Saturday, September 25, 2010

Family Time

FAMILIES LOVE IT - FISHERS HATE IT
Too Damn Sunny
oh well !
"I'll fling you in the boiling water if you're not good!"
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.. Fish can be caught on these gentle, soft, and salubrious days of late September - if you work at it. Yellowstone National Park is putting on an autumn show well worth experiencing.
"Look honey, here's one."
.. There are, sunny days, crisp nights, blue skies, bumper to bumper traffic, and elbow to elbow fishers. Come join the fun. There's another week and maybe more of this wonderful weather.
.. The Baetis are occasionally present in all the usual places, particularly on the Firehole River. The caddis are small, prolific, and late during the warm afternoons. The hoppers are vanishing rapidly. The ants go marching three by three. The beetles are hiding until late afternoon. The runners from Hebgen Lake are taking their time moving up the Madison River. And; all is well with the world.
Zephyrus embracing Chloris
.. Catching on the Firehole River is steady and occasionally easy with a small caddis followed by a soft hackle. The hopper/dropper approach is good for some fair-sized fish, and small Yellow Woolly Worms dredged in the dark water can bring a large dance partner to the net.
.. Along the Madison River fishers are abandoning the deepest darkest parking spots for conventional searching. The resident fish are very active right now and willing to take just about any properly presented fly. Success in both the morning and evening is drawing our stodgy neighbors to the river in unprecedented numbers. It's just too good to be true.
"YEAH? - Your mama!"
.. Friday's anticipated cloud cover blew away with stiff zephyrs about mid morning. The wind-riffled waters were tough on the surface fishers as the winds played with fly lines, leaders, and still pools. Cagey fishers sought out the sheltered water with apparent foam lines and found willing fish all day.
.. A few persistent neighbors have stuck with their spey rods and there are reports and photos of runners being caught. There are also reports of fishers, (apparently unaware of the reach of a spey cast,) walking into pools being fished by the deep dredging streamers of the faithful.
.. Remarks about courtesy should not be necessary - yet, the mystic of "FLY FISHING" in Yellowstone Park draws both the expert and the uninitiated. Confrontation is seldom violent - but verbal exchanges can be, and are frequently heated. It just might behoove us all to pause and see what's happening before plunging into the river with our nine best friends.
.. Expertly fished nymphs are the key to numerous catchings right now. The old standbys are proving their worth. Prince nymphs, Hare's Ear nymphs, Feather Duster nymphs, Casual Dress nymphs, and the small 'dips and dipities' are doing well in attracting fish.
.. Small R.A.M. Caddis and Goddard Caddis can be fished on the surface, in the film, and drowned like an old boot. All will work well right now in the afternoon and evening. Many rigs are showing a pair of flies. Big 'n ' Little, Same 'n' Different, Light 'n' Dark, etc. are all employed and seemingly all successful.
.. Get here in the next ten days and enjoy the weather. Fish a little too, after all October is never this nice - but the catching is better.
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