Wyoming means trout at scale: the North Platte's Grey Reef tailwater grows rainbows like a hatchery with rapids, the Bighorn and Wind River systems add canyon water, and the high country holds golden trout lakes that require boots and ambition. Uncrowded is the default.
Reports current for Friday, September 4
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
Grey Reef: the tailwater that grows Wyoming rainbows like livestock.
The two-state canyon sea: record-book lake trout, kokanee clouds and the Green River's emerald tailwater pouring out the bottom.
The Tetons' mirror: lake trout under America's most photographed skyline, cutthroat at the creek mouths, and ice fishing with a view no shanty deserves.
Wind River country: Boysen’s wind-swept water holds walleye, and the canyon below it holds trout worth the drive.
Wyoming’s desert trout lake: Seminoe grows big rainbows and browns in the sagebrush, with walleye moving in.
Wyoming’s canyon reservoir: Pathfinder holds walleye, trout and cutthroat in 22,000 acres of high desert water.
Wyoming’s walleye park: Glendo’s sandy flats and cottonwood shorelines produce fish and campers in equal number.
Wyoming’s deep glacial lake: Fremont drops 600 feet at the foot of the Wind Rivers, holding lake trout and kokanee.
Wyoming’s trophy tailwater: Grey Reef grows enormous rainbows in the North Platte below Alcova.
Jackson Hole’s river: the Snake runs fine-spotted cutthroat under the Tetons.
Below Fontenelle: the Green runs big Wyoming trout through sagebrush canyon country.
Bighorn Canyon: the lake runs 71 miles of walleye, trout and thousand-foot canyon walls.
Wyoming’s prairie walleye lake: Ocean Lake spreads shallow and windy in the Wind River basin.
A river across the reservation: the Wind runs trout from the Absarokas through a red-rock canyon.
Species activity across the state's covered waters. Peak of the year: April.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for this state's dominant water type (estimated).
| Water | Type | County | Live gauge | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Platte River (Grey Reef) | River | Natrona | modeled | Apr |
| Flaming Gorge Reservoir | Reservoir | Sweetwater | modeled | Apr |
| Jackson Lake | Reservoir | Teton | modeled | Apr |
| Boysen Reservoir | Reservoir | Fremont | USGS | Apr |
| Seminoe Reservoir | Reservoir | Carbon | USGS | May |
| Pathfinder Reservoir | Reservoir | Natrona | USGS | May |
| Glendo Reservoir | Reservoir | Platte | USGS | Apr |
| Fremont Lake | Lake | Sublette | USGS | Apr |
| Grey Reef | River | Natrona | USGS | Apr |
| Snake River | River | Teton | USGS | Apr |
| Green River | River | Lincoln | USGS | Apr |
| Bighorn Lake | Reservoir | Big Horn | USGS | Mar |
| Ocean Lake | Lake | Fremont | modeled | Apr |
| Wind River | River | Fremont | USGS | Apr |
Grey Reef is the headline: stable dam flows and endless scud beds produce 16-20 inch rainbows in absurd density, floated with rubber-legs and worms year-round. Upstream, the Miracle Mile between Kortes and Pathfinder offers bigger water and migratory browns; downstream, Fremont Canyon's pocket fishing rewards climbers. Casper has quietly become a fly-fishing town.
The Wind River Range hides golden trout above 10,000 feet (a backpacking grail), the Snake's fine-spotted cutthroat define Jackson Hole, and Flaming Gorge's Wyoming arm holds lake trout of stunning size. Winter fishing continues on the tailwaters: 20-fish January days at the Reef surprise no local.
It fishes year-round: April-May (pre-runoff) and October are prime, the famous "worm bite" follows spring flushing flows, and even January produces. Book shuttles in Casper or Alcova.