Opening Plans

BREAKFAST CONSPIRACY
River's Look Scrumptious
odds 'n' ends

.. Biscuits and gravy at Ernie's Deli is the perfect companion for discussing the attributes of bonito off the coast of California - at least we think they're bonito and it's probably the realm of Queen Califia.







.. Anyway - esta muy bonita, via la boca de caballo.

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.. When the plates of good gravy and biscuits were about done, and we decided to have another helping, we finally turned to making conspiratorial plans for opening day in Yellowstone National Park.
.. There are many TOPICS:
-> Yellowstone Park Fishing Permit; check! No new regulations this year! Read the regulations - it's all barbless.
-> Weather Forecast; Saturday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 64. Northeast wind at 10 mph becoming west southwest. Perfect!
-> River Conditions: Madison River - Very Good, Firehole River - Very Good, Gallatin River - O.K. if you must, Gibbon River - Good below the falls, O.K. in the canyon, Near perfect but high in the meadows.
-> Flies and Gear; Marshall Cutchin at Mid Current provided us with a peek into Craig Mathews fly box, great fodder for discussions and preparation.
-> Strategy; fish the same places as last year and catch the same fish - or - check out some new places to see if there are fish present - or - drive and sample all of the obvious places - or - well you know.
-> Food for conspirators; Key Lime Pie, Nutter Butter Cookies, Peppermint Schnapps, bold Single Malt, some Ham & Cheese on Rye for appearances, two thermos fulls of coffee, and maybe one of the left over Christmas Cubans from Aunt Mary.
-> Where to fish;

Hotel Run on Nez Perce Creek,

Biscuit Basin, between the bridges on the Firehole River,

Barns Holes on the Madison River,

Hidden Pond,

Dipper Cliff on the Firehole River,

Pocket Basin on the Firehole River,

Campground Pool on the Gibbon River,

One Cast Meanders on the Gibbon River,

or some place else, like a walk up Solfaterra Creek.

-> What about the bears? There has been unusually heavy bear activity in the river valleys this spring. Whether this is due to the increased bear population or the availability of winter kill by the wolves is not known. By all means take your bear spray! Not the little can that hangs on your vest - the great big honkin' can that is as big as your wife's hair spray canister - and - know how to use it and how to get to it quickly without fumbling. (See "Headlines" below.)
-> What flies to use; They will probably all work - so - take 'em all. Nymphs, a few Elk hair Caddis, large midges and small caddis, maybe a BWO or even PMD. The fish are hungry. Even some stone fly nymphs will do. We'll have a success report tomorrow or Sunday - (or Monday, depending on the results.)

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.. From National Parks Traveler comes an in-depth synopsis of the attempts to stop invasive species in the great lakes. There is also a note about how the new NPS campground reservation computer system crashed.

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.. A visitor to Yellowstone was mauled by a bear for the second time. The visitor had previously been ticketed, (and acquitted,) for approaching too close to a bear.
.. We know that no fly fisher would ever walk off trail or intentionally sneak up on a bear - however the opposite is a distinct possibility. You can read about it in several web reports, here are a few: #one, #two, #three, #four, #five, #NPS-1, #NPS-2. The park plans no action against the bear.
.. Bison are returning to the Madison River valley through the efforts of a hazing project to remove them from land outside of Yellowstone Park. Be advised that the Baker's Hole Campground is in the hazing path and many bison hang out between there and the meadows of the Barns Holes. There are fisher folks injured by bison every year. Read about it here.