We did a half day float trip on the North Fork of the Shoshone River this morning. Our guide was Nolan, from Wyoming Trout Guides ($579 including fishing license). We drove up the north fork from Cody until just before the national forest boundary where we put in. We then floated down the north fork of the Shoshone for 4.5 hours to Buffalo Bill Lake. We landed 8 large rainbow trout during that time (we released them all), but missed a couple of dozen hits because we did not set the hooks fast enough. The rig had a purple spider about 12 inches down from the bobber with a wet fly (Nolan tied himself) another foot down the leader. The fly did not have a barb on the hook, so we had to be fast to hook them. I think Nolan was more upset about the misses than we were. It was a beautiful day to be on the river and we enjoyed scenery and the chance to work on our casting technique on a boat. Leslie hook poor Nolan in the neck on one cast but luckily it was with the fly, so it pulled right out. We were surprised to learn that there was walleye in the river and lake and that the fishermen are required to keep any they caught (there is a fine if you threw them back) because they are eating the indigenous cutthroat trout. By the time we hit the takeout, we were tired of casting and I think Nolan was ready to be rid of us. But we had a great day!

Preparing to board the boat

Leslie with a fish

David with a fish