After a great dinner at Merry Piglets Mexican grill on Main Street in Jackson Hole, we got some rest and then were up bright and early on Sunday. We headed to the Virginian (the best breakfast eats in town!) and had a hearty breakfast, then we headed north to Turpin Meadow in Buffalo Valley to meet up with our backcountry guide Josh Roth. Josh and his trail hand Gil would accompany us into the backcountry seven miles on horseback. We saddled up, the guys packed our gear, and soon we were off. It took us two hours by horse to reach camp, we passed several breathtaking views of the Buffalo Fork of the Snake, some of which we were riding a trail that was about 1000 - 1500 ft above the river and STRAIGHT DOWN. I have fished in mountain areas most of my life and have seen some great scenery but this ranked right at the top.
It was quite dry and dusty on the way in, Josh had packed us lunches and water and we ate when we reached camp. Then it was unpacking the gear, grabbing the fishing gear, and we all geared up and headed off for the river. We were in one of the most beautiful meadows you could imagine, ready to fish the famed Soda Fork of the Buffalo. We would soon find out why the stream received so many great accolades......because it was loaded with large cutthroats who gobble size 8 and 10 dry flies with reckless abandon. Several of the guys caught double digits, when we all met back up at camp I always like to find out how everyone did, there were sheepish grins on nearly every face. Several guys caught some really nice fish, Gregg Williamson and Munsey Wheby both caught fish of almost 20inches long. Both of them caught several large fish, all of them cutthroats. All together there were probably 50-60 fish caught all together....the majority of them 14-18 inch cutties. And the river was like a winding, serpentine like blue/green snake, winding its was through an alpine meadow lined with firs, willows, and tall grasses. Simply stated, it was a jewel of a trout stream. And devoid of any sign of other fisherman....not one single footprint anywhere.
After fishing, we returned to camp where Josh had prepared a dinner of fajitas made with Elk, peppers, and seasoning, it was so tasty we all wanted to lick our plates. We also had a salad, and finished it off with a golden cake with chocolate frosting that Josh prepared over the open fire...it was incredible. After the cake, we all sat by the fire for a while telling stories and recounting the day's incredible fishing. Then each of us one by one retreated to our tents for a good nights sleep under an incredibly clear, blue, and starry Wyoming night sky.
We started Monday with an awesome breakfast, Josh made a great casserole dish with potatoes, cheese, eggs, and bacon, and cowboy coffee (my favorite)....everyone raved over it and constantly remarked about how good it was. After breakfast, we packed our gear and Josh and Gil loaded up the gear and our lunches . Soon we were off to fish what everyone after today would call the "Dream stream".....the North Fork of the Buffalo. And a dream stream it was. Munsey, Pat Burney, Gregg Williamson, Ken Williamson, Gary Lee, and Munsey Sr.- - all of them caught tons of fish, some up to 20" - -Gregg's monster cutthroat was the largest of the day. The fish smashed a dry fly, Gregg was quite excited about it. I worked with Gary most of the day as the fishing was slow for him the first day..... not so on this day. Gary caught several nice cutthroats including one beautiful 18" fish, plus a ton of brookies, and what was a slow day the day before ended up being a 60 fish day for Gary- - and "most fish" honors for Gary on the day. I must say Josh took us to one of his "backcountry jewels", and I must say if I designed a perfect trout fishing stream for dry fly fishing it would look a whole lot like this one. Deep, blue-green bends, foam lines, undercuts, overhanging willows, you name it....the perfect dry fly fishing stream. I don't think I am exaggerating in saying the guys caught somewhere between 100 and 150 fish, a combination of cutthroats and brookies, and the most of the being on big dry flies....Schroeders parachute hopper (I keep "preaching" about the merits of that fly- -and go thing that the guys loaded up on them too ), yellow PMX's, Dave's Hoppers, Adams Parachutes, Various caddis in a light color. They simply killed dry flies today. Gary caught a double, a pair of brookies, something I have never personally had happen out west when guiding someone. I'll be posting a picture of those fish when we return home at the end of the month.
With the sun starting to fall, we packed it in, packed up the horses, and headed back for camp. Josh wanted to get us back before it started getting dark/dusk as grizzlies frequent this area and they commonly walk the horse trails and paths during low light periods. We made it back to camp, unpacked our stuff, and sat by the fire while Josh and Gil got dinner going. We had some large marinated pork chops (awesome!) , cowboy potatoes, salad, and a peach cobbler that Josh whipped up and cooked over the fire. Pretty impressive to have those types of dishes and especially desserts like that out in the wilderness. And was it tasty .....incredibly delicious would be the best way to describe it. After dinner and sitting by the fire we all turned in in hopes of getting a good night's sleep.
We got up early, had French toast and sausage by the campfire, then geared up for a few hours fishing before we had to pack up and begin the ride out of the backcountry. It was extremely windy, like a weather system was moving in, and the wind blew 40mph sustained at times and gusts even higher than that. The guys caught maybe a half dozen of cutthroats, maybe 8 or 10 whitefish, but definitely more difficult fishing with the weather. Also, it was early and cutties don't always come up during the cool morning hours. We all came back to the camp, ate our lunch, and headed out 2hrs on horseback back to the trailhead where our cars were.
We all thanked Josh and Gil, loaded our gear into the cars and back off to Jackson were were. It took us a little over an hour but we made it back and checked into our rooms. After unpacking and doing some laundry, we were off to have dinnner and then back to get some rest and get ready for our jaunt down to Cora, Wyoming on Thursday to fish the Green River and also the upper Hoback Peak canyon. It should be great fun.....the adventure continues....
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