THREE RIVERS
Four Hatches
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DAY ONE - .. Get to the fly shop early, grab the flies and best advice from the sage experts, scoot over and grab 
a box lunch at the deli, eat some donuts and drink some battery acid on the way to the Firehole River... Park at your favorite hole and throw some cripples, emergers, nymphs, and soft hackles.
.. Get off the river by 11:00 AM. Sit in the shade, eat lunch, tell lies and remember how good it was. Plan for the fall excitement and kiss the river and it's fish goodbye for a few months.
.. Get in the car and cruise to your secret spot on the Madison River: get there early. Walk the banks and enjoy the sun. Take a few pictures and plan your strategy. Look for noses.
.. At about 3:30 PM start with some nymphs and switch to a soft hackle by 4:30 PM. Slowly work your way toward the foam line with a big nose in the air.
.. Fish the soft hackle until there are three noses in view. Pause and change
to: (whatever seems appropriate,) White Miller, Elk Hair Caddis, Fluffy Stimulator... Catch fish until the slurping noises become as loud as cannon fire and you can no longer see the blades of grass on the bank.
.. Call it a day and return to West Yellowstone for a perfectly charred, medium rare, rib eye steak. Hide from the visitors in that solitary dark corner and reminisce.
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DAY TWO - .. Get to the fly shop early. Repeat the drill of yesterday - add your own bit of truth from yesterday's excursion. Spend a bit more time solving the problems of the universe because the Gallatin River is too cold to fish in the morning, (uh-huh.) Get another box lunch. This time with two, (or three,) sandwiches.
.. Head north and stop at Baker's Hole on the Madison River. Fish the spinner fall in the seldom visited park water. Ignore the campers and screaming children... Console yourself with the scores of 18" trout that have grown tired of being gut-hooked with flashy spinners and inflated worms.
.. Crawl out of the river about 1:30 PM and eat your first sandwich. Point your trusty steed north and visit the riffles on the Gallatin River. Fling a few Prince Nymphs, or even a beetle. When you see the shadows, or have caught your 37th fish, (whichever comes first,) flip a coin.
.. Eat your second sandwich and allow the coin toss to determine whether to stay and dance with all the gullible fish gnawing at your waders, OR, travel back to the Madison River to get that large nose that flipped a ragged fly into your face with it's tail... Fish until you hear all that splashing and slurping. Make your way to the bank and cast a mouse to the noises by the shore until the 10:00 PM closure.
.. Eat your third sandwich at the deserted picnic table and tell stories until the mosquitoes have sucked you dry. Return home and prepare your mind for the work-a-day world.
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