S6, Ep 47: From Chilled Streams to Chilling at Frank's: Dustin White's Guide to Early Spring in Wyoming
Join host Marvin Cash as he kicks off the season with Dustin White for the inaugural "On the Water" episode of The Articulate Fly. Dustin, braving the unpredictable Wyoming weather, shares his recent experiences on the water, where the usual early season nymph action has been delightfully complemented by some unexpected dry fly and streamer success.
Dustin highlights how the mild winter has led to early migrations of fish up the North Platte River, providing anglers with exceptional opportunities for a fruitful catch. As they discuss the current conditions, Dustin gives a nod to the blue wing hatches and the exciting prospects they bring for the surface action enthusiasts.
The episode also features a local flavor segment, spotlighting Frank's Butcher Shop in Casper, Wyoming. This beloved establishment isn't just a place to pick up top-quality cuts of meat; it's a culinary haven for hearty meals and creative cocktails, complete with communal seating and a welcoming atmosphere.
Marvin and Dustin discuss their favorite menu items, from the loaded Bloody Marys to the beef tenderloin quesadillas, and Dustin's go-to Bartender's Burger. Plus, Marvin reveals the convenience of Frank's drive-through liquor store service, perfect for grabbing steak and drinks on the go.
Wrapping up, Dustin shares details about the Ugly Bug Fly Shop, the hub for all things fly fishing in central Wyoming, from gear and guide services to destination travel advice. With summer hours in effect, the shop is ready to serve the needs of every angler.
As always, listeners are encouraged to send in questions for the chance to win prizes in future episodes. Despite the chill, Marvin leaves us with a reminder of the joys of fly fishing: no matter the weather, there's always an adventure waiting on the water. Tight lines!
To learn more about Dustin, check out our full length interview.
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Marvin: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly,
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Marvin: and we're back with the season's inaugural On the Water with Dustin White. How are you, Dustin?
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Dustin: Marvin, doing great. A little chilly today here in Wyoming, so I got off the
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Dustin: water and had to warm up a little bit, but all is well.
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Marvin: Yeah, no, it's kind of crazy. I looked at your weather forecast and I saw your Instagram feed.
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Marvin: It's like you got snow, then you got rain, then you got snow and looks like
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Marvin: you've got a grim probably three or four days in front of you.
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Marvin: But after that, it's going to kind of level out, right?
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Dustin: Yeah, and a lot of that's kind of, you know, I hate to say part of the course,
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Dustin: but this time of the year, you just don't know quite where you're going to get.
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Dustin: And so, yeah, we're doing a little ping pong back and forth between,
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Dustin: you know, gorgeous, you know, sunny days and, you know, warm weather to,
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Dustin: you know, or, you know, wondering what month we're actually in.
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Dustin: And, uh, so, uh, yeah, we're in the little bit of, uh, the rough,
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Dustin: uh, some rough systems coming through a lot of wind, uh, some chilly weather,
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Dustin: but, uh, we're looking forward to, um, the, the season warming up for us, uh, tech wise.
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Marvin: Yeah. And you were telling me that you've actually gotten, you know,
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Marvin: as opposed to kind of being a more traditional kind of early season nymph bike,
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Marvin: you've been, you've had some pretty good dry fly fishing and some pretty good
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Marvin: streamer fishing. And you're telling me the miles been fishing pretty well.
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Dustin: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, everything's, you know, been very, very, very,
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Dustin: very good thus far, kind of on all fronts.
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Dustin: And yeah, as you said, typically, you know, we're not having too many streamer
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Dustin: days or dry fly days this early.
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Dustin: A lot of our trips, you know, tend to, you know, center around nymphing.
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Dustin: But conditions have kind of lined themselves up that we've been having some
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Dustin: good blue wing hatches in our afternoon that the fish are willing to look up for.
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Dustin: We've had with this kind of cloudy skies and intermittent weather systems coming
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Dustin: in, it's providing for some good streamer opportunities for us.
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Dustin: And with the mild winter that we had, you know, our reservoirs didn't stay frozen
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Dustin: or locked up as long as they typically do.
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Dustin: So it seems that that is kind of encouraged a lot of the migratory fish that
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Dustin: push up out of Pathfinder Reservoir into the mile to start eking up into the
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Dustin: system earlier than normal.
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Dustin: So, uh, we've been super, super happy, super grateful, um, for what we've been
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Dustin: seeing so far this spring.
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Marvin: Uh, very, very cool. And, you know, we had, we decided for, for this year's
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Marvin: fishing report series that we wanted to feature kind of local bars and,
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Marvin: uh, restaurants in Casper.
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Marvin: Cause to me, that's one of the cool things about coming to Casper is you've
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Marvin: got kind of all these, uh, nifty places to eat.
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Marvin: And I know certainly one of my favorite places is Frank's butcher shop.
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Marvin: You want to tell folks a little bit more about Frank's?
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Dustin: Yeah, love Frank's. Frank's is hands down one of my favorite places to haunt, as we say.
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Dustin: But yeah, it's a perfect place to get off the water. Frank's,
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Dustin: they had historically had their own slaughterhouse, raised their own beef.
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Dustin: And then a few years ago, probably just about three years ago,
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Dustin: opened up a butcher shop and started selling really quality products,
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Dustin: but not just meat that folks can come in and pick out whatever cuts of meat they'd like.
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Dustin: But they have all the fixings that go with it, cheeses and mustards,
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Dustin: and they have a really impressive liquor selection.
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Dustin: But really, what makes them stand out from a run-of-the-mill butcher shop is
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Dustin: they've got a little kind of hole-in-the-wall bar and limited-menu restaurant
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Dustin: in the corner with community-style seating.
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Dustin: And oh my goodness, like from, you know, if you want to hill or bloody Mary,
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Dustin: some really creative, refreshing cocktails, it's, it's phenomenal.
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Dustin: But then their, their food serving their meat and their products they have with,
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Dustin: with some really, really just fantastic pairings is, is, is dynamite and not all that, that pricey.
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Dustin: I mean, on a guide income, we can inhabit it quite a bit.
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Dustin: So it's a great spot right on CYA Avenue, just about halfway between town and
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Dustin: or between our shop downtown and on the way out to the lodge.
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Dustin: So if you're traveling back and forth from the Crazy Rainbow Lodge or the Edmubug
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Dustin: Fly Shop downtown, you got to drive five francs to get to one or the other.
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Dustin: And I frequently detour my journey to pull into the lot there to hang with the good folks there.
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Marvin: Yeah, I would say I give two thumbs up to the Bloody Marys, which are a meal unto themselves.
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Marvin: And then also the beef tenderloin quesadilla is pretty killer, too.
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Dustin: Ooh, yeah, yeah. The quesadilla is great. My go-to order typically is the bartender's
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Dustin: burger. Burger, you know, it's it's their cut of beef with cream cheese,
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Dustin: jalapenos and like a cranberry jam that that pairing is just phenomenal.
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Dustin: I do have to ask, though, Marvin, with with your Bloody Mary,
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Dustin: do you go the straight vodka or the pickle vodka with yours?
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Marvin: I think I've probably done straight vodka. I don't know.
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Marvin: I kind of you know, it's always funny because on the second one,
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Marvin: they're like, do you want all the garnish? I was like, of course I do. Right.
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Dustin: Yeah, exactly.
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Marvin: Why wouldn't I? And I also, I think I give high marks to places out West where
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Marvin: you, you have like a, you have a drive-through liquor store,
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Marvin: so you can kind of drive through, pick up your steaks and just,
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Marvin: they'll put it right in the back of the truck for you.
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Dustin: Yeah, yeah. It's a great spot with great folks that run it. It's a special spot.
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Marvin: Yeah. And so I'll drop a link to that in the show notes, folks.
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Marvin: And if you don't live in Wyoming, they ship their beef all over the country.
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Marvin: So you ought to check it out.
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Marvin: Killer tomahawk ribeyes. And, you know, of course, Dustin, you hang your hat at the ugly bug.
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Marvin: You want to tell folks, you know, where it is, where to find you, hours.
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Marvin: And if you've got any kind of cool shop stuff going on, you want to kind of
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Marvin: let folks know about that too?
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Dustin: Absolutely. Yeah, we're at 240 South Center Street in downtown Casper, Wyoming.
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Dustin: Shop hours, we actually have just started our summer hours now.
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Dustin: So we're open seven days a week.
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Dustin: Shop opens up at 9 a.m.
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Dustin: Monday through Friday, we're open till 5.30. And then Saturday and Sunday,
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Dustin: we're open till 4 o'clock.
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Dustin: And so we're a one-stop shop that helps folks get outfitted on whatever their
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Dustin: fishing journey takes them,
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Dustin: whether that's some folks prepping to fish the North Platte or Bighorn here
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Dustin: in central Wyoming. We have a guide service.
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Dustin: Obviously, we offer that. We have lodging. But then we also help folks get set
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Dustin: up with destination travel as well.
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Dustin: So we're kind of a one-stop shop for whatever folks who want. month.
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Dustin: You can check us out online actually at crazyrainbow.net and you'll be able
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Dustin: to find all of the things you're looking for there.
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Marvin: Well, there you go. I'll drop all that stuff in the show notes.
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Marvin: And you know, folks, shoot us questions because we love them.
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Marvin: We'll be working on prizes and all that good stuff. We'll probably announce
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Marvin: that on the next episode.
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Marvin: And even though it's probably a better day to stay inside and drink and watch
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Marvin: TV, you owe it to yourself to get out there and catch a few.
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Marvin: Tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Dustin.
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Dustin: Tight lines, Marvin. Thanks so much.
Dustin White
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.
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