Transcript: On the Water with Dustin White
Transcript
Marvin:
[0:04] Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Flower, back with another On the Water with Dustin White. How you doing, Dustin?
Dustin:
[0:12] Marvin, I'm doing really well, finally enjoying some sunshine here in central Wyoming, which is a change of pace from what we've had. How are you?
Marvin:
[0:20] I'm getting there. So it's no longer the three plagues of Egypt?
Dustin:
[0:22] No. Yeah, we're through all of that.
I think we're out of feeling like we're in the Pacific Northwest and things are back to seemingly normal here. So very grateful for all that.
Marvin:
[0:35] Yeah, but you got your, you got your frog and your Lotus patterns really dialed in, right?
Dustin:
[0:40] We, yeah, exactly. The rivers already turned to blood.
Thankfully it's cleared out. So, uh, we're, we're ready to go.
Marvin:
[0:51] So, uh, so it's interesting, right? You're kind of starting to dry out, but I also looked at your weather and you're cooling off. What are you seeing on the water?
Dustin:
[0:58] Yeah, so we're cooling off a bit. With the warmer temps that we've had been experiencing, it kind of triggered our PMDs coming off.
And so even with the minor cooling off, water temps are still conducive for PMD to be seen on most drainages that we're fishing.
We're starting to see some yellow sallies in the afternoon.
And so all that's just indicative of summertime being here and on the mile, Budweiser, you know, we're finally starting to see our friends, the Golden Stoneflies.
And so we're really amped that Golden Hatch is right around the corner.
Marvin:
[1:41] Yeah. And as we were talking before we started recording, like literally no joke, don't go fish the Bighorn.
Dustin:
[1:48] No, yeah, it's not safe. Hotsprings County issued a public service announcement warning mandate, whatever you would want to call it, basically telling folks stay away from the river, don't go near it, don't let your pets near it.
It's unsafe to be even near the river, much less on it now.
And so it's cranking above 8,000 CFS. And so folks that are familiar with the horn, If you hear that number and you think we misspoke, we did not, that's where it's at.
So it's cranking pretty good. I'm pretty sure the stretch in Fort Smith is like over 18,000.
So I mean, the whole river system there is pretty saturated with water and a lot of it moving through it. So it's just not even an option out of safety, much less fishability.
Marvin:
[2:43] And so the good news is you get to save the gas money get to fish a little bit closer to town.
Dustin:
[2:48] We do, we do. Yeah, we've been spending a lot of time on the mile and then obviously the gray reef.
With the respite from rain that we've had, we've been finally able to start peaking a little bit lower than Government Bridge, fishing some lower sections.
And so we're really, really grateful for that. Reef is a bit mossy now, so the further down you go, the more moss you'll have to be cleaning off your flies, but it's fishing remarkably well.
I think that's about as good as you could expect for this time of year.
Mile is a bit spotty at times. You'll find fish eager to eat with reckless abandon in several runs. You drop down a run or two lower and it seems like it's crickets.
A lot of that has to do, I believe, with the fact that they bumped it 1,000 CFS just a few days ago.
So they kind of haven't settled into where their typical feeding patterns are.
But in a day or two, that should level off, and we should be back to some pretty solid mile fishing. And as I said a bit ago, we're starting to see some goldens.
And so that means that the Goldstone Fly Hatch is just around the corner.
And if folks haven't got to experience that yet, it's a heck of a lot of fun.
Really big fish crashing on the surface for some huge dry flies.
It's it's it's a ton of fun and we all really look forward to this time of year every year for that.
Marvin:
[4:17] Yeah, that's awesome. And in case folks have been been afraid that they haven't seen you around town, it's not because you're not there. It's because you got a new rig, right?
Dustin:
[4:24] Yes, yes, yeah, I was able to give a Chevy Tahoe the the transmission on my pickup.
Finally gave up the ghost.
So I got a new guide rig and it's it's it's been treating me good so far.
Marvin:
[4:40] Yeah, we'll have to upgrade the shocks so you can keep catching air when you're driving out to the mile, right?
Dustin:
[4:45] Well, I'm just telling you you make better time and it's better than the shocks if when you get that thing on plane So, oh, we're still trying to dial in the Tahoe for for how it takes to get that thing on plane But I got the trim tabs installed and jack plate and you know Just just messing with that now to make some alterations, but we're getting there Yeah, I'm thinking maybe a couple bottles of nitrous and you'll be ready Exactly.
Vin Diesel's going to be rolling with me pretty soon here.
Marvin:
[5:11] There you go. We've got a really good question for you. You know, we've been teasing a lot of carp stuff. Yes.
Yeah, Counterculture Fly reached out and he wanted to get your take on how you change your casting location location when you're fishing for carp based on the carp's body language.
Dustin:
[5:27] Yeah. Well, so I think that's a great question. Generally speaking, because of carp's eyesight, we want to lead carp.
And a lot of times, the bare bones instruction I give my clients at the start of the day is, Hey, this is going to change, but we're going to start with leading that carp by five feet.
And what that means is I'm going to lead that carp by five feet in front of it, but also five feet beyond it.
That changes and the casting location, all of that changes, as you said, based on the body language of carp.
So if you see that tail up skyward and that face down in the ground, well, then what we're going to want to do is that window of leading that carp is going to shrink because I want to be able to strip or retrieve my pattern right in front of its face.
If you have fish that are moving pretty fast, if they're cruising with some intent, first of all, it's probably not a fish that we're going to entice to eat as easily as those that are moving slower, look like they're on the prowl.
[6:33] Oftentimes, if I have carp that are moving pretty fast, cruise along, unless water temps are up, and I've actually seen them either A, taking something off the surface or blitzing on baitfish, which we do see, I'm probably going to pass on that fish.
But moving fish, the amount that you lead those fish, that you lead the carp, really is determined by the speed or the pace, the rate that the fish is moving.
So faster moving fish, you're going to lead it by a bigger window so that fly is intersecting front of its face as it comes past you.
If that fish is thawed out, moving slow, we can You, that window is going to shrink a bit. Obviously, they are spooky fish, so you really don't want to line them.
You don't want to have a forceful impact of our flies on the water.
Keep that in mind when we say reduce that window or shrink that window if you see them face down and tail up.
But ultimately, we're looking for fish that are keen on eating.
And there's a few things with that.
[7:51] At times, if the question's coming from someone where there's fish coming up for a mulberry hatch, so to speak, you actually do want to kind of bop that fish almost on the head with those berries, that fly that's imitating those berries that they're eating.
In central Wyoming, we got the cottonseed hatch, much of the same thing.
They're attracted to that. So it really does depend on what are they looking to eat, whether that's something on the surface or whether that's a crustacean, leech, or some sort of aquatic insect that they're nosing for in the mud, and then the pace that they're moving.
So I think that's That's a great question, and hopefully those tips will yield some more hookups with carp.
Marvin:
[8:43] Yeah, and I guess if you're going to make a mistake, you should cast too far in front and too far on the other side of the carp, because you can kind of correct that on the retrieve, right?
Dustin:
[8:51] Yeah, yeah, exactly.
For a lot of times, if you cast too far, you might need a strip reel real fast to kind to catch up.
But then you can start whatever the appropriate retrieval cadence that the fish in that particular moment dictates for you.
So yeah, I'd rather overcorrect by shooting too far in front, too far beyond, and then be able to retrieve that back. It also depends on how your flies are weighted.
Are you using a purely floating line? Are are you using intermediate sync?
Depends on the depth of the fish you're at. Those kind of things are all what go through my mind when I'm personally approaching carp or guiding a client onto them.
[9:43] But really, the name of the game is, you want your retrieval in that whatever pattern that you're presenting for it to intersect the face, intersect in front of the car if you want to be able to.
Their path and the path of that fly is going to intersect.
They're probably not, and it's not universally true, but it's not like if you're streamer fishing for trout, and you get the area and you're just retrieving and eliciting a chase from them, it's probably not going to happen.
You're really trying to almost like a center fielder is trying to gauge the trajectory of a fly ball and that determines the path they run for it.
We're also trying to play with the actual geometry and physics of where is that fish moving?
Yes, what is its body language? Is its face looking down?
Is it suspended in the column? Is it looking up? Those all play a role in that.
But the name of the game is that you're trying to get that fly to intersect the path that that fish is on.
Marvin:
[10:52] Got it. Folks, we love questions on the articulate fly. You can email them to us. You can DM us on social media, whatever is easiest for you.
And if we use your question, I will send you some articulate fly swag or enter a drawing for a half a day of fishing with Dustin, which is pretty cool. Right, Dustin?
Dustin:
[11:08] Very, very cool. So it's a good time and there's plenty of water here in central Wyoming to show folks around on. And so really excited to be able to offer that.
Marvin:
[11:18] Yeah, that's awesome. And before I let you hop this evening, you want to let folks know how they can reach out to you and book and get on your guidebook?
Dustin:
[11:26] Yep, proudly accounting for the ugly bug crazy rainbow fly fishing here at Casper, Wyoming. So you can give the shop a call at area code 307-234-6905.
Or you can find me on social media at Dustin James White.
Marvin:
[11:42] Well there you go. Well listen folks, show it to yourself to get out there and catch a few. Tight lines everybody. Tight lines Dustin.
Dustin:
[11:50] Tight lines Marvin. Thank you very much.