Another fishing season has come and gone in Yellowstone
National Park. This past Sunday marked the end of fishing in
the park, at least until next Memorial Day weekend. I was
fortunate enough to spend some time on several of the Parks
famous trout waters; both guiding visiting anglers and fishing
on my own.

Jackson Hole’s proximity to Yellowstone makes it a great
place to spend a day (or more) vying for the attention of the
wild fish that live up there. Most of my trips up north with
clients consisted of fishing waters in the southwestern part of
the park; famous waters like the Firehole, Gibbon, Madison
and upper Snake. Besides amazing scenery, these rivers have
healthy populations of Rainbows, Browns, and in the upper
Snake, Cutthroat trout. I enjoyed introducing clients to these
waters, helping them match hatches (and swing wet flies and
nymphs) and experience the awesomeness of our first national
park. Below are a few pics from this past season.

Mark hooked up with a Brown trout on the Firehole
River. June and early July meant PMDs on the Firehole

Steve caught this amazing Cutthroat trout while
fishing on the upper Snake river in Yellowstone National Park.
It was quite a sight watching this fish rise slowly to a well
placed royal trude.

This old, beautiful female wolf didn’t seem to mind
us, eventually going her own way into the forest in the Lamar
valley.

Kevin lands a Firehole river rainbow

On a rare day off, I got to check out the fishing in
the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone river; well worth the
effort!

A client makes a cast to rising fish on the Firehole
this fall.

We’ve been lucky out here in Wyoming, the weather continues to be nice and the fishing even nicer. While October is a great time to fly fishing around here, it usually brings with it variable weather and the need to don all sorts of down, wool and Gor-tex clothing. So far this hasn’t been necessary. Most days around here have been on the warm and sunny side, keeping anglers and guides happy.

I continue to get out, both guiding folks and getting in a little time on the water myself. Last week I spent two days with Steve and Ben from Georgia. While both had fly fished a bit before, fishing western waters was new to the father son duo. In order to get a taste of both float and wade fishing, we spent one day on the Snake and the second day wade fishing the upper Snake in Yellowstone National Park. Needless to say, Steve, Ben and I had fun and I was able to introduce them to some of our native Cutthroat trout, Whitefish and a few Browns in the upper Snake. A great time was had and hopefully the guys will come back next fall for more fun and fishing!

Here’s Ben hooked up with a nice Cutthroat on the Upper Snake. This stretch of the Snake has less fish than the more easily accessible water closer to Jackson, but the solitude and chance to catch “the big one” is enough to make anglers explore this water with me.

Steve put his Royal Trude in the right spot and was rewarded with this beautiful cutthroat. This trout is about as nice as they come and catching it on a dry fly in the wilds of Wyoming made his trip.

Rain’s falling and a bit of snow’s predicted, elk are bugling and the leaves have changed and are now dropping. Must be fall in the Tetons. We’ve had a great September ’round here. Dry fly fishing on all waters has been stellar, with fish rising to everything from big hoppers and drakes to small BWOs and Tricos. A weather front moved into the valley the other day and seemed to slow fishing, although a few hardy anglers have embraced the cold, wet weather and are pitching BWOs to picky fish.

Here at the Bennett household things have changed dramatically. Last week Jamie and I drove over to Idaho Falls and picked up a new black lab puppy. Ruby James is eight weeks old and full of energy. She’s been a lot of fun (and work) and seems to have had no problems joining our pack. We’ve informed her that she has some big shoes to fill. Sage, our previous lab, was the greatest dog (and fishing companion) in the world and Ruby will have to work hard to follow in her footsteps. Something tells me she’s up for it….

Ruby James familiarizing herself with the Adipose driftboat…

What’s up with all the rain and cool temperatures (not to mention whispers of snow in the high country)? It seems that monsoonal moisture has found us here in the Northern Rockies and is wrecking havoc on the last few weeks of our proper summer. Typically here in Jackson and the surrounding area, summer is filled with sunshine and the occasional brief thunderstorm/rain shower. Sure, we might get a wet day here or there, but most of our moisture comes from snow in the late fall, winter and spring. Summer = sunshine and pleasant evenings. Lately the rain has been coming down in sheets, testing out the toughest of Gor-tex wearing fishermen. Just when the Snake was fishing awesome, and I mean awesome- big flies, in the sun, while wearing sandals- this weather pattern comes along and slows things down. Fishing’s still good, but the past week challenged anglers a bit more than usual. There were no easy ones, no second chances. Each fish had to be earned. It looks like the forecast will be improving in the next few days; good news for anglers and guides hoping to get in a few more shorts and sandal days on the water.

I’ve been staying busy (and sort of dry) lately guiding folks on my usual haunts. For the most part, days have been good. Especially for guests like Joe who fished with me for a few days over in Dubois. Another memorable day was spent with Dave and his wife Jean from ME. I introduced Dave to the Green river, helping his catch several nice trout, including the brown in the photo below. The next few weeks look busy and hopefully folks will have fun as I try and help them get a few fish!

Not bad for a sporting gentleman in his 80s….