Tuesday Aug 31
Checking out of Motel 6, we headed immediately to the nearby Alberston's which has a Starbuck's (really needed the great coffee!!) AM called Lander, Wyoming and talked to Joe Deromedi at Wyoming Fish & Game who gave us great advice on where to hit the Wind River as we headed East toward Dubois. We had breakfast at the Teton Steakhouse Family Restaurant where they have a great buffet.
Our destination for the day was Dubois, Wyoming. Off we headed to the Jackson National Fish Hatchery north of Jackson where the YG members had found the "handicapped" fishing spot for AB. The hatchery had a pond full of large trout that was open to the public for fishing. AM, JR & GK figured this would be a good spot for AB to work on his recovery. After several hours of fishing, trying everything in our fly boxes the YG figured out why this pond full of fish was offered to the public. You couldn’t catch these fish!! At least, WE couldn’t catch these fish….but it was fun trying.
Next we drove back into the GT NP to Schwabacher’s Landing on the Snake River to check out the fishing opportunities. We found the water level in the river was so low that these areas were pretty much high & dry, but did think that some hiking & exploration on future trips might bring us to some good fishing areas along the main-stem Snake. The Teton Mountains were out in their full splendor as we turned out of the Park and headed up the Gros Ventre (pronounced "Grow Vont") river road. (Some say Gros Ventre, meaning "big belly" in French, refers to Indians who were reportedly found in the area with extended bellies. Others say that it comes from the long round belly of Sleeping Indian Mountain east of Jackson Hole that resembles an Indian Chief in full war bonnet, lying on his back visible from the Jackson Hole valley.)
Along the way we saw many Buffalo, Antelope & Deer. Pulling into a State fishing access point, we crossed the swift river into the Teton National Park lands, AB arm-in-arm with GK & AM to keep from falling in, and hiked downstream to some large pools with rising trout. All caught several Snake River Fine-spots on Black Ants, Stimulators & Caddis patterns. We think the area is worth a return trip to explore the river further up & down stream as the Gros Ventre is a great looking trout stream. Like a lot of waters in national parks, if you fish by the road you might be disappointed. However, if you move up or downstream away from civilization by ½ to 1 miles, you can feel like it must have been 200 years ago!!
Driving over Togwotee pass (9658 feet), we stopped and fished the Wind River briefly without much success (just before mile post 87, Bunoir Access) but our hearts were not really into it as we wanted to get to Dubois (6912 feet elevation, 9057 people). Arriving at Dubois, we went through town toward the Dubois Hatchery. On our right as went through town was the National Big Horn Sheep Interpretive Center ( http://www.bighorn.org/) but as one of us (JR?) already spoke fluent sheep, we did not stop.
AM had been conversing with the hatchery superintendent, Al Gettings (307-455-2431) and we wanted to meet him in person. We found the hatchery east of town on Jakeys Fork river road and spent over an hour talking with Al on the hatchery history, where they were going, and what areas we should consider fishing in the time we had on this trip. He was a great fishing resource and gave us many tips on where to fish in the area, which we put on our Gazette for Wyoming. AB was also curious about the hatchery Golden Trout program that he’d read about on-line. Al informed us that the Golden Trout program had ended several years back. The hatchery had been using water from Jakeys Fork Creek, (which flows into the Wind River), and was found to have whirling disease. The hatchery was currently under total renovation, with a new well being drilled for a disease-free water source and new rearing ponds were being constructed. 450 thousand fish had to be destroyed at the hatchery a year previous due to the discovery of whirling disease. If you’re interested in learning more about whirling disease here’s a link from Colorado Fisheries: http://wildlife.state.co.us/fishing/whirling.asp .
After leaving the hatchery we crossed a couple cattle guards, two of the MANY we crossed on this trip, but these were different. One cattle guard had two mountain lion hides laid along each edge and the other had two black bear hides laid out similarly.
We were puzzled by this display & speculated as to their purpose. A little farther down the road was a sign that said, "Jakeys Fork Homestead Bed & Breakfast", (Irene Broderick, 11 Fish Hatchery Road, PO Box 635, Dubois, Wyoming, 307-455-2769, www.frontierlodging.com ), located along Jakeys Fork Creek. The place looked interesting, so we pulled in. The owner, Irene, met us at the door and we told her of our interest in a place that had room for four. She lead us down a trail from her home and told us she was working on rehabilitating her cabins and currently only had one ready to rent. The rustic old log cabin had two beds, and a bath and adjacency to the Jakeys Fork Stream – way cool! We had to bend over to go through the door & the ceilings of this old log cabin were also very low but the cabin was nicely renovated on the inside. An interesting side note was the still-being-restored cabin next door, which had been used by Butch Cassidy Christmas, 1889. AM inspected the second cabin that was still being renovated while the rest of the YG checked out the creek. On the way back up the trail we passed a third building, as Irene explained that it was the first schoolhouse in the area was last used for classes in 1912. We asked about accommodations for two more beds & she showed us two nice additional bedrooms in the main house. This place was looking pretty good, cool old buildings with great western history AND located right next to a trout stream! Then we got the prices. We had a group meeting and decided that the price was slightly over our budget for our needs but would be great for folks on retreat or who wanted to relax and chill out. We liked the place and Irene was a great hostess - maybe something will work out on a future trip. The pictures below are from their website - go ahead and check them out at www.frontierlodging.com .
As we were leaving we asked about the hides lying on the cattle guards. She told us they were put there to keep the horses inside the fences. Seems the cattle aren’t too smart & avoid the cattle guards, but the horses see the guards as a challenge and seem to find a way around them. With the smell of the predator hides on the cattle guards, the horses avoid the area totally. Guess you gotta be smarter than a horse to be able to train it. We may stay at the "Jakeys Fork Homestead" on a future trip, especially when the second cabin on the river is completed, but this time we returned to town and secured a room at another great place, The Twin Pines Lodge & Cabins in downtown Dubois. (www.twinpineslodge.com , 2818 W. Ramshorn, PO Box 1150, Dubois, Wyoming 82513, Mike Slider & Debbie Chamberlin, proprietors, 1-800-550-6332) The Lodge, built in 1934 and listed on the National Register of Historical Places, was spectacular with high ceilings, burled lodge pole pine beams, an unusual open balcony with burled pine railings, a massive stone fireplace, Moose, Elk & Deer heads mounted on the walls, beautiful outdoor art everywhere, a glass case with an old fly reel collection & a great library. As if that weren’t enough, Mike, the owner is a great guy & Trout Unlimited member. Mike made us feel at home and gave us a bunch of great tips about fishing areas around Dubois.
We had a great dinner at the Café Wyoming, (307-455-3828, 106 E. Ramshorn, PO Box 1117, Dubois, Wyoming 82573, www.cafewyoming.com ) (http://www.kenandjen.com/kj/cafewyoming.html) (http://www.cafewyoming.com/about.html), a great little restaurant that features an excellent menu and outdoor eating on a balcony overlooking Horse Creek.
