Chasing Cody

Cody Wyoming is a great little town outside of the east gate to Yellowstone National Park.  It is named Cody after Buffalo Bill Cody, and likewise, the town hosts a big Wild Bill center with many tourist attractions.   I didn’t have the time to check it out as there were way too many rivers to fish, fish to be teased, and beautiful areas to explore.

Shoshone River System

The Shoshone River system was enjoyable as it was quite diverse. The North Fork runs East from Yellowstone National towards the town of Cody. The South Fork run North East towards the town of Cody, and both meet up into the Shoshone and it runs through town and eventually dumps into the Big Horn river that runs from Thermopolis, WY to Montana and beyond.

The video below shows my time on the North, South and main sections of the Shoshone.

https://youtu.be/IyVgZR356jI

I was able to float the main river from town for about 12 miles. As usual, I’m no good at pacing and found myself rowing in the dark, again. I had my head lamp, but still, not smart. I was just having so much fun stopping and nailing nice fish, that pace didn’t get important until it was. Some room for improvement there, for sure. The main river boasts some nice browns, rainbows and cutties.

I didn’t really spend much time on the North Fork, as I was too busy enjoying the ride into Yellowstone, a grizzly family on the highway, and some eclectic buildings and towns on the drive. The places I did wet a line I had very little luck, but I think it was because of the weather change that had just occurred and possibly being a bit fished out, or I really sucked it up that day. I tried all my usual techniques but didn’t have many takes in areas that should have held great fish.

My favorite day, by far, was my time on the Lower Shoshone. The lower runs through a lot of private land that I didnt have access to, so I drove to the very top and took Pepe up a horse trail that hunters take up into the mountains. There was a sign for no mtn bikes but Pepe is my little mule, so it was OK. 😉

We rode the trail for about 1/2 mile and jumped over to the dried up river bed. The current side of the river braided into low sections of the river rock while the entire riverbed averaged about 1000 feed wide, due to massive snow run off annually. Where I started fishing, I wasn’t having much luck and felt a little disappointed like on the North Fork. However, as I moved up stream, Pepe pointed out some holes and rises so I decided to humor him.

Like my other stories, this one was solely based around getting to the other side of the river, where few other fishermen go, and where the trout reside in peace. This was a tough river to cross, but once I did, the bite was on. We slowly crept our way up stream, from hole to hole, but the bad part was Pepe wouldn’t move himself. I had to keep crossing back and forth to move him up a bit. Once I get to the other side, it was Game On. The fun started and didn’t stop for hours.

Big Cuties and a few surprise Browns blessed my memories and net. I was running hopper droppers until I decided to just run dries, Adams and the like. One of my favorite takes was not caught on film, but I tossed my Adams upstream behind a logjam. A big brown trout jumped a foot out of the water with my Adams in his mouth. I may have used the Lords name in vain as this was happening. It was shocking a bit as usually the bigger fish don’t take dries, and if they do, they sip them ever so gently. This guy wasn’t playing. Its these moments I search for, and Mr. Brown blessed me this day.

Another memorable hole was where there were about 5 or 6 big fish rising in softer water on the other side of the fast run. I tried casting over the run but only had a few moments I could keep the fly still with mending line before the rushing water took my line down river. I got one decent fish to take, and landed him, but I knew I would need to get to the other side of the river.

After going upstream a bit to find a proper place to cross I made it back down to the hole. I decided not to attack it from the top, as fish face upstream in the current, and I could spook them. So I walked through the trees far from the bank down to under and the side of the rising fish. As there were a few good fish, I wanted to be logical about my approach, and tried to pull the downstream fish first, so they wouldn’t spook the upstream fish. This worked to an extent, but still those big fish in small pools tend to run where they want and affect the other fish to an extent. I think I was only able to pull 3, but the takes were so beautiful. I was fulfilled. After this run, Pepe and I did some riding back to Farley with smiles abundant. It was a good day.

Chief Joseph Highway

Prior to arriving in Cody, and while there, people kept mentioning that I needed to take this drive and explore it’s beauty and rivers. Well, I made a friend in town who has lived in this area for many years, and they agreed to take me out for a spin. So we planned a day and did it. Of course I brought my cameras and fly fishing gear.
We stopped off and fly fished some little creeks and caught a bunch of hungry little cutthroat trout.

Their stories and maps are endlessly fascinating, I can’t explain it all to you, and wont try. But what I will do is show you some pictures in the gallery below, provide the link below, and tell you that I needed a few more weeks on this drive. Its amazingly beautiful country through the mountains of Wyoming north of Yellowstone.

https://www.travelwyoming.com/listing/yellowstone-national-park/chief-joseph-scenic-byway

After our drive through Chief Joseph, we took the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge, MT and grabbed a drink and some pizza in this cute little town before heading back to Cody and calling it a night before packing it up for Billings the next morning.

I definitely recommend the Cody area for family excursions, fishing adventures and getting a taste of the wild west. I was there for a week, and I felt like I needed about 36 more to get a real feel for it.

Life is good. Keep chasing!