Wyoming Cutt Slam and WNTI

[Fergie]

I've been off of work for about three months or so, taking the first month to work on the truck, the second month to travel and this month is a combo of both. I work in psychiatry, and the past several years have been...stressful....so this LOA has been great to relax. As part of that relaxation, my wife and I hit the road for about 10 days, and then I spent another 2 weeks fishing w my brother. Through my fishing attempts in OR, NV and WY, I was able to complete not only able to finish my Cutt Slam, but also the first level of the WNTI. This post pics up w some Lahontans in OR...



Dropped about 1500' in a mile or so, and then had to make my way back out afterwards too:
Lunch was damn good, and while the fish in the lake were not taking anything, the outlet creek yielded some nice Lahontan Cutts




After OR, I drove SE to the central portion of ID/NV to a remote town that is about 100 miles from anything. Apparently, you need rocket boosters to get out...

https://gavinferguson.smugmug.com/Wyoming-Cutt-Slam/i-LjD93HB/A


No lie, caught about 30 Redbands myself, and my brother just as many. He was able to grab a whitefish and a bull trout the day before, but it was only Redbands on my dry flies and 3wt....retired the fly after this day.




Wished I could have taken this one home:


Fished two separate states in a 10' span....the border of NV/ID:

 

[Fergie]

Next up, we made run up to the NE corner of Yellowstone to start the WY Cutt Slam:



The weather was trash the first day and the fish really weren't going for any normal fishing patterns....we ended up casting across the waters, let it drift, then retrieve in pretty fast against the current. Only my brother's GF got her Yellowstone Cutt that day, but I saw one fish rising, so I switched to a dry fly, and on the second cast, caught this beast:

https://gavinferguson.smugmug.com/Wyoming-Cutt-Slam/i-Q4gvjM2/A



Overnight temps got pretty damn chilly....frozen waders are no fun, and neither are crowds:




We made our way south the next day and I was able to find some small waters and got several Yellowstone Cutts...small ones, but worth the hike in.




More to come...

 

[Fergie]

After leaving the park, we made it in to Jackson to restock and grab some beers. One of my absolute fave breweries is Melvin....IYKYK....especially the 2x4 and 2xThor:


South of Jackson, you can get on to some absolutely beautiful areas. We found a confluence of two rivers, and there was a nice eddy w a big chunk of foam....after a few casts, this one was on the line, my Snake River Cutthroat:



We stopped a few miles farther down and my buddy landed a few good 12-14" cutts, and I landed this big sucker:




Popped up off the water and ran in to another Tundra OVRLND owner, from AZ no less:


Looking like a real angler from the shadow:


The drive up to the next section of water was spectacular:




The next day was absolute ******** for fishing, but as the sun was setting, I caught my smallest fish ever, my Colorado Cutthroat. 3.5" and caught on a size 32:



This spot was fairly cool to me....you can drive 2 miles in any direction, and be on different drainages for the Cutt Slam:


The Bonneville(Bear River) was the last and final one on the list, and it was by far the easiest...within the first 10 minutes, we both had our fish, and had caught several other cutts too, so back down to SLC to cleanup for a night, and then to Flagtown:


With everything submitted, this came in the mail a few days after I got home:


Still need to submit the WNTI fish from the past few years, as well as this trip, but having caught 7 different fish in 6 different states, it should be an easy submission.

Thanks for looking all!

 

[SimplyAnAdventure]

NICE!!!!!!!!!! I attempted the WY cuttslam this summer. My better half decided she wanted to tag along so instead of a two week fishing trip it turned into a lovely vacation with a little bit of fishing included. I'm not complaining but she wasn't up to drive all over that entire state chasing trout. We had an amazing time and did catch some nice ones though so no complaints here. The WNTI is on my bucket list. It's one of those things I'd want in my Obit even if no one would understand it. My main problem is I live in NY, that and I'm getting older and fatter every year, chasing those trout seems to be a physical challenge more than a fishing skill challenge. That reminds me I'd better get back in shape!

 

[Fergie]

That was actually the main reason we did the town searching and camping together first; we had a wonderful vacation together, and then it was fishing time. Thankfully, she loves the water and wants to learn how to fly fish, so that's on the list of things to do as well.

We're both excited to get moved to ID so we won't have such a long trek from AZ to the waters that actually fish well. AZ has its spots, but not near the quantity that more northern states do.

I just got back from a few nights in UT where I was able to catch a few dozen tigers, about a dozen or so different Bonneville Cutts, and one brook.

 

[DirtWhiskey]

Looks like a blast. The magic of fishing is the journey for sure. Although I think I know where most of these are, thank you for not posting locations.

 

[Fergie]

Of course, you're welcome. In reality, all the spots are known already....so much sign and pressure on the fish already, and they definitely are well versed on what a fly looks like, but I'm no fan of spot burning.

Part of the fun is spending time on the maps and looking at the topography to see what spot looks the best to fish....some times you pick the wrong spot, but that's part of it.