27th Day Fly Fishing – 530cfs – 10 fish on dries, Royal Stimulator
The Greys always calls to me around mid-July every year. The first time was about six years ago. I had read a few articles about it and then also noticed the river mouth right there in Alpine, WY. So I tried it on a whim. I always get an annual WY license so the only incremental cost was gas and time. First thing you notice about the Greys as you drive up the canyon in how stunningly beautiful it is. The Greys is a freestone stream. It flows unfettered by dams or obstructions. Spring run-off starts late each year in June. This is due to the fact that the majority of the water comes from high up in the mountains and majority supply is snowmelt. For this reason, I begin watching the flows around July 10th and watch the come down to a wadable level. At my favorite spot yesterday, there were a few times when I felt a little unstable due to the current but also the slick freestones. Round, smooth and slick! 530 cfs s a good flow for wading. Much over 600 getsd dicey.
It turns out my favorite starting spot is way up the canyon and from the cabin its over an hour and a half to get there. One of the best things about the Greys is that the road follows it about 25 miles, maybe more. Never been up that far. But I knew it was going to be warm up there and I decided that the fishing was going to be best when it was still cool. The direct sunlight warms the water as it travels down the canyon. When I pulled off the road, onto a parking area, the first thing I noticed was – cows! Wyoming is an “open range” state and federal lands allow grazing by permit. Anyway, I had three gather around my truck as I was rigging.
From previous trips, I had already mapped out the bugs I intended to use. Foam works well here and there were loads of hoppers in the weeds, so I decided to start there. My Scott G2 3wt is always my go-to when I pitch dry flies. Hoppers tend to push on the cast a bit, but I knew I could manage. Before deciding on waders, I decided to dip my toe in the water. Literally! Yikes! was it ever cold! Two minutes later I was pulling on my waders and lacing up my boots! It turns this decision was solid. It was not only cold, but the freestones were smooth and slick and my boots were new and more importantly, they had new studs! A game changer on slick river beds. Also, prior to tying on the hopper, I tied on new tippet. I started with 4.5X and could easily go to 5X if I felt I was getting refusals.
Entering the water mid-run, I decided to first work the close edge with the hopper. Edges are always where hopper-ready fish tend to hang out. It only stands to reason as a hopper literally jumps in from the bank and rarely makes it more than a few feet from the edge. I worked the left bank upstream a couple hundred feet then, went to the middle of the stream, from where I could reach both left and right banks. After 15 minutes without a chase or a tug, I decided to switch out the hopper and go woth an Amy’s Ant. This version has black and purple foam and purple dubbing with lots of sparkle. I love it on mountain streams and lakes.
Now working the run downstream with little success, I was looking for some structure. Found a spot where a side channel was re-entering the main channel and and it created a deeper ruun on the edge. Changes in depth are really easy t read on the Greys, as the deeper, slower water turns to a greenish color. I just knew this spot would hold fish! And sure enough, I had a couple of takes on the Amy’s ant, by a couple of smaller fish. One held and I brought in my first cutthroat of the day. Not a big fish, but it was a start.
Note the Amy’s Ant in his upper lip above. Also, here is the run I was fishing below:
Working that structure as it tailed out, I saw a flash and briefly felt the tug aas I went to set the hook. This fish was considerably larger than the fish I had just caught and I was really disappointed that I missed it!
The second bit of structure was originally created by fallen tree roots. By the way, I knew about each of thee prior to this trip, having fished them before. This second spot usually has several fish sitting in a deep, slow cut. I worked it and was getting eats on almost every cast and landed a few smallish ones on the Amy’s Ant. Nothing big here, so I waded further downstream to the next section where the run slowed as it moved into a pool with eddies, etc. The slow soft edge of the run had a bunch of small fish who were hammering on the Amy’s Ant but rarely getting hooked. Since I wan’t planning to go further downstream, I decided it was time to make a fly change and head back up. There was a lot of caddis around and they were big caddis. Also, on our last trip here,, it was a Royal Wulf that was the killer fly and my buddy Steve had a great day with that fly. Last year, in the off season, MFC was selling a “Royal Stimulator” at a great price by the dozen. I decided to buy a dozen in size 14 specifically for the Greys and other mountain streams. So, it was an easy decision to switch to that fly. Besides, I could not get that larger fish upstream off my mind and my plan was to visit her again on my upstream pass with a different fly.
Immediately, after tying on the royal stimulator, I got eats in the same spot I was fishing with the small fish, except this time I was hooking far more fish. One negative of the Amy’s Ant is there is a lot of bulky dubbing on the bottom of the fly. So much so that it covers a fair amount of the hook gap, really impacting my success rate, especially with the smaller fish. As I moved back upstream, I saw no reason to fish anythng other than the two places with stucture, that I knew were holding fish. At the first spot, I missed a couple and then landed a smaller fish. I worked it more thoroughly hoping for something larger that did not materialize.
Then there was some anticipation as I moved up to the first run, where the side channel cut back into the main channel. The greenish color of the water poiting out the slower deeper water. I worked it from to bottom, hooking and landing a smaller fish up top. But knowing that larger fish was still there, I kept working it, and finally towards the bottom of that small deep run, she ate! Right off the bat I felt like I had a good hook set, but this fish was larger and this was not her first rodeo as she moved into the faster current below me. It’s always a bit scary when a big fish is downhill from you in swift current. They have everything going in their favor. Knowing the limits of my 4.5X tippet, I know just about how much pressure I could use to move the fish closer. To be successful I needed to change my tactic. In this case, the slower water was next to the bank so I made my move over and began to put side pressure on the fish to move with me. She instinctively knew that was not a good move for her, but I managed to move her toward me anyway. In another minute or so she would be in the net.
It was such a rush for me to go back and get that fish after missing the first eat 20 minutes prior. I knew that having the space of time and the fly change would work in my favor. That one fish made my day, bbut of course more fish were ultimately caught including another nice one!
As you can see in the photo above, much of the Greys is one long run! Without the structure, it is difficult to know where the fish might be. But there is also choppy pocket water and a lot of downed wood as you can see in the photo above. All in all, it is a very special place, and a river I intend to fish at least once a year as long as I am able to wade it.
