Most fly fishers think of Grey Reef on the North Platte River as a spingtime fishery. Grey Reef is an impressive fishery all year. But, the few fishers who are brown trout enthusiasts know that the fall is the time to target these trophy trout. Well...maybe not? We generally don't regard May as the prime trophy brown time, but this year has proven me wrong(my personal favorite time to guide or fish Grey Reef is during the summer). Last week, during a 2 day span there were 6 browns over 25"s landed...that we know about. All of these fish were taken on streamers.
What gives? It could be that the browns are just hungry because the water downstream has been a little off color...err...muddy. Or, the lunar cycle? Or, the word got out and the die hards went after them? Who knows and who cares, the fact of the matter is that some huge trout were landed and recorded. The memory of stories will live on much longer than the memory of the actual event. Fishing is largely about fond memories!
North Platte Lodge and The Reef Fly Shop guide Jason Ostrander with one of last week's gems...this one taped at 28.5"
Erik Aune
