April Update

Spring Newsletter

2005

Click Here to view the Lewis Scrapbook Page

Spring is off and running which means irrigation season is also here.  They began running the irrigation water this week, so the Lower Shoshone is done for a couple of weeks.  Fortunately, there were three hard core anglers who were able to take advantage before the high flow began. 

 Knowing the search for big fish could be difficult and sometimes fruitless, Wade Lewis, Ryan Lewis and Todd Schulz were not dissuaded.  On the first day of their trip with Eastgate Anglers they strung up the big stuff and headed up the river.  I must admit there were a few raised eye brows as we tied on 20lb mono and tippet-ed down to 0X fluorocarbon, but they were willing to try.  They were sold, however, when Wade proceeded to pull out a nice 19” Cutthroat from the first hole.  “That’s what we came for,” he said. 

 The second up was Ryan.  He got a nice rainbow out of the same hole.  And so the day began.  

 Wade had a few big Brown’s chase the streamer but couldn’t get them to take, so we moved to the next spot.  This spot was a prize for Todd  who came up with a nice 20” brown.  Things were looking up!  Moving up stream from hole to hole we picked up a fish here and there.  All were quality fish - in the 17 and up range.  A few really nice ones were lost. 

 As we reached the last run of the section we noticed fish rising.  We spent an hour or so picking off these risers on 20 Sparkle Dun. Wade caught some real nice Cutthroat‘s on the dry.   Fishing our way back down stream Ryan picked up another 21” brown. 

 Our next move was 10 miles down stream.  The morning had turned to mid-afternoon quickly.  It was 3:30 in the afternoon and we had fished through lunch,  we ate a quick lunch and began again.  The guys took turns catching some rainbows that were 12-13” in length and weighed 1½ pounds.  Todd hooked a huge rainbow that jumped right in front of us several times before coming off the line.  That got us going again and we fished till dusk.  We caught some nice ones, but still not the ones we were seeking.

Day 2 the guys decided to continue the quest for big fish!  I enlisted the services of my good friend Kirk Bollinger to help guide the group on a float down the Lower Shoshone.  The water conditions were “primo,” the best we had seen all year.

The morning started a little slow as we floated down the river. Wade and Ryan picked up some about the size of the previous day with an occasional 17” incher.  The fish were so fat that looked like little footballs.  Todd, on the other hand, was on fire.  Check out some of these babies! 

After lunch we got into some prime water and things started to happen.  Almost every hole we came to we were able to pull out some nice fish as you can see from these pictures.  The question is, Who’s the best fisherman in the world?  The one with the biggest smile on this face! 

Kirk, a local doctor, was provided a new title on this trip.  Todd dubbed Kirk as the “Doctor of Fish” (stated with attitude).  Todd was so charged he said he would name his next kid Kirk Cody in honor of this trip. 

It was truly an amazing day with great guys and great fishing.  The number of people we saw this day was one of the astonishing components for these South Wyoming and Colorado Guys.   We saw 3 people the entire day and only two of them were fishing.  Great fishing and we had the river virtually all to our self! 

Check out the rest of the awesome fish these guys caught.  Thanks guys for a couple of Epic Days!

Click Here to view the Lewis Scrapbook Page

Stephan Avena from Washington also made it to Cody early in the season.  He voted for big fish at Newton Lake.  Sight fishing big fish with small flys was a blast.  Here is a picture of Stephan with a nice Rainbow and a beautiful Brown.  “Fly Fishing is easy!” 

As far as a current report (April 16, 2005):

-The lakes are warming up and the fishing should really begin to pick up after the rainbows quit spawning.  Good fish are being caught but the weather is inconsistent so the fishing can be inconsistent as well.  We are catching some huge Browns at Newton with streamers on the really windy days. 

-Luce has just been filled so it will take a while for it to settle out.

-The fish are up high on the North Fork are getting started and it should only get better until runoff.  The flows are coming up and that gives the fish plenty of water to move to their spawning areas.  Big deep stuff is the ticket as usual.

-As the temps in the rivers rise, the hatches will begin to get better and so will the fishing. 

-The Clarksfork slightly off color and still a little slow as is the Grey bull and the Southfork. 

Looking ahead remember

-The Salmon fly’s on the 1st of July on the Clarksfork. 

-The Shoshone through Cody should be fishing good this summer with a slow runoff the river should stay clear and be killer streamer fishing by June. 

-Look for the golden stones in the canyon in June also. 

The 2005 spring season is looking good.   

Come and enjoy some of this great fishing early!

Kirk "The Doctor" Bollinger

Kirk was one of the first guys in Cody to take an interest in me when I was trying to learn the rivers and methods in the Cody area.  Kirk had a raft and I needed to learn how to row.  After the first couple of weeks of crash and burn it worked well for both of us.  He was able to fish all day and I could row all day.  Kirk and his good friend Craig probably know the lower Shoshone better than anyone.  They showed me the infamous “sow bug” which has made a believer of everyone who has tried it.  Even his son Cadden, who is only 4 years old, is catching fish on a fly?  He is truly a dedicated to fly fishing and in the process helped me become a better fisherman.  Hats off to another good friend!