Transcript: On the Water with Dustin White
Transcript
Host:
[0:04] Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly, and we're back with another On the Water with Dustin White. How are you doing, Dustin?
Guest:
[0:11] Marvin, I'm doing great. I'm getting ready to go to a friend's house for a low country boil, so I'm pretty jazzed.
I'm pretty stoked about that. How are you?
Host:
[0:21] I'm getting there. So what on earth do you low country boil in Central Wyoming?
Guest:
[0:26] Oh, you, yeah, well, we do have an abundance of crawdads here.
So that's pretty good. So we can always find those. But other than that, it's, you know, going to the store and getting some corn and sausage and everything else is pretty traditional.
So we're stoked on that.
Host:
[0:43] Yeah, I was a little concerned. I thought maybe you were jamming a pronghorn antelope into a pressure cooker or something.
Guest:
[0:49] I don't put it past this Wyomingites. It can be done. There's ingenuity there.
Host:
[0:54] Yeah, dude, if you have enough hot sauce and saltine crackers, you're good to go.
Guest:
[0:58] Yeah, yeah, won't even know the difference.
Host:
[1:00] So the amazing thing is, like you've got your dry heat again, right?
Guest:
[1:05] Oh yeah, yep, yep. We're cooking back in some pretty hot summer temps.
So I think summer's finally kind of setting in again here mid-August, but fishing's been good.
Fishing's been solid and you know, it feels like summer. And so we're actually hopeful it might be, you know, enough to bring in a late, albeit but productive, hopper season.
Host:
[1:31] Yeah, well there you go. So let's kind of work from far away to town back in.
And what are you seeing on the bighorn?
Guest:
[1:38] Yeah, speaking of, you know, rising fish, hoppers, we actually are seeing some good dry fly fishing on the Bighorn.
Folks that are wanting the nymphs are probably going to be frustrated with the amount of moss that's there, which is pretty typical for this time of year.
But the tricho hatch has been really, really killer and really effective at getting some fish looking up.
So, you know, folks are wanting to throw hoppers, hopper to a dry, if you're throwing a hopper to a tri-coat tag off of it, that's been pretty productive on the bighorn for us.
Host:
[2:15] There you go. And so, what are you seeing when you get closer to town?
Guest:
[2:19] You know, as we go, you know, jump over to the north plat on the mile end of things, fish are still eating stonefly patterns pretty well, mixing up between goldens and yellow sallies.
PMDs have also been very, very effective for us.
I do want to let folks know that that water clarity, though it looks tannic, is actually really, really good clarity.
But just coming out of Seminole, there's enough of a tint to it that if you were to see it from a distance, you'd think, oh, my goodness, it's blown out or it's too stained. But clarity is actually really, really good.
Flows are great. The mile has probably been our most productive section of water that we have recently.
Host:
[3:07] Yeah, got it. And so that brings us to the reef. What you got there?
Guest:
[3:10] Yep. We're keeping our fingers crossed, Marvin, that one of these days we're gonna be able to start getting lower.
Below, just below Government Bridge, it looks like it's really, really close.
They've dropped the flows to the reef to 1,400 CFS. So, you know, we aren't quite there to be floating through town. That's still pretty dirty.
But with the drop in reduction, the particulates should start settling and we could only start getting a little bit lower stretches than just the top section of the reef.
But that said, yellow sally patterns, PMDs, and trichos have been really, really effective on the reef.
We're even seeing some sporadic heads looking up, and some modest success hopper fishing as well.
Moss has been a little bit of an issue, but it's only annoyance, it's not a hindrance for us.
Host:
[4:07] Got it, and so on the hopper front, what's the kind of ideal size and color.
Guest:
[4:14] I like mixing it up with having a yellow and a pink hopper.
You know, one that's a little more natural, one that's a little more flashy.
Size, you know, it is match the hat. So try to look at what hoppers you see on the water or near the water that day.
We're seeing anything from just about an inch to about an inch and a half, inch and three quarters will do the trick.
And as we've talked about a lot of times, we like running a tandem rig.
So using, you know, two different hoppers together, you know, one that's run off the tag end of the other, and, you know, pounding those banks, and I think folks are going to see some success.
Still, your best chance is nymphing or looking for heads coming up for that spinner fall of the trichos.
That's definitely gonna be your most productive, but folks that are, you know, gung-ho about getting out there and throwing some hoppers.
You're not going to blank on it. You are going to get some eats.
[5:12] But just try to match the same size that you're seeing of those grass hoppers that are near the bank, and you're going to see some success.
We've talked about in previous episodes that at least the terminal fly, whether you're only fishing one or if you're going to fish two, the terminal fly, definitely tie that with a non-slip mono loop.
That's going to give your hopper more movement, more movement starts to mimic those live hoppers that get eaten a little more that are trying to spin in the water to kind of get themselves out.
So, pretty noticeable difference between the two of those in terms of the productive nature of it, how many each you're going to get.
Host:
[5:53] Yeah, got it. And got a question for you from Brenner, and he wanted to get your thoughts on if scud patterns are better as a natural or with a tractor colors and why?
Guest:
[6:04] Yeah, I think that's a great question. It would probably depend on the drainage that you were on and the pressure those fish are seeing.
For example, at least in my experience on the North Platte, while we have an abundance of the scud patterns on the North Platte, fish don't tend to eat them very much when they're dead.
They really key in on the live scuds.
And so with that, you know, on the North Platte, I'm going to say see more of those natural colors.
[6:39] More likely to get those eats. Jumping over to the bighorn, I like the attractive colors.
I like fishing patterns that have a little bit of flash in it, or that a bright beadhead on it, colored beadhead, does pretty well there.
So, two different scenarios and two different drainages, but it really kind of depends.
So, Brenner, whatever your fishery is, pump fish's stomachs.
Stomachs. I know that might be controversial or frowned upon by some anglers.
I think if you do that responsibly and still take care of the fish, don't do it aggressively, don't empty their whole stomach cavity.
But if you're seeing a lot of those dead scuds that have already been clearly eaten, already dead, then yeah, maybe go to that attractor color.
If your water clarity is off, if there's an abundance of food sources there that you need your fly to stand out, yeah, I'm going to probably go something a little flashier.
But if it's clear water, if it's a little more pressure, when you pump that stomach, you're seeing that, hey, this is still a scud that's still alive, then I'm going to go more of a natural color there.
Host:
[7:58] Yeah. And just to, you know, Brenner, just so you know, like when scuds die, they generally turn kind of an orangey color, right? And so that's kind of what we're talking about. It's kind of like shrimp cocktail, right? Yep. Yep.
And sometimes that happens, right, when they get blown through a turbine on a dam or they, you know, die for other reasons, right?
Guest:
[8:17] Yep. So yeah, it just kind of depends on... In the same way as when we talk about hoppers and what size just a few moments ago, it really does go back to trying to look at what you see around you and what your fishery's characteristics, its personality, that it has, the pressure that it has in...
I hate to say it, the disposition of your fish. fish are pretty aggressive and eager to take things in a lot of different contexts, a lot of different presentations.
And they're not too picky. But pickier fish, you might need to scale back and go a little more natural. It just really depends on your water.
But that's the fun thing about fly fishing and getting out there and the rewarding nature of that problem-solving aspect of it to really try to figure out that on your own.
Yes, with the help of others, with the help of friends, talk to your local fly shop and see what they think.
But that gives, for me, those little sort of queries that keep you awake at night, that make your head scratch, I love figuring that stuff out.
And that's part of what makes this sport so appealing to me and guiding so appealing to me is trying to figure those things out.
The reward of that is pretty special.
Host:
[9:43] Yeah, absolutely. And you know, folks, we love questions at the Articulate Fly.
You can email them to us. You can DM us on social media. If we use your question, I will send you some Articulate Fly schwag.
Renny, you're drawing for a half a day guided trip with Dustin at the end of the season. And Dustin, before I let you go boil your antelope tonight, you want to let folks know where they can find you and book in fish with you?
Guest:
[10:04] Yeah, I proudly guide for the ugly buck here in Casper, Wyoming.
You can give us a call at the shop at 307-234-6905.
You can also find me on Instagram at Dustin James White.
Host:
[10:18] Well, there you go. Well, listen, folks, you owe it to yourself to get out there and catch a few. Tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Dustin.
Guest:
[10:25] Tight lines, Marvin. Thanks so much.