Fishing conditions are improving daily around here in Jackson Hole. Lately I’ve been spending time guiding clients up in Yellowstone National Park. The hotspot right now is the southwest corner of the park; notable (and fishy) waters in this area include the Madison, Gibbon, Lewis and of course the Firehole. These popular waters are fishing great and I love fishing the Firehole with guests this time of year. Most days allow anglers to fish some great hatches of PMDs, BWOs and caddis, and when fish aren’t feeding on top, nymphing and swinging wet flies often work well.

Me, capturing Sam, photographing Bob, catching a fish… follow?

Highlights from last week include taking Bob and Sam up to the Firehole. Neither had ever been there before and were eager to fish this great river. This was Sam’s first time with a long rod and he did great, catching browns and rainbows while Bob got his zen on and nymphed some nice swift runs. Super fun to spend the day with some great guys from San Antonio.

Sam shows off his first ever fish on a fly (a Firehole brown trout). Not a bad way to kick things off!

Bob shows off a nice Yellowstone Cutthroat trout; one of many he landed on a different day fishing with me.

In addition to guided trips last week, I managed to fish yesterday with my friend Matt. We hit the road early and fished a sweet little cutthroat lake. The fish there aren’t big but they sure are pretty! Off to the Firehole again this week with eager anglers.

A gem from a high country lake. I think the Yellowstone cutthroat trout are my favorite.

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.

We’re back. Back to the snow (although it looks like this
week’s gonna warm up nicely) and trout streams of the mountain
west. Jamie and I spent the better part of the past two weeks
down in the Bahamas, relaxing and fishing. We met up with our
great friends, Kurt and Kelly for a reunion trip of sorts, renting a
house within walking distance of a big bonefish flat. Naturally we
fished a lot with a little snorkeling thrown in for good measure. For
sustenance, we ate conch, fish and washed it down with Kalik and
rum. Naturally with bonefishing, there were high points and low
points, but the high certain outnumbered the lows. It was really
great to walk the flats with my friend Kurt, taking turns casting to
the grey ghost that seemed to disappear as quickly as they
appeared.

Me and Kurt about to walk the beach flat in the
morning. Kurt and I have been fishing together for A LONG time
and have had many memorable trips together. 

On one particular flat we fished, there were lots of these
beautiful red/orange starfish amongst the dead coral and
turtlegrass.

My most memorable bonefish of the trip. Caught this
guy in super skinny water one morning.

Jamie and I did some exploratory snorkeling out in front
of where we were staying. There were some cool coral formations
to see; lots of colorful tropical fish… Needless to say we needed an
underwater portrait to document. In another area we snorkeled,
there were several turtles that allowed us to swim with them.

Most days Kurt and I fished this area; White sand flats
with BIG bonefish. The fishing is very tide dependent, so we
planned our days based around the tide chart. While the fish were
big, they were really spooky and required precise casting and
properly weighted flies.. We didn’t catch many fish each day, but
the ones we did get were nice! Also saw 2 big permit one day and
got some casts to them. One admired my merkin pattern before
winking and slowely moving on….

Here’s Kurt with a nice bonefish. We fished this different
flat one day and did well. The fish here were much more
aggressive, eagerly eating our flies. I think this was due to the
rocky/turtlegrass bottom that was teeming with life. Made it harder
to spot fish, but when we did, they cooperated. 

After dropping Kurt and Kelly off at the airport, Jamie
and I headed west and stayed at a nice little place that offered
great snorkeling and fine bonefishing on the incoming tide.
Unfortunately the weather pattern changed, bringing lots of clouds
and rain. It’s really hard to spot fish without the sun. That said, I
managed a few and truth be told, it was kinda nice to have a rainy
day. We layed around reading with cold beer.

This is the last bonefish of the trip. Fished on the
incoming tide and despite the clouds, I stumbled upon a small
school of hungry fish. Shortly after this guy, I cast to a big
barracuda who ate my fly and took off for open ocean. I was
undergunned with my 8weight, knowing full well that it was only a
matter of time before he broke me off. Sure enough, after battling
for a bit, he severed my line.  A fun experience.

Jamie and I enjoying a Kalik while looking for
bonefish. 

So that’s a quick summary of our time in the Bahamas. I gotta
say, the Bahamian people might be the nicest folks around. Their
hospitality and the natural beauty of the islands make me eager to
go back. And while the fishing was certainly fun, the best part of
the trip was Jamie and I getting to spend time with Kurt and Kelly.
It’s hard living far away from such good friends, but cool that we’re
able to rendezvous like this every now and then.

Now that we’re back in Wyoming, my attention turns to the
upcoming fishing season. Client, both new and returning are
starting to fill up my calendar and it won’t be long until we’re
casting to rising trout. I’m headed over to Dubois this week to
teach an art project with my friend Matt. While most of our time
will be spent in the classroom, I’m sure we’ll sneak in a little time
on the water…..