The "Humble Fly" Fishing Shop
1183 Sheridan Ave.
Cody, WY · 82414
307/587-2757 · 307/250-3301

 

 

 

 

 

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Wild Rivers

It's hard to imagine how much productive water exist around Cody so we'll start with the wild rivers. The wild rivers we fish out of Cody include:

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The North Fork of the Shoshone, a river that in the spring fills up with Cutthroat and Rainbows. A lot of these fish are big, chunky bruisers that can definitely give your reel a workout. The average fish is 13-15 inches with numerous fish from 16-20 inches, and yes, there are bigger. Ask us about lower North Fork float.

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The South Fork of the Shoshone: This river is mostly private until you hit National Forest, then you

 

 

have miles of great hike-in fishing. This river is dominated by brown trout that jump like rainbows. Then there are Rainbows and Cutthroats, average fish is 10-15 inches with plenty from 16-20 inches. You always have a chance at the 21+ inch fish. Ask about our private water opportunities on the South Fork. There are no float trips on the South Fork.
bullet The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone: This river runs for miles through National Forest before it drops into a massive canyon, then exits out to the high desert. Our guides focus on the lower section where there are a great numbers of 10-19 inchers, but the reason we love it so much is for its big fish. This section gets a great salmon fly hatch right around May or June. This can make for ridiculous dry fly action. This river, fished properly can surrender fish from 20-30 inches. This river can be as awe inspiring as any on earth. Ask about our Clarks Fork float trip.
bullet The Greybull River: The Greybull is the best option, if you are chasing Yellowstone Cutthroats. This river's lower half is almost completely private. When you enter National Forest you have over 20 miles of incredible hike-in-fishing, with fish ranging from 10-27 inches this is a crown jewel for Cutthroat in America. Ask about our private water opportunities. There are no float trips on this river.
bullet The Wood River:  The Wood provides some of the finest creek fishing in the United States. With fish ranging from 6" to 24". These critters are all wild Yellowstone Cutthroats. This piece (aka/peace) of river has never been fished by guides and very few others have ever been able to access it. Yellowstone Valley Anglers is proud to offer guided flyfishing on the Wood River.

 

Tail Waters

 In most great fishing areas around the nation this is where river descriptions would end, but not in Cody, Wyoming. These rivers, have become trout factories due to the bottom release dams that keep water temperatures cool and consistent, which makes better habitat for insects and crustaceans. This means more food for the trout, which can do a few things for a river. First a river will have a tail water with more fish, and on average, larger fish per mile than a wild river in the same area. Second, if a tail water doesn't have a high fish count, per mile, the fish you do encounter can be very large. The Humble Fly offers two amazing tail water experiences.

 
bullet The Lower Shoshone: This river runs out of Buffalo Bill Reservoir located just a few miles west of Cody. The Lower Shoshone has about 2200 fish per mile on the upper end. The farther downstream you go, the lower the fish population will get, but that leaves plenty of food for the remaining fish and these critters get big and fat. The lower end of the Shoshone in between Cody and Powell is home to some real monsters. There are four different sections to the Lower Shoshone with three different floats offered. There is a section to match almost everyone's taste. This tail water has some incredible dry fly opportunities in the spring, winter and fall and when they're not on dries we go down and dirty with streamers, nymphs and little crustaceans (scuds and sowbugs). This piece of water has an average fish from 12-15 inches with plenty of fish from 16-20 inches and they can get much bigger than that. Rainbows, Brown, Cutthroats, Cutbows and Brookies call this river home. Ask us about lower Shoshone floats.
bullet The Big Horn River, Thermopolis, Wyoming:  This river has a personality all its own. With a little lower fish population than the Lower Shoshone it has big strong fish that can easily show you your backing or snap your tippet. This river usually requires more skill than the Lower Shoshone does. I believe this is due to this river being a slow water environment. This gives the fish a much better chance to inspect and scrutinize our offerings. This also forces fly fishers into using finer tippets and longer leaders. This river offers the fly fishers, especially the medium to high skill angler, an incredible opportunity for big fish on small flies and light tippet. Probably the toughest challenge in all of fly fishing and something every angler should experience. This river is also right next to one of the largest mineral hot springs on earth. After a long day of fishing, soaking your sore tired bones is just what the doctor ordered. As us about our Bighorn River (Thermopolis) float.

 

STREAMS

With all the rivers around Cody it takes hundreds of small streams to fill them.  I won't go into details, but if you prefer smaller streams, Cody is tough to beat.  You would have a difficult time covering all the local streams in one lifetime.  These fisheries supply great dry fly opportunities and you can have miles of stream all to your self.

The greater Yellowstone ecosystems wild river and streams offer great fishing from the time the ice melts through the end of November (of course we do experience runoff around May and/or June depending on snow pack and weather).  For more information on insect hatches, snow pack and weather details call us at 307/587-2757.