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Wyoming Snowy range

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Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 06 27, 2017 •  [Post 1]

Heading to the snowy range July 12th through the 16th to do some backpacking and fishing. Looking forward to trying out my new tarp tent and gear. Meeting up with some friends from Colorado to do some fishing. Talked with the fish biologist about the area and have a pretty good game plan. Anyone been up there and done any fishing? Thinking about bringing the spotter, just in case. Starting out on Dipper lake to try and catch some grayling. Meeting with the others at lewis lake and heading to the shelf lake areas for golden trout friday. When the weekend crowds hit we will be heading further in to try and get a lake to ourselves. Couple lakes have some larger brook trout and I will hopefully have a few for the fire. Anyone have recipes or ways they like to cook them? Plan was to bring foil and some simple seasoning, lemon pepper, and just eating them as is. Maybe someone has a favorite seasoning? Going to make a point to hike to the top of medicine bow for exercise and the view. Hoping for good weather but it sounds like it can still get pretty cold this time of year. Not worried about that, more so on the mosquito and bug front.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby Tigger » 06 27, 2017 •  [Post 2]

Alpine Touch is a sponsor here and it is a great seasoning. Sounds like a great trip and I am speaking for many when I say I am envious!
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 06 27, 2017 •  [Post 3]

Alpine touch will be making the trip.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 06 27, 2017 •  [Post 4]

Sounds like a GREAT adventure (let us know how you like the new tarp mountain dwelling). Foil and a bit of seasoning works fine for the high lake trout, and, grayling are a pure blast to take on light tackle! I'm guessing you'll be taking a pack rod and UL spinning gear? Don't forget to add a few water fly bubbles and some really small flies to your fish tool kit (14-16 size). The water weight fly bubbles, filled just a bit over 1/2 way full, trailed by a loooong 4 lb leader will cast a country mile and when retrieved very slow, can be a killer combo in those high lakes! If you haven't used them before, they're simple to use. You just run your main line through the bubble, fill it a bit over 1/2 way with water, then twist the ends to hold your line in place. It's been a day or two since I fished high lakes but seems like an ant pattern, tiny adams and skeetos worked really well (a skiff of wind on the water helps the process also). Would really like to see some pics and hear a trip report when you get back mister ;). RJ

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Water weight fly bubble.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 06 28, 2017 •  [Post 5]

Nice tip, RJ. I like it. I have a decent sized ice fishing rod (28 in) that I could pack with. I think that might work well with that combination. I don't have a UL spinning gear rig so the ice fishing rod set up will have to work. Ive had times where I cant get a cast off because of the shore line and this looks like a great option. Ive seen this little bubbles before and had no idea how to use them. Im not very good at taking pictures (remembering to take them) and im going to try to get some of the entire trip. Gear, hikes, fish, ect. Never caught a grayling before so it would be pretty cool to hook into one.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 06 28, 2017 •  [Post 6]

Brent, not sure the 28" ice fishing rod (got a few of them myself) will have the "action" you need for fishing the high lakes and particularly for casting a fly bubble with a 6' leader. A 5-6' (two piece) pack rod would serve you better. Hell, if you want, I'll send you my old school Eagle Claw pack rod that has the ability to serve as a fly rod, and, a spin rod (comes in an aluminum tube). You just gotta throw a little spinning reel, and if you wish, a fly reel in your pack and you'll be in the money. Let me know.. Just send it back after your trip. Rory
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby Lefty » 06 29, 2017 •  [Post 7]

Alpine touch lemon pepper( yep its a bit different than other lemon pepper) to flavor in finely ground cornmeal. I grind my own.
Roll in egg then dry coating, fry in 50% butter 50% olive oil.
Have fun
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 03, 2017 •  [Post 8]

WapitiTalk1 wrote:Brent, not sure the 28" ice fishing rod (got a few of them myself) will have the "action" you need for fishing the high lakes and particularly for casting a fly bubble with a 6' leader. A 5-6' (two piece) pack rod would serve you better. Hell, if you want, I'll send you my old school Eagle Claw pack rod that has the ability to serve as a fly rod, and, a spin rod (comes in an aluminum tube). You just gotta throw a little spinning reel, and if you wish, a fly reel in your pack and you'll be in the money. Let me know.. Just send it back after your trip. Rory


Thanks for the offer, very kind of you. I am looking at getting something together from some friends around here. Should be able to make it work. Thinking about the long leader and the short rod, it may not work out like I want.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 11, 2017 •  [Post 9]

Started to organize some gear last night and I have a little ways to go. Here is some of the gear I am using on this backpacking trip.
This is where I get to store most of my hunting and fishing gear.
Most of the gear laid out.
Looks like I need to add a few more flies, I like to decorate trees surrounding alpine lakes. Its one thing im good at. I did get a packable rod and put on some of my 6 lb clear ice fishing line. Hoping it works out.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 11, 2017 •  [Post 10]

A few new pieces of gear I am going to try. Great deal on camofire for a smaller headlamp. My old one took 8 AA batteries. Its a great headlamp but a heavy one. This is more compact and we will see if its up for the job.
I was really excited about this new back pack. I sold my old bow and was able to justify the money on these expensive packs. I was able to get the kifaru spike camp in their rhino den for a discount. I was also able to pick up two med pockets and belt pockets off of rokslide, so overall the pack wasnt as bad as it could have been. I plan on using it this fall and attaching it to my frame pack that I have now. The frame will serve for hauling meat and Ill be able to discard the pockets to have a nice comfortable day pack. Something I have been looking for. I also put the strap it,? I think is the name, in order to haul extra gear and meat if necessary. Ive been able to load up a 50 lb bag of corn and two dumbbells. The pack can handle it but its not the most comfortable. Excited to strap down some meat and see what it can do.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 11, 2017 •  [Post 11]

Here is the new tarp I plan to use. Another rokslide purchase for me. Used paratarp for summer time camping and possible spike camp if I find myself too far from camp during the season. Excited to try this one out. I needed a tent for this trip anyway, selling my old Fly Creek, so it will have to do. Could also be used for a glassing/cooking shelter. Hopefully post some pictures of a few ways I use it on this trip.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 11, 2017 •  [Post 12]

Heathers Choice isnt my favorite. A couple of them are ok and plan on trading my buddies to see what they think of them. Mountain house is always tasty on the trail, IMO. Not the best for you but it works for a hot meal. Green Belly is new to me and I tried one at work the other day. The dark chocolate banana was better than I was expecting. Cliff bars have taken their tole on me so im excited about trying something different. They are heavy but have a lot of calories to them. Also, have to bring some of my favorite treats, honey stingers are always a good choice. Jerky is probably my favorite food in general so Ill bring some of that.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 11, 2017 •  [Post 13]

Still need a few more things for the trip but for the most part I am ready. Alpine touch and foil will be coming on the trip, hopefully ill get a good shot of trout over a fire.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby Deanmac » 07 11, 2017 •  [Post 14]

Sounds like a great trip, can't wait to see pictures and hear your report on the return.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 17, 2017 •  [Post 15]

Back from the trip. A few things I noticed about my overall readiness for this coming fall and my next scouting trip. My lower back, herniated disc, needs more attention when hiking with weight. I will need to stretch more and keep an eye on something like this if I plan on venturing off the trail a ways.
We started off the trip wanting to go for grayling like we planned. I had an idea where the trail/road was that we wanted to hike in on. Got around the corner after picking up my friend and see a closed trail, no big deal we will just hike. The short mile and a half hike I had in mind would now be around 2 and a half miles. Off we go. To a dead end and the wrong lake? There were two lakes we would have to pass and this was not one of them. Quick shortcut through the trees will get us there. Not quite. But we did end up getting to the lake and had it to ourselves. Fishing was tough. We could see them in the water, surfacing and trying to match the hatch. No luck at all. After a little trial and error we were using a hopper dropper setup and things started going our way. Nymph fishing was working. If we could have only figured this out early we would have a few more fish to show for. With time running low I landed my best fish of the day. Beautiful fish! We accomplished our goal. Both of us landed a few grayling on the fly. For the hike out we decided we would take the road that was supposed to be by the lake. Short and easy mile later we ran into vehicles and campers parked off the road. We missed our turnoff and had hiked off trail instead of taking the easy route. WHOOPS! I dont think my friend was impressed by navigating skills but we made it back to the vehicle and were now on our way to meet the others. A short and easy 2 mile hike, round trip, turned into a 6 mile round trip hike. We did get to see some nice country! ha
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 17, 2017 •  [Post 16]

Setting up the new tent was interesting. I should have done a trial run before going but I had it figured out for the second try.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 17, 2017 •  [Post 17]

Here is the second go at it. I didnt have the best stakes for it. I ordered some MSR ones that were recommended but they were not in for this trip. There was condensation inside the tent when I woke up but didnt seem to be the biggest issue. I didnt pitch the tent for the last night and had water build up on my sleeping bag. For this trip it was a non issue. Overall I like the tarp for a shelter if the weather got bad but I would NOT want to spend a lot of time in it. Short duration trips the tent will serve its purpose.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 17, 2017 •  [Post 18]

It wasnt a hard hike and the views were great
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 17, 2017 •  [Post 19]

Few more of the hike
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 17, 2017 •  [Post 20]

Golden Trout were second on the list of fish we wanted to catch on the fly. They were picky once again on the top water, but a zebra midge was just the ticket to land a couple fish. We soon realized after switching backpacks that one of us had forgotten to pack a fly reel. We took turns casting to these picky alpine fish. I really expected them to be coming after top water but it just wasnt the case for us.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 17, 2017 •  [Post 21]

A few more fish before moving on.
And with very little sunscreen the hood stayed on for most of the day. We did have enough bug spray. Those bugs were worse than I expected. I still have a few welts I am scratching at.
Goal number two in the books. So far so good
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 17, 2017 •  [Post 22]

The brook trout were not as picky. After landing one on the fly, we took turns using cranks and mepps to bring in the nights feast. Fish number 3 was now accomplished and leaving what I thought would be the easiest for last.
I didnt get the alpine touch like I wanted to! It will be coming with me on trips in the future. I thought it was carried at some local stores and I wasnt able to find any before leaving town. A little oil and lemon pepper is what we had.
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 07 18, 2017 •  [Post 23]

Absolute epic trip report Brent and the pictures are amazing! Golden Trout, Grayling, and Brookies.... very, very nice. Aren't those Grayling a blast to catch!? Man, with their big ol' dorsal fin, they feel like they're twice their size when playing them. Thanks so much for sharing your adventure and posting the pics.... AWESOME! RJ
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby Tigger » 07 18, 2017 •  [Post 24]

Fantastic! The mountains are calling and I must go! Thanks for making me mis them even worse!
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby Roosiebull » 07 18, 2017 •  [Post 25]

Great write up! Looks like an awesome adventure!
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Re: Wyoming Snowy range

Postby BrentLaBere » 07 19, 2017 •  [Post 26]

RJ, Grayling sure are a blast. Wish I could have spent more time on the lake they were in. I only had on 6x and I was a littler worried with the turns it was taking.
Thanks for checking it out and the kind words. Im ready to head back out in a few short weeks. Elktember is coming up quick.
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