By Alan Dubberley
I am the deputy director for Wyoming Travel & Tourism. These writings reflect my personal experiences in Wyoming. To say I am a little biased towards Wyoming is an understatement. Still, everyone can have the experiences told here. Just get out there and enjoy the Wyoming outdoors.
Earlier this year, I purchased a new boat. Many of you will now start thinking 19 foot Lund, 250 Merc Verado, 100 pound thrust trolling motor, 9.9 hp kicker, Lowrance on the bow and dash, dual livewells and all the other fancy stuff that will come with... my next boat purchase. I know I think that way when I think boats.
This one is built a little different. It was built some time in the 70s and sports a 46 pound thrust stern-mount trolling motor and the moniker… Amy (which is stickered on both sides of the boat). I didn’t name her, don’t know who did, but I will change the name. My wife, after first telling me to keep the name, has now agreed with me that I should name the little 14 foot Starcraft “Granny.” This is after my often times cranky but otherwise well intentioned… ok, I can’t lie, just plain old cranky grandmother. I do love her still.
The reason for the name Granny? Well, the boat is kind of old, kind of creaky… well you get the picture.
I fancy myself a pretty serious fisherman… but there are times when it is not so fancy or serious (like when I fish out of Amy, um, Granny)… like when taking the 4 year old apple of your eye out to make sure he picks up this hobby for life. Developing your own fishing partner is much harder than I ever expected. During these trips, you’re not watching a stimulator float past that sipping trout or flippin’ jigs in heavy cover or throwing topwater baits awaiting monsterously, eruptive strikes from bass. Instead, fishing gets much simpler. My 80 pound tackle bag stays home in favor of a couple small boxes, a pair of pliers and two poles, one of which is red, like Lightening McQueen, as my son would describe it.
He loves to fish, which is fortunate for me and him. We spend a lot of time together, but as 4 year olds can often do, he gets bored quickly. To keep fish on the hook, I often times rely on the old garden hackle to keep him and the fish interested which ends up getting worm dirt all over the place. That wasn’t the case on our latest venture.
Our latest venture took us to Crystal Lake in Curt Gowdy State Park between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming. We had a beautiful evening to fish, low winds, perfect temps and the fish were biting too (which is great for 4 year olds by the way). Now, I’m not much of a trout fisherman, I grew up on bass, bluegill and crappie mainly (thanks Dad)… and really got into walleye since college too (thanks Samp). But I have been fishing for trout since 1994 and enjoy the fact that they start biting much earlier in the year than other species. Gives me something to do until the other fish are biting.
On this perfect mountain evening, the trout were cooperating, at least from my perspective. We caught 8 little rainbows, up to 10 inches, trolling Panther Martin spinners around the lake, mainly black and gold in color. I also used another technique to catch a few fish; one that I am not ready to disclose until I experiment with it a little longer. Trust me, most of you are probably already using it, but I will say it doesn’t involve anything called Powerbait, which seems to be the bait of choice at many mountain reservoirs.
I was even able to convince my wife it would be nice to have her along. Normally, my fishing excursions are way too long for her. But this time, she was in the mountains, the weather was perfect and she read her book on the bank for a while just enjoying the fresh air and scenery. After our first pass around the lake she jumped in and brought along her little digital camera and we got some great shots on the lake. Sharing time like that is priceless.
Spending time like this with family is irreplaceable and no monetary value can be placed on it. To see my son’s face light up as he reels in a fish. To see him laugh and have a wonderful time in a pristine setting. To watch my wife’s face as she watches him and see her pride in the boy she is raising. Can anything replace that? Not in my book.
I keep hearing how we are losing our future generations of outdoorsmen and women to the indoors. (I don’t want my son to be one of those). We need to help our kids understand how important the heritage of the outdoors is to Wyoming. It is who we are… It is what we do… It does make a difference. It makes Wyoming special. Yes, Montana and Colorado and Utah and Idaho all have similar offerings, but you ask any of the folks living in or visiting Wyoming what makes it special and it is the outdoors, the wildlife, the endless miles of streams where you don’t need combat tactics to fish and, of course, the people.
Wyoming holds a special place in my heart… it is home.
I am the deputy director for Wyoming Travel & Tourism. These writings reflect my personal experiences in Wyoming. To say I am a little biased towards Wyoming is an understatement. Still, everyone can have the experiences told here. Just get out there and enjoy the Wyoming outdoors.
Earlier this year, I purchased a new boat. Many of you will now start thinking 19 foot Lund, 250 Merc Verado, 100 pound thrust trolling motor, 9.9 hp kicker, Lowrance on the bow and dash, dual livewells and all the other fancy stuff that will come with... my next boat purchase. I know I think that way when I think boats.
This one is built a little different. It was built some time in the 70s and sports a 46 pound thrust stern-mount trolling motor and the moniker… Amy (which is stickered on both sides of the boat). I didn’t name her, don’t know who did, but I will change the name. My wife, after first telling me to keep the name, has now agreed with me that I should name the little 14 foot Starcraft “Granny.” This is after my often times cranky but otherwise well intentioned… ok, I can’t lie, just plain old cranky grandmother. I do love her still.
The reason for the name Granny? Well, the boat is kind of old, kind of creaky… well you get the picture.
I fancy myself a pretty serious fisherman… but there are times when it is not so fancy or serious (like when I fish out of Amy, um, Granny)… like when taking the 4 year old apple of your eye out to make sure he picks up this hobby for life. Developing your own fishing partner is much harder than I ever expected. During these trips, you’re not watching a stimulator float past that sipping trout or flippin’ jigs in heavy cover or throwing topwater baits awaiting monsterously, eruptive strikes from bass. Instead, fishing gets much simpler. My 80 pound tackle bag stays home in favor of a couple small boxes, a pair of pliers and two poles, one of which is red, like Lightening McQueen, as my son would describe it.
He loves to fish, which is fortunate for me and him. We spend a lot of time together, but as 4 year olds can often do, he gets bored quickly. To keep fish on the hook, I often times rely on the old garden hackle to keep him and the fish interested which ends up getting worm dirt all over the place. That wasn’t the case on our latest venture.
Our latest venture took us to Crystal Lake in Curt Gowdy State Park between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming. We had a beautiful evening to fish, low winds, perfect temps and the fish were biting too (which is great for 4 year olds by the way). Now, I’m not much of a trout fisherman, I grew up on bass, bluegill and crappie mainly (thanks Dad)… and really got into walleye since college too (thanks Samp). But I have been fishing for trout since 1994 and enjoy the fact that they start biting much earlier in the year than other species. Gives me something to do until the other fish are biting.
On this perfect mountain evening, the trout were cooperating, at least from my perspective. We caught 8 little rainbows, up to 10 inches, trolling Panther Martin spinners around the lake, mainly black and gold in color. I also used another technique to catch a few fish; one that I am not ready to disclose until I experiment with it a little longer. Trust me, most of you are probably already using it, but I will say it doesn’t involve anything called Powerbait, which seems to be the bait of choice at many mountain reservoirs.
I was even able to convince my wife it would be nice to have her along. Normally, my fishing excursions are way too long for her. But this time, she was in the mountains, the weather was perfect and she read her book on the bank for a while just enjoying the fresh air and scenery. After our first pass around the lake she jumped in and brought along her little digital camera and we got some great shots on the lake. Sharing time like that is priceless.
Spending time like this with family is irreplaceable and no monetary value can be placed on it. To see my son’s face light up as he reels in a fish. To see him laugh and have a wonderful time in a pristine setting. To watch my wife’s face as she watches him and see her pride in the boy she is raising. Can anything replace that? Not in my book.
I keep hearing how we are losing our future generations of outdoorsmen and women to the indoors. (I don’t want my son to be one of those). We need to help our kids understand how important the heritage of the outdoors is to Wyoming. It is who we are… It is what we do… It does make a difference. It makes Wyoming special. Yes, Montana and Colorado and Utah and Idaho all have similar offerings, but you ask any of the folks living in or visiting Wyoming what makes it special and it is the outdoors, the wildlife, the endless miles of streams where you don’t need combat tactics to fish and, of course, the people.
Wyoming holds a special place in my heart… it is home.
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