some great group trips in lately and would just like to thank some of the the boys from Cali (that's their plane), the boys from Kittery Point, Maine & and other places (The guys with the double hook up,), The Padlock Ranch & First Interstate Bank Boys, and everyone else that chooses to come have fun with the good ol' Cowboy Drifters. If it wasn't for all of you we wouldn't be fishing for a living that's for sure.

Thanks again and I better get back to my school work, only two weeks left. Yipeeeeeeeee!!!!!

See ya on the water or in my boat,

mark

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!

2006-04-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

What a big fish day, or morning, we had. These two loyal Cowboy Drifter clients are the kings of half-days. They always seem to catch tons of fish and big ones too by noon, and then they have the rest of the day to fulfill their other hobbies I guess. Well, whatever it is it works for them. We had a great morning and had lots of nice fish in the boat on the usual. Rock worm---------egg----------, seems funny but that's all it takes here this time of year. You don't have to get too technical with your patterns. Virtually any size of orange or chartreuse egg, and basically anything from a 10-16 on the rock worm.
This is such a great time of year to be a guide, the flies you have to tie take 10 minutes a dozen, and is all you need is two flies. I have had a couple days in the last week that we have the same exact two flies on the rod at the end of the day that we started with, and had fifty fish in the net. May be it's not that easy for everyone, or maybe I just have the lucky boat. IF YOU DON"T BELIEVE ME.........COME SEE IT FOR YOURSELF.
But, the fish are holding on the inside seems since the water is around 1700 cfs. That's the catch, most people are still centering up on the runs where these North Platte fish are lazy and they like the softer water on the insides. Just a quick tip ya might want to hold on to for next time.

Well enough from me, I got to get packed and headed to Wheatland to see my family for Easter (I am way excited to see my family, especially my nephew Cael. I just had to put him in here so you can all see him). I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter, safe travels and keep em' tight with Cowboy Drifters.

One more thing------Jase and I, and all of our guides would like to thank all of our Cowboy Drifter Family (thats all of you.....yah, the clients) for making our first spring such a great one so far. We appreciate your business and will continue to work hard to be the best outfit on the river. Thanks guys and gals,

mark hamrick

One of the Lord's Many Blessings

2006-04-14T17:43:00.000-08:00

Well what a wonderful experience I was able to have with a couple amazing Christian brothers on the river. It is not too often when you can have a full 8 hours of fellowship in such an awesome place as on the North Platte River near Casper,WY. Here are a couple of awesome fish caught by my good friends Bill and Dennis. Well these two days I think a person could call it "catching" instead of fishing. The fishing has been great this spring and it continues to improve. Still using the rock worm size 16-12, and the good ol egg, mostly orange size 12 or so.

Come see us,
mark

Getting "tight" with Cowboy Drifters!!!!!!!

2006-04-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

Well Just another wonderful week of fishing here in Casper. The fish are definitely in full spawn with the good ol rock work (size 14) and a tan midge (18-20) working really well. Fishing has really picked up here on the North Platte and it is any day now for our BWO's to start poppin. I have seen a couple stragglers but the BWO nymphs are getting super active. Little pheasant tails (16-18) and other BWO patters are working pretty darn good.

We have been also picking fish up in the deep runs with egg patterns (mostly chartreuse), but keep in mind you don't have to fish the redds this time of year to catch fish on the egg.

Please leave the spawners alone especially the fish on the redds. There are plenty of fish in the main runs. Fish also spawn in deeper water sometimes if the river structure is right so be aware of that also. It is up to us guides to educate other fisherman of the importance of this issue. We don't have to be rude about it to others but we can be tactful and educational on informing people that are fishing spawners.

Here are a couple of our father-son, father daughter teams and friends that have enjoyed the Cowboy Drifter experience and some other fisherman friends that have enjoyed lots of tight lines too. Don't hesitate to give us a call and come catch some huge fish like these yourself.

See ya on the river,
Mark Hamrick

Lumber Boys Strikes With a Vengeance!!!

2006-04-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

Well the lumber boys out of Denver, CO came to Casper with their game faces on. They sure did hit the fishing right on time. We fished the flush one day and post flush a day and WOW did they catch some awesome fish. They caught an estimated 300 plus fish between 3 boats in 2 days. We had some success strippin natural and olive streamers but most of our fish were caught nymphing. The best bugs were the rock worm (size 14) and a mixture of little midges (black, brown, tan 18-20), crane fly larva, and leech patterns. These same patterns have continually worked throughout the past few days.

The spawn has taken off and there are lots of fish on the redds, SO PLEASE LET THE FISH SPAWN WITHOUT DISTURBING THEM IN ANY WAY. This means casting to, fishing for, and wading in their beds. PLEASE all of you COLORADO guides be conscious and respectful to OUR precious resource and stay off of the redds. If your flies are a couple of feet from your indicator, most likely you are fishing spawners.

Fishing is still Great!!!! And better to come....

2006-03-21T06:19:00.000-09:00

And some people say they are glad they aren't fishing right now because the weather isn't good and neither is the fishing. Huh????? Looks to be pretty good. Some huge hogs have been caught lately sticking to the bread and butter. WORMS, LEECHES, and MIDGES! Need we say more. The FLUSH is going on this week March 20th-24th so beware of that. The fishing is still good after they drop the water so don't be afraid to go wet a line. Oh yeah, the fishing is amazing post flush, so give us a call and we can get you hooked up on some trophy trout as you can see. Enjoy!

Two HUGE Browns in One Day!!!!!

2006-03-10T19:03:00.000-09:00

Well it was a long awaited reunion of one of my childhood friends, and an old fishin' buddy. If I knew that you could catch fish like they did today, and is all it took was years of procrastinating, everyone out there might give it a shot. Just kiddin, don't wait because fishing is red hot right now. I was joined today by my childhood friend, Levi Mickelsen, and old fishing buddy, his dad, Mick Mickelsen. Levi and his dad purchased the trip at a Pheasants Forever Banquet, which was donated by Cowboy Drifters. Levi is the one with the bigger brown, his dad felt sorry for him. Again I am jokin, but Mick wasn't gonna let Levi totally out do him. We had to deal with a little cold but absolutely no wind to speak of. WOW I know. We seemed to catch fish consistently all day long on chocolate midges (size 20), and a few on the ol' rock worm (size 12). I had a great day on the river as usual, but today was extra special spending some long awaited fishing time with some great friends. It seems to be a trend in my boat, the more fun you have, the bigger the fish. All of you fisherman out there better come join us on the river because guess what, those browns were released for the next Cowboy Drifter to hook em up!!!! And guess what else, I know what they like to eat....

Fish are starting to stage up in some of the runs, no fish on the redds yet but it won't be long. Just a reminder we want to leave ALL spawning fish ALONE, even if it is a hog. There are plenty non-spawning fish to be caught so lets take good care of our wonderful resource and educate fellow fisherman of proper spring fishing etiquette. JUST A REMINDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SPRING FLUSH IS SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 20th-24th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Research & Development

2006-02-13T14:56:00.000-09:00

Hey fishin fanatics & friends,

Well, the Reef section is still producing some awesome fish. Today was another outstanding day to be on the North Platte. Chad Plummer, a fellow Cowboy Drifter guide, Dick O'Quinn, a good friend, and myself found ourselves out on the river for a little research & development. Just a day to get out and enjoy some time with friends and try some new patterns. We caught fish from the put-in to take-out on a variety of streamers and especially the good ol' "rock worm" and orange scud. Dick spent most of the day nymphing up some amazing fish while Chad and I got down and dirty slow strippin our streamers. It didn't seem to matter, streamers or nymphing, we seemed to be in fish all day. We couldn't complain with the weather since it is February and 45 degrees. Once again this river never stops amazing me. At one point Dick was saying that he didn't know you could catch fish like that in the middle of winter. Well it was proven today that is does happen. Well, I leave you with a couple pics to help get your next trip planned.

Our best bugs: Pine squirrel streamer: Olive/Black size (4-6); Olive/Tan flashabou Bucktail size (4); Orange scud (14); Rock worm (12)

See ya on the water,

Mark Hamrick

Chuckin' Streamers!!!!!!

2006-02-08T16:00:00.000-09:00

Hey there friends and fisherman. Today was one of those days that you will probably never forget. One reason being, Stu Tanner and I fished today and the weather was outstanding (NO WIND) and secondly, the fishing was awesome. Stu stripped streamers all day and we either had a fish on, or had the fish trying to eat our bugs. We had a lot of short strikes today which is typical for winter streamer action, but I would have to say that today was one of the best winter streamer days I have ever had, or witnessed I guess, on the Reef.

I just have to sit back and thank God for such a wonderful river and especially give thanks for opportunity to get out with such wonderful friends. Fishing seems to do that to people. I knew it was going to be a great day, not only because of the fishing but because what happened early in the day. With the boat ramp still in sight we landed our first fish and Stu said "well, we proved to be successful, now the rest is just icing on the cake." These are the kind of days were time away from the everyday grind and time spent with friends seems to be more valuable than the numbers of fish that reach the net. Well enough from me, I will leave you with a couple of Stu's nice fish. One is a real nice Cutty.

Oh yeah we were using Blonde Polar Bear (2), Black Pine squirrel (6), Olive Slump Buster (4).

See ya on the water,

Mark Hamrick

CABIN FEVER!!!!!!

2006-02-06T15:52:00.000-09:00

Hey there fellow fisherman and friends. I know the winters can get long and it seems spring will never come but the fishing on the North Platte River around Grey Reef is still producing lots of big fish. With Mr. Groundhog seeing his shadow will are supposed to be in for 6 more weeks of winter, but I encourage anyone with a little "cabin fever" to grab you gear and hit the river. Here are a couple of nice fish caught by my brother Jason and his fiance Nikki this past weekend.

What's Working

Grey Reef: Orange/Olive Scuds- (10-14), Black,Chocolate,Tan Johnny Flash- (18-22), Blood Worms- (12-18), & slow stripped slumpbusters in brown, black, tan, & olive (6-10).

Miracle Mile: Orange Scuds (12-16), Black/Tan/Chocolate Midges (18-22), Orange blossom Special (6-10).

Freemont Canyon: Slow moving streamers (6-10)