Hello everyone, I am going to the Wind River on Sunday for three days to fish for Springers. I am just looking for a report if anyone has been down there recently. Thanks. Mike

Heard they now have a steel gate across the road to prevent entry up the wind. Only a few have the key. Good luck.

Mike,
All the recent reports Ive heard have been good. We went two weeks ago and boated four fish with Rapid Robert. Fishing was slow at times (actually most of the time) but we stayed with it and caught a nice little bite. Be prepared for some company, newspaper said there was 130 boats there last Saturday.

RL

Thanks for the info guys. What is the deal with the steel gate? Thanks. Mike

mike, the owner of the property got tired of the place being trashed and people not paying, so the gate closed and he sold about 50 keys to guys... i guess he is pretty ticked off and aint taking any bull....

The guy at the gate is trying out a new way to make money.

someone copied his key and started handing it out so he called the cops the other day and now they will match your plate to see if you should be in there or be towed

it is funny how a handfull of people can mess things up for everyone.

I would like to see the WDFW close that section of the river.

The closure would make things more crowded up-river, but it sure would teach a lesson about the rewards of rampant greed disguised as environmental concern.

Okay, let's clear up a few things.

The property owner is Lonna St. Martin. She has owned this property for a very long time. Since she is also a member of the Chinook tribe, one could say from time immemorial. She recognizes the value of the area for anglers to catch spring Chinook but she doesn't want the place trashed. Who can blame her?

Unfortunately the past several years there has been a huge influx of anglers in early to mid May trying to catch springers headed for Carson National Fish Hatchery. It went from a few anglers every year to hundreds every weekend. She had been charging $2 per person and $2 per car. Last year, her relatives and friends were collecting these fees as they drove on to her property. That seemed to be working okay but I guess things have changed.

Now it appears she has closed the area entirely. I don't know anything about a gate since I haven't been down there this year. But if she closed it, having the area overrun with anglers is probably a contributing factor.

Most everyone on this BB is probably as considerate as possible when fishing on private property. However, as we've all seen, not everyone who fishes does the same. It's not surprising that Lonna posted her land. I tried to help clean up whenever I was down there. I would also say hi and chit/chat with her whenever she was around. But I could tell she wasn't happy with the numbers of anglers on her land. I hope things improve in the future.

The problem with Miss Lonna and her story is that coincidental with her "I'm fed-up" attitude is a new economic enterprise to sell keys for 150 dollars a whack.

Does paying 150 dollars insure that you will not litter??

Barnett - I would have to say probably yes. At $150 a pop she can thin out the yahoos, keep the crowd smaller and keep track of who's on her property at any one time.

It helps to replace some of the money she's had to spend on getting rid of garbage in the past and in the future.

The keys are only $100 bucks, and for those who have never seen this zoo, they would have made allot more collecting from everybody in the parking lot... there really is allot more to the story, like the run in with the guy who wouldnt pay and it turned into a big deal,, people showing up at midnight to get a spot, and on and on...the garbage was absolutely gross, I stopped going two years ago after fishing it for 15 yrs, it just broke my heart seeing it get trashed like that... you can also thank wdfw for installing greed by uping the limit to 4 fish, I know 99.9% of the fellas on this board are respectfull and care, its to bad where the ones that take it in the shorts on deals like this.

Miss Lonna also charges people to walk up the river and jump into the hot springs.

I don't understand your point Barnett....it is her land and if people don't want to pay to use it then they don't have to.

Can you launch at the mouth and go upriver as far as the indian launch?

To BillyBob,

Yes you can make it a little ways above the Indian Boat launch. You can also hike down there from the opposite side by taking a faint trail that is found about 1/2 way up that steep road that leads to Carson (trail takes off from one of those pull-off areas on the right as you go up) It is a decent trial and you pop out right across from the Indian boat launch.

Regarding Miss Lonna, it was mentioned in a previous post that she only owns the entrance area and the actual fishing area (and most of the garbage) is on public land.

Barnett - thanks for the clarification.

I just need some clarification. Is the access you are all talking about the parking lot that goes down into the canyon...where the actual trail is about a 1/4 mile above the parking lot??? If not what access are you all referring to. Sorry if this post seems ignorant but I have only fished there a couple times and have never seen any houses, pay box, etc. that you are all referring to. Thanks, CM