24 August 2010
Today is another move day as we will end up in Dubois tonight. Packing up we depart the Ranch at 0915 – pretty cool place which was very comfortable. We had heard about fishing the Snake River also below Hoback Junction. On the way out of Alpine by the Hoback Junction, there are some rafting companies where you can rent a raft for the day. While they are geared for water enthusiasts, I wonder about the use of raft for day access to some of the fishing water below the Hoback River junction with the Snake. An eleven foot raft rents for about $65/day, a 13 foot raft for about $105 per day etc. You can also pay a little more for shuttle costs if you don’t have a truck etc to haul the raft.
On the way into Jackson, we stop by Albertson’s which is by the Motel 6 where we stayed in 2004 the night that AB became ill. I recall they had a Starbucks in the store then but it is now a Tully’s. We coffee up and get some sandwiches for the day.
We headed into main street Jackson for our obligatory homage to visit the Jack Dennis Shop.
Now the shop has more clothes and art than fishing gear but this is Jackson. GK had broken a tip top on a new Winston Rod so, since they were also listed as a Winston Dealer, we hoped they could help him but it turns out that all Winston warranty actions are back to the company so that well came up dry. While in the store, MS mentioned that they had seen another Jack Dennis shop around the corner when they parked. So AM and AB headed over to see what was up. We took a couple of pix of a stuffed elk in downtown Jackson – kind of a metrosexual kind of elk maybe??… Something wasn’t quite right about it.
We find the other Jack Dennis shop about two blocks away.
It is much smaller (more of a traditional fly shop size) and all fly fishing – no clothes or art distractions. These were our people!! While there we chatted with Tom Price (helps Jack with the new location), Nelson Payne (works the counter), and Bruce James (heads the guiding service). They had recently moved to this new location in 2009 – I wasn’t completely sure but this felt like a separation of the businesses – not sure of the whole story here. We chatted with Tom and Nelson at length about fishing opportunities the other side of Dubois. We discussed Bull Lake Creek (on the Wind Indian Reservation and watch out for rattlesnakes), Wind River Canyon (above Thermopolis where it cuts through the Owl Creek Mountains – this is the general area where the Wind River gets renamed to be the Big Horn River), Boysen Reservoir and Dam (fish below Dam on the far side – big browns, rainbows, and rattlesnakes). These were great folks with whom to share info and stop by. If you get to Jackson, look for these folks about 2 blocks away from the "main" Jack Dennis shop.
We stopped by the visitor center on the north side of town for a quick break
before heading over the pass toward eastern Wyoming - they had some great elk
taxidermy!
Heading north and east, we cross Togwotee Pass at 12:35 and check into the
Twin Pines Lodge and Cabin in downtown Dubois at 1:30pm (Twin Pines Lodge and
Cabins, PO Box 1150 218 West Ramshorn Street, Dubois, WY 1-307-455-2600 or
1-800-550-6332, www.twinpineslodge.com
or email to twinpines@wyoming.com )
As we have come to expect, they have a computer on line downstairs and wireless
throughout their lodge!
We get a couple of quick suggestions for fishing:
- Hike to Brooks Lake and Brooks Lake Creek
- 3 Lakes area – take trailhead to Lake Louise, Alpine Lake
However, one of the reasons we came over to Dubois was to fish the Wind River. We start with the Painted Hills fishing access on the Wind River just east of town – good looking water – we spread out and cover the waters – wow! Where are the fish? Busted on the Wind?!
We go try to Landen access next where we find a "local" who is nymphing the water pretty intensely. Water structure again looks promising but we are learning that might not be enough.
We head up and try the North Park access next – good look water, big pools, tremendous scenery, but it looks like it has been fished a lot. GK hooks up with one of the local denizens but now exercises a LDR on the fish – we would have released it anyway – kind of a moral victory.
Bushwhacking through the trees and bushes looking for good access, AM realizes that this is moose country and there seems to be lots of moose indications.....You can't see much in front of you....then I find the skull - maybe there is more here than just moose?
Heading back to the rigs, we do find a moose feeding in a field - our little point and shoot cameras aren't really well set up for distance shots at low light levels but we try anyway - as AM gets closer to the moose, he gives signs of irritation which is a cue to back off...so we do.
Heading eastward, we come to a sign about a "Trial Lawyer College"? This is the entrance to the Spence and Moriarity Game Unit – we think it is named for the power trail attorneys from Jackson of the same names. We locate two of the access points for the East Fork of the Wind River but elect to fish it tomorrow now that we know where to go. Dinner is celebrated at the Cowboy Café – their Chicken Fried Steak comes with either brown or white gravy – the CFS selections are rated as very good by JR and MK.
