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Yellowstone report

1K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  FT 
#1 ·
Well we returned from our car trip (notice I didn't say fishing trip) which included Yellowstone.
First off I was surprised at how few people were fishing there in Yellowstone. I'd heard horror stories about that. I tried to fish the Madison River and Soda Bute Creek. In the Madison I tried 3 times (twice In the evenings between strong winds there seemed to be a nice mayfly hatch) but my flies got ignored. I did see a few fish feeding on the top and a couple even hit right next to my flies, but ignored my offerings. I'd switch flies and repeatedly no joy. I only tried Soda Bute creek once and the water was real murky. One small bite which I managed to loose.

Aside from my incompetence it was a great trip Spokane, National Bison Range, Glacier NP, Some Mt Ghost towns, Yellowstone, Cody Wy, Teton NP, Jackpot Nv, Idaho National Laboratory EBR1. It was a great trip until my wife got strep throat so we came home a couple of days early.
Ken
 
#2 ·
Well we returned from our car trip (notice I didn't say fishing trip) which included Yellowstone.
First off I was surprised at how few people were fishing there in Yellowstone. I'd heard horror stories about that. I tried to fish the Madison River and Soda Bute Creek. In the Madison I tried 3 times (twice In the evenings between strong winds there seemed to be a nice mayfly hatch) but my flies got ignored. I did see a few fish feeding on the top and a couple even hit right next to my flies, but ignored my offerings. I'd switch flies and repeatedly no joy. I only tried Soda Bute creek once and the water was real murky. One small bite which I managed to loose.

Aside from my incompetence it was a great trip Spokane, National Bison Range, Glacier NP, Some Mt Ghost towns, Yellowstone, Cody Wy, Teton NP, Jackpot Nv, Idaho National Laboratory EBR1. It was a great trip until my wife got strep throat so we came home a couple of days early.
Ken
how did you like Cody?? for some reason I have it in the back of my mind that i'd like to go there .
 
#6 ·
how did you like Cody?? for some reason I have it in the back of my mind that i'd like to go there .
I know this is not directed to me but I lived in Cody for 3 years and still have many friends there and go back often. Cody is a great town, to bad the wind blows there a TON. Only downfall that I could find. GREAT fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, skiing, water and snow, also has phenomenal Mt. Biking. People are real cool as well. I have a real good buddy who guides for N. Fork Anglers, going to see him in Oct. He and I fished the crap outa that area when I lived there, he knows that area like nobody else. If you go and need a guide PM me and I will give you his info.
 
#3 ·
Cool trip destinations. Sorry about the strep throat and not catching. I hit Yellowstone two years ago, fished little but caught a few. We also hit Cody and despite it being hot, I really liked that area.
 
#4 ·
Never been to jellystone, but I was utterly amazed at glacier. Millions of people, but completely untouched water. The whole time I was there I didn't see one other person fishing, not even next to the roads. And it's free in the park.
 
#5 ·
I live within 100 miles of Jellystone Park and I haven't made it either. I live within 28 miles of Winston Fly Rod Manufacturing and I haven't made it there either. I did make it to Sweet Water Bamboo fly rods. And I found out where Simms is located in Bozeman. I haven't been there either. Shit, I seem to miss out on everything.
 
#7 ·
My friend and I visited the NW area of the Park last Monday and I was also struck by how few people I saw fishing. One gentleman working a very nice run on the Gibbon but that was it. No one on the Firehole, Nez Perce creek etc. Figured it was just the wrong time of day (late afternoon) for fish and anglers to be active. Then I did two days guided float on the Big Hole and it was the same story. First day one boat started off just ahead of us and was quickly out of site. Saw only one other boat the whole day. Thought the weather (Thunder storms in the afternoon) was the reason till day two when it was gorgeous and we were alone all day.

Glacier, Teton, Yellowstone, etc……Wow! That was some road trip.
 
#8 ·
Sounds like a great trip; you saw some very beautiful country. I found the Madison, in the park, this time of year tends to be a bit warm; fishes better spring/fall just like the Firehole/lower Gibbon. Soda Butte muddies up if someone in Cooke City leaves their faucet on a minute too long; come back when it's clear and the hoppers are out and you'll have to take a number to fish a stretch of meadow below Round Prairie. Same thing applies to a lot of the water near the road throughout the park; if you're willing to walk a bit (bring your bear spray), there's plenty of places you can have to yourself.

Regards,
Scott
 
G
#11 ·
The rubber hatch is a pleasant visual diversion in the middle of the day . It fills in the time between the early morning hatch and helps kill the time waiting for the river to get some shade towards evening...
 
#10 ·
Virginia and I have done the best in YNP and the surrounding area during Sept. I miss our annual fishing vacation to YNP. Before it became popular, the Lamar was our favorite river in the park. There was one riffle we'd have to ourselves for the entire day.

Outside the park, before it became popular, we always did well during the evening hours at 3 dollar bridge. And, a spot very close to West Yellowstone ,where we stayed, was the Barns Holes on the Madison inside the park. We'd normally hit that just before dark.
 
#13 ·
Just back from YNP - float on the Madison was good (a little slower than the reports from the past month). The highlight was definitely three days working Soda Butte creek, mostly above Soda Butte itself.

Lot of traffic where the stream is on the road and the meadow sections, but anyone willing to walk in a couple hundred yards had the place to themselves.

Cuttys were mostly in the 7"-11" range, but a couple of 16". We fished hoppers and long-horn beetles all day until very late when we switched over to X-Caddis and Stimulators.
 
#14 ·
Me and family just got back from YNP and the Tetons. We did it RV style for a week and I can't wait to get back for a dedicated fishing trip. I did manage to wet a line in the Wind River (hooked and lost two fish) and the Firehole for a couple of hours. The minute I set foot in the Firehole I knew it was going to be casting practice only, the water felt like bath water. Still an awesome experience, can't wait for the next opportunity.
 
#15 ·
During the 12 years I lived in Montana, I would go to Yellowstone Park at least every other week from late April until late October. I know it is very tempting to fish a mayfly imitation on the Madison in the park when there are mayflies on the water; however, most of the time in mid-summer it isn't worth fishing with a mayfly dry. It is far better to use a caddis emerger or elk hair caddis because the caddis tend to outnumber the mayflies at this time of year on the Madison. Also, if you fish the riffles and runs with a sinking (or 10'-15' type 4 or type 6 sink tip) line (or shooting head) with a black stonefly nymph in #6 with the Brooks Method, you will certainly hook and land nice fish. Also, the "meadow" sections of the Madison are great places to fish hoppers against the bank.

I know it is tough for most trout fly fishers to not tie on a mayfly dry when there are some mayflies about, but my experience was that unless the hatch is pretty significant, it is a waste of time to fish mayfly dries on the Madison.

The Firehole is a very interesting river with its hot springs and geyser water. The areas with these have high temperatures all the time. However, if you walk 20 yards from where one of the thermal features enters or is in the river, the water temps are not bad. In mid-summer most of the insects are fairly small and you have to often try to sort out if the fish are eating one of often several mayflies, or caddis to hook fish. The Firehole is a georgeous river that usually has very few fishermen, but it isn't easy fishing either.

The Gibbon is a terrific trout river. Granted it doesn't produce very many large fish, but it is very dependable for 10"-14" fish. And the best part of fishing the Gibbon is you virtually have the whole river to yourself because it requires a short walk from the road or parking lots to fish it.

The flats on the upper Yellowstone are fantastic fishing during a mayfly or caddis hatch or returning egg-laying flight for hooking Yellowstone Cutthroat. Back before the economy tanked, it was common to see 40 or more fishermen plying the Buffalo Fords section. It was also fairly common to see at least one fisherman in every run, pool, or riffle on the Madison.

The Lamar is a terrific little river provided you walk at bit away from the road or obvious access as has been mentioned already.
 
#17 ·
I had excellent fishing for rainbow and cutthroat on Soda Butte Creek less than a week ago. A series of passing showers didn't matter. Then overnight, there was a rainstorm in the headwaters (or perhaps that leaky faucet in Cook City). Next morning Soda Butte was chocolate milk. Its tributary, Pebble Creek, where I was camped, was unaffected.

I was on the upper Yellowstone (above the falls and Hayden Valley) on the 15th, when it opened. The river was clear and beautiful, with a glut of drifting dead or dying insects of multiple types that reminded me of that scene in "War of the Worlds" - but no cutthroat seemed to be feeding there. A member of the crews that's fighting the lake trout in Y. Lake says they're making progress, and have a selective poison that kills only lake trout (I hope). But the cutthroat numbers have a long way to come back. To their credit, a few expert anglers were working over visible trout around the islands at Nez Perce Ford, repositioning themselves and changing flies until they caught several cuts, one of net-filling size.
 
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