A Little Dip

FIREHOLE TIME ?

Loving Anomolies

got a soft one ?

TWO SCREEN WALLPAPER : FIREHOLE SUMMER

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.. It is a rare bit of weather that has allowed us to fish the Firehole River this late in July.
.. Granted, we must get up early, (bit of a nuisance,) or, fish late in the day, (not too hard.)

SPARSE CARROT SOFT HACKLE

.. Flows are down and temperature spikes do reach into the high 70's, [LINK-F.] Early morning is safest for the fish and better for catching as well.
.. The fish are hungry and a bit slack-jawed but, will still take a soft hackle with more than a modicum of exuberance. No 20/20 club here. Use a heavy leader and horse them in. No hero shots either. Quick play, wet release and move on. Twelve to fifteen fish before breakfast is just about right.

THE FUZZY YELLOW WHATSITZ

.. The Gibbon River is holding up fine so far. Below the falls and before the confluence has seen an increase in traffic from savvy fishers.
.. There are caddis all day, (few and far between,) and stonefly nymphs galore.
.. Above the falls in the canyon is strictly your favorite nymph game, (until about 6:00 PM.) There are caddis late in the afternoon and even some of the pudgy white millers in the right groves of trees.

THE ORIGINAL WOOLLY BUGGER

.. The big meadows have dried out nicely and are are being visited by fisher folk with legs and knees strong enough to find the dark undercut banks with grass veils and slurping giants. If you have an unweighted nymph that will float you can surely bring home a story.
.. Nothing fancy is required; a prince nymph, a woolly bugger, or even a serendipity with a haircut will be fine.

CLIPPED SERENDIPITY

.. From Hebgan Lake to Madison Junction on the Madison River, the neighbors have been using the Clipped Serendipity with great success.
.. Sink it or float it - makes no difference! For now, this seems to be what the fish want. We're not sure if it imitates a real bug or other sort of food item. But it is working wonders with the cool nights and moderate day time temperatures - - - this is the gobble-it-up offering.

VISITORS DRIVE RIGHT PAST IT

..Our favorite "Culvert Pool" has lately been very rewarding.
.. It's just a few minutes from our front door and is a blessed respite from the hectic traffic jams in town.
.. We shan't name the creek for fear of retribution from the neighbors.

DRIVE BY CATCHING

.. It's just about eight or so miles north of town and you can drive right up to the water's edge, (well almost!)
.. Year 'round the trout jump the rip rap rapids and they park themselves in the pool before this bit of exercise.
.. It's coming on Fall, (zing went the Summer in the high country.) Bigger fish should soon be resting in the pool prior to their aerobics. Great fun just watching them.

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TAKE THE OATH

.. Despite the possibilities of fish-catching on the Firehole River, we suggest that you leave them alone.
.. Both Iron Spring Creek and the Little Firehole River are still running cool enough to provide you with some sport.
.. And then, there is Nez Perce Creek. But, that's another story and, the Mary Mountain bears are still on the prowl.

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WALLPAPER:  SMALL ROAST IN CAST IRON

AWOL

FOR GROUP

5 times 5 At 100

mirage no problem

*HUNTER CLASS BENCHREST RIFLE

*EXPENSIVE AND UNSUNG GLASS

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.. Gone and, we're easily forgotten. Brief road trip to Cody, Wyoming. Better than fair success.

NOT TOO BAD

.. The shooting complex at Cody, Wyoming is a world class facility that can accommodate all forms of the shooting sports.
.. From SASS, to casual, to Hunter Class, to Varmint Class, to Rail Guns, to 1,000 Yard competition, to Police and Combat training, to skeet, to trap, to across the course, to sporting clays,  --  it's all there.
.. We do this less and less as our fishing is closer and less fiddly. When the weather gods lay down the winds and, the cool air allows for clear views, it's possible for even us to do well.
.. We did!

.. [[ *Hunter class benchrest rifle with fixed power 6x42 IOR Valdata scope [with glass from Schott Glass Werkes of Germany.] Trued Remington action in .308 Winchester caliber.  Krieger stainless steel barrel. Jewell 2oz. trigger, Big spring true firing pin, Aluminum rail, Magnesium rings, Macmillan Edge ultralight stock. Weight is nine pounds, fourteen ounces.]]

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.. The last week of warmer than seasonal weather has slowed the catching only slightly.

EASILY CATCHES FISH

.. A few daily temperature records were set and the neighbors have exercised both their sweat glands and vocabularies.
.. Looks, now, to be settling into seasonal temperatures and the fishing is too.
.. Ants are up. Hopper nymphs are molting. Beetles are roaming. Millers are flitting. Bitsie Beasties are hatching. Caddis are prolific. Even the Madison River is highly productive in unusual and accessible places.
.. We're awake way too early and planning more road time. Such is the sleep rhythm of the mature.

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WALLPAPER:  RIB EYE DONE RIGHT

Just Could Be

COULD BE A CADDIS

Could Be A Beetle

could be anything that trout eat

COULD BE A NYMPH

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.. We fish a lot of "could be's." Trout eat a lot of could be's. We're not chasing the trout gourmand. We're after a fish that wants to eat. Glutton vs. gourmand is an interesting proposition when it comes to trout,
.. We don't count numbers or sizes too often. We do, regularly,  notice color, conformation, health, and such. We look around at the scenery and the sky and the bushes and grasses under foot as well.
.. We haven't the anal retentive disposition to be finicky about exact sizes and shapes and colors. We're probably missing a lot of important and esoteric information about trout and their diet and behavior and feeding patterns. We don't miss it. Or we don't know that we miss it. We just go fishing. Sometimes it's about the fish.
.. We're pretty nonchalant about catching but not about the going in going fishing. Getting gone is the best part of going fishing. We leave it all behind. We look forward. We seek different things: solitude, comradeship, new vistas, familiar and favorite places, the quiet, the sounds, whatever. Sometimes we seek fish.

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COULD BE A BEETLE

Head Hunting

ONLY FOR SERIOUS FISHERS

Grab Your Best Game

the mouse rules the night

WALLPAPER: IS A MOUSE A FLY ?

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.. The mouse is running wild in the neighborhood. The mouse is secretly being fished, as well, by those fisher folk with the dinky fly affliction.
.. Many of the neighbors are trading sleep for giant fish. It's not just a local phenomenon either. Fishers across our nation have been bitten by the mouse. Nothing, it seems, breeds success like success.
.. We've long advocated using a deer hair mouse for catching large trout. We've not been fooled by the hype that paints a top predator in our streams as a soft-sucking, fly-eating,  pansy. We know better and so should you.
.. Mice are excellent swimmers. They often take to the water to travel along the shoreline of lakes and rivers and swamps. They are very efficient foragers and  will go to extreme lengths to stay fat and healthy. They scurry around their territories with a zeal matched by few foragers. Often this leads to their demise. Birds, snakes, weasels, coyotes, wolves and other predators consume scurrying mice regularly. So do trout and bass and pike, and other killer fish.
,, At some point past adolescence the trout becomes a genuine killer fish. The meanest killers lurk in the shadows and kill with swift, strong, and brutal force. Only occasionally do the biggest killers sip the smallest of prey. They are after groceries,
.. Let them eat mice!

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Be Bee Aware

THE FLOWERS ARE WANING

The Nectar Is Scarce

the pollinators are frenzied

WALLPAPER:   SUCCESS - AN EYEFUL

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.. Late Spring and full Summer are a times of plenty for insects that utilize nectar as a food source. Late Summer and early Fall are a times of scarcity for those very same critters.
.. Bees, wasps, ants, and even birds are accelerating their searching activities in pursuit of the precious fluid. This effectance behavior produces wildly and unpredictable gyrations of the critters as they seek sustenance. Long straight flight paths, zigs and zags of hecrulean proportions, dips and dives at amazing speed and duration; all are required to find new and untapped sources of nourishment. Of course the result is that flowing water is also occasionally encountered: oh happy fish.

DROP ME

.. Our cool Summer has slowed the anticipated hopper madness that infects both insects and fisher folk. Wide spread and ephemeral showers have drenched many parts of Yellowstone National Park.
.. On any given day some places get very wet: some places stay bright and dry. Unlike the conventional wisdom of 'gray is good' the insect hunter should follow the axiom of 'warm and dry is fine.'
.. Warm and dry adjacent to fishy water is exceptionally fine if you intend to catch a fish in the current climatic conditions. This is especially true if you ignore the dinky fly syndrome and fling the fly the fish want.
.. Right now is a perfect time to use the glorious combination of a Bumble Bee Bobber and a Copper John variant for a dropper. Success in catching often favors the thinking fisher rather than the habitual and slavishly formulaic fisher.
.. We can see a hole in the clouds down the river near mile post 25. See you there.

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THE PERFECT BOBBER

Preview

THE COMING SUPER MOON

Where Will You Be ??

where will the fish be ??

Near Full: August 9, 2014 - 21:08:19 - West Yellowstone

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.. Depending upon where you are tomorrow night and the way that you set your clock, and depending on the cloud cover and local horizon, the moon should rise around seven or eight of the clock.
.. Here in West Yellowstone it's liable to be cloudy at the time of moon rise which is 8:23 PM, (7:23 PM for Luddites.) so we grabbed a quick snap of tonight's view.
.. Of all the super moons this year the one tomorrow night is rare in that it will be overhead coincident with it's absolute perigee.

TROUT MUNCHIES

.. It will look biggest when near the horizon and probably should best be photographed with a few trees or a building or two for accent. The twilight of dusk should provide some exceptional views for those shutter bugs who occasionally fly fish and take hero shots.
.. Native Americans of the upper Midwest and Northeast called this moon the "Sturgeon Moon." A good sign for catching that great fish. Closer to home the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota named this the "Moon When All Things Ripen."
.. The neighbors that fish at night call it all manner of names depending on whether it helps or hurts the catching. Right now it is the blessed hopper moon or the great big beetle moon or the 'gonna' get 'em with a mouse moon.
.. Fishing in Yellowstone National Park is forbidden after sundown, (we certainly do miss the 10:00 PM closure.) There are nearby, happily, bits and pieces of good water that are in the State of Montana - with no closures for light or dark.
-- That's where we'll be tomorrow night.

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WALLPAPER: MOUSE FLY WITH RUSTY HOOK (OOPS)

Fish Me

The Lamar Five

NO FANCY NAMES HERE

Stuff  'Em In An Altoids® Tin

share them with friends

CUSTOM FLY BOX

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.. Oh to have the legs and exuberance of youth. For us, that time is long gone. Some of the neighbor kids still have it all.
.. They travel light and fast. They fish the best water at the best time and in the best way. They are on intimate terms with the lakes, rivers and streams in our neighborhood and in Yellowstone National Park. They cram a month's worth of fishing into each week and a year's worth into each month.
.. For reasons unknown these kids have befriended us and treat us far more kindly than the cliquish establishment fly fraternity. They probably know more and fish more as well. They don't have to impress visitors. They don't have to sell the latest and greatest. They don't have to engage in hyperbole and fantasy by the day or hour. They are out there and doing it.
.. One rule that permeates all of their catching endeavors is expedience and effectiveness. Their gear is good and effective. It is not limited to fly fishing stuff. It is catching oriented, not stylistic. It is pared to the bare minimum.
.. Their flies are designed from what they see on the rivers and creeks. They will occasionally cruise the local feather merchant's aisles. Ideas are gathered from all points of the compass and then shared with each other over a brew or two. Experimentation is rampant. "Keepers" become legend and they eventually become standardized, (more or less.) The flies are tied at the kitchen table after the dishes are done.

.. There are certain groups of flies that are used for specific times and places. These are loosely codified by river drainage and occasionally time of year. The assemblages are simple. They have no formal designations -- neither do the flies -- usually. Occasionally descriptive terms are applied to specific flies that have proven themselves. Terms like: The Footed Monster, The Spaghetti Muddler, The Green Floater, etc. Some are varieties of well known flies. Right now the Red Humpy is in ascendancy.
.. The kids currently are expending enormous amounts of energy and gasoline traveling to the hinterland of the northeast corner of the park. Only a few flies are used. They  can be made to cover all situations. Sizes are situational. They work: only one has a familiar name.
.. The names are: Dark Floater, Light Floater, Winged PT, Spaghetti Muddler, Red Humpy. The kids have allowed me to make some pictures of the Lamar Five. You should not have any trouble matching the names to the faces.

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So It's Hot !!

SWEAT IN YOUR EYES

The Sun Is Blinding

the clouds left hours ago

WALLPAPER

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.. Now that the major river drainage of Yellowstone National Park has settled down to it's seasonal discharge pattern it is time to visit and catch a few.
.. The vast expanses of the Lamar River Valley, the hot rocks of the Yellowstone River, the wilting glare of the green meadows along Slough Creek, and the broken vistas of the smaller creeks can produce drips from all parts of the human form.
.. And then the great giant flies commence to feast upon your body. They are bulbous, hairy, quick, and leave an irritating sting and itch as a remembrance of their visit.

SECRET WEAPON ?

.. There are horse flies, deer flies, black flies, big flies, little flies, house flies, and the other flies.
.. Of course there are mosquitoes, and ants, and bees, and wasps, and other prickly irritants to join the fishing adventures of the DEET-laden angler. But it's the giant, corpulent flies than seem the most persistent.
.. They find the sweat at the corners of your eyes. They nibble at the crevasses of your ears.
.. They nip at your rod hand in the midst of a backcast. They bite just before, (or just after,) your reel hand needs to do something appropriate.
.. The single ironic and satisfying fact that pertains to these critter is that they occasionally find the water - and fish eat them.
.. Whilst doing the back stroke the flies create a perfect mini commotion that attracts trout to some groceries.
.. There are 'realistic' fly imitations available. They are seldom found in the treasure troves of fly fishers. They do not appear in the bins of many feather merchants. They are, however, hoarded by the top guides and neighborhood fishers from Gardiner to West Yellowstone to Jackson.
.. They work. They work well. They seldom get paraded out at the pub. They have almost reached the status of secret weapon.
.. We mention it only in passing.

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WALLPAPER

In A Good Place

NEW VARIATION

Old Style

just up the road

THE THUNDER STONE

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.. It's not rare but it is an ephemeral event. Right now and for a day or four more there are three kinds of big bugs hatching on a stream that's "too cold to fish." Just ask the local experts - they are fishing elsewhere.

Thunder Creek

.. Hie thee up to the mountains. Take the dusty road to the turnaround where the horse trailers are. Park out of the way and walk a spell into a small canyon.
.. Carry bear spray in your hand and make all manner of noise. Take a fishing buddy that can't run quite as fast as you can. Stop at the friendly little stream that is being ignored by most fishers and catch buckets of large angry fish that are gobbling groceries.

TURN HERE

.. Use a simple fly that is found only in the boxes of the neighbors. Or, use a variation on the old theme and knock 'em dead.
.. While the pros and experts are concentrating on the big bugs 30 or 60 or more miles away, the neighbors are driving up the road to a little fished stretch of the Gallatin River.
.. The stream cuts through some poorly sorted glacial till and outwash. The boulders are small, the cobbles are large, the sands are coarse and fill the interstices of the sub rounded pebbles. The stream has excavated the perfect home for stoneflies. The neighbors know it. The fish know it.
.. There are fully 2 miles of exceptional fishing and catching to be had by those that are not afraid to fish out of sight of their vehicle.
.. Fish all day. Catch all day. Start early with something big and ugly and underwater. Have an early lunch and watch the hopper nymphs dry their new wings and scurry away from the hoards of marauding ants. Poke your nose in the grasses at streamside and look for ungainly bugs crawling from the water.

.. Keep your big and ugly fly on the tippet but make it float for another hour or three. Take a break, sip some, and wipe your brow - it's way too hot. Then about 3:00 PM put on a Thunder Stone and see what happens. Hope that your arms can take it. Even experienced catchers are growing arm weary from pulling the finest fish in the river out of this thin, cold, clear, and twinkling water.
.. We are pleased to let you know about this aquatic event. There will be only a few folks willing to fish where the water is too cold, the trail is too faint, and the too shiny vehicle is out of sight.
.. Should that not be you, we suggest that you join the maddening crowd and drive 35 miles or more and fish the slide. Better yet drive 50 miles and hope to find the bugs. Or call a local feather merchant for advice on where to go and with what to fish.

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GOOD CATCHING LOCATION