Lower Wind River Campground Fly Fishing

This fishing trip to the Wind River below Boysen Reservoir I dedicated to my daughter Karen who was killed this past summer in a motercycle accident.  She was my one child who really liked going fishing with me.  Often we would go for my birthday.  This year for my birthday I went on my own.  I’m sure Karen was with me in spirit.

Last summer when I went with Nick to the Wind River the water was so high it was hard to wade and difficult to fish.  I was hoping for a chance to check out the river in the fall when the water would be at normal flows.  Last July it was at 3700cfs.  In September it was 1300cfs.

This trip I camped at the Lower Wind River Campground near the first tunnel.  It is a nice campground with plenty of space, picnic tables and shade.  

It has running water and an outhouse.  Camping runs $17 a night and the facility is kept up well.  Cell reception is poor although I was able to text from moment to moment.  One thing I thought was interesting was that there were more people camping in the middle of September than on the first of July.  The Sherriff did pay me a visit to make sure I had paid for the two nights I camped.  Weather-wise it was a perfect trip.  Not too hot during the day and still pleasant at night.  The elevation is only about 4400 feet above sea level which keeps the weather somewhat mild.  Whereas on the Green River below Fontenelle, the elevation is about 6500 feet and it gets real cold at night. 

I tried fishing with streamers along the river below the campground but didn’t have any luck.  I tried brown and black wooly buggers, and larger Home Invaders.  I then tried nymphing with Prince nymphs and Halfback nymphs (a larger attracter peacock herl nymph) and still didn’t catch anything.

The next day I drove across the dam and down the dirt road that ran along the other side of the river.  Driving past the bridge almost directly across from the upper campground I found a stretch that had more structure than most of the river below the dam, riffles, pools and islands, etc.   

Here I hiked down to the river to the lowermost part of the riffles so I could fish upstream.  Where the riffles entered the deep section of the river I began casting.  I would cast the nymphs to the shallow riffles and allow them to be carried into the drop off.  After a couple of casts I hooked a nice rainbow.   

It took the size 12 Halfback.  

I measured the fish at twenty inches and released it.  After I released it, I realized I should have taken a throat sample.  I would on my next fish, I promised myself.