Another quality rainbow trout, but big brown trout eluded the author and guides on this trip. (Photo by Dave Zoby) Neville took the oars while Poole and I casted our big flies to the ice shelves and let them sink. Poole told me to let the fly sink for eight seconds then strip it back in slow, six-inch pulls. I watched him and mimicked his retrieval. Suddenly, I suffered a terrible grab but missed the fish. A few moments later Poole had the same experience. We were sure these were browns so we stuck with the streamers for another hour. These leery fish are known for their secretive ways, they never hit the streamers again and eventually we went back to the easier game of casting nymphs to hungry rainbows. Poole and Neville discussed the river in terms of holes and runs and advised me whether to cast nymphs or switch over to streamers. I used Poole's 10-foot Orvis rod for most of the day. It was rigged with various nymphs - from the egg pattern to the popular pine squirrel leech. All of the flies Poole tied on for me worked. Both guides expertly held the boat on clean lines so it was easy to cast and keep up with the indicator as it floated downstream. I had this feeling that had I booked one of these guys years ago I might have saved myself the misery of doing this same 7-mile float with very little action. They knew what run was producing fish and where to position the drift boat so we could tuck out of the wind. Several times they coaxed me to make the right cast and I caught more fish than I deserved. Poole and Neville had clients booked for the next few days so they used our trip as an exploratory venture. To be in Poole's limegreen boat, exchanging stories about Alaska, pike fishing and some of the characters that haunt the North Platte was good enough for me. The rainbow trout that approached 19 inches was icing on the cake. It wasn't long until the wind became ridiculous. I watched as Poole tried his best to keep us in the main current, and not up in someone's alfalfa field. It wasn't easy. Neville and I sat down and tried to keep our profiles small so we wouldn't act as sails and make the rowing even more difficult. There's a series of shelves and drop-offs as you make your final approach to the takeout at Lusby. Poole called it the Hail Mary Hole because it is the last chance to make Wyoming Wildlife | 43 These guys typically use sinking lines and articulated streamers to coax the big fish from underneath cut banks and other lairs.