Epic Hopper Fishing in Wyoming

Written by: Mike Schmidt, Angler’s Choice Flies

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Mike Schmidt with a chunky, hopper-eating brown trout.

photo courtesy Mike Schmidt

For the last few years I have had to listen to Greg Senyo’s stories of wild, hopper-eating trout on his hosted trips in Wyoming. As the story goes, the fish require long casts, with long leaders, big foam bugs, and drag-free drifts. If you can put it all together, the big browns materialize from the undercut banks and current seams to come and inhale a mouthful of foam.

This last winter, I dropped by Greg’s place for an evening, and after a few cocktails, out came the pictures. Ten sleepless hours later, I called him back to get my name on the list.

Finally, two weeks ago, the time had come to hit the road in search of these fish. After a couple short flights, we jumped in a rental car for the drive down to Buffalo, Wyoming, which was our base for the next few days. The weather was hot and the sun high, but for three days the five of us on the trip enjoyed some truly epic hopper fishing.

Over the course of the trip, we hit three different watersheds and landed more fish on the surface than I would care to count. These fish were far more spooky than I would have expected of unmolested fish, but a well-drifted offering to a fishy looking spot would often end with vicious results. Once hooked, these fish exploded into action, pulling like a salmon and jumping like a steelhead. We are already looking forward to our return next year. Three-hundred-and-fifty-something days and counting. . .

Click here for the rest of the story and tons more photos.

Mike Schmidt runs Angler’s Choice Flies, and Greg Senyo runs Steelhead Alley Outfitters.

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Greg Senyo shows off one of those chunky brown trout he’d been telling Mike about.

photo courtesy Mike Schmidt

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Looking for big brown trout on small water.

photo courtesy Mike Schmidt

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Wild brown trout can be wary, even when they’re eating hoppers off the surface.

photo courtesy Mike Schmidt

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Open up and say, “aaah.”

photo courtesy Mike Schmidt

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