Miracle Mile - WY

[Hawnjigs]

This refers to an approx 6 mile stretch of the North Platte River between two large reservoirs. Water flow is precisely metered at the upstream dam and never drops under a minimum 500 cfs, which it was during most of my stay. Altho designated gold medal, curiously bait is allowed and you are allowed to keep 3 fish only one over 16". There is a constant flow of mostly flyguys at the dozen or so major holes, as well as those who seek the greater challenge of fast water riffles. Considering, I did OK by being on a hole of choice before sunrise and thus getting first dibs before the hordes arrived. I observed that even during prime time early AM there were seldom more than 10 or so trout caught at any hole by everyone combined, so if I got 2 good ones that was a satisfactory share. Early in my stay mid Sept. I often got 4 or more when allowed the privelege of a hole to myself for an hour or two. Later Sept into Oct the crowds multiplied and I got a few skunks at formely productive holes. The fish? - mine were mostly 15-20" with a few up to 24", actually the best FW fishing of my life. Mostly rainbows with a few browns, one gorgeous fire orange cutthroat, and some stray smaller walleyes.

View attachment 6
Looking across the river to my tent site in a pine grove.

View attachment 7
One of the tail run holes.

View attachment 8
Mostly fished alone so no pics of myself, but here is a flyguy I shared this hole with.

 

[toadfrog]

Gotta get you a camera operator how we gonna know you can fish lol.

 

[Fatman]

Great looking water!!

 

[JSC]

More fun !

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Great looking country and water.Sounds like a great trip for you.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Thought about solo fish porn pics, but my priority was respecting the resource with quick in-water releases. Toad, you'll have to keep guessing if I can actually fish.

The adventure was everything I hoped for - quality fishing that nonetheless required focused skill improvement, quiet solitude, great campsite, wildlife and geological eye candy, only snowed once tho by Oct. sub-freezing nights were the norm.

View attachment 2
Downriver end of the "road" chalk bluff with trusty Ford Fiesta facing upriver

View attachment 3
Sunset at camp

 

[CrappieHappy]

Awesome, looks serene!

 

[AtticaFish]

That river does look inviting and love seeing the ground roll like that - looks like you had a perfect little campsite too. Then you say the fishing was top notch......... almost sounds like heaven. Glad you had a fun trip. And the big question - did you use un-painted heads the whole time or try for some color comparrison fishing?

No campfire fish fry? What???? I'd have to at least keep something for 1 of the nights meals.

 

[Hawnjigs]

The Miracle Mile - Alcova area has amazing geological diversity due to tectonic shearing and milleniums of weathering. Smooth black lava flow, weathered red rock, chalk & limestone from ancient seas, granite, in isolated or layered formations. One area had massive granite boulders the size of house rooms perched improbably on tiny red rock bases which had weathered away underneath.

When I get back my gear in the mail, I'll post pics of my fave jigs. Altho, as mentioned the trout in the area bit anything - flies, spinners & Kastmaster guys often got fish out of water I thought I had scoured with jigs. On a day when both my flyguy neighbor and myself got skunked except for my single 17", a young guy claimed he got 7 up to 24" on Rapalas. And, one day on a hole with some flyguys mostly pulling 12 - 16" I was getting quite a few brutes, until one guy waded across the river and parked himself in my casting zone! Luckily I had already gotten half a dozen+ nice ones and was ready to leave.

Didn't mention maybe, but I harvested a 15-16" rainbow every third day or so for 2 days worth of sandwiches + 2 walleyes for variety. Indeed, nothing like fresh caught for a camp meal.

 

[smalljaw]

Man that looks awesome and glad you had success! A friend of mine described not having much luck fishing a section of the Delaware river in NY for big browns, he was using panther martin spinners and he was near a fly guy and neither of them caught anything in about an hour. he told me he was talking to the fly guy when another angler came through with a spinning rod and he had a Lucky Craft pointer 78 tied on, the guy asked if he could fish near him and the fly guy and in the next 10 minutes both him and the fly angler watched as the guy with the small jerkbait caught and released 4 fish while they didn't get bit. After his trip he found that there is some kind of darter minnow in the water that these browns really like and is the main reason they get so big in that area so I could see trout going for the minnows. But it really doesn't matter, the fishing is a bonus when you get sun sets like that!! Thanks for the pics!

 

[StumpHunter]

Looks like an awesome place to set up camp and spend a few days on the river. Congrats on your trip and catch.

 

[LedHed]

Excellent trip & report

 

[bombora]

Beautiful report into country which is so exotic to me. Loved it. And loved you were rewarded with fantastic fishing. That river looks huge to me, not sure I'd know where to begin! What outfit (rod length etc) were you using Keith?

 

[cjschock]

Great pictures. I fished two days on the mile while moving from California to Maine. My buddy and I fished marabouts and jerk baits. Biggest bow went 5.5 on a jerkbait and a 4 pound brown on the marabou. Can't wait to finish school so I can fis it again when I head west. Thanks for the photos.

 

[Hawnjigs]

"That river looks huge to me, not sure I'd know where to begin"
Exactly how I felt as a river newbie! Learning on the job by paying attention to best holding areas, presentation tekneeks, fighting(ease off line pressure on jumps!), landing(avoid shoreline weed clumps), etc., comes naturally. The photos make the river look wider than actual - I was able to cast to the opposite bank with 1/5 oz. jigs. in necked down pool areas. There are 2x wider areas where the current slows and flattens but I didn't fish them.

Rod was 5'3" Fenwick HMG light action one piece & reel was Daiwa Capricorn 1500.

5.5 bow is extraordinary - biggest I caught & heard caught was around 22" and probably shy of 5. Just guessing as I never measured or weighed catches.

 

[cjschock]

My buddy moved to laramie from so. Cal. A few years back. He kept sending me photos of big bows and browns so I had to see for myself. I was not dissapointed.

 

[bombora]

Well I've been inspired, so am heading to "my" wild river tomorrow. Fingers crossed, as we've had almost no spring rain!

 

[Hawnjigs]

Here's some more inspiration - JiggerJohn might be fishing here as I post.
http://www.switchfisher.com/trout_content/penn/TroutHike-YawkRiver.html

The "John" in the article is not our member Boolie designer.

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Beautiful pics Keith.Glad that you had such a wonderfull time.Trout wrapped in aluminum foil with some butter,salt and pepper is what I was raised on in a campfire.

 

[cjschock]

View attachment 7Here are a few pics from that Platter river trip. That is a truly epic trout fishery.