Runoff is winding down and anglers can expect to find wadeable flows through the Laramie and Platte River drainages over the next week or so. The Laramie is just about at wadeable flows from Jelm all the way to town, and the North Platte with a recent bump in flows is still a little on the high side for wading, but should be a great option in the next couple of weeks. High elevation tributaries are clearing and rapidly and ought to be fishing great! Now is a great time to explore some of these higher elevation tributaries. Flows are still on the high side, but water clarity is great and fish will be looking for easy meals after being tucked up under the banks for the past couple weeks.
High country lakes and streams are starting to open up as well, with many lakes over 10,000' starting to ice off over the past couple weeks. Fishing should be excellent in the high country during this ice off window. As we do every year, we will be changing our fishing report from the Laramie Plains Lakes to the Snowy Range Alpine Lakes and Streams for the remainder of June, July, August, and September.
Upper North Platte
Flows: ~ 800 cfs (Northgate)
Conditions: The Platte should continue to provide excellent float fishing options and flows slowly drop. Bank fishing can also be productive for the wading angler, but expect to be limited to one side as crossing will not be an option for a little while longer. The Platte has seen a small bump in flows with recent rainfall, but will continue to slowly drop in flows and improve in water clarity.
Fish should be looking for a wide variety of menu items now; hoppers, caddis, and PMDs will make up a majority of surface selections, with stonefly, caddis and mayfly nymphs providing good subsurface action. We have also seen fish chasing streamers with some consistency in the past week, so don't be afraid to beat the banks with sculpin patterns as well!
Expect most fish to be holding tight to the banks as runoff continues to wind down, with fish starting to spread out more throughout the river when we see those flows drop below about 500 cfs.
Flies: Streamers; Sculpzilla, Mini Sex Dungeon, Tequeely, Slumpbuster, Pine Squirrel, Wedge Head, Dirty Hippie, Baby Gonga
Dries; Carnage Stone, Christensen's Salmonfly, Swisher's Foam PMX, Chubby Chernobyl, Clark's Stonefly, Stimulator, Light Cahill, Para Adams, Elk Caddis, Corn Fed Caddis, CDC Caddis
Nymphs; Rubber Legs, Restless Stone, 20 Incher, Tim's Stone, San Juan Worm, Squirmy Wormy, CDC Stone, Dirty Bird, Devil Jig, Hare's Ear, Prince Nymph, Blow Torch, HDA FAV, Copper John
Laramie River
Flows: ~ 150 cfs (Woods Landing, WY)
Conditions: The Big Laramie has seen a fairly rapid drop in flows and has been fishing great. Streamers have been the ticket over the past week, but as we see fish spread out and move off the banks a bit more, hopper dropper rigs should be quite deadly as well. We have been seeing a variety of bugs around including PMDs, yellow sallies, brown stoneflies, caddis, and hoppers. We have not seen much surface action just yet, but expect dry fly fishing to pick up considerably in these lower flows and improved water clarity.
Flies: Streamers; Sculpzilla, Tequeely, Slumpbuster, Pine Squirrel, Wedge Head, Dirty Hippie, Baby Gonga
Dries; Chubby Chernobyl, Swisher's Foam PMX, Amy's Ant, Carnage Drake, Green Drake Parachute,
Nymphs; Rubber Legs, 20 Incher, Restless Stone, San Juan Worm, Squirmy Wormy, Tim's Stone, CDC Stone, Dirty Bird, Devil Jig, Hare's Ear, Blow Torch
Tributary Streams
Flows: ~ 100 - 500 cfs
Conditions: The tributary streams will provide wading anglers with the best option over the next week. While the North Platte and Laramie Rivers are dropping and clearing, they still present challenging wading conditions at current flows. Higher elevation tributary streams will be much more wadeable, and should have better water clarity than the main branches. Streamers and hopper dropper rigs will be the most productive as fish seek out significant meals following the runoff window.
Flies: Streamers; Sculpzilla, Tequeely, Slumpbuster, Wolly Bugger, Platte River Spider, GB Crystal Bugger, Pine Squirrel, Wedge Head, Dirty Hippie, Baby Gonga
Dries;
Nymphs; Rubber Legs, 20 Incher, Restless Stone, San Juan Worm, Squirmy Wormy, Tim's Stone, CDC Stone, Dirty Bird, Devil Jig, Hare's Ear, Blow Torch
Alpine Lakes and Streams
Conditions: Reports indicate that most of the alpine lakes and streams are open and fishing well! Fishing can be quite productive at these higher elevations due to the short feeding window. Small streamers, attractors dries, and nymphs both dead-drifted and stripped can all be effective methods on alpine lakes.
Flies: Streamers; GB Crystal Bugger, Wolly Bugger, Pine Squirrel, Hale Bopp
Dries; Amy's Ant, Swisher's Foam PMX, Stimulator, Light Cahill, Para Adams
Nymphs; Hare's Ear, Prince Nymph, Tungsten Zebra Midge, WD40, Juju Baetis