Epic Swing Day 2 - Grey Reef Tailwater Of N Platte River 28Apr19

After heading in to Casper to get a new faucet, and installing and testing it, I was finally ready to head over to the river. I'd passed so many fishing lodges (Crazy Rainbow, Alcova Lodge, Reef Fly Fishing and several more) that I had some expectations but feared crowds. There are a lot of Clackcraft dory boats here. I found my lone spot though and let others float by. Freakin' fabulous fishery. It was windy and I was cold but the fish don't care. I caught fish every 3rd cast or so for about 2.5 hours from 12:30-3:00 and every fish was big (18"-21") and strong - I am amazed. While I didn't catch any trophies and I didn't catch any browns today (reported at <10%), the fishing was as advertised on this "one of the best tailwaters in America." I was nervous I wouldn't know the water or bugs but I read stuff and used a large silver bead zebra midge and a #18 mercury bead FBPT (as the beatis are coming off here right now) - the fish hit both equally in a mid-river channel at the bottom of a riffle... I stayed in one spot! Not "hunting" is unusual for me but it was that good - I also used an orange scud till it broke off in some pig (my scuds are old and rusty and pre-date my CO days and I should have known better). By the end of my outing I was actually seeing some fish well, despite the white caps and deep water - this shortened my line out and increased my take rate even further. My images are all of different rainbows/cutbows and some other big ones were left in the river or lept from my lens before photo worthiness - it was awesome. Check my net out with the big 'bow jumping mid-river after another epic run with reel singing. The North Platte is big water and I did not wade in too far and I stopped early to warm up. This place is highly recommended pre-runoff & post spawn (1st week of May) and it's relatively close. I now understand the lodges and the fact that every other car in Wyoming sports a rod rack.