• PARTNER: PROTECT YOUR WATERS
  • Go To: THE FLIES OF YELLOWSTONE
  • Go To: YELLOWSTONE FISHING WEATHER
  • Go To: YELLOWSTONE FLY FISHING MAPS
  • Visit: Moldy Chum
  • Visit: The Horse's Mouth
  • Visit: Chi Wulff
  • Visit: Parks' Fly Shop
  • Sunday, June 23, 2013

    Crowded ?

    VISITORS ENJOY VISITING
    Bison Enjoy Lounging
    fishers enjoy catching
    FISH THE GIBBON RIVER GINGERLY
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    .. The "HIGH SEASON" in Yellowstone National Park is upon us. A major spike in visitation is just two weeks away.
    .. By the Fourth Of July behavior patterns of fish and people in the park will have reached maturity.
    .. Right now motor home owners have learned to park on the double yellow line. Fish have learned to look up.
    .. Bicyclists have already learned to ignore the bicycle lane. Fish learned to follow the shadows two weeks ago.
    .. Photographers are learning  to scorn the life-giving rains. Fish have remembered to use the current in a tussle with upright featherless bipeds.
    .. Changes in the learning process and park conditions will soon begin to take place. These changes should increase the maturation level of visitors, fish, and fishers. Lines at entrance stations will reach astronomical lengths. Fish will begin to avoid the warming waters. Fishers will need to fish at different times on different days with different weather conditions.
    A BLOOMIN' RIVER
    .. Sadly visitors will not learn to enter the park earlier or later. Interestingly fishers will gripe and grouse about the weather - rather than take advantage of it.
    .. Fish, of course, will be in the most advantageous water for feeding and keeping cool: The fish mature faster than humans.
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    .. The Firehole River has provided excellent catching over the past four or five days. Air temperatures have been below seasonal averages.
    .. Along with a couple of decent showers, our cloud cover has been fortuitously conspicuous and has encouraged the hatches of Mayflies, Caddis, and other aquatic bugs and such.
    .. The next few weeks will demand rapid maturation of the fishers if they intend to become successful catchers:  A WARMING TREND LOOMS.
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    .. The Madison River has become slow, cool, and crystal clear. It is spewing forth little winged creatures that seem to be unappreciated by many visiting fishers: perhaps it's the combined vehicular and bicycle traffic.
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    .. Grebe Lake is experiencing some heavy pressure. The early disappearance of the snow and the rapid drying of the trails has allowed happy anglers to spread the word about this normally moderately fished destination.
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    .. Pistol packing fishers have been encountered on the Mary Mountain Trail. They had no bear spray. Apparently they have lost their light bulbs.
    .. They were disappointed with the catching as well. Search the deep riffles and dark pools with drab nymphs and you'll do better than they did on Nez Perce Creek.
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    Tough Casting On Grayling Creek
    .. The larger fish seem to have backed down from Grayling Creek. This leaves the creek with an exuberant population of 8 to 10 inch fish and lots of elbow room - for both the bears and the fishers. There is even a small caddis hatch happening late on warm days.
    .. The best catching is beginning to move from the rapid bits of water in the park to the lower willow thickets of the lower creek and the upper ends of the estuary at Hebgen Reservoir.
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    Do It Yourself
    .. The Upper Gallatin River is still being ignored by experts and feather merchants alike. Sparse hatches of mayflies have been reported. Sparse sightings of caddis are problematic. Big fish are being taken on giant nymphs, small streamers, and both soft and stiff hackles. Some of the deep holes along about mile-post 26 are clear and it's possible to to see the gentle inhalation of the nymphs: if you're sneaky.
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    HAPPY CAMPER