Northgate Canyon flow?

[rmpeddie]

The gate is running pretty clean. the road from 6-mile has a few drifts but will go with a 4x vehicle. Doug Crick and Bennett are still out of the question and will be for a few more weeks. The river rose a bit today but with this storm will probably go down for the next few days. The road at 6-mile will be very muddy but should still be a go with a 4x.

I have a few guys working for me who are willing to run shuttles for a fairly cheap rate (50.00). Just give me a call and we can line you out if you need one. We are located in Saratoga and Encampment and specialize in fishing trips but flash the gate whenever we get the opportunity and free time. This season will be good.

We shuttle all sections of the North Platte and can do gear drops if anyone is planning on over-nighters. Again, we are much cheaper than any other shuttle service in the valley so feel free to call with any and all questions. I am an outfitter permitted with the Forest Service to run trips 6-mile down so if anyone is looking for a fishing trip just let me know. I have a few CO white-water guides working for me this season so if you would like someone to follow down the gate or hop in your boat for security just let us know.

North Platte Drifters... 307-710-4994

[Old Fart]

Hey rmpeddie Do you do Encampment shuttles? The folks that used to do them are now gone.

[davecosnowboarder]

Does anyone know approx. how many miles the shuttle is?

[Tiggy]

I would like to get on it Saturday as well... Never seen a real ice dam before. Flow jumped up, should be good. What time Saturday, would like to hook up for a run.

BTW shuttle is cake, seriously....

[mnpaddler]

Originally Posted by davecosnowboarder

Does anyone know approx. how many miles the shuttle is?

if i recall, it's about 11miles..at least 3 of them are gravel. we ran it on tuesday and had no problem with the small drifts at the cattle crossings and there was minimal mud. I was going to ride the mtn bike back after dropping off the truck, but was lucky to find a very nice person at the take out that gave me a ride back to the put in.

[mnpaddler]

Originally Posted by mnpaddler

if i recall, it's about 11miles..at least 3 of them are gravel. we ran it on tuesday and had no problem with the small drifts at the cattle crossings and there was minimal mud. I was going to ride the mtn bike back after dropping off the truck, but was lucky to find a very nice person at the take out that gave me a ride back to the put in.

in my post on tuesday i mentioned that there was no ice dam and there was no wood to contend with. if you are looking for non stop rapid action, this river is NOT about the rapids...there is a ton of flat water!!!!!!

[davecosnowboarder]

I LOVE FLAT WATER
My favorite run is pumphouse

[ecarlson972]

Is anybody planning on going Sunday?

[rmpeddie]

Originally Posted by Old Fart

Hey rmpeddie Do you do Encampment shuttles? The folks that used to do them are now gone.

yeah I do encampment shuttles also. hog park will be a while before we can get in there but I do have a few friends with snowmobiles who can. The shuttle from odd-fellows (best WW on lower stretch) to treasure island will be 25.00 along with the shuttle from the smelter. The shuttle from state section will also be 25.00 even though it should be a headache this season with the amount of traffic we are to get. The words is out and this river along with the North Platte Upper is going to get HAMMERED this season. It already has really. The flows are too low for many boats and last weekend saw 8 rafts. That river is going to look like the Reef before to long. People fighting for eddies and doing the merry-go-round or circa-jerk... CIRCUS.

My BLM guy said he has received more calls on the upper river than ever before so he has warned all us outfitters to be prepared. These two rivers can't deal with too much fishing pressure so we will have to see what happens. I remember three seasons ago it was not uncommon to see a couple of dozen dead fish a day. Warm water temps and playing the fish to death had a lot to do with it. I'm a firm believer in natural mortality but any angler knows that fly fisherman... unfortunately are into numbers and even if we say 15% of the fish they catch die, which other local outfitters say is even higher, then anglers catching 100 fish on a two day float can really do some damage.

We do have our local band of hardware anglers who throw spinners and rapalas but they get the fish in so fast that they have an argument that they don't kill as many as fly fisherman. Same with the bait chuckers. Most fly anglers look down on bait-fisherman but really when you do the numbers they kill less fish than all other types... i.e. they are out for meat and keep what they catch... which is three fish.

We have a great resource here and an fantastic float. Not much white-water but great scenery. There has been a ton of talk lately about the attitudes of locals towards green plates. There are a few folks around here who don't like them PERIOD but I realize that 75% of my income comes from the "greenies" so I welcome you all. Let's have a great season... looks like it might be longer than the normal month.

[caspermike]

RM thanks for throwing that out there for us bait fisherman.

nothing beats using a minnow you found in the same river to catch an even bigger fish and by the way the bigger fish are caught on minnows......