Montana and Wyoming

I was lucky enough to spend two weeks fishing in Montana and Wyoming. There
wasn't a western clave set, but that didn't deter a few of us from wandering
around the mountains looking for some new streams to haunt.

I fished on my own for a couple of days in the Yellowstone area before
meeting up with Jeff and his very lovely bride. We spent the next 5 days
fishing new (to us) waters and for the most part, doing pretty well. See
pics at ABPF. Jeff has already mentioned our trips to Three Day Creek. A
beautiful piece of water and well worth the drive/hike time from the usual
fishing haunts that we have visited (wore out?) over the past few years.
Besides, driving and hiking gave us time to catch up on the other affairs of
the world.

If any of you have fished (or dined or walked or talked) with Mr. Miller,
you know that there is never a dull or rancorous moment during the whole of
the event. A truly great and gracious traveling companion, on and off the
water. Thanks again, Jeff, for the company and the experience. Oh, and many,
many thanks to Rachel for the outstanding lunches she provided each day and
for her dinner company in the evenings. Hope to see you both soon in NC.

Unfortunately, Warren's timetable and other matters kept us from meeting on
any of his home waters. Sorry, Warren. We (I) have to do a better job of
planning next year.

After leaving Jeff and Rachel in MT, I drove down to central Wyoming and met
Willi for a few more days of camping/hiking/fishing. Again, we were looking
for new waters to fish.

Willi and I met in the small town of Dubois, Wyoming, where we were
immediately told by the local cowboys that we were visiting DeBoys, not
DooBwaa. I think they may be a little put off by there own French history,
not that there's anything wrong with that.

As most know, Willi is another boon to have when seeking a fishing/camping
companion. He always has a new tactic to show me, new waters he has
researched, and new topics for the campfire (or camper lights, as the case
may be). I really enjoy our travels.

We fished several of the streams in that part of the Wind River drainage,
catching some fish that I think were simply too big for the water from which
they came. But I've never been one to complain too loudly about such
juxtapositions of size and habitat. Much of the drainage was blown out due
to a large rainstorm that had silted a lot of the water, but Willi found
plenty of clear water to fish.

We also visited a Nature Conservancy holding that contained a couple of
miles of tailwater. We had no idea that this water would be so immense! It
was at least as large as the Madison! It took us a while to figure out the
fish, but Willi spotted several large browns sipping dries in a huge "lake"
section of the river. We walked the shoreline casting to feeding fish and
did pretty well. In one spot, we caught about 5 browns, all over 16 inches.
Willi caught a couple of really nice fish. See pics at ABPF.

Then we moved camp a hundred and twenty miles or so and set up on the bank
of a small/medium river in the Wyoming mountains. We arrived just before
dark and managed only a very few, very small cutts in the few minutes that
we fished before dark. Very disappointing. With visions of breaking camp for
better waters, we retired. Next morning we gave the river a chance to redeem
itself. I'm glad we stayed. We found lots of medium to large Cutts on both
nymphs and dries. I caught lots of whitefish, but Willi is no doubt the
Whitefish King. It was an awesome sight watching King Willi summon forth his
minions in unbelievable numbers. He also caught a lot of trout and some very
good ones.

The stream was very picturesque, if slightly crowded, in some areas, by
campers. It seemed the best time to be on the water was 11 AM to 3 PM.
Before that, the water was cold (very cold) and after, maybe a little warm.
There are several other streams in that area that I want to try on future
trips. Willi was going to try a couple on his way home.

I left for CA on Thursday. Man, does two weeks go by fast when you're
fishing.

Take care,
Danl