Trip Report Wyoming 1 9/17/20 to 9/20/20

[robertseeburger]

Well...the sierras were calling to me but the fires did me in.
I have done one wind river trip per year for the last 4 years, partly just to experience a new range, partly for the fishing.
If you have read my prior posts on these trips, I ranked my golden trout fishing experience an F, and my cutthroat trout experience an A.

My wind river backpacking friend had to cancel our annual (August) this year so I went to the sierras instead, with a great trip around the Ritter Range.
I had given up hope of a Wind trip this year. And I had a really big solo trip planned in Kings Canyon. I have done at least one Kings Canyon trip each year for the last 5 or 6 years, but this year nothing so far. ( I have done one Sequoia, one John Muir Wilderness, and one Ansel Adams/Yosemite, but no Kings Canyon.). I have had a running joke with another HST member that we always seem to plan to go to Ionian Basin, but never seem to make it. So this year, I had permit in hand, with a departure date of 9/9 for a grand odyssey through Kings Canyon, including finally getting to Ionian Basin. I watched the Creek Fire with interest but not alarm on 9/6 and 9/7--even talking with Bishop ranger station. I watched the incredible build up on 9/7 of smoke. My backpack was packed..but finally on 9/8 in the morning I decided to cancel. 6 hours later, my permit was canceled. My wife gave me points for canceling BEFORE I was told to cancel. My friend Gary also had a trip planned with his friends in John Muir Wilderness and his trip was cancelled as well.

So, after monitoring the situation for a couple of days, and finally realizing that the Sierra trips just weren't happening in 2020, Gary and I hatched a plan...go to Wyoming for two trips..first a 4 day trip in the Winds and then a separate 6 day trip.

The first trip went to an isolated lake. 2 days in, one layover, one day out.
There had been a big snowstorm over Labor Day..and there was still residual snow at the trailhead as we started out.

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Waterfalls were flowing..and fall was in the air..

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Fishing started off slowly..
I caught 1 nice 18 incher ...and Gary none in the first several hours.. we commiserated...and decided to keep trying.

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Late in the afternoon, fishing heated up..Gary also caught an 18 incher.

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And then he caught a massive 19 incher..

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Gary and I both like to take pictures of our big fish..quickly catch and release..wet hands. We also like seeing pictures from others. We note how other pictures are artificially enhanced by holding the fish close to the camera, making you think the fish is bigger than it really is. We were both engineers ( actually Gary was research physicist, but close enough) and we both believe in facts rather than enhancement, but just for fun, here is his fish, with the enhanced version. Same fish! Just for fun.

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I wound up catching another 18 incher that day.

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And Gary also caught another 18 incher that day.

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Another enhancement of same fish..

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[robertseeburger]

We kept fishing the next day..

I have always dreamed of catching a 20 inch golden. I have had two close calls. I caught a 19 1/2 inch golden in 2015 (posted a TR in HST).
I tried to make it 20 inches in my mind.. I even pinched the tail a little..but it wasn't 20 inches. In the winds a couple of years ago, I caught a massive 22 inch trout, which I thought was a golden. In my haste to snap a quick picture and then release, I never looked in detail. But afterward Wandering Daisy correctly pointed out that while it looked like a golden, it was in fact a Yellowstone cutthroat. (Clear cut marks on jaw)..hmm so I was back to never having caught a 20 inch golden. Been searching for that fish for 40 years..

I finally caught one here..

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And then I caught another one..this one was much more massive..estimate 4 pounds? Best golden of my life..

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And Gary caught a couple nice ones.. here is one more. different coloration.

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And another "enhanced" view of the same fish...hey we were just having fun! We are really just poking fun at people who distort their pictures.

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We had success on and off during the layover day. Then the winds came in the next morning..even made it hard to pack up..and we got out of there in a hurry...End of a short and sweet part 1 of our trip. Part 2 to come..

[balzaccom]

Them is some massive golden trout!

[fish4gold]

Congratulations on an epic trip and the best golden of a lifetime!

[Wandering Daisy]

So what worked better (for both of your trips)? Fly or spin? I am glad you had good weather; unusually warm September this year.

There is some good roadside fishing along the way from your first trip location to second. When I lived in Lander we fished roadside a lot, including fishing reservoirs using bow-and-arrow (string attached) from a canoe!

To return west, a really nice scenic drive is over Beartooth Pass via Cody and then south through Yellowstone and Tetons.

[windknot]

Great photos of some truly massive goldens. Sounds like the trek over to Wyoming was well worth it. Thanks for sharing!

[robertseeburger]

So what worked better (for both of your trips)? Fly or spin? I am glad you had good weather; unusually warm September this year.

There is some good roadside fishing along the way from your first trip location to second. When I lived in Lander we fished roadside a lot, including fishing reservoirs using bow-and-arrow (string attached) from a canoe!

To return west, a really nice scenic drive is over Beartooth Pass via Cody and then south through Yellowstone and Tetons.

So what worked better (for both of your trips)? Fly or spin? I am glad you had good weather; unusually warm September this year.

There is some good roadside fishing along the way from your first trip location to second. When I lived in Lander we fished roadside a lot, including fishing reservoirs using bow-and-arrow (string attached) from a canoe!

To return west, a really nice scenic drive is over Beartooth Pass via Cody and then south through Yellowstone and Tetons.

Hmm.. which worked better spinners or flies? Answer is both worked well. But long periods of time when neither worked either. Then a flurry of activity. Fishing for goldens.. to me it is often more about being at the right place at the right time than any given approach. If you find the right place, you can catch fish with the fly you dragged behind your car on the drive to the trailhead or the oldest lure in your box. If you are there are there at the wrong time you might swear the lake is barren. Gary is only flies, and I am predominantly spinners ( some willingness to switch to flies if flies are working and spinners not..which happens sometimes.). We have backpacked a lot together now, and often fish side by side or in close proximity..with the lead person advising the trailing person how to approach a spot if the lead person has seen a fish that he does not catch. This seems to be effective sometimes.

[TahoeJeff]

Awesome Gold!

[gary c.]

Very nice!!

[brandoge]

Those are some massive goldens! Great photos, looks like a fun trip