Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing Wyoming in mid-October

Morning folks. My hunting partner and I drew Antelope tags for Wyoming and will be hunting the week of October 18-23. We're hunting Area 17, north of Gillette, but plan to travel on over to Cody, then possibly on down to Jackson before we head home.

Any pointers or suggestions for trout fishing while we're there? There appears to be very little opportunity, if any, in our hunt area, but there looks like there's plenty of access around the Big Horns. Can y'all offer any help with rod selection, fly patterns, access points or anything else?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm not coming to Wyoming without at least making an attempt at a trout. I just can't.

Thanks,

David Walker
Ft. Payne, AL

The Tongue River west of Sheridan has good water flow in late October but I’ve never fished it, just passed over while trying to find elk.

The Wind River is a great river. South of Cody a bit.

Some info about the Shoshone River. It runs through Cody. https://www.wyomingfishing.net/fishtails/ft_shoshone.htm

As for the rod I would bring a 4-6 weight. 5 weight will do anything you ‘need’ it to do.

You could be fishing in 60 degree sunshine or in a blizzard. I would consider size 16-20 mayfly patterns and midges. I wouldn’t expect heavy hatches for a long day of dry fly fishing but you might want some hopper or stimulator patterns for hopper/dropper setup.

Edit: hopper/dropper because you could see low water flows and that’s the setup I use for shallow water. If I’m fishing “deep” water and there are no fish rising I use a dedicated nymph 2-fly rig.

Thanks a lot Joel. That's the kind of information I was looking for. That's a big help for sure. my primary rod is a 4 weight Winston and I've got a couple others, and a 6 weight, so I'm good on equipment. We fish orange and yellow stimulators in the Smoky Mountains with a nymph on a dropper in the fall, so sounds like the rigging and presentation should be similar.

Thanks again!

David

When taking a break during Oct elk outings, I have done really well on cut throat using gold ribbed hares ears on an across and down stream swing. Likely any nymph would do. Upstream dead drift was a zero. Seems they want to see some sign of life. If temps get low, which is a good possibility at high elevations, the bite seems to really pick up in the afternoon on into evening hours.

That’s a very pretty cutthroat. Chunky.

If you are going to Jackson Flat Creek has great trout but it is in the National Elk Refuge so I do not know if it is legally accessible in October.

Very nice! And thanks for the information 1Minute. I have those ribbed hares ears in my kit. Maybe that under a yellow stimulator will do the trick. What size would you try?

VaHunter, I'll check into that. Where we end up depends on us filling our antelope tags. Just got my license in the mail today.

This will be the first time either of us has hunted or fished west of the Mississippi River, except ducks in northeast Arkansas. Needless to say, we're chomping at the bits to get there. Hoping for fair weather, but we'll deal with it as it comes.

Thanks again guys.

David

I would come maybe try Lake Desmett near Buffalo .. You could also come over the Bighorns and hit the Bighorn near Thermopolis up stream to the dam... The other way trout become more scarce.. Near Saratoga and Encampment the Platte and the Encampment have some good fishing as does the Saratoga lake.. Cody has some good lake fishing like Newton, but I think the trout are like 500 per mile, and the Platte like 3000 per mile.. I don't fish much these days so things could have changed..

In hare's ears - tens to fourteen

Thanks for the information. Keep it coming. I'm studying up on all this as I go.

David----you mentioned in your post you were going to Cody. Make sure you stop at the William F. Cody Museum---it is fantastic--if you like guns and lots of history of the west.

I'd like some advice on where to fish in Montana with a 4 weight fly rod (and maybe an open faced spinning reel) and hip boots. My wife and I are pulling a small trailer from North Carolina up thru the UP of Michigan and out to Glacier National Park in a few weeks. Any suggestions on a medium to small stream. ???

I've been told about the museum. It's on the list. Where we end up depends mostly on how quickly we can fill our antelope tags. And the weather I suppose. We're leaving Alabama on October 16th with plans to pull into Area 17 on the 18th and start scouting/hunting that afternoon. Depending on the weather, we'll be tent camping or staying in a hotel in Gillette. If we get lucky and fill our tags, we'll leave there and head west. We may camp more along the way. Hoping to get in some fly fishing and test as many of the local breweries as we can. We're planning to make this an annual trip. A western hunt somewhere, for whatever specie we decide on for a given year. Time to start living and doing those things I've put off for too long.

If you can hit Red Lodge ales in Red Lodge Mt.. About an hours drive from Cody!! Hope to get there. This summer.. Any time you can also expect a snow storm.. Usually we get one in Oct.. Or before!!

Red Lodge sounds interesting for sure. And yes, we fully expect we could have that snow storm. My friend, who was living just south of Denver then, hunted area 22 last year on October 5th with 6" on the ground. They got lucky and filled 4 tags by 9am the first day. I say lucky, but depends on perspective. I do enjoy the hunt. But I've little experience hunting in the snow. We'll learn, the hard way I'm sure. LOL

Red Lodge is cool, but keep in mind the "easy" road from Red Lodge to Cody might be closed. Coming from Gillette if looking for breweries, check Sheridan for Blacktooth and Luminous. Lots of good fishing just outside Sheridan as well.

Thanks for the heads up Bob. How about the road from Sheridan to Cody? Looks like it crosses the southern end of the Big Horns. Any issues there, for snow?

I would take 14 through Ranchester/Dayton from Sheridan.

Some safety considerations, the elevation at Sheridan is quite different than the elevation on top of the mountains. You’ll definitely have a steep climb. You will probably go through a cloud transition during the climb with limited visibility and wet or icy conditions. There will probably not be snow in Sheridan but there may be some on top.

When you are almost on top of the hill you’ll run out of cell phone coverage for quite a distance.

I wouldn’t leave Dayton without probably at least 3/4 tank of gas. Knowing me I would fill up in Dayton. But I keep my gas tank pretty full because there’s quite a distance between some towns in Wyo.

From Burgess Junction it’s your choice to take 14 or 14A to Cody. 14A is a seasonally closed road but it’ll probably still be open in mid October. The time difference to Cody between the two is negligible. I usually go through Greybull but that’s because I’m usually going through Greybull for other reasons.

This is that road in March.



This is what it looks like up top in October.



You’ll go through a cool canyon if you go through Greybull. I haven’t taken 14A.

Joel,

Man those pics make me even more anxious to get there. I've only been out across I-40 to Kingman, AZ and then up to Vegas. This is gonna be a whole new world. I'm probably more excited about this trip than I ever have been in 48 years. The hunting is just a bonus, and a good reason to make the trip. But the trip to that part of the world is the real treat for me. Checking off that bucket list!

So that March pic looks like around 4 feet of snow packed along the roadside. I hope like hell we don't have to deal with that.

You have 2 options via the bighorns, 14 and 16, both cross over at around 9500 feet, so depends on the day, both are open year round, again depends on the day.

I’ve never taken 16 through Ten Sleep. But it’s probably the coolest name for a town ever.

Bob where do you wet a line around Sheridan? Have you been down into the middle fork of the Powder west of Kaycee yet? If no I definitely recommend the trip, that canyon is a magical place.

I like 16,, An easier trip.. There is a lake along the road stocked with trout.. Lots of people fish it, you can tell by the amount of dead trout lying along the shore.. I have never missed catching a few,, Pretty stop,, In ten sleep canyon stop at Leigh Cr, Information sign.. Named for an English hunter who fell from the cliffs while hunting sheep.. There is a marker on top of the cliff, but hard to see without binoculars!! Shell canyon is also beautiful but coming off the face of the mountain is very steep!! You can also catch the Medicine Wheel on that road.. Cool thing to see..It is an easy trip from Cody to Red Lodge ... Go up to Belfry Mt. And cut over the hills.. You will pass the Smith Mine disaster an interesting stop ,, /Red Lodge Ales is on the road to Billings at the edge of town.. 212 I think.

If you have a day, the Beartooth Highway is AWESOME!! Plan on a day from Cody to Red Lodge.. Then come home via the Belfry trip..

Man, y'all are killing me. I'm gonna need to do another week of just fishing, beer drinking and traveling. Not necessarily in that order. LOL

Yep, hwy 212 on the north side of town. The OnX Offroad app also lists breweries. LOL It's a great app to have for $30/year. More road and trail information than Hunt. The two together do a lot of good IMHO

You're going to find a lot more use for the 6 weight than the 4 due to wind! Not to say a 4 isn't useful depending on the action and where you end up fishing. I have zero useful suggestions for you but I'm sure you're going have a great time. Looking forward to fishing, hunting and brewery pictures!

I need to explore more, stayed around Buffalo now. Need to get up to the rivers around Sheridan and down around Kaycee and planning to hit Miracle Mile in 2 weeks for a day.

I'll likely have a full selection of equipment along. Driving out gives me that option. It's a lot of driving but it gives a lot of freedom doing it that way.

The Mile is a great section of river for sure!

It’s a bit intimidating for me. Deep water, big boulders, high flows. Great fish though! It reminds me of a steelhead river.

I am surprised no one has mentioned streamers for October fishing. Browns are beginning their spawning then and we have had great luck on Streamers from size 8 up to size 2

A local favorite called a Bighorn Special was my go to...it is pretty close to a Platte River Special.

Sinking line or at least 15 ft. Sink tip. Shooting head ( do people still use those?) unless you can double haul better than me....cover some water!

shooting heads work great. Cast by double hauling, then start stacking line to get more depth . Let swing and slow strip, or fast strip, in.

Ingwe you just need a Spey rod! Then no need to double haul.

Ive watched April Vokey work a Spey rod...poetry in motion.

I figure if I'm too uncoordinated to do a double haul; ( which I am...) a Spey rod would be a HUGE mistake!

I'm definitely not that advanced yet. We do simple work in these small eastern streams. Roll casts are my most common, to avoid overhanging limbs n such.

I've tried double haul, don't have that down yet! Small streams with roll casts I got down!

Even on big western rivers I default to the roll cast often. The wind will often wreck a cast, even a good form cast. Roll casts stay closer to the water/spend less time in the wind!

I'm rusty right now to be honest, but I'll be working in the yard between now and then. Actually gonna try to get up to Tennessee or North Georgia this weekend to walk some streams. Sure would be nice to get into some of those little Appalachian brookies. Probably need to plan on a hike to high ground for that.

Just drove the bear tooth last week. A must do