The first day we got to check out the Bighorn Mountains, which made a lasting impression on Mary May and I. They were gorgeous and filled with all types of terrain, vegetation, and rock formations. The creeks that snaked down canyons and through the foothills were a fly fishers dream. After all, I am more of a wilderness area kind of guy than a "Miracle Mile" type. Over the next couple of days we would get fishing licenses, take some scenery shots, hike, and just generally absorb it all. We also got an amazing tour of the gorgeous property owned by The Falxa Land Company provided by local outfitter Daylen Carrell who leases the property. He was an amazing guide and host. If you are looking for a big time hunting trip to Wyoming, check him out at D&D Outfitters. We saw plenty of deer while we were with him and got to see a bunch of elk as darkness fell.
Riding around with Daylen doing some scouting
On the lookout!
Beautiful first fish on the fly for Mary May
My first WY cuttbow
We caught a bunch of 10"-12" fish from the meadow pond (and lost a few bigger fish)
Mary May in Crazy Woman Canyon
Her first cuttbow...she was getting the hang of it
I landed a couple more fish in the canyon, as did Betty. But it was Mary May who got us on the board with the next keeper. I directed her to a fine looking hole. It was very tought access and fish, but she managed to get her fly floating through the pool on a nice drift line. After a number of casts she had a nice strike and fought another nice trout to the bank. It was our third keeper and things were looking up!
Aunt Betty scores a solid trout
Fishing next to some big old moose tracks
At that point everyone was getting tired so we headed back to the cabin. We asked Betty to drop us off at the meadow pond on the way to try for a couple more dinner fish. After all, we were plenty hungry! Casting at the pond was tough. The wind was whipping and the fish seemed to be further from the bank then before - requiring casts out to 65-75 ft. This was no small feat for me, an experienced caster, let along a beginner. I landed a solid keeper on a black wooly bugger then a small fish on the same pattern. Mary May had a nice strike on her dry fly, but couldn't hook up. We were about to give up when I cast her dry over toward a grass mat. I popped the fly, then popped it again...nothing. But as I began to drag it I saw a wake come out of nowhere and the fly got sucked under. A healthy trout nailed it and proceeded to run across the pond, slash through weeds, and acrobatically before coming to hand. He was the last fish to be put on the stringer. We took a couple of photos and then hiked back to the cabin to fillet the fish and start dinner.
Mmmmmm - trout dinner!
This good luck dragon fly landed on Mary May for a very long time