This was my last week on the Reef and we had some exceptional days on the water.  Clients Jim Huggins and good friend Rich from Utah boated fish all day long on May 6th.  I had Glenn Petty and Brandon Womble for two days on the 7th and 8th and we did well despite some extreme Wyoming wind.  Windy days just make it hard to achieve a prolonged drift which I feel is extremely vital for hitting large numbers of fish.  The standard Grey Reef rig at the moment is an egg as the point fly, #6-10 red and pink pigsticker in the middle, trailed by a sparkle worm or smaller annelid in size 14-16.  All three flies are taking fish pretty regularly from Reef to Government Bridge.

 

The water and air temps are both warming and this means some extremely hard fighting fish.  Lucky for us, most fish are more than happy to eat on 2x.  Even so, a 16 inch Grey Reef Rainbow has no problem hoola-hooping a 7wt and breaking 2x.
I certainly am going to miss this river and I look forward to returning for another stay later this summer for some hopper fishing.  For those who have come up this past month and fished the Reef with me, you have seen first hand what these fish can do.  Now imagine them coming up and destroying a hopper…fun stuff! I will see you all back in Parker this weekend as I am planning on bidding farewell to the Cowboy State Thursday Morning.