A trip through Southeastern Wyoming

This weekend we combined enjoying some seats right behind the chutes at Cheyenne's Frontier Days rodeo with some miles of casting along respected streams in the same part of that state.  Frankly, watching the rodeo was more fun & more productive than was the latter.

In all honesty the drought we've suffered through this summer has produced at least a moderate decline in all Colorado & Wyoming fishing.  Our journey out of Laramie up to the top of the Snowy Mountains was the prettiest part of the trip.   The pinnacle of the road to Encampment was gorgeous to say the least.  Given more time we'd have opted to hike to any of a large number of high alpine lakes in this area and probably would have had decent fishing due to the lack of local and tourist visitors.

But we passed.  Our first fishing stop was on the river of the same name as the town - Encampment.  It's a storied stream - earlier described by Ray Bergman in "Trout".  Access to the main canyon area is well marked at the upper end of the town limits.  We drove down the two mile long access road and parked at the entry point just below the IOOF private enclave.   A variable length hike of 2 to 15 miles gets one through a stretch of individual vacation homesites - or all the way to the Colorado border.

We chose to walk roughly four miles into this semi-wilderness.  Game was plentiful.  Deer, rabbits, snakes (nice ones), and vast numbers of Blue Grouse were everywhere.  The dog had the best day of his life harassing (but not consuming or hurting) any of the above.

The stream was something of a disappointment.  Beautiful as it was, the broad flat widths, low water levels, and lack of midday hatches provided less than appealing results for our several hours of casting efforts.  This very hot summer inevitably led to larger fish hugging the boulders & deeper holes.  Also insect populations pale by comparison to what we have locally here in Colorado.  A single golden stone landed on Sue's leg while we were casting.  Turning some rocks revealed no mayfly larva, no caddis cases, and no stonefly nymphs.

Yes we did catch some fish.  They were disappointing in size & feistiness.  None were over eight inches long & were mixed evenly between browns & rainbows.  Would we return here?  Likely not.  It's a long way to drive for such modest action.  Although we encountered very few  people this day on the stream that appealing quality is not enough reason to make up for the lack of action.  While we may not have always used tactics appropriate for this specific water, the reality is we didn't see any sign of larger fish although some have to exist here.

Leaving the Encampment the rest of the trip on the Forest Service Road 550 back to Colorado was a pretty drive but a bust from a fishing standpoint.  It's beautiful country to pass through, but streams are few & far between & smallish sized.

Here are some suggestions should a reader be interested in duplicating these travels.  Check the flow levels on the Encampment before wasting time hiking up that river.  If the stream is higher & cooler than we experienced this late in July, better results may occur.

If you continue on to Hog Park, either fish the reservoir from shore or boat, or fish the tailwater below the dam - as the stream entering the impoundment of that name is virtually non-existent this time of year.  As you continue on the forest road nearer to Colorado and pass over some feeder streams to the Snake River, stop & fish them.  In hopes of finding larger water we did not stop there and paid for it later by not having any casting for the Colorado cutthroat that have been stocked in those tributaries.

Be sure to try the middle fork of the Middle Fork of the Snake, as well as the fork of Solomon Creek when you cross them on your way to Steamboat Springs.   Otherwise you'll miss any further casting in Wyoming.

And when you finally get to Colorado, spend a little time on the Elk River as well as the Yampa in the limits of Steamboat.  We had modest success today, but at least it was better than what we experienced in Wyoming.   OK this was not a terrific fishing trip, but the scenery was great, and of course we will probably never revisit the area.

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