Cody Wyoming
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We are leaving on 8/12 for Cody Wyoming and will be there for four days. Just wondering if anyone has heard of any reports from the area such as water conditions and , of course the fishing.We are staying on the South fork of the Shoshone and will be fishing on the North Fork as well. Looking forward to this trip as I have never fished this particular area. The rest of the two weeks will be spent on more familiar waters, Tounge river, Big Horn, and something in Yellowstone.
Cody is a great town, with plenty of excellent nearby fishing options. I recommend giving North Fork Anglers a call to check the current water conditions – their website is currently down. One of the members here on IA is from Cody, although I haven’t seen him post in quite a while. Maybe he’ll weigh in on the current conditions. In my experience, the Shoshone can be hit-or-miss, although when you hit it right, it can be excellent. It routinely gets fresh rainbows running up from the lake, so it seems that some sections of the river will hold heaps of fish, while others will have lower numbers. The locals should be able to point you toward the sections that are fishing the best.
Pop into North Fork Anglers (right on the main drag in Cody) and get some North Fork Specials – its a great local fly. Red has always been a hot color for me on the Shoshone as well – bloody Marys, copper Johns, and the mighty woooooorm have all been very productive.
There is a Sierra Trading Post outlet in Cody that is worth a quick stop if you’re looking for any outdoor gear.
Enjoy the trip. It’s a very under-rated destination, in my opinion. Beautiful scenery and great fishing.
Not to mention Cody also has the only physical Sierra Trading Post store I’m aware of. That’s the second best storefront in the West to me. The first would be the Patagonia outlet in Dillon, Montana, just down the road from the taco bus.
ZachI saw a Sierra Trading Post from the highway , in Cheyenne, while I was on my way to Yellowstone a few years back. It was too early for them to be open. I did wonder what the inside of the place looked like and how big it was.
Brian
I have been to both stores. Like the one in Cody the best because of where it is. All in all they are about the same. Enjoy browsing and end up buying something every time,
MartyThere is also a Sierra near Boise, ID. I was in Cody in Early June, the water was really high and we didn’t have a very productive day. Mike, how was the fishing?
Just got back from the two week fishing vacation. Although we fished a lot , it was still relaxing. I appreciate the replys about the North Fork of the Shoshone. That seems to be a moody river. The first day started off with a bang.We walk in to a spot and the fish start gulping hoppers like it’s their last meal. Then the second half of the day gets slow and we notice there are no bugs like we were told we would see. We were above the lake fishing by the way. Spent one more day on same section of river and it was very slow, the low point of the trip. Did manage my nicest Cuttbow though, around 17″. Trailing a nymph off the hopper just invited small fish. The landscape here is beautiful and I would fish here again. We made a trip over around Meeteese on National Forest land to fish a high mountain stream full of brookies and cutthroats. Very few people and some awesome scenery. Spent two days up in the Bighorns fishing for brookies, cutts, and cuttbows.Caught my biggest brookie ever. We actually had more bug hatches up here than we did on the Shoshone. I just remembered that we started this trip with a half day on the lower stretch of Slough Creek in the park. Had some rising fish there and caught some really nice fish. The parking lot up by the campground was very crowded, but we had no one around us for the most part. We ended the trip with four days on the old reliable Bighorn at Ft.Smith. Strange year there as far as timing of the hatches. Pmd’s, midges, and some black caddis. We were treated to a Pmd spinner fall one day. A guide with clients pulled up to a shoal we were on and wanted, believe it or not, to trade some flies. He said if we had some Royal coachman’s or an H&L Variant, that he had some spinner patterns that would “catch every fish in the river”. I believe at that point that every fish in the river was eating. It was a sight. He told us that this did not happen very often. A number 12 spinner pattern he had was deadly. Later after the spinners quit, they fish were on emergers and some duns. Allsaid, we spent five hours on one shoal fishing a hatch. Too much fun.The only nymphing we tried was a number 20 red zebra midge under a hopper and it was hot. The overall size of the fish seemed to be down just a little, but we were very pleased with our time spent here.Hats off to that guide, I believe his name was Eric. What a good guy. He and his clients were a hoot.As always, looking foward to getting back out there.
Zach, my pic card has around 300 shots on it. I am going to put some of the better ones on here if I can find the time. It’s back to work tomorrow. I have never had much luck posting pics, but will get some help.
A lot of the fish had already left the NF for the lake-the river dropped so fast this year it was funky, to say the least. It is funny when people fish the NF and expect hatches. That shit just doesn’t happen………..and when it does, the fish really aren’t interested.
I noticed that you stayed on the South Fork………..did you fish it?
Mark,
the only reason we expected any hatches is because the local shops talked so much about them.The bad thing about that is, I’ve been at the game long enough to not really believe what those reports say. At any rate, we had a good time there and would go back. We took the time to fish there because of someone we knew well that had fished it before. So do the fish usually leave the river for the lake, or is that something unusual? What time of year would you reccommend next time? We only fished the South Fork for a short time a couple of evenings. Small browns and a few small rainbows. Also, we wanted to do the float through town and did not have time.Would like to rent a boat if possible next time and fish that stretch.Mike Livingstone
I thought it was bad timing. I’ve never seen a hatch on that river (NF). I have seen drakes and BWO’s on the Clarks Fork though for what it’s worth.
The fish live in the res all winter and head up early in the spring to spawn. There is a little window to fish them before the lower river closes and before runoff starts. By mid-July runoff is done and the fishing is hot. However, on low snow pack years, fish will still be up the river mid-July……so that is generally your best bet to find fish.
The river in town is a very underutilized resource-I love that stretch. I’m not sure you can rent a boat in town, but look me up if you come back. We’ll get you down there.
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