Fishing in Lander, Wyoming

Daniel, Wyoming
Warren Bridge BLM


What a difference a day makes.  The storm came in during the night faster than expected.  Things were rocking and rolling.  We decided to head out early.  Besides, the rain during the night really muddied up the water.  The temp was near zero with the windchill.  I'm sure glad we packed up the night before just in case.

We weren't leaving though until we tried the bridge.  Luckily there was a very large dirt pull out that wasn't too muddy so we could park the truck and trailer.  We did make it back up those couple steep parts from our site without any problems.

It was bone chilling cold. Even layered up with scarf and gloves my hands were almost numb after just a couple casts.  It was also hard to cast with the wind.  We gave up pretty quick!  You can see more ice along the rivers edge.  We'll have to come back in summer!

Since it was so early in the day we stopped at the Daniel Fish Hatchery.  What is unique about it is that they raise all the fish for the high altitude alpine lakes because they keep the water cold by keeping them exposed to the outside temps year round.  Let me tell you, it was COLD in there!  First you had to drive over a cattle grate and through large pastures.  Once side was full of Momma's and babies.  So cute!

 

The other side had cows that hadn't calved yet.  Look how fat!

They take contamination very seriously.  You have to step onto a mat saturated in disinfectant and before you enter.

 

The go from fertilized eggs to fry in 89 days.

Here are the eggs being fertilized.

Colorado River

Here they are in a run at 89 days.

Most of what they raise are Brown Trout.  My favorite to catch. They also do some Kokani, Colorado River Cutthroat and a hybrid they call a Tiger Trout which is a cross of Brown and Brook Trout.  They grow very quickly but are sterile.

They are in special tanks that are fed automatically. See the containers with dark feed in them?

They are hand fed when they start to get bigger.

These are Kokani Salmon. (2 above pictures)

The red fins are the Colorado Cutthroat. 

Four year olds (above) and 5 year olds (below), ready for stocking.

These are Golden Trout fry that will be helicopter planted in the high mountain lakes in July/August.

 Some of the high mountain lakes that will be stocked later this summer in Wyoming.  We had a great visit and really enjoyed our private tour.

Before we head off to Lander we stopped by The Den at Daniel Junction.  Skip and Tammy that shared this special place with us said we have to eat here.  Best food around!  Since we had an earlier departure we had lunch instead of dinner.  It was a very cute place inside and out.

Very mountain-y décor.

Steve had the Pork Cutlet Jaegerschnitzel.  We both loved our lunches!  Great staff, ambiance and food!

 

There were lovely paintings from local artists hung around the place for purchase.

Back on 191 and we headed down and around the Shoshone National Forest then up 28 to Lander.

It was a very pretty 2 1/2 hour drive.  Thankfully the wind died down some.  I'll mention we have had such terrible winds since we left Arizona in March that we've been averaging only 9 miles to the gallon.

Beaver den.

I loved the back roads.  Almost no traffic, mostly flat and so pretty!

 

 We arrive in Lander and stay a couple nights at the City Park for free to let the next storm pass. 

 Room for several RVs of any size.  No amenities except a bathroom.  You can get a few spots right along the river if you're lucky.

Since we had a calm day I did a little fishing.  Even though it was cold, I did catch a few nice Rainbows and a couple small Browns.

  

Brown Trout.  So pretty!

 The town of Lander is really pretty.  Many streams run through it.  It's very clean and the homes are just gorgeous.  If I had to live here I'd be ok.  There is much hiking in the area, but it's so cold we hunkered down for the couple days we were here.