Snow Pack Update 2018
With all the negativity in the media surrounding our snow pack I thought it would be a good time to shed some light on our situation. I am in no way excusing the fact that we have had a light snow year and it feels more like April than February. However, I do want to offer a few words of encouragement to our fly fishing community. Currently the North Platte drainage is sitting at 88% of normal. That is not terrible and we still have time to catch up.
2012 pre run-off fish
Looking through my journal this year is looking similar to 2012. We were at 60% snow-pack by March 1st, the Delaney Buttes opened March 15th, and Big Creek Lakes were open by April 1st. 2012 provided options that we hadn’t seen in a long time. We were fishing the tributary streams in March, floating the North Platte in April, and hiking into the high country in May. That might be what I love about North park so much is that every year, every season, every month, is so different than anything you have seen before. It keeps you guessing, learning, adapting, and growing and is what keeps the fire burning.
It would be nice to see a few big snow storms come in and blanket the valley but if it doesn’t we will have plenty of fishing to do. As always we will adapt, overcome, learn something new, and gain another year of experience.
On the bright side a warmer winter will prompt early “Ice Off” at the Delaney Buttes and the rivers will open early providing a long window to fish before run-off which is abnormal in a freestone drainage. To me I see this as a bonus awarding us more time on the water. Anglers, lets get ready for an early start to the season and not get caught up listening to the media. Fishing in North Park will be here soon and the fish could care less what month it is. As soon as the ice starts to recede we will start reporting daily on the conditions. We will post daily information on our website, facebook, and Instagram pages. We’ll see you soon! Fish on! NPA
