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

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.

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...

Words cannot describe the place that we were today.  We hiked into a place that has not been seen by many people.  I am so fortunate to have such a knowledgeable and brave guide that has investigated all of these places and is happy to share them with me.  It will be a place and a feeling that I will never forget!  God has provided wondrous things in nature!  Yes, we did some fishing (see Part 1)  but the hiking and views won out today.  Take a look at these photos - they say it all. ~Michelle This is called Sheepeater Cliff. A waterfall along the way.  I thought this was awesome - little did I know what was ahead! I wish you could hear the power in this water. We are way above this waterfall even though it doesn't look like it in this photo.  We had to watch our footing as we were very close to the edge at some places. This is the first meadow along our route.  Our hike in was high above this area. ...

Sausage, onion, peppers and cheese frittata for breakfast. We started our day with a hearty breakfast.  Doug said I was going to need it!  He was right.  We hiked into a place near Sheepeaters Canyon.  The steep climbs and rocky terrain were all worth it.  We caught quite a few beautiful fish - mostly brook trout but also a few rainbow trout.  The scenery there is beyond words and even beyond the pictures that we took.  Check out Part 2 of the day in the next blog entry where many of our scenery pictures will be - you won't want to skip it! ~ Michelle We found this elk skull with rack and many other pieces of the elk (ribs, vertebrae, hip, jawbone)  on our way to our fishing spot. Doug's first catch of the day, but not his last!  We caught about 50 trout today... Here is something that you don't see everyday!  I caught two fish at once.  One was on my top fly, a Tweeter Caddis and the other was on a Bead ...

Our fishing trip today was on the Gardner River near the High Bridge.  We walked in on a game trail to an area a little farther in than most people go.  Walking on a game trail - elk, buffalo, wolves, and yes, bear - is not always easy.  The elk may be able to walk up and down steep hills and along steep cliffs but I am not an elk!  There were some places along the trail where we had to walk right along the edge of a steep cliff and it was a long way down.  I kept my eyes on the path to make sure of my footing and tried not to think about how high we were.  We trudged through mud that almost pulled my shoes off, waded through knee deep water and climbed over wobbly river rocks.  In the end it was worth it to see some beautiful scenes and to catch some nice fish.  I caught a very nice cutbow using a Korn's Split-tail Golden Stone dry fly.  Doug spent a lot of his time guiding me and untangling my line in some pretty heavy brush.  He did c...

This morning I checked in at the shop (Parks Fly Shop) and then got my truck over to the Tire Iron garage here in town for an oil change.  Richard Parks and head guide Walter Wiese asked me if I would do a little guiding for them while I'm out here for the next month.  I said I would.... one day a week. Michelle was going to walk down into town later on after lunch and do some shopping.  So after getting the truck back, grabbing a quick lunch with Chelle and gearing up, I headed for the lower Gardner River to give it a go... The Salmon flies and Golden Stones are flying about but the fish are not looking up yet.  My fellow guides told me that nymphs were working well.  I also had a short conversation with Matt Minch, our local fly fishing guru. He said to go with the "action nymphs" that's a "Matt's Golden Stone" and a "Matt's Bead Hare and Copper", so that's what I started with and stayed with for the two hours of fishing I did.  T...