Wyoming Cutthroat Slam and First Level of WNTI

I've been off of work for about three months or so, taking the first month to work on the truck, the second month to travel and this month is a combo of both. I work in psychiatry, and the past several years have been...stressful....so this LOA has been great to relax. As part of that relaxation, my wife and I hit the road for about 10 days, and then I spent another 2 weeks fishing w my brother. Through my fishing attempts in OR, NV and WY, I was able to complete not only able to finish my Cutt Slam, but also the first level of the WNTI. This post pics up w some Lahontans in OR...



Dropped about 1500' in a mile or so, and then had to make my way back out afterwards too:
Lunch was damn good, and while the fish in the lake were not taking anything, the outlet creek yielded some nice Lahontan Cutts




After OR, I drove SE to the central portion of ID/NV to a remote town that is about 100 miles from anything. Apparently, you need rocket boosters to get out...




No lie, caught about 30 Redbands myself, and my brother just as many. He was able to grab a whitefish and a bull trout the day before, but it was only Redbands on my dry flies and 3wt....retired the fly after this day.




Wished I could have taken this one home:


Fished two separate states in a 10' span....the border of NV/ID:


Next up, we made run up to the NE corner of Yellowstone to start the WY Cutt Slam:



The weather was trash the first day and the fish really weren't going for any normal fishing patterns....we ended up casting across the waters, let it drift, then retrieve in pretty fast against the current. Only my brother's GF got her Yellowstone Cutt that day, but I saw one fish rising, so I switched to a dry fly, and on the second cast, caught this beast:





Overnight temps got pretty damn chilly....frozen waders are no fun, and neither are crowds:




We made our way south the next day and I was able to find some small waters and got several Yellowstone Cutts...small ones, but worth the hike in.




More to come...

 

After leaving the park, we made it in to Jackson to restock and grab some beers. One of my absolute fave breweries is Melvin....IYKYK....especially the 2x4 and 2xThor:


South of Jackson, you can get on to some absolutely beautiful areas. We found a confluence of two rivers, and there was a nice eddy w a big chunk of foam....after a few casts, this one was on the line, my Snake River Cutthroat:



We stopped a few miles farther down and my buddy landed a few good 12-14" cutts, and I landed this big sucker:




Popped up off the water and ran in to another Tundra OVRLND owner, from AZ no less:


Looking like a real angler from the shadow:


The drive up to the next section of water was spectacular:




The next day was absolute shit for fishing, but as the sun was setting, I caught my smallest fish ever, my Colorado Cutthroat. 3.5" and caught on a size 32:



This spot was fairly cool to me....you can drive 2 miles in any direction, and be on different drainages for the Cutt Slam:


The Bonneville(Bear River) was the last and final one on the list, and it was by far the easiest...within the first 10 minutes, we both had our fish, and had caught several other cutts too, so back down to SLC to cleanup for a night, and then to Flagtown:


With everything submitted, this came in the mail a few days after I got home:


Still need to submit the WNTI fish from the past few years, as well as this trip, but having caught 7 different fish in 6 different states, it should be an easy submission.

Thanks for looking all!

 

looks like some good times! I'm going to place my OVRLND order soon. How are you liking it and do you have any recommendations? This will be going on my first gen double cab tundra!

 

Outstanding!!! And a Good On Ya!!! Way to go guys and gals. Nice going, and love the pictures. Thank you for the fish story!

 

That'll be me someday. See a river or a body of water and fish that mofo! Thanks for sharing!

 

Heck yeah dude. The Good Life! Glad you made good use of your time off.

 

Thanks man! I just got back from a few days up in UT going after some cutts and tigers, and a brook, and the truck did great. We were at 9500' and it was a bit chilly by myself, so I'm looking forward to getting the proper installed. The camper is phenomenal in my opinion and really allows the truck to still be used as a truck when not camping. I like that you can get bare bones, or built out a bit.

I recommend the roof rack tracks, solar gland, positive pressure vent(easy home install), and at least one window. I got a DS fold down hatch, but dont actually use it. Also, have Jay install awning brackets on the back, and go for the 10" bed area thickness...makes it easier to have a thicker mattress and store bedding up there.