When you think of Wyoming a lot of people think of huge mountains and places like Yellowstone and the Tetons. There are other great areas thought from the North Platte all the way to the Green River. There is also a decent little gem of a stream that winds through quite a bit of private land called the Hams Fork River in south west Wyoming. The part we are fishing on is private but very affordable and there is also plenty of other public fishing access around. It’s a decently known stretch where you pay $10 a rod to fish between two reservoirs. Usually not extremely busy but still very well educated fish and decent sized as well. Most of the time you will share the river with other people but not so much that you won’t have your pick of amazing spots to fish and decent sized rainbow trout.
If you’re coming from Salt Lake City as most people that fish that stretch do. You’ll head east on I80 toward Evanston. Slightly east of Evanston you’ll head north on US189 toward Kemmerer. As you drive into Kemmerer make sure you take in the cool little town and you can even stop in and see the original JC Penny mother store from back in the day. As you get to the far side of town stay on 189 (you’ll have to take a right turn) and within a half mile take a left onto state road 233 and keep heading north till you see Kemmerer Reservoir (AKA city reservoir). Almost immediately after that lake the road starts to turn right slightly and you’ll see a dirt road directly in front of you. That dirt road is what you take and then a left turn directly after that and you’ll see the parking area and pay station right next to an old cabin.
The interesting part about this river is trying to figure out what these well educated fish are hitting on. We have had sucess on anything froma streamer, thin mint, scud, frenchie to pararchute adams and yellow sally. They are very educated to the point that they will be rising to your size 20 adams but not your size 16-18. They will take you green scud but not your grey one. They dont stay in the same place and move from the resrvior to spawn at times and when it gets hot they may travel to the reservior. The summer time there is a grass bloom and some the runs get filled with grass and you cant get a good drift or a drift without cabbage on your fly. There are old cars and other metal in the river that you might get hung up on. So this river isnt for the novice, light hearted fisherman. Its for the guy or gal wanting to get better and try different techiques and flies and hone in their skills and you probably wont have a 10+ fish day but youll have a couple great fish that the challenge makes them so rewarding and appricative of knowing you did the right thing.
This area is a working cattle ranch and so if youre scared of cows its not for you. The Rancher is a fantastic man but please be mindful that this is his property and make sure that you leave no trace, release your fish, leave it better than you found it so you dont ruin it for the rest of us. This is a great stretch of stream and Im sure there would be a lot of people pissed if it got closed down. Just go look at teh comment section of the YouTube video.
We share this information with you hoping youll respect the fishery as much as we do and practice catch and release fishing so everyone can enjoy such fantastic places. If you do enjoy our content please visit our YouTube channel for more, follow us on social media platforms, purchase our lifestyle apparel or visit our partners pages when making purchase as they help keep us on the water as well.
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