For Your Service

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.. Fishing opens in Yellowstone National Park on May 28, 2021. That's today! The opening day fly box should include a wide assortment of subsurface offerings and a few very small floaters. Fish the seams, the riffles, and undercut banks.

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WALLPAPER:  TAQUITOS FANTASTICO

Tomorrow

SHOULD BE . . .

Cloudy / Overcast

high/low waters

YNP PHOTO

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.. So it's finally time to visit some friendly waters in Yellowstone National Park.
.. We have been blessed with near perfect conditions on our west side waters: water below bank level. slow waters, clearing waters, trout catching temperature waters, cool overcast skies, bugs hatching, fewer than normal visitors, seasonal help  at the feather merchants.
.. Here's the current river data:
>> Firehole at Old Faithful,
>> Firehole at Madison Junction,
>> Gibbon at Madison Junction,
>> Madison at West Yellowstone.
.. It's been a mighty long time since we could fish them all on opening day. We are greatly appreciative.

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WALLPAPER:  BUTTER GARLIC SHRIMP

Gone Fishing

OPEN TODAY

Partly Cloudy All Day

bring the whole box

WALLPAPER:  BEAUTIFUL EASY WATER - OPENS TODAY

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.. Brief pre-post: you want it - you get it.
.. Save for a bit of color in the water and, some not too high discharge; you can find your favorite sort of fishing in Yellowstone National Park.

OPENER SECRET

.. Right now it's late on Friday. We're hitting the hay early and intend to get up earlier and beat the rush.
.. We're taking two lunches and intend to find some gentle bits of lonely water. We may even catch some fish.
.. May you too!

{{WEST ENTRANCE WEBCAM}}

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THE BEARS ARE STILL DOWN LOW !!

New Weather Arrives

THE SPRING MIX

Opening Looks Good

bring your "A" game

STILL WET IN BISCUIT BASIN

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.. Last night brought us a skiff of snow. The nitrogen concentration is good for the Rhubarb.
.. We're in an 'unsettled' weather pattern with no major systems dominating our local weather. We are therefore, at the whim of the capricious behavior of Mom.
.. The best guess is that there will be variable weather for the next few days. Nothing too warm and nothing too cold. The west side rivers in Yellowstone National Park should respond accordingly.

DARK MARAUDER

.. The Madison River has risen considerably over the last couple of days and is at or near record flows for this date. This is not as bad as it might seem as the in-water visibility is at about three feet.
.. Save for a few select spots this should be a "LARGE DARK NYMPH" game on opening day.

LOOP WING

.. The Firehole River is running a little high but is cooler than the last four or five days. Gone are the temperature spikes of the high 60's. Mid to low 50's looks to be the trend for the next few days.
.. The color is off a little but in-water visibility is good and may give the faithful opportunities for catching fish at the surface.

CRIPPLE

.. For the current PMD hatch you will need to find some water with long gentle glides and persistent coherent foam lines. Right now the rise form is soft and gentle - even to pre-emergent fly forms. This suggests a unusual abundance of bugs. May it persist for a few more days.
.. There are some Baetids around and during those grumpy weather periods it would be good to have a few cripples in the box.

FUZZY FLOATER

.. If you are not into the aesthetics of a messy looking cripple then a floating nymph is also a good choice.
.. Be prepared for a large number of lookee-loo's on the roads and in the pull outs. Visitation is up and the mobile condominium hatch is well underway.

BEAD HEAD SOFTIE

.. Tour buses are seemingly bigger and apparently more prolific. Many are painted all white with simple stenciled names - an indication of newly minted tour companies.
.. The Gibbon River in National Park Meadows as well as the Firehole River below the falls should both yield good fish to large soft hackles and stonefly nymphs of various ilks.
.. Overall the best bet for catching is any of our local soft or stiff hackle flies.

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.. It's not too early for breakfast. We'll try something to fortify the soul. We need to get the rest of the garden in and hope the late freeze cycle misses us this year.

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WALLPAPER:  MUSHROOM AND SWISS - SAUCE MORNAY

Just Maybe

FIREHOLE IS FINE

Madison Is Marginal

weather looks perfect

WALLPAPER: RECESSIONAL NICK POINTS  - MADISON RIVER

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HI DEAR

.. In just three days the faithful will return to torment the trout of Yellowstone National Park.
.. The start of another fishing season in the park is upon us. The traffic and the visitation is already at another new record pace.
.. Hero shots and cell phone images will cloud the interwebs as intrepid fishers sully the waters and dip their wick in the storied rivers of our neighborhood.
.. It's an annual ritual full of sound and fury, signifying  . . . . . .

.. As of today it looks like the weather will be perfect for the opener.
.. Friday May 26 will be drizzly, (on and off,) into the night.

TRY THESE - CDC BWO

.. Saturday May 27, (the opener,) will dawn to light ground fog and light mist. It should clear early to broken clouds and light overcast.
.. Sunshine should prevail for a few hours between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Light rain should begin in the afternoon between 3:00 and 5:00 PM.

PRETTY STANDARD FARE

.. Depending on the caprice of the bugs this is generally a perfect sort of weather pattern.
.. Little bugs in the morning and caddis in the afternoon. The late rain should be light enough to allow exceptional soft hackle catching until dark thirty.
.. The Firehole River is flowing at a little above 500cfs. In the ballpark for seasonal norms. It is plenty clear enough to fish and provide good catching opportunities.

THE INFAMOUS SMASHED CADDIS

.. Sunday should see late afternoon water temperature spike to between 67° & 70° F.
.. Sunshine should grace the west side of park for most of the day.
.. The Gibbon River is high but clear. The big meadows are very wet and slogging through them will provide stories but few catching opportunities.

CLASSIC ATTACK

.. Below Gibbon Falls and to the junction pool the water is clear enough and there are noses of gigantic proportion - holdovers from the spawn.
.. These snakes will eat willingly but should be played quickly and released gently.
.. The meadows around Norris are saturated but the small water above the campground is only lightly colored.
.. It might be worth a look at the meadow above the cascades for the eager  brookies. This is the last year for these friendly fish. They will be poisoned in order to protect the invasive grayling. Such a deal.
.. The Madison River has dropped very quickly back within it's banks and is flowing at around 900cfs - dead on for the seasonal norm. It's still lightly colored but clearing rapidly.
.. Barring any significant deluge from the predicted drizzles on Thursday or Friday it might be worth a go.

VISIBLE  AND  POSSIBLE

.. There are some nice holes opened up in the big riffles. Depending on sun and shadow there could be some hold over fish.
.. The resident noses are poking up in some new places this Spring.
.. Riverside Drive is now one-way from east to west. There must be a reason?
.. The Gallatin River is rumored to be too cold to fish. We'll probably be there.
[For catching prognostications to the east and north of Norris click on over to PARKS' Fly Shop.]

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.. It's too early for breakfast. It's too late for dinner. Must be perfect for a midnight snack.

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WALLPAPER:   RAMEN DONE RIGHT

A Most Beautiful Bluster

IT'S DRIPPING OUT

Wind Blew Down A Tree

snowed some last night

WALLPAPER:  THE WAY IT IS

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..As the INDY 500 draws near, some folks instead, think of the opening day for fishing in Yellowstone National Park.
.. For them it's not a battle between Chevrolet and Honda - it's the battle of traffic and elbows on the Firehole River.
.. Come Saturday we'll be there with a camera. We'll take the rod out of the back seat after we leave the park to catch some fish.

FISH HERE

.. Many folks from foreign countries like Idaho and Utah and Oregon and Washington and California anticipate the opener with 'bated breath.
..Feather merchants have waited six long months for the next six short months. It's not easy to make a killing living in only half a year.
.. Visiting fishers arrive with travel poster images in their heads. They want to experience how it was. It's not that way now.

USE THIS

.. Parking is already tight. The tour buses have tried to avoid the mid summer rush by jamming up the Spring visitation times.
.. The entrance stations have long lines due to heavy visitation and the wait for seasonal ticket takers to get hired and oriented and trained.
.. The bison are streaming both in to and out of the park. It's a surprisingly entertaining spectacle.
.. Some of the neighbors visit the park rivers on Memorial Day Weekend. Most go elsewhere to catch fish. Some visit the cemetery.

WALLPAPER:  MOM'S DAY OUT

..The fish have wintered well in the rivers and streams of Yellowstone National Park.
.. The spawn and recruitment may be adversely affected by the low and warm discharge during the "Runoff Season."

WET GIBBON MEADOW

.. This last week did, and the upcoming week will deliver a bit of more seasonal weather.
.. Those folks that need to see their fly in order to catch a trout will be mightily pleased by the amount of gray days for the weekend.
.. There will even be some snow flurries to discourage fair weather fishers and travel poster photographers.
.. The Gibbon River is at about what we would call a mild post runoff stage. There is a little color, the banks are being lapped at but not drowned. There are bugs in the air and standing water in the meadows. Looks to be an early and prolific mosquito season.
.. This is the year that Grebe Lake will be poisoned so get your fishing in early. The trails are surprisingly passable. Not easy mind you but, not all snow and grizzly bears. There is standing water, mud, slush, and other debris to keep the poison crew out of there until it gets gentle.
.. Below the Gibbon Falls we saw a couple of submarines in the meadow near the bridge at Madison Junction. These are probably hold over runners. This stretch is seldom fished during opening weekend. My my.

TRY THESE: WHATEVER THEY ARE

.. The glory waters of the Firehole River between Biscuit Basin and the brink of Firehole Falls looks about as it ought to. It's been a little low and warm. The last 10 days of coolness have brought it around just a little.
.. Over the last three days there have been many real small 4-winged, two tailed flies, (sizes 18 - 22,) in the air. Check with some erudite Latin speaker to figure out what they are.

THE BISCUIT BASIN MEADOW

.. The water  seems a bit low, even judging by the USGS reports. It approached near record low flows over the last weekend but the recent rain has melted some snow and cooled the river. Discharge is up a tic.
.. The river has run warm all Spring and, as usual, responds to cool showers, overcast, and snow. Right now it's about perfect for catching.
.. Flows are low: fish are concentrated, temperature is in the high 50's to mid 60's. It's going to be dicey planning a trip. Watch the USGS and the weather.
.. The Madison River has a bit of color left over from the brief input of silts from the Gibbon River. It's settling out nicely and in-water visibility is at least five or six feet.
.. Old books and counter help ignore the Madison River for the first few weeks of the season. Bless their hearts.
.. Right now the river is running very low. The temperature is perfect, (54° to 60° F,) You can see the fish near the bank in the dark water and silt free pools.
.. We'll check out Nez Perce Creek this afternoon. The bear warning signs are up and the water looks pretty clear.
.. Rumors and tradition combine to form the magnificent advice dispensed so freely over the counter at our feather merchant emporiums.
.. There are some bits to remember as you shop for the latest and greatest:
1] No one has legally caught a fish in Yellowstone National Park since last fall,
2] Not a single person has legally fished this Spring,
3] Tradition to the contrary; rivers change over a 12 month period of time,
4] Nine-mile hole is about to become eight-mile hole,
5] Low and warm water fishes far more different than high and cold water,
6] Visitation to look at rivers is not a cherished pastime of recently hired seasonal help,
7] Visitation to look at rivers is not a cherished pastime of feather merchants or permanent employees,
8] Only the fish in romantic fish stories come like lightning to the fly and inhale it with gusto,
9] Most flies work most of the time - have for centuries.

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.. There are some simple questions to ask as you gather up those $3.00 flies:
1] When did you last fish where you are sending me?
2] Did you fish the flies that you just sold me?
3] If they are so good why are there so many in the bin?
4] Who told you that?
5] How many days a year do you fish?
.. Tradition, fishing lore, fly selection, and river location are the stuff of this pastime. Gobble it up. Enjoy it. Just don't forego the opportunity to see new water and fish in a manner that is less combative and more contemplative. There is more to Yellowstone National Park than the fishing.
.. Rumor of the day: big bugs in Firehole Canyon!
.. See you Saturday.

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WALLPAPER: BACON, CHEDDAR, AVOCADO, OMELET

A Different Opener

AMERICA'S PASTIME

American's Couch-time

the boys of summer

WALLPAPER: THE DUKE OF FLATBUSH

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.. Although it's just about Spring in this neck of the woods, it's Summer elsewhere.
.. The boys of summer are now officially earning their multi million dollar salaries by chewing and farting and scratching and digging in their crotch.

THE PILL

.. Baseball is here and our nation is ready. Or so we would be led to believe.
.. Not so very long ago baseball was played on the radio.
.. It's hard to envision slouching on a couch with the neighborhood toughs gobbling nachos and guacamole while listening to a ball game on the radio.
.. Baseball is a different game on the radio than it is on the television. It's a different game in the year 2016 than it was in 1949 as well.

.. Fly fishers in 1949 had a different social millieu to operate within than does the fly fisher today. So too the baseball fan.
.. Today our heroes are ridged fly lines, designer reels, and spouse beating adolescents in adult bodies.
.. Today we can fish the all over the world and torment  foreign fish as easily as we can ignore a soft walk in the woods.
.. Pedal to the metal fly fishing. It's a grand slam sort of deal. Someone is making money. Someone is spending money. Catching is always better where the grass is greener.
.. Today neither fly fishing nor baseball is a pastime. Both are in high gear and dashing headlong into the worlds of lucre and fame.
.. Fame from the radio, (then or now.) is a different sort of beast. Lucre in terms of real dollars or perquisites is different now than then. We're beyond radio.
.. We, ourselves, still enjoy the humor of both contemporary baseball and fly fishing. The play by play re-analysis of an electric image that was available to all from all different angles, is mandatory for the color commentators. Our eyes are just not good enough.
.. This allows time for a commercial break, and extends the air time, - umpires be damned: the game be damned.

NOT RADIO

.. Fly fishers allowing that a fish's eating habits and behaviors can be analyzed ad nauseam from streamside to the abandonment of flicking a fly on the water as an empirical test are  missing the "radio" of the pastime. We must need the 'color' commentators of fishing to validate it.
.. Watching fish is hardly sport but it is certainly an enjoyable pastime. Waste of time?
.. Radio has gone out of baseball. Radio has left fly fishing. Baseball is about to leave television for the "mobile device."
.. Fly fishing has already embraced the cell phone. It's radio days expired with the 'American Sportsman' and celebrity fishers. OOPS! Celebrities who got paid to fish.
.. There never was much radio about the fly fishing pastime on these shores. There was some in Great Britain and Canada right after WWII.
.. For some interesting reasons the way to fame and fortune in the world of fly fishing is through publication and product huckstering.
.. George Kelson taught us how. We've been doing it ever since. Some are good at it. Some are great at it. It's akin to selling autographed baseballs. In fly fishing it's autographed reels or rods or books or flies.
.. Goodby radio, so long television, adios publications: hello adventures, hello internet sales, hello twitter, hello 'Electric Horseman' and Steve Able and Perk Perkins.

Perk Perkins has led Orvis as CEO since November 1992. Under his guidance, the company has grown from $88 million in sales in 1992 to nearly $300 million in 2006. The company simultaneously refined and expanded its product line and sales channels. Perk has built a strong business culture of quality and brand integrity throughout the multi-channel retailer. Orvis has prospered and earned the industry’s highest awards in both catalog and Internet marketing.{{LINK}}

.. So, it's opening day for some. It's not for others.

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.. We're headed over the hill to the lowland Madison River. The fishing is proceeding apace with the gentle lowland weather and there are little bitty teeny weeny blueish flies down there.

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WALLPAPER:   SPRINGTIME WEST YELLOWSTONE

Just For Fun

FIREHOLE: SOME COLOR

Madison: Dirty Diaper Color

gibbon: way up and near raging

WALLPAPER: THE LAKE AT 7-MILE BRIDGE

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.. A bright clear morning was followed by white clouds at mid day and then overcast with a bit of dripping by 7:00 PM. That was today and probably tomorrow. There were little buglets coming from the Firehole River starting about 6:30 PM.

THE LOVELY COLOR OF THE MADISON

.. The Madison River is high and out of bank along several stretches. The color ranges from mustard yellow to a dark amber, (similar to the color found in a sick baby diaper.)
.. There are places where in-water visibility is as much as four feet and others where the visibility drops to under a foot. If you know the river well there are a few places where catching might take place.
.. The Gibbon River is contributing most of the color to the Madison River. Fishing with the possibility of catching is possible above Norris Campground. It's a proposition for the adventurous.
.. All three streams are running above seasonal and daily mean discharge rates. The constriction of the Madison River at 7-mile bridge has caused ponding upstream and the formation of 7-mile lake extends for almost one mile above the bridge.

THE FLY DU JOUR

.. The faithful hoards should have no trouble with catching on the Firehole River. Above the confluence with Nez Perce Creek the little river looks as good as it ever does - the slight amber silts and organic fines are a twinkling delight and visibility is easily six feet or more. The major color from Nex Perce Creek is rapidly dissipated downstream and the whole of the Firehole  River will provide opening day catching opportunities for the swingers of the soft hackle.
.. During high water there are exceptional catching opportunities along the lower reaches of SENTINEL CREEK. That's an opportunity for those that want to see some of the finest fish in the Firehole River Drainage.
.. By the time the Madison River reaches the Barns Holes visibility has increased to over three feet and in some of the slower sections around Baker's Hole there looks to be 5 or 6 foot visibility. Woolly Buggers should do the trick in those sections.
.. This morning the combined agency bison drive caused traffic snarls for the better part of the morning. At one point in time the line of stationary vehicles extended from 7-mile bridge to Riverside Drive and beyond, back toward the west entrance station.
.. The grass in the valley is low and some of it is flooded along the Madison River. Fishers should anticipate delays at anytime of day due to the bison seeking adequate forage. Of course gawker blocks will continue as there is a fine crop of bison calves for picture taking.
.. Tomorrow we'll Be fishing and catching on the Madison River where the fish are biting and no other fishers will be within hailing distance. See you there.

A PREVIEW GALLERY

WALLPAPER:  BANK FULL MADISON

WALLPAPER:  THE AMBER MADISON

WALLPAPER:  THE BEND AT THE PARKING LOT