Clothing & Fly Fishing Gear for Fly Fishing the North Platte River
Clothing: While the fishing is very easy to predict, weather can be harder to forecast in Wyoming. There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing so don’t let the weather ruin a trip because you aren’t prepared for whatever Wyoming weather might bring. The best advice we could give is to wear what you what you would on a full day hike on a similar weather day.
What Fishing Gear do I need to Bring?
Guided trips include all essential fly fishing gear. If you are planning to fishing on your own, or prefer to use your own equipment, we recommend the following:
Fly Rods: 9′ 6″ to 10′ 6-7wt rod. If you are fishing from a boat the longer rod is not as essential but we suggest a fast action rod for casting into the wind, and setting the hook when fishing deep. The ideal two handed rod for swinging flies on the North Platte is a 12’6″ 5wt.
Fly Reels: Sealed drag system made out of machined aluminum. Hatch and Lamson are our two favorite reel brands.
Fly Lines: The best lines for the North Platte are the Rio Switch Line in the 4/5 size (more like a 6.5wt line) or the Rio Trout LT but weight 1-2 line sizes heavier than your rod.
Spey Lines: Most of the two handed fishing we do is with a skagit style line. Have a variety of sink tips to cover a variety of depth ranging from 5-12 feet length. Come prepared with T-8 and T-11.
Recommended Flies
Staple Year Round Nymph Patterns
- #10-18 Red Annelids tied on 200r style hooks
- #8-16 San Juans in pink, brown, red, & purple
- #8-12 Pine Squirrel Leaches
- #12-16 Rusty, Olive, & Tan Scuds
- #16-20 Tungsten Jujubeatis, Mercury PT’s, Rojo Midges, Black Beauty Emergers, Foam Wing RS2
Streamers- All styles in white, brown, olive & black
- #4-10 Buggers
- #4-10 Zonker Style Streamers
- Intruder Style Spey Flies
- String Leeches
Dry Flies
- #14-20 Parachute adams covers all your may flies (bring a few color Sharpies and the grey Parachute Adams can be any mayfly)
- #12-18 Elk Hair Caddis and/or Stimulators (works for both caddis and sallies)
- #16-20 Black Sprout Midge (really the only midge dry you need)
- #6-14 Olive Amy’s Ant (Hoppers are fun to buy, but this one is fun to use!)
Standard Leaders, Tippet & Indicators
- 0x-4x leaders
- 0x-5x tippet
- #4-BB Lead Split shot (we like the super doux assortments)
- Medium Size Thing-a-ma-bobbers
Recommended Fly Shop
Our recommended Fly Shop in the Denver Metro Area is Trouts Fly Fishing. Trouts is located off of 6th Ave in Denver and have all the gear you need for a successful trip on the North Platte. The staff is not only very knowledgable but super friendly! Stop by Trouts Fly Fishing on your way out of town.
1303 E 6th Ave, Denver, CO 80218
(303) 733-1434
