S6, Ep 108: Tricos, Temps and Tall Boys: Dustin White's Wyoming Update
In this episode of The Articulate Fly, host Marvin Cash reconnects with Dustin White for another insightful "On the Water" segment. Dustin shares his recent adventures, including a brief trip to Colorado, and dives into the current fishing conditions in central Wyoming. He provides updates on the hatches, noting the variability in caddis and trico hatches and the impact of weather changes on fishing success. Dustin also discusses the challenges posed by grassy conditions, especially for streamer fishing, and highlights the productive areas on the Reef and the Mile.
Listeners will enjoy Dustin's recommendations for local spots, including the Sunset Grill in Alcova, known for its great service, greasy burgers and dive bar atmosphere. He also mentions the Windy Waters RV Park for those needing a place to stay after a long day on the water.
As always, Marvin encourages listeners to send in their questions for a chance to win Articulate Fly swag and be entered into a drawing for a half-day fishing trip with Dustin. Don't miss this episode packed with practical fishing tips, local insights and a touch of humor.
To learn more about Dustin, check out our full length interview.
Related Content
S6, Ep 92 - Guiding the North Platte: Carp, Tricos and Casper's Best Bites
S6, Ep 119 - On the Water with Dustin White
S6, Ep 142 - Winter Musky Adventures and Streamer Tactics with Ellis Ward
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EPISODE SUMMARY
Guest: Dustin White - Guide at Ugly Bug Fly Shop (central Wyoming)
In this episode: Wyoming guide Dustin White shares current late summer fishing conditions for central Wyoming's North Platte River tailwaters. Topics include variable trico and caddis hatches, weather impact on fishing success, grassy conditions affecting streamer fishing and productive areas on the Reef and Mile.
Key fishing techniques covered: • Trico dry fly fishing in morning hatches • Caddis dry fly presentations • Blue wing olive hatches • Streamer fishing in mid-lower Reef sections • Nymphing with sow bugs • PMD imitations
Location focus: Central Wyoming - North Platte River tailwaters (Gray Reef/the Reef, Miracle Mile/the Mile, the Horn), Fremont Canyon, Alcova
Target species: Rainbow trout, brown trout
Equipment discussed: Trico patterns, caddis imitations, PMD patterns, blue wing olive patterns, sow bug patterns, streamer patterns, hopper patterns
Key questions answered: • What are current hatch conditions in central Wyoming? • How do weather changes affect late summer fishing success? • What techniques work during grassy conditions? • Where are the most productive fishing areas in September?
Best for: Intermediate to advanced anglers interested in Wyoming tailwater fishing, late summer hatch strategies and North Platte River conditions
Marvin Cash:
Hey, folks, it's Marvin cash, the host of the articulate fly. We're
Marvin Cash:
back with another on the water with Dustin White. Dustin.
Dustin White:
How are you, Marvin? I'm doing well.
Dustin White:
How are you doing today?
Marvin Cash:
As always? Just, uh, trying to stay out of trouble and, uh, you've
Marvin Cash:
been traveling around a little bit, but, uh, you're kind of back in the saddle
Marvin Cash:
in central Wyoming.
Dustin White:
Yeah, just a couple days, uh, off to dip down
Dustin White:
south. Uh, Jamie, my wife and I with two friends
Dustin White:
went down to Colorado to, uh, you
Dustin White:
know, first watch our browns get beat up by the
Dustin White:
cowboys and, uh, at a browns backers bar.
Dustin White:
And then, um, yeah, went to a concert after that. So,
Dustin White:
yeah, it just took a couple days, uh, to dip down south
Dustin White:
and, yeah, uh, back at it.
Marvin Cash:
Yeah. So how was the Leo sear concert?
Dustin White:
Yeah, as enjoyable as expected.
Dustin White:
As expected.
Marvin Cash:
So, you know, it's kind of funny. Looked, uh, at your weather
Marvin Cash:
and, you know, you're kind of getting that kind of typical late summer,
Marvin Cash:
early fall, central Wyoming weather where it's kind of cooling
Marvin Cash:
off a little bit, but you're getting kind of windy days, you know,
Marvin Cash:
no real rain. What are you seeing on the water?
Dustin White:
Been a little
Dustin White:
hatches. I mean, we are. We are getting the
Dustin White:
hatches that you would expect to see
Dustin White:
in terms of, you know, tricos in the morning, uh,
Dustin White:
afternoon, um, a good cattus
Dustin White:
hatch. Um, and then, um, you
Dustin White:
know, some, some modest blue wing
Dustin White:
hatches. Um, the degree
Dustin White:
of health, uh, of those hatches
Dustin White:
has been what's been very day to day.
Dustin White:
So we're getting some days where it's just a
Dustin White:
prolific cat as hatch and there's heads
Dustin White:
of fish, uh, in that late afternoon, early evening
Dustin White:
timeframe, just everywhere. And then, uh,
Dustin White:
you go out the next day and
Dustin White:
it's significantly reduced, uh,
Dustin White:
kind of waiting on that, that cool off to hit us. Um,
Dustin White:
we're waiting for flows to kind of drop
Dustin White:
a little bit more on the reef and that, that should help that.
Dustin White:
But yeah, having, having a little more
Dustin White:
temperate, um, you know, temps,
Dustin White:
some more mild temps, uh, is really, really going to
Dustin White:
help us. Having a little more cloud cover come through is really, really going
Dustin White:
to help us. But we still have some
Dustin White:
remarkably solid fishing, um, on
Dustin White:
the horn, still very
Dustin White:
grassy. Um, and, uh,
Dustin White:
you know, that can pose a little bit of problems, especially if folks are
Dustin White:
wanting to streamer fish. You know, you're raking in a lot of
Dustin White:
grass. Um, but in terms of bugs,
Dustin White:
you know, uh, cattus definitely are working
Dustin White:
well. Uh, see, PMD is actually some kind of
Dustin White:
late summer PMD's, uh, coming off there. Um,
Dustin White:
sow bugs have, uh, as always, have been
Dustin White:
really, really effective. Moving to the
Dustin White:
mile trichos, definitely in the morning have
Dustin White:
been, ah, the standard fare. Still
Dustin White:
eating Amelia, still eating caddis. Um,
Dustin White:
we've had some smaller to
Dustin White:
medium sized fish eating pretty well on the
Dustin White:
surface. But the big mile
Dustin White:
fish that folks want to go there to target, they're not
Dustin White:
quite looking up yet. So we're still a
Dustin White:
few days out from that, um, again, looking
Dustin White:
for that, uh, uh, that, that temp drop
Dustin White:
to, to come into play. And we should start seeing some, some
Dustin White:
productive fishing on that front. Uh, uh,
Dustin White:
in terms of the reef, you know, we're starting to fish some of the lower
Dustin White:
sections of it. The upper reef, pretty mossy,
Dustin White:
pretty grassy. Um, um, but have had some,
Dustin White:
you know, remarkably solid streamer days. Some, some
Dustin White:
really, really enjoyable streamer days. Uh, uh, the
Dustin White:
grass in that mid, lower section has just
Dustin White:
been pretty, um, thin. So that's been
Dustin White:
really, really helpful there. And again, day, uh, to
Dustin White:
day is a little different, but we've had some days where the dry fly
Dustin White:
action has just been remarkably productive,
Dustin White:
followed by a day where it's you look and there's
Dustin White:
not a whole lot of, um,
Dustin White:
heads to be found. But, um,
Dustin White:
again, we're just around the corner from
Dustin White:
that happening.
Marvin Cash:
Uh, very, very neat. And we don't have a question this time. Jay,
Marvin Cash:
if I lost your question, dude, I'm sorry. Send it to me
Marvin Cash:
again. Uh, we'll use it next time. But as I always say, we
Marvin Cash:
love questions on the articulate fly. You can email them to us
Marvin Cash:
or dm us, uh, on social media. And if we
Marvin Cash:
use your question, I will send you some articulate fly swag. And we are
Marvin Cash:
drawing for a half a day of fishing with Dustin. And you know,
Marvin Cash:
Dustin, as we always do, we gotta give a shout out to one of the
Marvin Cash:
local watering holes.
Dustin White:
Yeah.
Marvin Cash:
Yeah.
Dustin White:
And this one's gotta be the sunset grill. Not to be
Dustin White:
confused with the, uh, uh, boomtown
Dustin White:
and the sunrise plaza that we kinda highlighted, uh,
Dustin White:
a couple m months ago. But the sunset grilled is an
Dustin White:
alcove. And if you're getting off the mile or
Dustin White:
off the reef and want just a great
Dustin White:
hole in the wall divey bar, but
Dustin White:
with great service, uh, there. And,
Dustin White:
uh, in my opinion, one of the best greasy burgers
Dustin White:
there is to find, it's definitely at the sunset grill.
Dustin White:
So, you know, it's right off 220, um, almost
Dustin White:
immediately after as you pull out of the gray reef or leave
Dustin White:
Alcova, um, just a great spot. I mean,
Dustin White:
it's, you know, dollar bills that someone's
Dustin White:
scrawled some sort of message, uh, both
Dustin White:
appropriate and inappropriate on it and tuck
Dustin White:
it to the wall there. Uh, uh, it's, it's that sort of the
Dustin White:
spot, but the folks there are just super
Dustin White:
friendly. Um, um, like I said, great little hole in
Dustin White:
the wall food. Um, uh, and, uh, you know, if you want
Dustin White:
a really cheap, uh, uh, tall boy, pbr.
Dustin White:
That's. That's the spot to do it.
Marvin Cash:
Yeah. Just a slightly longer walk home, right?
Dustin White:
Yeah, it's not a walk home sort of spot. You know, if you.
Dustin White:
If you have a little much. Uh, we got the windy
Dustin White:
waters, uh, you know, rv park, uh, across the street
Dustin White:
that, uh, our friend Steve and Julie own. And,
Dustin White:
uh, they'll host you for the night if, uh,
Dustin White:
you can't get home safely. So, ah, it's a great
Dustin White:
little spot. Cool, um, little area.
Dustin White:
And, uh, I definitely recommend getting the beer battered
Dustin White:
french fries, uh, with your burger. Ah,
Dustin White:
it's definitely an experience that, uh, everyone
Dustin White:
should try, uh, as you leave the reef and leave the
Dustin White:
mile.
Marvin Cash:
Yeah, there you go. You know, you haven't lived until you've, uh,
Marvin Cash:
slept, uh, overnight in a trash bag on a picnic table.
Dustin White:
Exactly. And that's the spot to do it. They'll take good care
Dustin White:
of you.
Marvin Cash:
Well, there you go. Well, you know, as we get on the other side of Labor Day, I
Marvin Cash:
know that the bug now, uh, has their kind of
Marvin Cash:
non high season hours, right?
Dustin White:
Yeah. Yeah. We're back to our normal, typical
Dustin White:
business hours. We're not open Sundays. Uh,
Dustin White:
Saturdays close at 04:00 uh, throughout the
Dustin White:
week, 9930 to 530, if I
Dustin White:
believe. Um, I actually don't know the start time. I'm on the
Dustin White:
water every day, uh, when that's occurring. But,
Dustin White:
yeah, we're in kind of the standard business hours there.
Dustin White:
But folks, uh, want to give the shop a
Dustin White:
call that, uh, they'll. They'll be happy
Dustin White:
to acquiesce any sort of request you have, whether
Dustin White:
that's booking a guide trip or help for, you
Dustin White:
know, what. What hatch is occurring, what flies you need
Dustin White:
getting you out of to get on the water. We're happy to do that.
Marvin Cash:
Yeah. And so, you know, how many, uh, I guess more
Marvin Cash:
days do you have before you kind of pivot, uh, right before
Marvin Cash:
the holidays and head up and chase steelhead?
Dustin White:
Yeah, I'm pretty full through October,
Dustin White:
so it's still busy. We get a
Dustin White:
little bit of a late summer, uh, dip.
Dustin White:
I wouldn't even say it's a lull. Just I can actually have a
Dustin White:
five day workweek rather than a seven day
Dustin White:
work week or six day workweek. Um, so we're back
Dustin White:
into the swing of busy stuff. So it's
Dustin White:
kind of, you know, back into a grind, you know, pushing through
Dustin White:
all the way through October. Um, um, but, um,
Dustin White:
um, as, as, you know, you've experienced before, this is
Dustin White:
such a fun time of year to fish. Um, um, you know, we're
Dustin White:
stripping streamers. We're, you know, we're throwing hoppers. Uh,
Dustin White:
uh, we're throwing drys. There's just a ton of
Dustin White:
variety, uh, uh, just around the corner and right
Dustin White:
now. So, you know, we're legitimately days away
Dustin White:
from, from that kind of really kicking into full
Dustin White:
effect.
Marvin Cash:
Yeah. And good drinking weather, too.
Dustin White:
Exactly. It's real my, you know, once we get that mildest, get a little
Dustin White:
cloud cover coming in, you know, really pleasant
Dustin White:
days on the water with, uh, uh, just to be
Dustin White:
out there with a friend. Have a beer, uh uh, catch some good fish. Um
Dustin White:
um, it's. Yeah, it's. It's an enjoyable time, for sure.
Marvin Cash:
Yeah. Opens up the dark liquor verticals, uh uh, at the
Marvin Cash:
bar. So, uh, certainly
Marvin Cash:
does.
Dustin White:
Yeah, certainly, uh, does.
Marvin Cash:
And so, as I always say, folks, you owe it to yourself to get out there
Marvin Cash:
and catch a few tight lines, everybody. Tight lines.
Marvin Cash:
Dustin.
Dustin White:
Tight lines. Marvin.
Guide
Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, Dustin had a rod in his hand soon after he started walking. He spent much of his childhood and adolescence fishing for muskie, pike, and bass on his family’s lake property. Any and all family trips were spent on the water chasing numerous species of fish in both freshwater and saltwater. However, Dustin’s favorite form of angling has and will always be targeting Trout and Steelhead on the fly. Dustin spends his winters guiding for Steelhead on the tributaries of Lake Erie. Dustin is a graduate of Sweetwater Travel Guide School, and he is a proud pro-staff member of a number of the industry’s top manufacturers. He is also the cofounder and director of “Nimi on the Fly,” a nonprofit charity that seeks to promote character building, enrichment, and conservation with youth the sport of fly fishing.
