Wyoming

I have to be honest and say I was disappointed in fishing Wyoming. It's something I had always wanted to do and had anticipated that the fishing would be incredible. However, David and I didn't catch the 20 inch hogs we had hoped.

Wyoming is much different than Michigan in that river bottoms are not in the public domain. A land owner who owns the land on both sides of the river owns the river bottom. You can float over it but don't dare wade it. Thus, most of our fishing was restricted to public access spots and National Forests.

Also, the rivers are fed by mountain runoff. As a result the sheer volume and speed, the rivers are many multiples of what we see in Michigan. Rusty Gates calls the AuSable South Branch unwadable at 900 cfs (cubic feet per second). The Salt River south of Jackson Hole was running at 13,000 cfs! Float it in a drift boat but if you tried to wade you'd be washed away.

As a result of the speed and rocky banks, deep pools are created and the only way to fish them is a heavily weighted line and nymphs. Thats not what this dry fly fisherman was looking for. I couldn't begin to cover our trip in one post so over the next few days I'll post pictures and descriptions of our travels and fishing experiences.