Trip Name: Green River
Trip Lead: Mark Miller
Participants: 6 max
Dates: April 29-May 4, 2020 – Wed to Monday trip
Transportation: We will carpool from Ft Collins to the Green.
Location: Seedskadee Nat’l Wildlife Refuge, WY
Details: Camping is the name of the game here, as the nearest city is nearly an hour away (Rock Springs). We’ll camp below Fontanelle Dam, Cook our own meals, and use driftboats for moving down river and then stop and wadefish the fishy looking runs. Our first trip to Seedskadee MWR was May of 2019. The fishing was tough, but the ones we netted were beautiful 17-19 inch rainbows, cutthroats, and browns.
Here is a summary of our 2019 trip:
With two drift boats in tow, five members of the Rocky Mountain Flycasters made the six hour trek to the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge on the Green River in Wyoming. Tom Greenup, Mark Miller, David Morse, Frank Bub, and Ron Fletcher packed their tents, sleeping bags, 5 gallon water jugs, and camp stoves for this five-day trip over the Memorial Day weekend.
Talk about getting lucky with the weather! It was freezing cold before we arrived. We then had three cool but beautiful days to fish. This place is not known for large numbers of trout, but it is known for good sized fish, and that was true. We only caught about 25 trout (and a few whitefish) total - really had to work for them. But the ones we caught were really great fish - mostly 18-20 inches. They were heavy fish and great fighters. At least one or two rainbows and cutthroats took us into our backing. For those of you familiar with the North Platte and Gray Reef, the Green River is similar in the Refuge, a large river running through flat sagebrush country. The big difference is the birds – an amazing number and variety. On one of our 8 mile floats, we counted 5 nesting pairs of bald eagles. Another afternoon we were “buzzed” by four huge, brilliant white trumpeter swans that flew over our boat at about 40 feet off the water, the sound of air and wind on their wings clearly audible. Each evening a large great horned owl would visit us, sitting in a tree not far from our picnic table, watching us prepare our dinner. He, or she, also woke us up at 3 am hooting with a nearby friend. It was loud enough that I thought for just a second that one of the owls had gotten into my tent.
So, if you are after large numbers of fish, this is not the place to go. But if you seek a beautiful river in a wild setting, with few people, and friendly owls, this is the place to go. Just be sure to keep you tent door zipped tight!
