Archive for month: May, 2015

We knew we were in for a great day when we stumbled upon a bear-jam in GTNP. Keeping tourists, locals and rangers gawking was a female grizzly bear and her two cub; seemingly unbothered by the chaos and rain. After a little bear viewing, Matt and I headed north to Yellowstone National Park. This time of year most people fish the Firehole for good reason. We had other plans though. Lewis lake and river were calling and we were answering.

The Lewis and I have always had a love/hate relationship. I’ve had some great days on it, mostly in the fall when the brown trout are angry, but I’ve also had moments of glory other times; when trout rise to hatching mayflies and caddis. With this in mind, we spent most of the day fishing the river. Unfortunately there wasn’t too much going on. We fished and explored some great water and I did manage to catch two browns on nymphs, but we walked away wondering where the fish were. After having lunch, we drove back to the south entrance and hiked back to where the Lewis flows into the upper Snake.

The Snake was a high, muddy mess, but the Lewis was clear. We wandered up river for a while, seeing nothing but spawning suckers. Finally I managed one nice Cutthroat on a streamer, but again we were a little dismayed by the lack of trout. We ended up back at the confluence and Matt hooked up with some nice cutthroat trout and whitefish. After we both finally called it quits, we hiked back to the truck. Across the river in a meadow we spied another bear. After it disappeared into the willows we called it a day and headed home. I gotta say, despite the slow fishing, it was an awesome day. There’s something nice and refreshing about wandering wild country in the rain. Can’t wait to do it again!

Matt fishes some nice holding water. Nothing was holding though..

Never get enough of the brown trout..

This tall trickling waterfall was the highlight of my day. Just one of the many surprises Yellowstone offers

Breaking the ice. Nymphing a fast, deep run got this little guy.

Salmon flies are mythical beasts of bugs in the fly fishing
world. Measured in inches, these stoneflies migrate to the banks of
some rivers in the greater yellowstone area, exciting fish and
anglers alike. I’ve never properly fish a salmon fly hatch, always
arriving too earlier or late to the scene. This year, due to an early
emergence, I was on it. First fishing the Henry’s Fork on Tuesday,
then returning on a solo camping/fishing mission Thursday and
Friday. It seemed my timing was right, fishing just above Ashton
and catching fish on big rubber-legged nymphs and bushy dry flies.
Did the hatch live up to its reputation? Well, yes and no. It wasn’t
exactly a fish catching free for all, but it was pretty good and has
me yearning to go back. I’d say I had to work for my fish, but was
rewarded plenty, especially when I hiked into a deep canyon away
from the crowds and fished size 4 foam patterns to the browns and
rainbows lying in wait in fast pocket water. Below are some
pictures…

Salmonfly nymph found crawling to the bank. Unlike
mayflies, stoneflies crawl to the bank before emerging.

A rainbow in the hand.

You can’t fish this hatch without expecting some vistors
crawling on you.

 

Rise and Shine. After spending the night in the back of
the truck, I was up, making coffee and off to another stretch of
water.

Sometimes the nicest fish lie tucked in on the bank
awaiting a clumsy fly to flutter down. Unfortunately for this guy,
the fly was fake!

The spots on a wild brown trout are unreal!

A view of the river. Getting down to it was the easy part.
The trek out made the blood pump!

The getaway; this male brown trout was excited to get
back to faster water.