07-31-2011, 05:05 PM
Went up to the Wyoming Range for a couple days. Knowing the water was extremely high I headed up the Lander cutoff. Being fairly late I didn't stop and fish Smith's Fork or upper LaBarge but both looked to be quite fishable. Hit the Upper Grays. Quite a bit of water but clear. Fishing was has very good in the upper 10 miles for small to medium cutts. Big cutts sometimes hang out with higher flows but this late in the year they must have all headed downstream. Problem was the lower 50 miles was just too much water to wade.
The next morning I pulled into a spot on the Little Grays right above where it dumps into the main river. Flows looked high but clear and wadable. I was drinking coffee and giving the dogs breakfast while waiting for things to warm up for some terrestial action. I truck goes by heading upstream. Then 20 minutes later 2 guys come hiking down through the trees as I was almost ready to hit the water. They're about 40 yards away in waders with fishing gear when the see me. Instead of saying anything they just look toward the river and walk over and begin fishing. They never made eye contact or looked at me again. Unbelieavable, what kind of obnoxious idiots jump in 40 yds above you without a soul in sight otherwise? I do have a strong suspicion where they might be from. I drive upstream and a half mile up is the truck these 2 drove up in. Sure enough they have Utah plates[:|]. No vehicles for the next mile. I head back down and park a few hundred yards from their truck. I walk down until I see them down below. Instead of cutting in right above them, I decide to head upstream an extra hundred yards knowing they will likely never see me with all the bends in this section. I cut off the hopper and tie on a big ole prince nymph. I hit ever hole no matter how small with that nymph until I get a couple hundred yards above their truck. Almost ever hole produces a trout or 2. Must have caught 50 trout in 90 minutes. Most aren't very big but I didn't want to leave any fish willing to strike as they passed through. Only then do I change back to the hopper. Hopper fishing was OK. I head back to the car and drive up a few miles. There's the 2 getting ready to hit the stream a hundred yards above someone else working up the river. I thought about jumping in above these 2 again but decide against it. Hit another mile of stream further up. This time throwing in some size 8 orangish cicadas as there where tons down below. The cicada fly draws up to 3-4 strikes on many casts. Thankfully littler fish only occasional hooking themselves. Very fast fishing but still not a single fish over 15 inches the entire trip. By now it's past 3 pm and it's threatening to rain. So I head back to the car in time to beat the downpour.
I wish this was an isolated experience. Every time in Wyoming I've encounter monkeys acting like they're fishing the middle Provo with miles of open stream they're from Utah. Probably a couple weeks until most of the Grays is wadable and you have a chance at the bigger fish.
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The next morning I pulled into a spot on the Little Grays right above where it dumps into the main river. Flows looked high but clear and wadable. I was drinking coffee and giving the dogs breakfast while waiting for things to warm up for some terrestial action. I truck goes by heading upstream. Then 20 minutes later 2 guys come hiking down through the trees as I was almost ready to hit the water. They're about 40 yards away in waders with fishing gear when the see me. Instead of saying anything they just look toward the river and walk over and begin fishing. They never made eye contact or looked at me again. Unbelieavable, what kind of obnoxious idiots jump in 40 yds above you without a soul in sight otherwise? I do have a strong suspicion where they might be from. I drive upstream and a half mile up is the truck these 2 drove up in. Sure enough they have Utah plates[:|]. No vehicles for the next mile. I head back down and park a few hundred yards from their truck. I walk down until I see them down below. Instead of cutting in right above them, I decide to head upstream an extra hundred yards knowing they will likely never see me with all the bends in this section. I cut off the hopper and tie on a big ole prince nymph. I hit ever hole no matter how small with that nymph until I get a couple hundred yards above their truck. Almost ever hole produces a trout or 2. Must have caught 50 trout in 90 minutes. Most aren't very big but I didn't want to leave any fish willing to strike as they passed through. Only then do I change back to the hopper. Hopper fishing was OK. I head back to the car and drive up a few miles. There's the 2 getting ready to hit the stream a hundred yards above someone else working up the river. I thought about jumping in above these 2 again but decide against it. Hit another mile of stream further up. This time throwing in some size 8 orangish cicadas as there where tons down below. The cicada fly draws up to 3-4 strikes on many casts. Thankfully littler fish only occasional hooking themselves. Very fast fishing but still not a single fish over 15 inches the entire trip. By now it's past 3 pm and it's threatening to rain. So I head back to the car in time to beat the downpour.
I wish this was an isolated experience. Every time in Wyoming I've encounter monkeys acting like they're fishing the middle Provo with miles of open stream they're from Utah. Probably a couple weeks until most of the Grays is wadable and you have a chance at the bigger fish.
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