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!

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!

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!

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!

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!!!!

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!