CHIPS AHOY !

GOOD GAWD MARTHA

It's A Poo Fly

.. Immortalized in Bison Poo is a beautiful rendition of Yellowstone's favorite fly: the "CRUSTY CRITTER." Traveling artist Jeff Kennedy has returned home from his splendid Yellowstone Adventure and the flow of fly offerings is back.
.. Click on over to Drawing Flies 365 and check out the progress - we're holding our breath. The Sand Fly and the Pine Tree Parachute promise to become classics.

-------

.. Fish anywhere but on the Yellowstone River. The Lehardy Fire is still not controlled and you can't get there anyway. To follow the details visit InciWeb. The link to Google Earth will keep you visually updated on this and other fires.

-------

.. It's time to call it quits if you're into catching fish on the Firehole River. Give it a rest. Temperatures are up, the fish are being stressed in mid day, and there are better opportunities for catching. If you absolutely demand the "Firehole Experience" we suggest that you cut the bend, barb, and point off of your hook. Float that dry right to the nose of the fish that's rising. If it comes up -- YOU WIN; on to the next! AND -- the scenery is grand.
.. The Gallatin River is the easy place for all day fishing. So, too, is Soda Butte Creek; So, to, is the Lamar River. The fish are just beginning to get finicky, but there is still time between thunderstorms to catch a few. Take a single box of small attractor flies, leave the vest in the rig, and stroll around.
.. The riffle and run sections of the Gibbon River are in perfect condition. If you can ignore the traffic noise you'll find success with the same attractor patterns. Any place that there is dark water probably holds a fish. The catching here rewards the soft and slow stalker - no surprise in the thin water of the canyon.
.. PMD's. PMD's. PMD's. Where? Slough Creek. Fish first; breakfast later -- make it lunch. Tell some stories, then, back to the fray with a few ants, midges, and nymphs. Each day that goes by educates the fish a bit more, and given the pressure it's now or more difficult. . . .

-------

.. HDW MOBILE reminds us that all is not what we might think it is. Back from traveling he lets us see what Wordie finds in his 'word cloud.' We tried it.

Maybe we'll change the name of these epistles to:
"Creek Fishing for Yellowstone Trout."

Fish Here

WISH YOU WERE HERE

Watch The Fires At InciWeb

LEHARDY WILDLAND FIRE

click for larger image

.. As of 1:00 AM the fire is 0% contained and burning over 700 acres.

-------

INCIWEB NATIONAL INCIDENTS

LEHARDY NEWS RELEASE

LEHARDY INCIDENT UPDATES
LEHARDY ANNOUNCEMENT UPDATES

-------

.. Fish elsewhere.

Fish The Rigs ?

LETS EXPLORE
THE YELLOWSTONE

New Habitat -- ??

montana leaves us just one day to comment

.. Via NewWest --> "State-owned land in and around Gallatin County could [be] up for oil and gas development — parcels that include the riverbeds of the Yellowstone and Boulder rivers".
.. Montana is considering the sale of School Trust State Lands for oil and gas leasing. The NewWest Article spills the beans. The map below shows the parcels.
.. As noted by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition much of the land surrounding the rivers is privately owned. HOWEVER, the riverbed is owned by the people of the state of Montana.
.. This comes rapidly on the heels of the Ruby River access tussle. Before you know it we'll not only have bass in the Firehole River, but jacks and redfish in the Yellowstone River. The fishing opportunities are endless. Think of the new revenue from heavy rods and 100# Stren. The mind boggles.

Hidden Treasures

JUST THE THING
FOR AUGUST

Trees Trout Timeout

sorta secret hatches & places

.. It happens about this time every year. Our home waters fill up with visitors and 'discovery' is the theme for every one of them. We retreat to better fishing in more secluded areas where the fish are eager, relaxed, and very willing dance partners. There are no secrets about the fishing in Yellowstone National Park. Happily, this time of year, people continue to visit the fabled glory waters and leave the good fishing alone.
.. The bits of dust on the Obsidian Creek trail are becoming clouds as more and more people wend their way along this stream. Interestingly, the trails along Straight Creek and Winter Creek are still a bit obscure. The late spring and cool Summer temperatures, (so far,) have delayed one of the sorta secret hatches in Yellowstone. It'll be over by the end of next week, but right now there is excellent dry fly fishing to explosive Brook Trout. Your favorite Green Drake imitation in sizes 16-20 will keep you busy for as long as you care to cast. Watch for the bigger fish to be close to the dead fall and snags. Take your 3-weight and enjoy the scenery.
.. Digestion of your leisurely picnic at Grizzly Lake will not be aided by the eager Brookies in the lake smacking anything on the surface. If the day is calm it's fun to cast to the cruisers. If it's windy get to the windward shore for big fish on foam ants.
.. The grasshopper nymphs along Blacktail Deer Creek will have wings by next week and the hatch will blossom along with the beetles by the second week in August. This is one of the places where angry Mountain Whitefish will keep you guessing longer than usual. Little scorn should be wasted on these tigers, they are almost as selective as the Brook Trout.
.. If you still have legs that still work well, now is the time to fish Cache Creek. It's clear, cold and nearly devoid of fisher folks.
.. Eager native Cutthroat Trout have been enjoying the summer so far, (judging by the trail.) The area around Waab Springs shows some usage but this bit of mosquito fodder is well worth fishing right now. The ants are out and they are feeding on first stage grasshopper larvae. Get there early as the temperature really accelerates this hopper hatch.
.. Tower Creek is enjoying a resurgence in popularity this year, as is Solfaterra Creek and Indian Creek. The campgrounds are sprouting more fly rods than camper trailers -- for a change. These are still good August destinations, but the upper Fan Creek meadows are probably better for solitude. Of course bears like solitude too.
.. These are the sorta secret places that we used to visit this time of year. They are getting crowded as 'discovery' continues.
.. We have a couple of places that we've been fishing that are less discovered. The fish are eager, the trails almost indecipherable, the mosquitoes absent, and the water is still cold and clear. Ants abound and the hoppers are over 1/2 inch long. We'll be surprised to see you there.

A Brief Map Note

CASCADE CORNER
MAPPING STARTED

The Red Spots Are Dead Mosquitoes

.. We've added one more map. It's not on the map page yet but you can follow along at Yellowstoner's Places. The map is going to be confusing at first because the stream courses coupled with the State/Federal boundaries mean that you will need at least three tickets in your pocket -- Idaho, Wyoming, Yellowstone.
.. There are now 13 maps that have been visited over 150,000 times in just over a year. The information base is growing and the visitation rate is gratifying.

Quick And Dirty

MADISON FISHING WELL

Moose Enjoying Madison

gibbon, gallatin, grebe too

.. Forget the Firehole River. The Madison River is Hot, (the hoppers are just 1/4 inch long, flightless and into their second molt.) The Gallatin River has gone crazy. Grebe Lake is high cold and crowded.
.. We haven't caught ours yet, but the Grayling catch on the upper Gibbon River is higher this year than in recent memory. Even the meadows below the falls are continuing to fish and catch well.
.. The footpaths along Obsidian Creek are dusty and the elbow density is definitely up. The Gardiner River has come into it's own and the busy roadside sections are pocked with visitors - must be the hoppers.
.. Slough Creek has picked up and visitors know it. Pebble Creek is the sleeper. Soda Butte Creek is better than ever. The Lamar River is just slightly colored. Even the Yellowstone River is yielding to the persistent fish hunters, (just stroll along the bank and cast to a rising fish - the fish density is way down but the sizes are approaching enormous.) Summer is late and all is right with the world.
.. Recluse fishers have abandoned Duck Creek for the Gallatin River and the willow meadows of Fan Creek. Where is there to be found a bit of solitude? - - nowhere!
.. The phenomenal density of mosquitoes in the Cascade Corner of Yellowstone National Park is justly famous and is on time this year. Interestingly, Boundary Creek, Bechler River, and Falls River are yielding gobs of fish to eager anglers with head nets and gallons of DEET.
.. The roadside stretch of the Lewis River, the Snake River, and the 'hidden tirbs' are enjoying immense popularity. And, the little bit of water between Shoshone Lake and Lewis Lake is full of canoes and float tubes. We wonder why?
.. This is what has made Yellowstone National Park such an exciting place to fish. Right now, (this very instant,) you can fish most anywhere and take home stories to fill a lifetime. The diversity is enormous. The catching success is gratifying.
.. You can check the fly shop reports, blog about it, or go fishing . . . we're doing the latter.

-------

.. Jeff Kennedy over at Drawing Flies is back at it. We won't spoil the joy, but it's worth a daily click. We want to see just what he gathered up on his Yellowstone adventure.