WY fly fishing- north or south

[OXN939]

To nobody's surprise, it was tough year in the draw and my buddy and I ended up with a single doe antelope tag between us. So, to spruce up our annual trip out west, we thought it'd be cool to add 2 or 3 days of hike in fly fishing onto the front end (28SEP-01OCT).

Our options are either to fly into Billings and drive south to the unit in central WY, stopping by the Cloud peak/ Bighorns area for our little fishing trip, or fly into Denver and drive north which would have us passing through Encampment and the Platte/ Medicine Bow. From my experience, the cloud peak lakes are awesome and pretty remote, but could be tough if an early snow happened. Is the hike in fly fishing in the Medicine bow worth considering instead? Never been down that way but have heard it's a really cool area. Bonus brown pic from '24 and its much kinder draw results.



Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[displacedtexan]

I like the Bighorns.

 

[wyosteve]

Both areas have good trout fishing. Flights might have more options going into Denver.

 

[LongWayAround]

I don't fish much but, we had a really good trip fishing the Platte near the Pathfinder reservoir.

 

[OXN939]

Both areas have good trout fishing. Flights might have more options going into Denver.

Indeed they do, I just love exploring the Bighorns. Might have added a third guy to the trip who has a bird dog- anyone ever do any grouse hunting around Buffalo/ Sheridan?

 

[cnelk]

I’d fly into Billings, drive south and fish the Bighorn River near Ft Smith.
Amazing water.

Granted it’s in Montana, but some great fishing

 

[Hondo0925]

Yes billings then Toward the wind river

 

[displacedtexan]

Indeed they do, I just love exploring the Bighorns. Might have added a third guy to the trip who has a bird dog- anyone ever do any grouse hunting around Buffalo/ Sheridan?

My dogs are old and retired (that's why I'm hunting out west. Lol)

But it's sure country I'd love to follow a dog through!

 

[ztc92]

Indeed they do, I just love exploring the Bighorns. Might have added a third guy to the trip who has a bird dog- anyone ever do any grouse hunting around Buffalo/ Sheridan?

Not much for grouse in this area unless you get into the mountains and I don’t think a dog would add much. There are Hungarian partridge on public land in the area though and some guys hunt those with dogs. Also there a few good pheasant hunting areas, some with staged birds, which would be much better for using a dog.

 

[OXN939]

I’d fly into Billings, drive south and fish the Bighorn River near Ft Smith.
Amazing water.

Looking like the Bighorns going to be the plan. Stoked to get back out there, they're an awesome spot to see!

 

[406life]

If you're interested, WY offers their Cutthroat Slam, a fun adventure I've done in a few states. It will take you to some high mountain streams you can hike around and into YNP. It'll keep you to the west side of the state, but you could fly in into Bozo or SLC and then drive same distances.

 

[DeadSound]

I'd go south, I caught way more fish when I lived in Laramie than I do now. Depending on what area you drew for goats, you might be close to miracle mile on the Platte. Every cast is a bite.

 

[wytx]

We have some great fishing and bird hunting down here around Laramie area and East.\
You might hit the sage grouse season in the Shirley Basin area too.

 

[el_jefe_pescado]

I would try to stop in the town whose name rhymes with the word Shermopolis if I was interested in catching trout in central wyo.

 

[cnelk]

^^^ some good catfishing in that same river

 

[Norm555]

Fishing around Cody, WY can be great. Particularly the North Fork of the Shoshone and tributaries.

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

Lots of bird hunting especially chuckars and huns in central ish wyoming
the numbers were out of control last year
Fishing is good all over the state

 

[WCB]

Yeah not sure I'd pass by the Bighorn in MT if fishing was one of the goals

 

[Macneil]

I’ve done a couple trips to the Bighorns and this summer was first experience trying some of the lakes up in the higher country. Super awesome and tons of lakes/ponds to choose from. WY game and fish has an interactive map that allows you to see what lakes have fish/species and that sort of thing. Found it pretty useful when deciding which lake to go hike into.

 

[Mojave]

See if you can rent a paddle boat or pay for. a guide on the platte.