Jack Dennis Fishing Trips Jackson Hole, 83001 307-690-0910 www.jackdennisfishingtrips.com

The Amazing Canyon by Micah Kruger

If you have spent much time fishing the waters of Wyoming, you probably have heard of the river I am about to talk about, if not already laid line to water on it. Of course, the river I am speaking of is the Wind River. But it’s not just the Wind in general that produced one of the most amazing days of fishing I have ever experienced, but a specific section of it that you may not have considered before as trophy trout water. What I want to tell you about is the section of the Wind River just south of the town of Thermopolis known as the , home to cutthroats, rainbows, and brown trout with an average size of 18 to 20-inch with fish up to 30 inches possible. Even if you have spent time on other sections of the Wind, you haven’t seen her full potential until you have floated the canyon stretches below . Every angler that considers him or herself versed on Wyoming waters must fish the Wind River Canyon at least once before they die.

Here in the Jackson area, we are blessed with arguably the best trout water in the western United States. How many people can make the claim of being within 90 minutes of the caliber of waters such as the Snake River, the South Fork, the Henry’s Fork, the Green River, Flat Creek, and waters within Yellowstone National Park, just to name a few? And that only covers the Northwest corner of the state! As I tell my friends (especially those who pursue trout) who live in locales other than Wyoming, I am “living the dream” when it comes to all of the quality fishing at my backdoor. But even fishing all of that top-notch water, nothing can prepare you for what awaits in the Wind River Canyon.

My trip to the Canyon took place in late July 2003, and it is one that will be impossible to forget. My friend, colleague, and gonzo fishing partner Andy Asadorian accompanied me. Together, Andy and I sell flies at the shop and teach folks to fly fish all summer long as fly casting instructors and we were lucky enough to have the float trip set up ahead of time for us by our shop owner Jack Dennis and our manager, Jeff Currier. Andy and I had arrangements to meet Darren Calhoun, owner and operator of Wind River Canyon Whitewater, at his shop in Thermopolis, WY at 7:30 a.m. on that coming Thursday. Thermopolis is located approximately 215 miles east of Jackson via US-26/US-89/US- 189/US-191. Because of the travel time involved, we decided to leave on Wednesday night so that we could be in Thermopolis nice and early and ready for a big day. (I can’t

Jack Dennis Fishing Trips Page 1 of 4 tell you exactly how long that 215 miles will take you because we had to stop at the Roadhouse just outside of Riverton for a burger and a beer and a quick game of 8-Ball. Apparently, individual times will vary.) We drove until we arrived at the Upper Campground, which is situated just below the dam at Boysen Reservoir (the Wyoming state record walleye was caught on the reservoir if you were curious), half an hour outside of Thermopolis on the banks on the Wind River. Sleeping bags were tossed on the ground and a pleasant night was spent under the stars. A few hours later we were up early, in to town for a quick bite, and by 7:30 we were standing in the lobby of Darren’s shop in Thermopolis. By the look on Darren’s face when we walked in, I could tell that the fun was just about to begin.

Location, location, location. It can mean a lot depending on the situation. Sometimes it can mean the difference between ball four and winning the World Series or strike three and 6 months of heartache. The point is, location can be paramount, and in the case of the Wind River Canyon, it plays a huge role in the quality and overall experience of the fishery. To be more specific, it lies on the Wind River Indian Reservation, home to roughly 12,000 members of the and Northern Arapaho Tribes, and you must be a member of one of the tribes to be able to float the Canyon. Consequently, there is only one licensed outfitter for is entire stretch of water. You guessed it! It’s Darren and Pete Calhoun’s Wind River Canyon Whitewater, proud to be a 100% Indian owned outfitter and your only source for this one-of-a-kind float trip.

Their distinction of being the exclusive guide service ensures that they can provide the highest quality experience every time out, and our trip was no exception. One of the most amazing parts of the trip is grasping the forethought that Darren has used in running his business. His genius is that he only allows one party per day per stretch of river. In our case, one boat period. That’s it. Darren told us he still allows additional parties of whitewater rafters on at the same time, but we only saw two other rafts go by but it was only for a minute towards the end of the day. What mattered most to us was that we were assured of being the only rods on the water that day. Apparently the majority of the reservation members have little to no interest in the Wind as a recreational fishing resource, so even those that are allowed to float the river don’t do it. Darren told us we would essentially be fishing private water! We couldn’t wait to get started and after finally getting to meet and chat with Darren, we were dying to hit the water. Just then the man we were all waiting for came bursting through the door, our guide Dan Hruska, and we were all out the door and headed for the put-in.

Dan and Darren had decided that the best stretch for us that day was the Lower Canyon. The Lower combined with the Upper Canyon make up the only two stretches in the entire canyon and our stretch would cover about nine miles of water. Darren dropped us off at the put-in with Dan and his raft, and with a quick wave we pushed off. All of Darren’s guides use rafts for their fishing trips. As the name of the business implies, Wind River Canyon Whitewater, there is more to this river than big fish and amazing scenery. Depending on water flows, the river is chock full of rapids in the II, III, and IV class so staying bone dry isn’t really an option. Dan is a twenty-something ex- whitewater guide, so Andy and I knew we were in the right hands, and I think the rapids

Jack Dennis Fishing Trips Page 2 of 4 add an extremely exciting twist to your run-of-the-mill float trip, but this is definitely something you would not want to try to run in a McKenzie boat or anything not inflatable. Dan was what you might expect from a quality guide; steady on the oars, good fishing tips, quick with the net, knowledgeable about the surrounding area (the canyon is as old as the Grand Canyon!), enthusiastic about being on the river, and it’s all packaged in a personality that was laid back and unpressured but always handy.

We started with Andy fishing a streamer off the back and me up front with a big dry. Dan had told us that there was an unusually high moss growth occurring in the river that made fishing streamers pretty tough, but we had heard of the huge brown trout present in these waters and dredging for a hog with a streamer was still too tempting to resist for Andy. I rigged a size 4 black Turk’s Tarantula at Dan’s request and within 10 minutes I had the first fish of the day, a healthy 18-inch cutthroat. But it didn’t take long for Andy to get into the action. Right away Andy took several nice fish on his streamer rig, but it didn’t take him long to switch to a big dry once he saw the takes I was getting. For the next two hours, we experienced some of the best large trout fishing we’ve ever had. In that time we boated 8 fish, half of which were 20 inches or better, and all were browns except that first Cutty of the day.

I had started the day fishing 3X tippet, but quickly switched when I saw the glazed look in Andy’s eye as he laughingly told me he was fishing his Turk’s on 0X/1X with 2X tied to a Barbie Doll dropper. We couldn’t believe it! Size 2 to 4 dry flies on 1X tippet fished to 20-inch brown trout that attack our flies like kamikazes? We were in heaven! The highlight of my day was catching an 18-inch brown that had turned downstream to catch my fly that had just passed over its head and he cleared the water entirely, from head to tail, to eat my size 4 Tarantula. The fishing slowed down a bit after lunch but neither Andy or I cared. We had already lost count of the fish caught and lost and there was still plenty of action left to keep us fishing hard. The best rapids in the Lower Canyon are towards the end of the day, so the excitement of lacing up our lifejackets and tying down all of our belongings to run the waves made up for any drop in the fishing action. We finished our day with Andy sticking a healthy rainbow, the first one of the day, just short of the takeout at the Wedding of the Waters. We tried to look for meaning in the fact that our only Cutty was the first fish of the day and our only ‘Bow was the last fish of the day, sandwiching between them the 20-inch browns that we lost count of, but the only thing we could think of was that we just had one hell of a day.

If you want to count yourself among the baptized on one of Wyoming’s premier trout rivers, there is only one real way to do it. Call Wind River Canyon Whitewater in Thermopolis, WY at 888-246-9343 and let Darren set you up with one of his guides for the day. They operate from Memorial Day to Labor Day and the price of a full day including lunch at the time of writing is $450.00 for two anglers. This price does not include a Wind River Indian Reservation Permit and Conservation stamp which is required to fish the Canyon and can be purchased the morning of your trip in the shop. If you’re curious, they also offer guided trips on the Big Horn and Big Wind Rivers, but make sure you fish the Wind first. If you are trying to get a hold of them during their off

Jack Dennis Fishing Trips Page 3 of 4 season, try calling (307) 486-2253 or emailing Darren at [email protected] and make sure you tell Darren that Andy and Meeks sent you.

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