Fly Shop #7

.

Fly Shop #2

.

FONSI

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=30504

Duck Creek Bottoms

Simple Pleasures

FOUR SEASONS PER DAY

Well -- Three anyway

the sun appeared briefly

FISHERS AND BISON SHARE THE SAME MEADOWS

-------

.. As opening days go, it was fairly typical. It snowed some, it rained some, the sun peeked out some and fish were caught - some.
.. The faithful who worshiped at the holy waters were rewarded with blustery weather, crowded waters, wildlife, and a few bugs. Most who came sought the simple pleasures of whipping the water to a froth while waiting for some surface action.
.. It's a simple bit of fun. Get your new waders wet in the deep spots where you just kicked out the fish, then cast to a rising fish 50' away.

THE F3 SPEY FLY

.. The cool weather and the falling snow of the last few days have slowed the runoff to a fishable torrent and the water is clear enough to fish.
.. A few sneaky fishers with the wherewithal to find the big fish tucked under the banks used nymphs, streamers, wet flies, and other assorted fluff below the surface. We used a small Spey fly. Fish were caught by most fishers.

PMD Fun

.. Worshiping and genuflecting was persistent for the whole day. Brief sunny spells punctuated the blustery day while it rained and snowed more than anything else.
.. The PMD's showed up about 2:30 PM and the congregation was rewarded for their patience with the howling wind and blinding snow flurries.
.. Sunshine seemed to be the enemy. With it came the screaming kids, nosy visitors, news photographers, and the family dog, (or dogs,) it was like unto a party. The bison near Ojo Caliente, on the Firehole River drew crowds to watch the wildlife, (hominid and bovine alike.)

THE SUN BRINGS FORTH A PARTY ATMOSPHERE

.. Sunday was a repeat of Saturday with more and heavier snowfalls. The bugs appeared again, right after lunch, and drew the magnetized hoards to the water. The Firehole River was the main attraction on the west side of the park.
.. Some less-than-social fisher folk noticed that the bear closure signs had been removed from Nez Perce Creek: up they went. Reports of clear water and eager fish rolled down the Mary Mountain trail like ball bearings on a playground slide. There was more snow in the Nez Perce Valley but there seemed to be easier fishing and catching, (for those that care.) It's a pleasure reserved for those who will walk a little farther.

NEWSREEL PHOTOGRAPHER FORCED TO
CHOOSE BETWEEN BISON & FLY FISHER

.. Rumors of enormous fish, (about the size of oil drums,) have filtered to our ears from the small party of mud fishers that walked the bank of Duck Creek in it's last 1/2 mile before the impoundment and the park line. A fuzzy cell phone image went a long way toward convincing us that even heretics catch fish away from the holy water.
.. The discharge rates have already started to rise after the cool weather. Color will probably return to the holy water. Fishers will still traipse the banks and dogs and children will frolic along the shore. This brief pause in the high water phase is soon to end, (given the improbable veracity of the near term weather forecast.)
.. The Madison River drew few fishers and even fewer catchers. Those that knew where the water slowed and the banks were deeply undercut had a field day. The rest just wet their waders.
.. As always we'll keep you posted about the fishing and catching. The neighbors will be pissed, the feather merchants will be irked, the rangers will be peevish, (as usual,) & a good time will be had by all while Fly Fishing in Yellowstone National Park.

-------

.

The Throngs Of Spring

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.  

~Henry David Thoreau

Midnight Snow: May 26 - 27, 2011

-------

.. They've been arriving on schedule: just like the swallows at Capistrano. It's an annual migration: from the cluttered lowlands of our nation to the idyllic meadows of Yellowstone.
.. Last night while they slept in their cozy motel beds Mom spewed forth a greeting of white stuff for their edification. The kind of greeting that is but a foretaste of tomorrow's opening day in Yellowstone National Park.

Just Like Christmas

.. For the moment, at least, there is no place in our little village that received more than two feet of snow. The famous rivers of the west side of the park are cool, and their meadows can all be traversed without having to trudge through more than knee deep snow.
.. This migration is a ritual that has little to do with fish and much to do with the space between the visitor's ears.
.. Spring, (such as it is this year,) has arrived in Yellowstone. The indicators are present in abundance:
1,] it says so on the calendar,
2.] the Firehole River came within 1 cfs of setting an all-time discharge record last Tuesday, (it's back down to a gentle 100 cfs above seasonal average,)
3,] the Gibbon River broke it's discharge record for the last four days by over 400 cfs, and the trend continues,
4,] the Madison River has been running at between 500 and 700 cfs above the seasonal average for the last week, and is continuing to pump chocolate sludge into Hebgen Reservoir.
5,] feather merchants are dancing with glee at the in-migration of the faithful,
6,] pub proprietors have finally found an outlet for their weirdly named and highly over rated local beers,
7,] park rangers have a fresh supply of ball point pens and stacks of newly printed citation forms for the visitors that have not read this year's new regulations - or are ignoring them - or have parked poorly in their haste to not catch fish.

Full Dress Feather Duster

.. This year opening day will, again, not be about the fish. It's about the ritual, the mentality, the commitment to fish the holy water and conditions be damned!
.. This year it's about slogging around frozen meadows and hanging out in the snow doing senseless things that the wife will not let the old codgers do at home.
.. We'll take our favorite flies, (guaranteed not to catch fish in the current conditions,) and tie them on with our frozen fingers. We'll have a net with holes bigger than any anticipated fish. We will even take a camera to record beautiful scenery because we know that there will be no fish to pose for a portrait.
.. We'll be there tomorrow to participate in the snowstorm, the soggy cigars, and the amber liquids. We've been invited to traipse through the tundra with our neighborhood mud-fishers. It will be a day to remember.
.. Damn the conditions - full haul ahead!

-------

Your Fee Dollars At Work

.

Through The Roof

BRIEF NOTE OF DESPAIR

Day To Day Anxiety

Saturday cometh

SUCH A PRETTY COLOR

-------

.. We're headed out the door, so this is brief. The Madison River, Gibbon River, Firehole River are responding to the recent and continuing rain in a spectacular fashion. There are no official records yet, and we don't look for them for another hour or so, but the water continues to be high and thick, and very muddy.
.. "Traditionally" the Firehole River is fishable on opening day, (you can fish any water, but catching possibilities are problematic.) Charts below.
.. We'll let you know on Friday where the throngs are going and where the catching might be possible.
.. We're in the park daily and are frequently amused by the long-distance reports and prognoses of folks that have a soft easy chair and piles of historical data. The web is full of: "Traditionally," "Usually," "Frequently," "Ought to be . . .," etc. There is no substitute for "WE STUCK OUR THERMOMETER IN THE MUDDY WATER."

-------

-------

.