State Game And Fish Closes Portion Of Road [AUDIO]

High water along the North Platte River has prompted the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to close a small stretch of Lusby Access area roadway to vehicle traffic. Fishermen will need walk in that last stretch to the river, says Robin Kepple of the Game and Fish Casper office.

Longer walk to the river:

"We've had some high water flows and some erosion issues out there and basically it's caused a bank near the access road to erode a little bit and due to that we've temporarily closed a portion of the road to vehicles at the Lusby Public Access Area. People can still walk in there but because there is a possible public safety issue, we did close the road to vehicle traffic."

The Lusby Access area is west of Casper on Highway 220 and is a popular place with anglers. Ms. Kepple also cautions people that high water flows can make the banks of the river dangerous.

High water undercuts river banks:

"Because the high water can cause undercutting of a river bank and right now the river is well up above what it normally is this time of year; it's about 2,500 cubic feet now it's above 8,000 now, and it can be dangerous either right along the bank or especially wading into the water itself."

And if a fisherman is wading into the water, a life jacket isn't a bad idea.

Life jacket in swift river:

"During high flows, put a life jacket on. They make life jackets where you can actually pull a ripcord and it'll inflate with air if you get into a bind or something, so you can get one like that and they're not bulky; they don't fill up with air until you need them."