Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Think of the North Platte River.
What images and words come to mind?
Maybe the Oregon Trail, Chimney Rock and Lake McConaughy. Or shallow, sandy and if you really don't know better: sorry.
Chances are that you didn't think of trout fishing.
Although there are trout in some North Platte tributaries in western Nebraska — and in Lake Ogallala below Lake McConaughy's Kingsley Dam — the lazy, braided river that meanders southeasterly across the Panhandle isn't widely recognized as the tail waters of one of the West's premier trout fisheries.
Nebraska's North Platte is same river that, not far across the state line, is Wyoming's only blue-ribbon trout river. The North Platte in southeastern Wyoming holds huge stocks of wild brown, rainbow and cutthroat trout.
That's no secret to members of Trout Unlimited Chapter 710, especially after Steve Heinitz, a North Platte fishing guide in Saratoga, Wyo., made the 10-hour drive down Interstate 80 last weekend to inspire the anglers to set their sights and hooks on nearby horizons.
"The North Platte is always changing, always moving and always fresh,'' Heinitz told about 120 anglers gathered for the chapter's annual fundraising dinner and auction at Anthony's Restaurant.
Heinitz is a 35-year veteran of guiding fly-fishing anglers in drift boats on more than 32,000 miles of river across the West. He is the owner of North Platte Trouters. The two-year-old company offers fly fishing and scenic boat trips on Wyoming's North Platte and Encampment rivers.
Despite its proximity to the Denver metropolitan area and easy just west of Laramie, Wyo., Heinitz said the North Platte is Wyoming's hidden blue-ribbon trout fishery.
The upper North Platte has a storied history. A century ago, Saratoga — a community on the North Platte and just across the Snowy Range from Laramie — was tagged as "The Greatest Trout-fishing Town in the World'' by an outdoor magazine.
A 1910 fish fry in Saratoga featured more than 3,900 trout from local streams. Television broadcaster Curt Gowdy, a Wyoming favorite son, fished the North Platte.
At one time, Saratoga billed itself as, "Where the trout leap in Main Street.''
Heinitz, 54, said the North Platte is a self-sustaining trout fishery that hasn't been stocked by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department since 1984.
He said that biologists estimate that the upper North Platte carries 4,000 fish per mile.
"It's a healthy river,'' Heinitz said.
He showed pictures of big trout pulled from the North Platte, including a 24-incher, and talked about the hardest part of his job: managing clients' expectations.
Heinitz said that anglers considering hiring a guide should look for persistence and perfection in the candidates.
"That's especially important if the client is having a tough day,'' he said.
But many anglers realize that it's not the numbers or size of fish caught that determine success, but the experience and the memories of being in the outdoors, such as catching sight of otters, eagles, bears, cougars, elk, moose, bighorn sheep and other wildlife.
That's what keeps Heinitz motivated, too, during three-week sieges of rising at 4:30 a.m. to pack lunches and rig rods for weeks and weeks without a day off.
"Even during the longest days, it's not hard when you have an office like the North Platte,'' he said.
Heinitz was part of a record-breaking night for the Trout Unlimited chapter. About 120 members of the Omaha-based chapter set attendance and fundraising records at the event, said president Dave Jacobs of Bellevue.
About 430 people across Nebraska are Trout Unlimited members.
The chapter netted about $10,000 at the fundraiser for conserving, protecting and restoring cold-water fisheries.
Members helped clean up the trout lakes at Two Rivers State Recreation Area west of Omaha last year.
Possible projects this summer include renovating silted stretches of Verdigre and Long Pine creeks in northeast Nebraska and flood-damaged Gracie Creek at Calamus Reservoir in central Nebraska. Each is a noted trout fishery.
The chapter donated $2,000 to help a partnership of organizations fund a permanent easement allowing continued public access and improvements on 1.3 miles of North Bear Creek in northeast Iowa's Driftless area last year. The region is prime trout habitat.
The chapter also demonstrated and taught fly casting to nearly 500 kids and adults at five events in eastern and central Nebraska.
"That's what we do,'' Jacobs said. "We look for opportunities to protect cold-water fisheries.''
And spend a midwinter night dreaming of a North Platte paradise.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com
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