Wyoming Return: Warmup Hike

After months of planning, a long drive across the country, and a major shift in plans before we ever set up our tents or started fishing, it was nice to wake up in my tent the first morning in Wyoming's Wind River Range. Anxious to get started, I was out of my tent shortly after first light and in plenty of time to enjoy a great sunrise. This would be a theme for the early part of our trip.

"Red in the morning, sailors take warning." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

Our plans that day were to revisit a lake that John and I had enjoyed on our first trip in 2023. The total distance was very manageable and would be a great warmup hike without our heavier overnight backpacks. The intent was to get around 8 miles or so in to help us acclimate before putting on the heavy packs. Best of all, the target lake would enable us to get a species or two that might be difficult to find elsewhere on our planned itinerary.

We hit the trail after a slow ride over lots of washboard with a healthy dose of potholes. The trailhead was exactly the same as I remembered it, and soon we left the dusty road behind as we walked through the pine forest. Hiking fast, we were soon entering the Popo Agie Wilderness and climbing steadily to our target lake. This lake is a bit below treeline, but close enough that the views open up in a dramatic way.

Walking along, I noticed that some of the wildflowers that had been growing in profusion in 2023 were much less prevalent. It appeared that even though our timing was similar, lots of plants were further along than they had been on our last trip. Still, there were enough interesting blooms to keep me looking. 

"Asters heralding the changing seasons." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

As the trail approached the lake, it skirted a lovely meadow where the stream carried enough water to suggest trout might be hiding in the undercuts. Sure enough, I pitched my Parachute Adams in and quickly found the first trout of the trip, a brook trout. These generally small fish overpopulate in the Rockies unfortunately where they are looked down upon as interlopers. My Smoky Mountain natives are invasives out west and generally treated as such by fisheries biologists. I'm still glad to catch them and they have saved a day of fishing for me on more than one occasion.

"Mandatory first fish picture." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

Leaving the small meadow behind, we were soon soaking in views of the lake. The odd rise was visible as well, so we knew there were fish active. On my last trip I had only fished the lake with a tenkara rod when we were passing by with full backpacks on our way to our campsite. This time, we had carried full fly rods and even had some sinking lines packed away just in case. Thankfully, we wouldn't need those. 

"High country lake views are the best." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

It took slightly longer to start finding fish than the previous trip, but we were still into fish within minutes. There was some chop on the surface that made spotting fish a little more challenging, but if you could get a good angle to see into the water, you would also see fish. 

This particular lake is fun because of the variety it offers. We caught plenty of brook trout but also found cutthroat and tiger trout. Some of them ate nymphs and some ate dry flies.

"Cutthroat on a dry fly." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

I didn't really intend to walk around the whole lake, but before I knew it, I was at the inlet with a decision to make: push on across the inlet stream and finish circuiting the lake or retrace my steps and call it a day. Being my first day at altitude, the second option was probably the smarter of the two, but not knowing if or when I would be back pushed me onward. 

"John casting on the inlet stream." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

My buddy John was game to keep going, so we were soon climbing over boulders on the north bank. I stopped for a feast on wild blueberries, the first of many on this trip. 

It was over on that far bank that John got an epic dry fly eat from a nice cutthroat. We had been leapfrogging each other and he was slightly ahead of me. I saw the whole thing out of the corner of my eye. Being a dry fly fanatic, John was in his element when the nice cutthroat rolled and sipped in the most cutthroat of ways possible. I could tell it was a nicer fish and quickly reeled my rod up and raced over to be ready to help as needed. Turns out John had things under control, so I just took a few pictures to document a neat moment. 

"John landing a nice dry fly eating cutthroat." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

By this point, I was wondering where Elam was. He had been catching fish so steadily that he hadn't moved very far from where we started. Since he hadn't been to this lake before, he wasn't in as big a hurry to see the next cove as I was. This was more a chance to see the whole lake for me. The distance added bumped our daily total up near the 10 mile range. What was intended as a short warmup hike was quickly turning into a real hike. Still, we were all feeling good. 

"Tiger trout on a dry fly." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

The day was getting late, however, and we wanted to be out before dark. The next day would truly be a big day. We intended to hike at least 12 or 13 miles with some significant elevation gain, loss, and more gain. Oh, and all this while hauling 40 pound backpacks laden with our gear and food for the next few days. Yes, we needed a good night's rest. 

"Last glance at this beautiful lake." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

We somewhat begrudgingly turned our steps back towards the truck. It had been a good day and I don't think it would have hurt our feelings to spend the night at this lovely lake. Little did we know that the daily adventure had some big surprises ahead back in camp that almost upended our entire trip... 

"Lupine on the hike out." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

Wyoming Return: The Beginning

Ever since my last trip to fly fish in Wyoming's Wind River Range, I've been intending to return. The spectacular scenery of the Winds is enough to draw me back, but the fantastic fishing is icing on the cake. Since we discovered some special additional places to fish on that last trip, the plan for the next visit was to return to several of those places and also to push into some new areas of the backcountry. 

READ: The Wyoming Saga: A Bonus Fly Fishing the North Platte River

Planning the Next Wyoming Wind River Range Fly Fishing Trip

On my first trip into the Wyoming backcountry, we stuck to a fairly easy route. The distance wasn't too bad, and the fishing was incredible. My long term goals for the Wind Rivers involve some serious off trail hiking, so the goal for this particular trip was to get in some more mileage and become more comfortable with navigating in this incredible mountain range. We settled on approximately doubling our distance for the hike in from our previous trip. This would put us into an area with multiple golden trout lakes and possibly even some stream fish.

Planning the trip was a process, but having been in the area before made things easy. We wanted to return to the North Platte, do the backpacking portion in the Wind River Range, and of course enjoy the Green River above Pinedale yet again. The trip took on a new dimension when my buddy Elam, the fly fishing manager at Blackberry Farm, agreed to join. My friend John was in, of course, having been the one who got me out to the Winds in the first place. For Elam, however, this would be the first trip out west to fish. I knew that he was going to get ruined and join the ranks of us who spend lots of our spare time planning the next adventure.

Lightening My Load

During the run up to our trip, I contemplated several adjustments to lighten the load in my backpack. First and foremost was eliminating my heavy camera setup. While I enjoyed the flexibility that a big camera offers when taking pictures, I really didn't want to lug that whole thing up there. My old cellphone was really struggling, so an upgrade there allowed me the flexibility with my pictures that I wanted while lightning in the overall load. 

Planning For Food

Food is always an important part of any trip. As I've gotten older, I've streamlined my diet significantly. The only time I spend serious time cooking in the outdoors nowadays are when I'm taking my family camping. I want my kids to get the total experience of camp cooking and enjoying some of the culinary delights it produces, but otherwise I don't need much. This philosophy led to eating the same meals over and over. Some of them could have been lighter, but I knew I wouldn't be short on calories. 

My breakfasts would be an excellent granola. Love Crunch Peanut Butter and Chocolate is insanely good and one of the few things I eat that has sugar in it. I've mostly eliminated sweet treats entirely, but this granola is just too good to skip. I add extra peanuts for the extra protein. My family and I generally use oat or almond milk, so I found an oat milk powder that I could add to the granola ahead of time and prepackaged each serving in sandwich bags. All I needed to do was add water in the morning and enjoy.

Lunch would be my favorite camping/backpacking lunch which is bagels (I like cinnamon raisin) and peanut butter. I use individual serving packets of Justin's peanut butter. I also tossed in a few raspberry and blueberry fig bars. 

Finally, supper would be a mix of two things: backpacker dinners for a couple of nights because I had some that were expiring soon and Andrew Skurka's beans and rice. This is a variation on a popular backpacker dinner that would soon become one of my all time favorites AND end up as my primary evening meal for backpacking trips moving forward. More on that over the next few installments of the Wyoming Return. 

Planning For Fly Fishing in Wyoming

The fishing was obviously the main driver of our trip. As I already mentioned, I would backpack in the Wind River mountains even without the draw of fishing because of the incredible scenery, but as enthusiastic fly anglers and fly fishing guides, we planned our trip around the good fishing to be had in Wyoming.

Our last trip ended with a surprising 24 hours on the North Platte, and we decided to start this next trip there. Starting in January of this year, Wyoming Game and Fish enacted new regs on the North Platte requiring barbless hooks. This covers water from the Miracle Mile downstream, so I decided to start tying. I ordered lots of barbless hooks from Fulling Mile and Firehole Outdoors. While pinching the barb on regular hooks is certainly fine for compliance purposes, I strongly believe that specialty barbless hooks hold fish much better with their longer and curved hook points. Thus, I set out building a tailwater box from scratch.

I had tricos on my mind after our last trip, so in addition to nymphs, larva, pupa, and various midges, I also tied 3 dozen trico dries including both duns and spinners. I was pumped to be sight fishing tiny dries to large risers, and that excitement gave me energy through multiple late night tying sessions. I'm honestly getting too old to burn the candle on both ends of the day, but thoughts of giant trout dancing in my head kept me going. Up and out of my house between 5 and 5:30 am most days for work guiding, then tying late until 10:00 pm or later in the evenings, I was approaching the point where I needed this fishing trip just to rest up from my busy life.

For backpacking, I mostly just raided some already existing fly supplies and boxes to put together my boxes for the backcountry. These boxes are heavy on parachute Adams, a few chubby Chernobyls, scuds, and various nymphs and midges. A small fly puck of streamers rounded out my assortment. A 9' 5 weight original Orvis Helios was perfect both for the lightweight rod tube it came in and also because it was a powerful rod that would handle wind very well. If you had any doubt whether there is wind in the Winds, I can assure you that there is. I think there is wind in the entire state of Wyoming for that matter. When I can, I really prefer my 10' 3 weight rods, but didn't want to do anything foolish. The 9' 5 weight is ideal for a broad range of techniques and strategies and would handle just about anything I might want to throw. I could fish the 3 weight rods in our car camping portions of the trip.

Driving Out To Wyoming

After months and months of planning, the final days leading up to the trip felt like a blur. Working full time and trying to pack and prepare for a trip is a lot, so I had taken off the last work day before our departure date to do my final packing. This proved to be a wise choice as I spent the whole day preparing. Finally, on the morning of the trip, excitement pushed me up and out of my house by 5:30 am. I picked up my buddies Elam and then John, and we were off.

As with most road trips, the long drive definitely starts to wear on everyone, but the excitement of getting to Wyoming and starting fishing kept us mostly lighthearted on the drive out. Elam was enjoying watching the changing scenery, and I always enjoy watching the changing ecosystems as I cross the Great Plains. Eventually, we started spotting some pronghorn which is always the moment that I feel like I've really arrived out west. It seemed like the windmills had multiplied also, Every time I go out west, I think there are more than the last time I drove out there. 

"A Kansas Windmill." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

Stopping By The Ugly Bug

My buddy John had specifically wanted to make a stop at the Ugly Bug fly shop in Casper, Wyoming. Most good fly fishing trips start with a stop at the local fly shop, so I was glad to check it out even though I had enough equipment and flies to start our own fly shop. It ended up being a great stop! I found some Semperfli thread I had been looking for and not finding locally and even better found out that they would ship! 

Unfortunately, our trip hit a bit of a snag starting at the Ugly Bug. John walked in and mentioned that he wanted flies for the North Platte. When John asked how it was, the guy gave a long pause and then said something about it being pretty warm. That was our warning. He said it was possible that things had cooled a little but to not expect too much. Upon leaving the fly shop, we filled up the gas tank again, and pointed the truck towards the North Platte. The plan was to camp near our fishing spot and hit it hard for a day or two. 

When we got there, instead of going straight to the campground to snag a spot and setup camp, we headed to the water to see what the situation was. Unfortunately, the water was definitely too warm. 70 degrees is not conducive to good trout fishing. It was time to shift our plans and we hadn't even gotten started yet. 

"The first storm of the day in Wyoming." ©2026 David Knapp Photography

Staying Flexible

The truck turned west yet again and we decided it was time to hit the Winds. If we couldn't fish the North Platte, we would just jump straight into the main event. Who needs to acclimate? On the drive west, we encountered some epic storms. The radar was looking gnarly, and sure enough, we had some very strong winds, small hail, and insane lightning. As we got close to the mountains, the storm broke for a little while.

The trailhead for our backpacking portion of the trip had a USFS Campground and we snagged a nice campsite. There was plenty of room for all three of us to put up a tent. After some discussion, it was determined to go ahead and reserve it for two nights. We would do a warmup hike the next day without our heavy backpacking packs. That would help get us used to elevation and get our first fish caught, we hoped. 

We didn't stay up late. More storms moved in and as lightning started to pepper the ridge just above camp, it seemed prudent to hunker down in our tents and hope for the best. I feel asleep that evening with the soft sound of raindrops on my rainfly. Our adventure had started...

The Wyoming Saga: A Bonus Fly Fishing the North Platte River

Most fly fishing trips have at minimum a general itinerary. If there are guided trips involved, then it is likely a very specific itinerary out of necessity. As a long time fly fishing guide myself, I know how busy guides get, and there is no room for last minute schedule adjustments for most trips even if conditions aren't optimal. That's one thing that makes guides good at what they do if they stay in the business: they have learned to put fish in the net no matter the conditions.

Since our Wyoming trip was completely self guided, we had more flexibility. So, when the first phase of our trip was cut short, we had more wiggle room than anticipated. That ended up being the best decision we made the entire trip for so many reasons. The top two reasons being the incredible winds that would have been miserable to fight all day at high altitude, and the epic experience we had on the famed North Platte River. 

Planning a North Platte Fly Fishing Trip

Most things I do in life are researched far too much. Every little facet is explored. This extends to most of my fishing excursions. Since we weren't planning to fish the North Platte River originally, there wasn't time for a thorough study of the fishing situation. So, after packing camp quickly on a cool frosty morning, we drove into town where we enjoyed yet another great breakfast (seriously, we ate there several times and it was excellent every time) at the Heart and Soul Cafe.
 
Over breakfast, we were both glued to our cellphones more than usual. I was catching up on business each time I had cell signal, but this time we were both researching the North Platte. I was leaning towards heading to the Miracle Mile if for no other reason than I had always wanted to see it and we were close by. The Grey Reef section was another I had heard plenty about, but was mostly boat fishing with limited wade access. I was close to convincing John when he came across some info on an overlooked little tailwater section of the river. It had the added benefit of being a little closer to a good route out of the state (i.e., less gravel road driving). After some debate back and forth, we decided to hit the less famous section. Little did we know what was ahead of us.

Camping Near the North Platte River

There are lots of places to camp near the North Platte River. This particular little tailwater we wanted to fish had a place to camp just upstream on the reservoir above. We hoped it would have some open sites. We needn't have worried. There were very few people around when we arrived.

 On the way, I had done a bit more research. Apparently the section we were heading to had a nice meadow section where we would likely spend most of our time along with a wild and rugged canyon section just below. The canyon was notorious for rattlesnakes and mostly best left to rock climbers, or so said the info I could find.

When we arrived, we drove down to look at the river before making a commitment. The hordes of large trout we spotted quickly convinced us to stay. Up to the campground we went to set up camp. My camping gear was a little damp because I put the tent away with dew and frost on it. Thankfully, the intense western sun and low humidity fixed that in about 2 minutes. Another 5 minutes later and my tent was up and ready for sleeping pad, bag, and pillow. That took another 5 minutes. Soon, we were piling back into the truck for a quick evening fishing trip. 

24 Hours of Fly Fishing on the North Platte

Normally, when I fish a new river, not only do a research every possible fishing scenario and location, I also plan for several days to learn the new piece of water sufficiently well. On this particular fishing location, we had 24 hours to unlock the secrets of the stream we were fishing. There wasn't a lot of info available online, just the type of scenario that suggests the fishing could be pretty good. 

When we got down to the stream, both of us started to treat the little tailwater like the technical piece of water that it was. I was fishing dry/dropper with one of my favorite midges on the bottom. John was stalking some risers that were working steadily. The water looked incredible, but we could tell that our work was cut out for us. I think both of us caught a small wild trout or two, but nothing to write home about. It was looking like we were down to our last day of fishing and needed solutions fast. 

Stars Over Wyoming

That night, I decided to stay up a little more than I had been on this trip. I'm normally quick to bed on fishing trips to rebuild my energy for the next day. This had been a trip with some long days of fishing, and I was getting tired. That's always a sign of a good trip, but I really wanted some night sky pictures. Starting at camp and ending my session right down at the water's edge on the big reservoir, I took pictures for much longer than I intended. I also saw a Starlink satellite array go by. It was pretty wild since I didn't know what I was seeing at the time. Thankfully, it was aliens, so I continued my photography and eventually headed back up the hill to camp for a good night's sleep. Here are some pictures from that session.

©2023 David Knapp Photography

©2023 David Knapp Photography

Cracking the Code on the North Platte

The next morning dawned bright, normal for what is nearly desert in central Wyoming. It is sunny more often than not, so come prepared to take precautions for sunburn. When the sun doesn't get you, the wind will. Wyoming is notorious for wind. We were fortunate to have relatively mild winds during this portion of our trip, but it still gusted from time to time.

 We quickly drove down the hill to the stream. John took off for the water while I ate a quick breakfast. I'm a breakfast guy for sure and don't function well without it. I don't need anything fancy, just some calories to get my on my way. Soon, I joined John on the stream and found a big trico hatch coming off. John was in his element. If there is one thing John likes more than anything in fly fishing, it is sight fishing to big fish with dry flies. 

Moving around the stream, we headed for a spot where we had found several giant fish the day before. Sure enough, they were feeding hard. I made myself the goal of catching the first big fish I had spotted the evening before. The tricos helped and soon I was making drift after drift over a monster. Eventually, my fly came through just right, the fish made a mistake, and I was hooked up to a rocket on 6x. Things went haywire pretty quick, and I was soon staring at the spot the fish used to break my tippet. Oh well, on to the next fish. The hatch wouldn't last forever. 

Despite several big fish hooked, we just didn't land any of the monsters. Huge weed beds, boulders and other obstructions made landing these big tailwater fish a challenge for sure. Still, we were honing in on the right flies, presentations, and where the fish held in the stream. 

Working our way slowly downstream, we jumped from run to run. At one likely bend, John made the cast of the trip to a fish working on the far bank over some fast water. The fly had about a 6 inch lane to land in. The fast water between him and the fish meant the drift was nearly impossible. With a slack line presentation and a perfect angle, he got just the right drift and the big fish ate. That fish stayed hooked up a little longer than my big fish higher up the stream, but the result was eventually the same. Tiny hooks, light tippets, and lots of cover were a big challenge.

 

Monsters Found on the North Platte River

As we neared the end of the meadow section, the dark canyon beckoned. I was starting to think about lunch and didn't want to get into good fishing only to get interrupted by hunger. After a quick trek to the truck for sustenance, we headed down for an afternoon in the upper canyon. Remembering the warnings about rattlesnakes, I was moving slow and really watching my step. If you've followed my blog any length of time, you know how snakes seem to find me (or do I find them?). I'm not paranoid exactly, but I am more cautious than most at this point in life. 

It didn't take long in the canyon to start finding fish. My favorite midge pattern was soon accounting for lots of big rainbows. John found a great cuttbow on one as well. These canyon fish mostly didn't have the huge weed beds to burrow into that had caused us so much trouble upstream. Still, giant boulders and innumerable smaller rocks made landing them a challenge.

John's big canyon rainbow was one of the most memorable fish of the afternoon. He was fishing in the first nice pocket where we saw a lot of fish. I had already caught a fish or two, and wanted to get him in on the action. After getting in position, it didn't take him long to hook up. The fish went crazy and was soon well downstream. Due to the nature of the canyon, it was almost impossible to follow with the fly rod. I quickly climbed up the rocks, ran around, and dropped in below John. The hook popped free before I reached the fish, but with a last second lunge, I got the big Brodin ghost net under the fish and scooped before it could race to safety.

Here are some of the fish we caught in that spot in the canyon. 

"My first big rainbow trout caught fly fishing on the North Platte River." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

©2023 David Knapp Photography

My Trophy Brown Trout on the North Platte River

We were catching just enough to keep us interested and focused. Both of us caught some big rainbows, but there was still the thought in the back of my head that we could be doing better. 

The canyon was so rugged that John was content to stop there at the mouth and enjoy that pool. I wanted to explore, so downstream I went. The landscape reminded me of a much smaller version of the Bear Trap Canyon that I had fished with my friend Bryan Allison in Montana several years ago. There, he had taught me the art of jigging for big trout. After fishing my way downstream several pools with my midge nymphing setup with only limited luck, I decided it was time for a change. I pulled my favorite jig streamer out of my pack, beefed up my tippet significantly, and started probing the depths. The fish went wild for it. 

Big rocky canyons with tons of undercut boulders are perfect for this technique. My 10' 3 weight Orvis Recon was the ideal tool for the job. Soon, I was moving more big fish than I had seen the entire time on this river. A couple of big rainbows later, I started moving back upstream towards where I had left John. The day was growing late and it was time to start thinking about winding things up. 

"My best big rainbow on the North Platte River." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

In one particular spot, I had waded under the base of a high cliff through water where I couldn't really see bottom. By some careful maneuvering, I had managed to avoid slipping into the seemingly bottomless holes between the boulders. On my upstream journey, I again carefully threaded my way through this section, leaning against the cliff face for extra balance and support. The pool alongside was a good one, and I worked the jig through the different likely holding spots. Finding nothing, I continued upstream. 

Just above the pool, a massive pile of boulders nearly blocked the entire river. Water was running under and around the huge rocks. A small pocket that I nearly overlooked called for a quick cast as I walked by. A huge dark shadow shot out from under one of the boulders and swiped at my streamer but missed. 

Shaking, I settled down to really work the spot. This was the fish I was looking for, I was sure of it. 
The next cast produced nothing, then I through a little further left, right on the current seam. One jig with my rod tip, and something big grabbed the fly. I had been catching rainbows including some big ones, and immediately I thought that this could be the biggest rainbow I had ever hooked. It was pulling like a freight train.

The fish ran downstream into the pool with the cliff face and wrapped me around a boulder on the far side of the current. As it rolled to the surface downstream of the rock, the distinct butter yellow sides nearly made me lose my mind. At this moment, I was certain I would lose the fish. Not only was it wrapped around the rock, I had the sketchy deep water below the cliff to navigate while also not losing the big brown trout if I wanted any chance of landing him. 

Plunging in, I somehow stumbled through the deep water without getting too wet. My waders might have gotten a splash or two over the top, but I was so locked in that I didn't notice. Emerging on the bottom side of the cliff, I got my rod up and the line slid off of the offending rock. Certain the fish was gone, you can imagine my surprise when the line was still tight. The fish made a run for the next big boulder pile downstream, but at this point I started really cranking to put an end to the fight. The 3x tippet held up, and soon one of the nicest brown trout I've ever landed slid into my net.

Now, I have caught larger brown trout, but maybe none more impressive once you factor in the big jaw and the coloration. This fish was already preparing for the upcoming spawn which was a month or month and a half away, and I was lucky to have crossed paths with him. After some quick pictures, I let this gorgeous buck brown slide back into his pool. At that moment, I was done fishing. That was the fish of the trip, hands down. Heart still beating, I carefully, climbed, maneuvered, and hiked my way back up to John.

 

©2023 David Knapp Photography

After telling him about my fish, I suggested that I would probably head back up. I didn't know if I would even cast any more after this fish. 

John's Big Cuttbow

Before heading up, I glanced back in the first good pool that John had been fishing and saw a couple of big fish. I told John to not give up yet, because there were still some monsters working the pool. After telling him about the jig I was using, he decided to give it a try. I moved up on top of some boulders to act as a spotter. 

John started fishing to a dark smudge that kept appearing in some faster water. We weren't really sure what it was, and when John finally hooked the fish, we had some problems. The fast water and a strong fish were a recipe for minimal success, but somehow John guided the fish towards where I had jumped down with my net. Soon, we had another memorable fish in the net. The heavy tippet we used for the jig streamer made landing these hot fish possible. 

"John with a trophy cuttbow on the North Platte River." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

After that fish, John was also ready for some different scenery, and the meadow water was calling him back up. Before long, we were slowly climbing our way out of the boulder strewn pocket water, keeping an eye out for rattlesnakes, and eventually emerged back into the brilliantly lit meadow. Late afternoon sun was slanting in just above the ridge line and lit up the entire meadow in brilliant hues of orange. 

Last Fish Encore

The rest of the trip was anticlimactic. We found a pool or two open that had been continuously occupied since we had arrived on this stream. My curiosity got the best of me, and I went ahead and rerigged
for midge fishing. That was a good decision, because I had one more memorable fish to catch. 

The last big rainbow and final fish of the trip for me hit in a piece of faster water and came to the net in golden late day light. It was the perfect ending to a very memorable trip. John kindly snapped a couple of pictures for me. Ever since, I've been dreaming about how to get back to the North Platte. It was certainly good to me, and I still want to see the Miracle Mile...

"My last fish of the trip." ©2023 John Bates

"Evening light." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

READ THE REST OF THE SERIES: 

The Wyoming Saga: In Search of Golden Trout Day One

The Wyoming Saga: Golden Trout Found and Plans Adjusted

The Wyoming Saga: Changing Gears Onward to the Green

The Wyoming Saga: Fly Fishing the Green River For Days

 

The Wyoming Saga: Fly Fishing the Green River For Days

After getting a small taste that first evening in camp, I was excited to really explore this new to me section of the Green River. Having read about this incredible fishery, I knew it had some serious potential. Only time would reveal some of the secrets held by this fine trout stream.

The interesting thing about this trip is that it helped me make significant strides forward as both an angler and a guide, at least in one way. Even as long as I've been fishing, I still learn a TON every single year. In fact, the longer I fish and learn the more I realize how little I actually know. Still, each bit of knowledge adds up to enough information to be dangerous. I'll return to this idea a bit later. For now, let's dive right into the Green River.

Day One Fly Fishing the Green River in Wyoming

The cool morning had us up and out of our sleeping bags and in the warm truck as soon as the sun came up. It was frosty, and neither of us were prepared mentally for that I think. Still, the warm truck got us excited while the cool morning kept us driving all the way to Green River Lakes. After a quick look around, we drove a short distance back downstream to a spot we had passed on the way up. A nice high vantage point quickly gave us the opportunity to spot several very large trout. Even better, a light hatch was coming off, apparently a few tricos and some blue-winged olives. 

"John fishing a picture perfect pool." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

We quickly rigged up. The warm sun had things downright comfortable at this point, and we were soon casting to rising fish. I say fish instead of trout, because we would learn some interesting things about this rise in subsequent days. For now, we assumed we were only casting at trout and our success affirmed that perspective. Several quality trout and some much larger fish missed later, the hatch petered out.

"What appears to be a little western BWO (attenella) but I'm not certain." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

"My best day one rainbow trout on the Green River." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Trying to extend the morning, I switched to a nymph rig and managed one hard pulling native, a whitefish. The big brown trout I had originally spotted in the pool eventually eased away in all the commotion, and finally we decided it was time to move. I'm not much of a stationary angler, and we had already fished that one pool very hard. It was time to cover water. 

"Whitefish!" ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Moving downstream in the truck, we found several other great spots to fish. To be fair, aren't they all? My favorite section was a piece of beautiful meadow water that reminded me of some of my favorite brown trout streams across the west. My favorite rig was put together for that scenario (top secret, sorry!) and I caught a few fish including a nicer brown trout. By this point, lunch had come and gone and the day was winding down. 

"Green River brown trout." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

We wanted to fish that water back in camp again, so we headed back for a relaxed evening of supper and fishing at camp. A few fish were caught, but nothing noteworthy, and it was time to get some sleep in preparation for another big day the next day. 

Day Two Fly Fishing the Green River in Wyoming

On our second day on the Green River, we wanted to hit some of the incredible meandering meadow sections that we had passed going up the valley on our first day. Undercut bends went on for seemingly miles. John's truck could pretty much go anywhere we wanted to, so there weren't really any limitations on accessibility. We finally settled on a section that had those big sweeping bends that look so fishy. 

"Parked to fish the Green River in Wyoming." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

While I didn't have any particular big goals for the Green River, John was locked in on fishing big dry flies. I was experimenting with various methods and flies and catching a few here in there, but John persevered with some big foam and was ultimately rewarded with our best fish of the day by far. It was an incredible eat that happened after he had seen a rise on the far bank. The fly had to be within inches of the bank, and a great cast got it in the feeding lane. A big slurp, a great hook set, then some serious side pressure as the fish dove for cover all worked to get the big rainbow trout out in the open. 

I happened to be close by at the moment and helped with the net while also witnessing the eat. It was an incredible sequence and was our first really nice fish of the trip. It got us excited to keep fishing hard for a few more days. I eventually caught a few on dry flies as well, so it was an exciting day.

"Hopper caught rainbow on the Green River!" ©2023 David Knapp Photography

It was on this second day that I made an interesting discovery that would lead to my enlightenment. John's big rainbow kept us focused to work all the way through a long section centered on where we had parked the truck. We were getting close to turning around when a particularly deep bend pool caught my attention, mostly because of the high bank above it that allowed me a good view of the stream. 

We covered a lot of water, but this pool in particular had me intrigued. We fished our way through and on up until we ran into some other anglers before turning around. On the way back down, I wanted to look at that one pool again. Sure enough, when I climbed up high for a view, I saw some big dark shadows. By this time we were starting to recognize whitefish versus trout and the majority of these big shadows (quite a few actually) were big brown trout for the most part. I didn't have one big "Ah Ha" moment, but the wheels started turning. 

Following Days Fly Fishing the Green River in Wyoming

The next few days were more of the same with a town trip or two thrown in for good measure. We also made the long run down to the first big tailwater on the Green below Fontenelle Reservoir. Unfortunately, water temperatures there were significantly elevated near 70 degrees, so that adventure ended up as a bust. 

On one particularly relaxing day, we ran up to the same pool we fished on our first day. It was cloudy with a threat of rain, and the bugs poured off. It was just exactly as you imagined and dreamed of. The only problem was that we didn't see as many of the big fish as we had on our first day. Then we noticed even more rises down in the heart of the pool. I had caught one nice brook trout and John and got a fish or two, but overall we felt like there was an opportunity to do much better if we could just crack the code.

"Reflections on the Green River." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

"Brook trout from the Green River in Wyoming." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

"Brook trout are gorgeous." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

The possibility of something amazing convinced us to cross the stream and drop down the far bank. The fish were rising hard and good dry fly fishing has to be enjoyed whenever possible. It took a while to hook that first fish, and I don't really remember which of us did that. What I do remember is that it was a whitefish. Okay, no problem, there are lots of other rises, so on to the next one. 

After we had each caught several whitefish, it began to dawn on both of us that maybe, just maybe, all of these podded up fish were whitefish. Dry fly fishing is exciting no matter what, and I recalled a story in one of John   books about fishing on the Madison for rising whitefish. Still, they were whitefish and not trout. Both of us were there for trout, rightly or wrongly. Eventually, we tore ourselves away from the still voracious feeding and went looking for other options.

One section had more gradient than much of the valley and appealed to me because it looked more like the water I was used to back home in the Smokies. We made a point to fish through the heavier pocket water, runs, and fast pools and caught a lot of nice fish on nymphs. Nothing noteworthy, mind you, but still a good time.

"Faster water on the Green River." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

It was at the end of that section that both of us realized that the ongoing cloudy weather could produce a good evening hatch back at camp. We headed back intent on taking advantage of another opportunity to fish the camp pool. It turned out to be the right call. 

The Camp Pool 

That evening, we got a little burst of late sunshine. That was just what we needed to trigger that evening hatch. Bugs started to pop as the sun sank lower over the western hills. Fish started rising, slowly at first, then more and more. It was a difficult pool to fish. Apparently all the fish were well aware of the camp and the fact that pressure almost always came from that side of the river. Thus, the best rises were right in the far current or across it along the far bank and structure. It required long accurate casts, stack mends or similar for slack, and maybe even a reach cast.

We both downsized to 6x tippet for the small bugs that were hatching. A spinner fall started and the fish went from the occasional rise to a feeding frenzy in minutes. We took turns every other fish. The best spot was towards the middle and back of the pool and the long casts required meant you couldn't fish too close to each other.

Both of us lost several flies to some rather large fish that made quick work of our 6x. John finally got the eat of the evening on a long cast to the far bank. He got just the right mend, fed a little slack into the drift, then the fly was sipped by an athletic rainbow trout. While not the largest fish of our trip, it was easily one of the most memorable. It was one of those moments that burns into your memory and will bring me back to fish that same pool again someday. The light was fading fast when John landed that fine rainbow trout. We gave a few more casts out of general principle, but it was clear that the rise was just about done. 

"Do you see the spinner in the trout's mouth?" ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Back To the Brown Trout Pool on the Green River in Wyoming

On our last day on the Green, we weren't certain that it would even be the last day. Our trip still had several days, but because we had gotten ahead of schedule by cutting our backpacking short, we had some wiggle room. The North Platte had come up in conversation and we were learning towards starting back towards home with a stop at the North Platte along the way. However, I had one place I wanted to revisit: the brown trout pool we had discovered on our second day fishing the Green River.

Something else had happened between our first discovery and our final visit. We had noticed a Subaru with rod racks making the rounds of the valley just like us. They had Wyoming tags and at least appeared to maybe be local. One day, as we were passing by, we noticed them pulled off at this particular location and scrambling in a beeline down the hillside to fish that pool. That was my second clue that this pool was a special place. 

I had also had time to reflect on many of the streams I have fished closer to home. It was occurring to me, slowly but surely, that brown trout will stack up in a handful of spots prior to the spawn and often much earlier than most people realized. I know quite a few places where they will be congregating by sometime in July, both here in Tennessee and out west. My suspicious were growing that in just a few days on this new to me stream, we had stumbled onto one of these extra special spots full of big fish. The spawn was still plenty far enough away that we could fish for them in good conscience.

The day was cloudy, perfect for chasing brown trout. The roads were seriously messy. The deep mud was slick and I was thankful we were in John's truck. When we got to our spot, we eased down a side road and parked out of the way. The made driving down seemed extra slick. When we got out of the truck, we realized it wasn't just a little slick, it was like greased ice. Oh well, we were here now. 

My fishing pack was reorganized for this final day on the Green. I had switched out some fly boxes and was fully prepared for targeting big browns podded up in deep water. A quick glance from above confirmed that they were still there. I also saw one of the biggest shadows gliding around that I've seen in a long time. A fish in the 15+ pound class and over 30 inches was just one of the monsters in this pool. Unfortunately, it soon disappeared and never made an appearance again. The other quality fish were still there waiting for us though.

We started working the pool with deep nymph rigs and plenty of weight. I cycled through my favorite flies for brown trout in this particular scenario. Eventually, we started getting some eats. Some were big whitefish, but some were quality brown trout. The biggest fish eluded us, giving me some major incentive to return to this spot someday, but we found some great fish. Fittingly, our fish of the trip on the Green River came on our last day which is as it should be.

"John's nice brown trout." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

 

"My quality Green River brown trout." Photo courtesy of John Bates ©2023

At some point while fishing that pool, the light became some of the most dramatic of the whole trip. Dark clouds in the background framed the brilliant foreground, lit up by the late season sun. It provided the perfect setting for fishing this great pool. 

"Contrasting light." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

By the time both of us had caught a quality brown trout or two, our minds were going back to the truck. We had a steep hillside to get back up and the slick mud had us slightly concerned. While we could have fished that pool for the rest of the day, neither of us wanted to be stuck for the night. Working on getting ourselves out of the potential predicament and hitting some water with better access to round out our day seemed like the thing to do. 

Finishing Our Green River Adventure in Wyoming

We hiked up the hill to the truck and got everything put away. Then it was time for the moment of truth. John fired up the truck and started backing up the hill. That initial part wasn't too bad, and despite some slipping and sliding, he was soon on the final short section approaching the main road. This was where things got really sketchy.

John already had the truck in 4WD. That part was mandatory just to get back up to where we were. The next part would challenge the off road credentials of this truck. I won't drag this part out other than to say that before all was said and done, we were using crawl control, driving through fields, bouncing over rocks, and by some miracle eventually cresting the rise back onto the main rode. The truck was already super dirty, so it wasn't obvious from appearances that we had been through quite the adventure getting back on the road. Thankfully, that is what these trucks are made for.

Cruising back down the main (also dirt, but better) road, we agreed on one thing in particular: the rest of our fishing that day would be in spots where we didn't risk getting stuck. It had been a close call. That actually took us to some neat spots, but it was clear that our trip was winding down. Everything that I wanted to explore had been explore, but checking a new river off my list sounded good. 

That evening in camp, we discussed our options and decided to make the drive over to the North Platte. We didn't even know where on the North Platte. That would be determined the next day with some cell service in town and our old friend Google. We got as much ready to travel as possible that evening, then hit crawled into our tents for one last night with the Green lulling us to sleep as it chattered away behind camp. Little did we dream that the best was yet to come...

The Wyoming Saga: Changing Gears Onward to the Green River

Most fishing trips have unexpected moments. Our first came rather early in the trip with the bad wind day, but timing-wise it allowed some neat things to happen since it freed up a couple of days on our loose itinerary. We just wouldn't find that out until later. Still, this was my first Wyoming fishing trip outside of Yellowstone National Park. The very expensive non-resident fishing license had deterred me in the past and likely will in the future. It is hard to justify paying that kind of money for a fishing license when I can get a Yellowstone National Park fishing license and enjoy some of my favorite streams and rivers anywhere with excellent fishing. Still, there were moments in this trip that will require revisiting for further exploration. The Wind River golden trout trip is definitely going to happen again, for example.

Hiking Out of the Winds

Our goal that morning was simple: bust our butts back down the trail to John's truck, drive over South Pass, and on to Pinedale. Just north of town, John knew of a little campground that was right on the Green River. He also knew some good places to eat in Pinedale and even though it hadn't been long, backpacker dinners were starting to get old. That was motivation enough for me. I'm always a sucker for food. 

We started hiking out early while the shadows were still long and it was nice and cool. We weren't in such a hurry that I forgot to take some pictures both in camp before leaving and also along the way. There was a small patch of fireweed just behind our camp. That morning, the rising sun light up the flowers perfectly while deep shadows lingered behind. 

"Fireweed." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

A little further above camp, a small colony of pikas had shown themselves while we were hiking up to the golden trout lake. They have to be one of my favorite (maybe even THE favorite?!?!) alpine and subalpine critters, and it is always a major highlight of my trips to the higher mountains out west to see them. I chased them up and down this rocky gully for a bit before the thought of that good food in Pinedale got me moving. 

"Pika." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Fishing On the Hike Out

Hiking out, we didn't see too many interesting critters. There were a lot of squirrels active, however. It was getting a little late in the season and they were working overtime to get ready for the next winter season. I'm always a sucker for any animal photos, so I would periodically stop and try to get a creative shot of them.

"Just another red squirrel." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

A bit more interesting than squirrels was the fishing. We stopped at the first lake we had hit on the hike in. There were just as many fish cruising around even if the wind was much worse than on our hike in. Still, we found a sheltered shoreline where many fish were cruising. Not only did I add another big (to me) tiger, but I also added a cutthroat to my total trip catch tally. I caught more brook trout as well, but didn't bother to photograph anymore because none of them on this day were noteworthy. 

"Wind River Mountains cutthroat trout." ©2023 David Knapp Photography

"A nice tiger trout!" ©2023 David Knapp Photography

I also managed a selfie that showed me looking a lot more tired than I was actually feeling. It also showed the Peak Design capture clip. Notice a clip on both shoulder straps which enabled me to balance the strain on each side of my body by switching back and forth from time to time. This proved key to keeping my back, shoulders, and neck happy and not too sore. I tend towards having back and neck problems, so this innovated way of carrying the camera probably would NOT work well for me if I was just carrying it on one side the entire hike. As it was, I really enjoyed the system and got a few pictures that I wouldn't have otherwise of gotten. 

"A rare selfie!" ©2023 David Knapp Photography

Driving Out of the Winds to Pinedale

The road out was decent but not great. I was glad that we had John's truck instead of my car. The car would have made it, but we made much better time in the truck and it took the ride just like it was supposed to. As we started to turn the corner from the east side of the Winds into South Pass, the already breezy day really started to howl. 

The winds were cranking through South Pass. By the time we were approaching the Green River basin, the sky was full of dust and haze from blowing particulates. This was a windstorm of epic proportions and we were both thankful to not be hiking high in the Wind River mountains trying to camp or get a camp stove to burn long enough to boil water for our meals.

At this point, I was just hoping that the winds would relax enough to pitch camp on the Green so I could get a good night's rest. We still had that stop in Pinedale as well. 

Town Trip to Pinedale

By the time we cruised into Pinedale, both of us were hungry. Things like getting groceries for the next several days of camping or stopping by the local fly shop could wait. We had to find something to eat. John had been to the Wind River Brewing Company before and knew they had good food. We pulled in and found one of the last few parking spots. A full parking lot is always a good sign for food quality even if it means you'll end up waiting longer for food. 

Thankfully, they had our food out quickly. I had the Street Tacos with sautéed veggies and they were delicious. It doesn't take much to make me happy, and a good meal after backpacker dinners really hit the spot. After taking care of that, we headed to the grocery and made a stop by the local fly shop. 

The guys in the Two Rivers Fishing Co. were helpful and friendly, something I've come to realize isn't to be expected in all western fly shops. They gave us a few tips and we quickly finished our shopping in town. The hour was getting late and we still needed to go find a campsite and get setup before dark. 

Camping at Whiskey Grove Campground

Heading out of town, we turned up 352 towards the vast National Forest land in the headwaters of the Green River. The Whiskey Grove Campground was just a short distance down the rougher gravel/dirt road that continued all the way up to Green River Lakes. John knew of a great fishing spot behind the campground, so it didn't take much more to convince me that this would make a good base camp. 

We pulled in and got lucky with one of the last good spots down by the river. I would get to fall asleep to the sound of a fine riffle on the Green just behind my tent. However, I didn't go to bed before catching my first Green River trout. The pool behind camp was just too good and I wanted to work a jig streamer. I rolled several very nice trout, and finally landed a nice little brown trout to continue my collection of different species on my trip list. This was a great welcome to a new-to-me section of the Green River. I had only previously fished the Flaming Gorge tailwater in Utah. It was a promising start to the biggest part of our trip in terms of time..

"First brown trout of the trip." ©2023 David Knapp Photography