55 on the fly

If you care about the future of fishing in Yellowstone National Park you don't want to miss this fine article by Neil M. Travis on the Fly Anglers On Line website and forum. see it here:  http://www.flyanglersonline.com/articles/journal/2013/journal20130826.php I believe the NPS efforts to "remove" all non-native fish in the park is just the first step. Once well underway they will move to eventually "eliminate" the "harassing" of fish (wildlife) in the park by anglers. The top of the arch is inscribed with a quote from the  Organic Act of 1872 , the legislation which created Yellowstone, which reads "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People."  The management of the park by the NPS will continue to be an ongoing struggle for anglers for the foreseeable future, IMHO....  Doug Korn

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.  

A friend of mine, David is in town this week.  He was looking for a hike and a new place to wet a line with me.  So, we hatched this plan to bushwhack to the Yellowstone River via Geode Creek.  I had been on this mission once before in 2011, looking to catch some West-slope Cutthroat's and fish the Yellowstone but never made it because I sprained my ankle just before reaching the first meadow.  Even so, I caught some Cutt's but had to turn back because of the pain and never made it to the River. You can read all about that trip here:  http://55onthefly.blogspot.com/2011/08/exploring-creek-paying-price.html the meadow at Geode Creek far below... I met David at 7:30 am. and off we went to the pull-out to hike in.  We skirted the meadow at Geode Creek and headed towards a small lake.  When we got to the lake we had to find the drainage off of it as this would lead us to Geode Creek and we would then follow it down to the Yellowstone River. ...

The "new guy" at Parks Fly Shop is Jordan Laughlin.  He and I hiked into the Lamar River and fished the stretch up to near Cache Creek.  The fishing was slow to say the least and we had to work for every fish we took.  The Lamar River's water level is way down and a bit warmer than in past years having less river water to mix with the hot springs feeding into it's mountain snow melt. The bottom of the river was slick as ever and rock hopping was difficult to say the least.  I only caught four fish today but one was a good one and Jordan caught two until he hit a honey hole and caught six out of it.  Most of the fish ran in the 10-12 inch range.  We hiked and fished about 7-8 miles today, my knee is swollen and a bit sore.  To aid in the recovery Michelle and I had dinner at the Raven with our friends Bernard and Katherine, best steaks anywhere! Cutthroat Trout ~ 16 inches Jordan fishing the Lamar River

Michelle went for a run today and me well, lets see, running or fishing.... Yeah right fishing of course! So off to fish the Yellowstone River and do some rock hopping.  I had a good time too catching a couple of nice rainbow trout but whoops, forgot the camera... Then after catching 5 or 6 white fish I remembered my phone, ah-ha I have a camera on the phone!  I'm old school and keep forgetting that I have a "smart" phone now.  I caught some rainbows, browns and cutthroats and of course several white fish, a good couple of hours on the river. my first Cutthroat of the trip ~ 16 inches and the best fish-of-the-day Hey - my fishing buddies are here! Walked right up on this little band of elk in the Yellowstone River, 5 in total, there was one still laying down in the cool grass.  I let them have their pool and headed for home. Tonight we were invited to a BBQ with some of our fly fishing friends.  We had a great time visiting with everyone.  The...

Last night we had Wally and Wilson up to our RV for dinner.  Hots, hamburgers, baked beans, deviled eggs, coleslaw and homemade camper cookies for dessert.  Michelle out did herself...  Later a campfire, a few PBR's and LOTS of fishing talk.  It was great to spend some time with the guys. With only today to fish and tomorrow for packing up and prepping to leave Yellowstone Country I fished my "Last Chance" for this YNP season.   We head back to VA. early on Monday, Aug. 22nd... Michelle decided yesterday's fishing was tough to beat so she settled in with a good book and the mountains for company.  But I had to get out one more time for a couple of hours on the Yellowstone River down the old road...  With 14 fish brought to hand and the landing of my first "double" in YNP,  I couldn't ask for a better ending. Here are some photos: Beautiful Cutthroat "Last Chance Double" a Cutthroat and a Rainbow, netting two fish at on...

Michelle and I had fabulous dinner at Rosie's here in Gardiner.  After dinner we met up with Ben and Wilson and had a few PBR's and of course talked about the guide trips the guys had and our day on Slough Creek... At some point in the conversation Ben said he had the day off tomorrow and that he had marked me off on the PFS guide trip calendar as well, hmmmmm... I said: "Where are you thinking of going?" Ben said: "Black Canyon." "Wow, that's a good hike and I just did 11 miles into Slough Creek, the Black Canyon will be another 8-9 miles..." "So, are you game?" "Chelle is it OK with you?"  She said: "Go have fun." "OK I'm in." I said.  (thinking I must be crazy for doing back-to-back hikes on this ankle) Black Canyon of the Yellowstone - hiking in... Suspension Bridge over the Yellowstone River BUT--- I'm so glad I did... Ben and I had a great day of fishing and fellowship...

This is a picture that Doug took at Slough Creek in 2008.  I have had this on my computer screen at work for a long time.  We also had this picture put onto a canvas and hung it in our living room.  This place looked so picture perfect that I was always wishing that I could go to that spot someday.  It is an all day hike since it is 5 miles just to get to this spot.  Well, I finally made it! The location has changed a little bit but it is still a beautiful spot!  The Second Meadow at Slough Creek is a magnificent spot!  It is a long hike in - about 5 miles -  with much of it uphill.  We started the trek in at 6:30 am.  The moon followed us in for most of the morning. After reaching second meadow and the "picture spot", we rigged up and started to fish.  We worked our way around to this canyon that had many boulders.  Doug had me rock hopping to get to many small pools.  Yes, we worked our way right down th...

Once every season I have a trout dinner here in Yellowstone Country. Today I fished the Yellowstone River in a spot I love to fish the Hopper-Dropper when the hoppers are a hopping.  With a Korn's Split-tail Hopper in tan and pink on top and a Go2 Prince on point they delivered 22 trout to hand in about two hours of fishing.  It doesn't get much easier than that, too easy really, even in the high winds we had today.  I think I could have caught 50+ fish if I had stayed out longer, but I had my limit of trout and I had satisfied my desire to be fishing...  Funny, on the tough days you've got to drag me off the river... Not today, I clipped my flies and headed for the RV.  ~ Dougie Note: see http://55onthefly.blogspot.com/2011/08/lay-z-day.html for my hopper-dropper set-up. These fish are hidden in the rocks below and dart up to take your flies, fun! "on the fly" Rainbow one of several Cutty's caught today... rainbow trou...