The Fly of the Week-2/26/09

The PAL was created about 8 years ago by Adrian Keeler. A simple yet very effective pattern, the PAL has been fished by The Reef Fly Shop/North Platte Lodge guide crew/clients in rivers throughout the US and even New Zealand. Needless to say it's caught fish everywhere!

Grey Reef-Big Fish 08'

The above is a small collection of big fish photos from the 2008 season.

Favorite Time To Fish Grey Reef?

We put a little survey on the blog that asked "What is your time of year to fish Grey Reef?" The results were a little surprising to me. Spring, Summer and Fall we equally popular while winter received less than 1/2 the votes. I was expecting Spring to walk away with it. What this says to me is that more and more folks are getting to know the North Platte River and are NOT intimidated by the weed growth. I know that I really like mid summer fishing because it is the most insect diverse time of year, very few river users and the streamer fishing gets REALLY good. How about you? Give us an example of why you like to fish Grey Reef during a certain time of year?

Blogger Gary Myers said...

My favorite time of the year to fish Grey Reef is winter. The two main reasons I guess is first I usually have the river to myself. Second is that as many seasons I've spent on this river I have caught more big fish in the winter than any other time of year, but lets be honest catching big fish is an all year around thing at Grey Reef.

February 23, 2009 8:01 PM
Blogger Montana Teal said...

My favorite time to fish the Reef is September. For my fishing buddies and I there is nothing more exciting in trout fishing than throwing 6 inch streamers and having a trout literally stop your stripping. The fall is when the big boys put on the feed bag and are more aggressive. Throwing 70 to 80 feet of line and catching 8+lb trout is about as good as it gets on western rivers. I'm just amazed how many of these fish there are in the first 9 miles of this river.
And, believe it or not, the two largest trout we've caught in the past 11 years were during and incredible blue wing olive hatch. If you truly are looking for a fish of a life time, strip large streamer during the best fall hatches. You won't have the numbers but everyone who walks into your office will notice what you’re holding.

Thanks for contributing guys! We will happy to post articles, opinions or BS if your willing to submit. Bring it...

Erik Aune

Bahamas-The Reef Fly Shop

The Reef Fly Shop was pleased to host several weeks in the Bahamas this winter. A virtually untouched destination,Ragged Island boasted large numbers of bonefish and other 'fly eating' fish species. The stories from these excursions are to long to list and best told with a photograph...enjoy!

Valentine's-Grey Reef

It was a fairly quiet weekend on Grey Reef. The temperature hovered around the freezing mark making icy guides and cold fingers the theme. I'm sure Valentine's Day had a large part in making this weekend a little slower than expected..."Honey, I'm going fishing!" is not really a popular Valentine's Day phrase. There are a few of us, call us the blessed ones, that can get away with this and it appears Gary Meyers of Casper falls under this category. Gary came out Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a quiet river and some good fishing.

Fly Fishing Grey Reef...unbelievable!

We are continuing to have some truly UNBELIEVABLE weather! Fly Fishing Grey Reef is typically known for big wind and big fish. Imagine having calm conditions and miles of the North Platte to yourself. It happened today...again. I know the last several reports on The Reef sound the same...but the great weather and great fly fishing continues. My first two rainbow trout of the afternoon easily surpassed 20" and could be described as robust. It was a great day!

Steamboat Powdercats

What does skiing in Steamboat have to do with fly fishing Grey Reef? Well, The first image is of Dave Lundy. He is a good buddy and a fishing guest of The Reef Fly Shop. We are skiing with Steamboat Powdercats which is owned by Dave Lanoha, an amazing guy, who happens to be a frequent guest of the North Platte Lodge. It is kind of a "what comes around, goes around" situation.
Dave and I had a blast! They hadn't received new snow for 7 days and our guides Patrick, Murph and Rob did a great job getting us into untracked powder. When they encounter a drought like this, they have to conserve the resource for the next groups while giving the current group an awesome experience...sounds just like fishing. The similarities were uncanny, and really fun to watch the guides reactions to certain situations.
I can't recommend this operation enough. In fact, I am trying to set up another day before their season ends and ours begin.
Visit them at www.steamboatpowdercats.com

Great weather...great fishing!

Spent a bulk of the morning staring at the computer and talking on the phone. From the office window I'm fortunate to have a direct view of the cable hole. As one would guess it does have an effect on my productivity. No wind and a light snow made the idea of fishing far more appealing than office work. I walked down around 1pm and had two VERY good hours of fishing...and I was the only one out there!

Winter on Grey Reef-2/7/09

Every winter on Grey Reef is different. Some mild, some blustery, they all help you to appreciate winter Wyoming fly fishing. This winter has been a fly fisherman's winter...mild, calm, and filled with sunshine. While the spring/early summer seem to be the "famed" months on the North Platte, winter fishing can yield some of the most spectacular nymph and streamer fishing of the year! The following is a collection of photographs from the last several days. Enjoy!