55 on the fly

tied and photographed by Doug Korn This is a simple scud pattern that I developed back when I first stared tying. I used wire wraps to form the heads of flies instead of beads. At the time, I didn't have any beads and it was too expensive to have a wide assortment of different size beads. So, I just used heavy wire on my larger flies and medium wire on the smaller ones. Being able to vary the size of the wire and the number of wraps used to form the head gave me infinite adjustment on head size as-well-as the weight of my flies. I still tie my scuds this way today in; pink, orange, gray and olive as well.  Hook: Allen Scud hook #2457 size 14 Thread: Danville 6/0 dark olive Scud Back: Uni-Mylar  #13 3/64" Pearl Rib and Head: copper wire - med. 28 gauge. Body: Red Fox Squirrel dubbing  Start thread behind eye and build a thread base one eye long. Tie in wire and return thread wraps to starting point. Add a drop of head cement. ...

There is no doubt that we had a great time fishing, hiking, sightseeing and relaxing in Yellowstone and Gardiner, MT.  All of that was made even better by being able to visit with some great friends.  We all met for dinner one last time at our favorite place - The Raven.  The ribeye steaks are the best you will ever eat and the baked beans are amazing. One last steak dinner at The Raven Save a table for us at The Raven - we will be back! We will certainly miss this wonderful campsite where we "lived" for five weeks.  The view always held something different for us to notice.  We feel truly blessed to have had such a wonderful experience out west and hope to be back there many times. Our view - Gardiner, MT just over the Yellowstone River.

she looks innocent but she's a killer...  Stella is a great dog and hunter.  At home she's chases squirrels, her favorite, out of the yard and back into the woods behind our house where she thinks they belong.  She will also chase; chipmunks, mice, rabbits and birds.  Here in the west there are no squirrels in our campground. No worries, Stella has found a new foe, these small tan desert lizards.  Stella hunts them 24/7 anytime she is outside our rig. They try and take refuge under our camper to get out of the sun, but Stella is waiting.  She has had a blast chasing these super fast lizards "out of our yard", she's a crazy dog... Folks have asked about our RV - Here is the Rig,  Ford F250 Super Duty and our 30 foot Outback 5th Wheel...

Wow - time sure flies when you're having fun and our trip is drawing to a close... Today Dave and I fished Soda Butte Creek.  We had a great time. The canyon had willing fish and the water was clear and cold.  We found that various caddis patterns and a black and blue nymph that Dave had worked very well. Tomorrow (Saturday) we will be packing up and then heading home on Sunday.  It's been great to see all our friends here in Montana and to fish and spend time with them. The Yellowstone area has much to offer and Michelle and I enjoyed it all --- "On the Fly". Here's Dave doing a little rock hopping in the canyon section. Fishing pocket water like this is one of my favorite things to do... The further up the canyon you go the smaller the fish.  We each caught a dozen or more of the beautiful Cutthroat Trout. I fished my Winston Binney Para 15 bamboo - 8' - 5wt. today, what a sweet casting fly rod.  

Hiking in to go fishing today Michelle took the lead and set the pace. Believe it or not she walked right past these: I had to tap her on the shoulder and stop her and show her this. It's known, among "Antler Round-Up" competitors as a "pure double". Both sides of this bull's antlers found laying there together...  I couldn't believe she didn't see them. This was a perfect chance to get off the schnide with a double no less... and so it goes! Final Score: Doug = 16 Michelle = nil - she never got off the Schnide - Again!

Today we had our last visit to Gardner's Hole all planned.  Stella tried to convince us that she should come along but we had to leave this white bear-bait behind today. As we drove into the park we couldn't help but take a look at the morning moon by the arch and Electric Peak.  It looked like a great day to visit one of our favorite places. This spot is so open and surrounded by mountains.  We hiked in, changed into our fishing shoes, got our gear on and were ready to move to the water and fish.  It was not going to happen today.  Off in the distance Doug spotted a large moving shape.  It was not a buffalo, which would be easy to move around.  It was a grizzly bear!  We got back on the trail and headed out.  As big as this spot is, it is too small to share it with a grizzly. So we were off to our other favorite spot, Sheepeater Cliff.     This is such a magical place and Doug gave the cascade pool a try....

After an early fishing trip we had the rest of the day free and decided to take a trip out to Lamar Valley.  It is a beautiful place in the park and we were hoping to see some more eagles out there.  The wonderful thing about Yellowstone is that you are guaranteed to see some wildlife, you just never know what kind. We stopped here at this huge rock face and were able to spot two white mountain goats.  It was amazing to watch them navigate their way on top of this craggy place. Its a beaut!  Soda Butte.  This was formed millions of years ago by a geyser and is inactive now.  You can see how smokey it is in the background from the area fires. Lamar Valley always has some buffalo to watch and these were right near Roosevelt Lodge. Two years ago we spotted a golden eagle in this valley.  This is such a beautiful spot and you can see for miles.  Guess who was still in the area?  Our friend the golden eagle. Later we too...

Well we tried to "beat the heat", 91 today, by fishing early in the day.  It's been in the 90's for the last week or more and I think it's starting to get to us. We hooked up with a few fish today nymphing rather than fishing the dry-dropper rig.  Michelle caught her first Rainbow of the trip a real jumper. Oh and I --- lost a "good fish" when he got the line tangled around a rock cutting the line --- bummer. We quit about 10:30 and headed to breakfast and "beat the heat". Tomorrow it's going to be about 85 so we are looking for a little relief.  The guys in the shop are reporting the fishing is slow in the afternoon due to the high temp's and low water. Chelle and her rainbow trout... it sure is fun to watch them dance across the water.

We have been hearing the reports of the many fires that are burning in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho.  Yesterday we saw this in the sky just behind our campground.  At first it looked like just a beautiful, white, fluffy cloud but then it was obvious that it was much more.  The smoke cloud was awesome to watch as it grew and changed before our eyes. We watched the smoke show for a while and then headed out for a nice dinner with friends.  As we drove north from Gardiner we realized that the fire was not "just over the hill" from our campground as it had appeared.  It was actually 10-15 miles away which is as close as I hope this fire gets to us and others. Coming back from dinner we stopped to capture a picture of the full moon under the arch.

Doug = 13 Michelle = Nil, still can't get off the schnide. (she can't seem to take her eyes off the trail)