Is Wyoming’s Miracle Mile Miraculous?

First of all, big props to San Diego Fly Fishers club, https://www.sandiegoflyfishers.com.  They do many things for the community of San Diego via fly fishing, education and emotional support.   A few of their charitable deeds are Trout In The Classroom, Project Healing Waters, conservation and more.   Trout In The Classroom is where they go to low income children’s school and give them trout fry and let them raise the trout, then take the children and trout out to a lake and let the trout go, and the kids get to fly fish as well.   I’ve heard that some of the kids have never seen a lake prior to this adventure.    Project Healing Waters helps get wounded vets out on the water with a fly rod, and their conservation projects are pretty great and usually quite fruitful for the land we all enjoy.

The reason I bring all this up, is that each year they have a fundraiser (around June) to support these charitable ventures.  The events include silent auctions, live auctions and raffles.     I happened to win a few guided trips this year, and one of them was for 2 days with a guide in Saratoga, Wyoming.  So thanks to those who donate their time, products and services to this fundraiser.  Kudos.

I planned out my RV travels and decided there were a few days I could get to Saratoga on my way to other destinations.   I booked the guided trip and waited.   Well, the wait was over and it was off to Saratoga.   Note that I was REALLY excited for this.  Not because of the miracle mile, or great fishing, or anything I would normally be excited about.   The biggest thing for me was that someone else would finally row me while I just fished.   I gotta tell ya, its really hard to row and fish and the same time, as Im a lone wolf that is most of what I do.   So to have someone back row, keep me in holes, and I just get to fish, Nirvana!  I couldn’t wait.

I landed at my RV park in Saratoga, Deer Haven RV park, right on the North Platte river.   I had fished the South Platte before and have heard good things about the North Platte.   Also, by this point I had heard of the Miracle Mile, but had no idea where it was, or that I would be introduced to it soon.

While I was getting Marge settled I got a call from my guide “Nate Lee” to plan the next days adventure.    He mentioned to me that the river near my RV park was really warm at this time of year and the best place to go is the Miracle Mile.  He noted that there are a lot of big fish up there.  “You had me at hello!”   Big Fish, I’m in.   Oh, and I don’t have to row, sweet!   We discussed that he was opposite direction of me from the Mile, not in Saratoga, and how to work the shuttles (moving the truck after we put the boat on the river).  We decided that we would leave my truck at bottom and and use it to go get his truck after we take out.

After meeting at a gas station, we headed into “The Mile” together.   After fishing it, I can explain what it is a little better.    Just North of Sinclair and South of Casper, the Miracle Mile is about 5-6 miles of North Platte tailwater river between Seminoe and Pathfinder reservoirs.  The Seminoe dam starts the mile and it runs through a canyon then land flattens out before you know it, you are in frog water of the Pathfinder reservoir.   A lot of BIG trout call the river home as its more oxygenated than the reservoir below, and has good food sources.   I hear that the big browns come up from the lake during the spring and fall as well.   Its all about timing for them, and as usual, Im at the wrong time of year, but that didn’t stop me .

Getting to the mile from Sinclair is unlike anything that I have experienced getting to a well known river.   No cell service, as usual, but lots of dirt roads through canyons and up and down the mountains we finally pop out into the valley and see the river.   Its really in the middle of nowhere with very little signs of human life.   On the way in I saw deer and few heards of mountain goats.

Let’s get to the fishing…   The take out is down river just above pathfinder reservoir.   Its all BLM land, and there is no improved boat ramp.  It seems that the locals have just created their own dirt road down to a calm part of the river where they back trucks down to a slightly sloped river rock streamside.

The put in is about a mile below the dam because there are no good hard boat ramps upriver of this one, meaning there is a mile above it that REALLY needs to be fished.   We put in there and Nate had me fishing a nymph rig with a crackback nymph and a squirmy wormy that was inserted into a pegged tungsten bead about an inch above the hook, and a crazy legs for weight, from what I recall.   This was all below a swivel and single shot of weight.   We also used a white thingamabobber as a strike indicator.    The game plan was to to float the moving soft sections and seams along the current, then back row, hit a different drift, and do it again, over and over.   As the river is short, we hit each section about 10 times.   Another great reason I’m not rowing!!  😉

There were 2 other boats floating near us, all from the same outfitter, more on him later.    Between my boat and these 2 other boats we put a good hurt on these fish.   All of them were at least 18″ and thick.    It felt like I was catching steelhead, and it was way too easy.    A few really nice ones broke the water and smiled at us as they spit the hook.   Most were coming on the worm, but the crackback produced a few as well.

Nate was a great guide for me as he was aggressive, back rowed a lot, and was good conversation.   He lives in Rawlins, was a big time wrassler at Boise State, and is a teacher and wrestling coach in Rawlins. After we finished the float, it was about 3, we drove back up and floated one more time.   We pushed through this time, hit the best spots again, and got off the river late.   Nate put in some work today and I think we both had a good time.

The next day I was to fish with the outfitter and guide, Johnny Blumenthal of Drift Fly Fishing, http://saratogaflyfishing.com.  After meeting at a nice bar in Saratoga Hot Springs Resort we created a similar plan to run shuttles for the day, and float the same part of the Mile.   However, if the weather was gonna be overcast, he was gonna take me to a different stretch he calls the desert.   No clouds, so it was off to the mile.    As I had chase (my raft) on top of my truck, I challenged Johnny to let us take chase up to the dam, so I could fish the part of the mile that I missed on the day before.   To my excitement, he obliged.   We left his truck and boat at a mid way boat launch and dropped my raft right below the dam.  We loaded it up and drug it down the rocky hill to the water.   We immediately crossed the river, anchored chase and started walking upstream.    We used a similar setup as the day before, but Johnny was a big believer in the worm and we had 2, different colors, below a crazy legs.    I hooked into about 8 fish up there below the dam.   A few nice ones and a brown or 2.   We started floating and Johnny took a few minutes to get used to the narrow and smaller flycraft.   We were floating for a bit and he was backrowing etc..   We were catching fish and I felt like I was at a trout pond, just too easy.    Around 2PM we got to his truck and boat, and took his boat back up to the main put in, and took my truck down to the take out.   We fished the river again in his skiff and he was much happier to be in a boat that backrows well and glides across the water.     We destroyed the fish again and called it a day.  Johnny is the man and I highly recommend him and his crew.   He is a 4th generation native and knows this land, and the fish, like the back of his hand.   I kinda want to be him, guiding in a great areas seems like the life.   But, I have travels and much new water to explore.   I digress…

That night we had dinner at Firewater Public House, another great little restaurant/bar in Saratoga.   Of course Johnny knew everyone.  I just sat back, enjoyed good food, convo and a few libations.  Good times. This is the life.

The next day I was headed up to Lander to check out the Popo Agie pronounced, “Puh – Po Shuh” .

#grateful #heaven #riplips