Alcova, Wyo. – The trouble with the bite, the proprietor of the hamlet’s only gas pump was saying, is that the North Platte River, in its current swollen state, had annexed too much territory in that magic eight miles below Gray Reef Dam.
“The fish are spread out all over the place. They’re harder to find than usual,” the man said amid a frenzy of customers.
Alcova on a Saturday in late May is a great place to operate a business – particularly one that dispenses liquid refreshment for automobiles and the people who drive them.
Even with water spilling at 1,800 cubic feet per second, anglers come flocking from every direction to experience what currently ranks as the most desirable tailwater fishery in the West.
Whatever the impact on fishing success, these higher flows also serve to disperse the usual steady stream of boat traffic, avoiding what otherwise might have been an aquatic version of bumper cars.
So it is these days with Rocky Mountain tailwaters. The onset of runoff, severe in certain quarters, sends stream enthusiasts flocking to those special places where dams keep volume and clarity under some measure of control.
Tailwaters still experience their ups and downs, as irrigators and power generators shuttle water from one place to the next. But for the next month or so, these havens from snowmelt are the places to be.
On a day when a dry prairie landscape sizzled beneath a blazing sun and rivers elsewhere spurted liquid mud, the North Platte bathed its splendid population of rainbow trout in cool, clear water ranging into the high middle 40s.
That the flow measured at least one-third higher than optimum for a river whose riffles and pools are interspersed by longer reaches of shallow and generally blank water mattered little to anglers seeking any port in a storm.
Present conditions at a place that has claimed the attention of Coloradans away from the drought-troubled Bighorn River illustrate the delightful vagaries that make fishing so, well, unpredictable.
Hop-scotching among work schedules, a trio of Denver anglers hauling their own raft conspired to float the prime eight miles below Gray Reef on Friday ahead of the crowd, then endure the usual grin-and-bear-it Saturday tangle of watercraft.
Then a funny thing happened. Perhaps still unsettled by the higher flows, the river’s rich trout population took a vote not to bite on Fridays. Undeterred, the anglers still caught a few fish, those delightful rainbows ranging from 16 to 20 inches for which Gray Reef is so beloved.
But they worked much harder than they intended and left the water uncertain what to do about the unexpected boycott. A rancher who rents drift boats near the Lusby public access area where most floaters leave the river offered a clue.
He revealed that his guests enjoyed great early success on a Miracle Nymph, a midge larvae imitation.
Next morning, right in the middle of the Saturday armada, this tiny, pale fly indeed proved a miracle; trout seemed to come from everywhere to grab it.
When this pattern faded, a Barr Flashback Emerger received a similar reception. Later, a size 16 red larvae – call it a blood midge or, simply, a red worm – carried the day.
The fact that floating among the weekend horde produced the bonanza serves to illustrate the maxim that the best time to go fishing is whenever you can – advice that holds doubly true for this wonderful stretch of the North Platte.
In addition to the opportunity to float, 15 public areas exist in the more than 40 river miles between Gray Reef and Casper. These range from solid road access with camping sites to sections reachable only by walking.
While water temperature rises and habitat slowly declines progressively downstream from the dam, trout populations remain high all the way through the city.
The segment between Gray Reef and Lusby holds the most fish and attracts by far the most attention from floaters. Wade anglers take refuge in downstream areas that often provide exceptional sport, particularly when hatches of mayfly and caddis bring trout to the surface.
A free map produced by the Bureau of Land Management and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and available in local shops defines access points, and offers other useful information.
Listen to Charlie Meyers at 9 a.m. each Saturday on “The Fan Outdoors,” radio KKFN 950 AM. He can be reached at 303-820-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
