Freestone · Mixed · Wyoming, US

Wind River

Wind River (Wind River Canyon, Owl Creek Mountains, Wyoming, USA) 4

The Wind comes off the Wind River Range in the heart of Wyoming and runs for miles through big, open, lightly-fished country — browns, rainbows, cutthroat, and whitefish in long freestone runs that hardly anybody bothers with.

Today · About as good as it gets
Sculpin Streamer
Forecast · Today
About as good as it gets
On the feed top to bottom — start on the rises with a dry, drop a nymph if they stay down.
75% projected
Today's fly
Sculpin Streamer
Sculpin Streamer
Conditions on the water · Today
Live gauge
Level
Falling
0.77 m
Dropping after lift
Water temp8.8°C
ClarityClearing
Weather9°C
WindN 15 km/h
Pressure1026 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Cutthroat Trout
Cool — slow
9°C est.ideal 9–15°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Cutthroat Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though insect activity could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Chironomids
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 11am

12pm(now) — Western Blue-Winged Olive

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 37%
Also:Black Midge29%
Peak emergence window5 food groups active

Peak activity at 11am — Western Blue-Winged Olive (Western Blue-Winged Olive, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Supporters see what else is on the menu.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
2
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Green DrakeHatch
2
2
Flav (Small Western Green Drake)Hatch
2
3
2
Mahogany DunHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Cutthroat Trout fly box
SD
Sex Dungeon
2-6 · Pattern
Proven pattern for this period
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Wyoming licence off-reservation; a SEPARATE Wind River Indian Reservation permit is required on tribal reaches
  • Confirm before fishing
  • Native cutthroat are present — handle and release them gently.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Gallery · 2
  1. Wind River (Wind River Canyon, Owl Creek Mountains, Wyoming, USA) 4
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Wind comes off the Wind River Range in the heart of Wyoming and runs for miles through big, open, lightly-fished country — browns, rainbows, cutthroat, and whitefish in long freestone runs that hardly anybody bothers with. The catch is access: much of the river flows through the Wind River Indian Reservation, where you need a separate tribal permit, not your state license, so you sort that out before you wade in. Off the reservation it's classic Western freestone fishing, high in June melt and good from midsummer on, in country that feels genuinely empty.

  • Mixed
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Supporting
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Wind River, East Fork' (WYBH100800010409_00), 2024 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Fully Supporting. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · WYBH100800010409_00

The full read · show the working · for Cutthroat Trout · confidence 90%
How the 80 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature91 × 28%25.5
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time70 × 13%9.1
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity61 × 12%7.3
Conditions total= 80
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 April → 31 March
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts