December 2023 - 35

the infamous Wyoming wind, chunks of ice
in the river, persistent icing of guides and the
difficulty of casting with extra clothing on.
Sichterman laughs about the way fly-fishing
and fly tying has taken over his life so
much that he's willing to risk the frigid days
for a chance to catch a trout.
" I will go out, generally, in 36 to 38 degrees
air temperature. Once in a while, I'll go out
when it's colder than that if I haven't been
out for a while, " he said.
GO BIG
I had always been told winter fly-fishing
required tiny size 18 and 20 flies - the
smallest flies most of us can thread onto a
length of tippet. But Sichterman didn't buy
that. Using Ice Dubbing and other synthetic
materials, he ties heavier flies with larger
profiles for winter conditions. He doesn't
follow a fly-tying manual. His patterns are
things that come to him, things that only
exist in his mind. But he is firm about using
larger flies in the winter.
" A fish isn't going to chase a little size 16 or
18 very often, " he said. " It will, at times. But
generally, I'll say like a size 10 down to size
four. You're going to find that most of your
fish are going to be laying near the bottom
because it's that much less energy they have
to put out. "
It's lonely out there in mid-January. Sichterman
enjoys having the river to himself, but
he likes to encounter other people giving it a
try. They are after the same ineffable things.
" If I'm catching fish and I've got people
around me that aren't, I'll talk with them and
give them a fly or whatever - I would say I
probably give away around 100 flies a year to
people I've never seen before, and probably
will never see again, " he said.
Then he launched into a story about a giant
winter-caught brown trout longer than 30
inches. In the story, a light snow was falling.
He and his friend, Jim Sparks, were fishing a
familiar hole when Sparks cried out that he
had a nice one on. I'm not sure the whole
thing is absolutely true - anglers being some
of the original short story masters - but
Sichterman said there's a photo of the fish
behind the register of the Ugly Bug Fly Shop
in downtown Casper.
" A fish isn't going to chase a
little size 16 or 18 very often. It
will, at times. But generally, I'll
say like a size 10 down to size
four. You're going to find that
most of your fish are going
to be laying near the bottom
because it's that much less
energy they have to put out. "
- George Sichterman
Wyoming Wildlife | 35

December 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2023

December 2023 - 1
December 2023 - 2
December 2023 - 3
December 2023 - 4
December 2023 - 5
December 2023 - 6
December 2023 - 7
December 2023 - 8
December 2023 - 9
December 2023 - 10
December 2023 - 11
December 2023 - 12
December 2023 - 13
December 2023 - 14
December 2023 - 15
December 2023 - 16
December 2023 - 17
December 2023 - 18
December 2023 - 19
December 2023 - 20
December 2023 - 21
December 2023 - 22
December 2023 - 23
December 2023 - 24
December 2023 - 25
December 2023 - 26
December 2023 - 27
December 2023 - 28
December 2023 - 29
December 2023 - 30
December 2023 - 31
December 2023 - 32
December 2023 - 33
December 2023 - 34
December 2023 - 35
December 2023 - 36
December 2023 - 37
December 2023 - 38
December 2023 - 39
December 2023 - 40
December 2023 - 41
December 2023 - 42
December 2023 - 43
December 2023 - 44
December 2023 - 45
December 2023 - 46
December 2023 - 47
December 2023 - 48
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