# Triumph and tragedy in Wind Rivers.



## grousehunter (Sep 11, 2007)

My son and I were invited to tag along on a back packing trip into Wyoming's Wind River Range. Of course we tagged along on, who would want to pass up a chance at catching a golden trout?!?

We caught some great cutts, many in the 14 to 17 inch range however we were spread so far apart that pictures were hard to get. We managed a few:

























This section of the Winds has the same problem as our Uinta's:

Tiny, stunted brook trout, however they are beautiful and pletiful!

















Beautiful country too!









If you look closely you can see a Bull Moose in this one!









Beautiful water!

























There is gold in that thar water!









We were not able to catch any Golden trout in this water however the shore line and shallows were loaded with 3'' and 4" fingerlings! If we didn't see the tiny fellas we would have bet heavily it was just another dead lake above the tree line. Not one rise and two hours of jigs, flies and 20 different spinners and nothing! Quite disappointing but the hike and fishing was awesome!

Tragedy!









Luckily it happened on the last day of fishing and I had a spinning rod with me. Man, what a sick feeling! The funny thing; I was very careful with it. Right before it snapped I got hung up in a tree while casting and I set it down to removed the fly by hand. When I went to move the pole. Snap!

We had an awesome time and Cabela's is going to replace my fly rod because it is only a few months old. We caught lots of brooks and if you haven't sight fished cruising cutts from a 20 foot cliff above an amazing lake you haven't ever truly fished. If you ever get the chance to back pack the Winds. DO IT!


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## EvilTyeDyeTwin (Aug 9, 2011)

Awesome, amazing, and epic.....too bad no goldens, but still some pretty fish. That shot of the fish up close next to the water gives me some photography ideas...just gotta make sure the fish does not splash some water on the $1,000 non water proof camera! Thanks for posting! Next time take more pics!


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## grousehunter (Sep 11, 2007)

Be careful, I have had a few close calls with my sony a33. But you can take cool shots if you have help. Thanks for your reply.


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## Bscuderi (Jan 2, 2012)

Oh my I'm drooling right now I want to do the winds next year just to mix it up!!!


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

What a great trip! How many miles did you end up putting in?


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## RnF (Sep 25, 2007)

The winds are a special place. Yes there are places that suffer from stunted brookies, but there are many other lakes there that do not. Big fish lurk in those hills, you just have to do the leg work to find them. I will say it isn't as hard to find them as it is in the Uintas. Just try somewhere different next time 

Looks like you had a great trip!


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## grousehunter (Sep 11, 2007)

LOAH said:


> What a great trip! How many miles did you end up putting in?


It was only a 10 mile trip and well worth the effort, my son and I have quite a few leads on the Golden and we just tagged along on this one because we could. The Golden lake pictured was not my first choice! Hoping to do the Granddaddy basin again before the snow flies; I know where some bigger cutts are.


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## uintahiker (Jan 19, 2012)

track down a copy of The Most Complete Guide to Wyoming Fishing by John Baughman. It'll point you where to go for goldens. I picked up a copy a few years back and wish I would have known about it earlier.


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## grousehunter (Sep 11, 2007)

uintahiker said:


> track down a copy of The Most Complete Guide to Wyoming Fishing by John Baughman. It'll point you where to go for goldens. I picked up a copy a few years back and wish I would have known about it earlier.


Thanks for the info! I will check it out.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Beatiful!


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