Your Aerobic 4th

VERY EAGER FISH

Thin Cold Water

patience is rewarded

WHERE THE NEIGHBORS FISH

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.. So, with a mid week FOURTH OF JULY the bookend weekends are very busy.
.. Yellowstone National Park is on pace for another record year and the fisher folk are thick as remoras on a nurse shark.

JOIN THIS LINE

.. Lines for the one lane park entrance through our village extend for a mile or more.
.. Waiting time can exceed an hour or more. It's like a buffalo jam but worse.
.. There is no need to expound upon the catching conditions for the popular crowded jam packed bits of our west side rivers.

ENTRANCE STATION OUT OF SIGHT

.. Recently the Firehole River has been blessed with cool weather and cool rains.
.. Little bugs are regular and predictable. Caddis and white millers are plentiful.
.. The counter help at the feather merchants are up to speed and can provide you with decent, (if slightly dated,) information. Use them and enjoy the camaraderie of the dusty aisles.
.. The same is true of the Madison River. If you can find a safe parking place  - - - go for it and, join the throngs. We welcome you to our village and the rivers on this side of the park.
.. Even the poisoned Gibbon River has some fish in it below Virginia Cascades. There is even a pod of Grayling in the campground meadows.

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.. For those of you willing to forego the elbow display and parade of mobile condominiums, there is a lovely little, (and sadly unloved,) stream that is far from the maddening crowds. It's name is Fan Creek.

FAN CREEK:  VIEW TO THE ROAD

.. This little creek has profited from the cooler weather and the sporadic rains. It is running clear and cold. There were even some spent spawners still in the deep holes yesterday.
.. It's not easy fishing and fails to attract the visitor because it requires stealth, patience, observation, and a modicum of water savvy.
.. Most of the best places are guarded by thick willows with no pounded down trails. Occasionally there are moose in the willows. Even the bears are a bit shy of entering where moose may be.

FAN CREEK:  VIEW OF THE CREEK

.. Should you choose to follow the trail from the parking lot to the creek you will bypass a few hundred yards of deep holes, good holding water, thin riffles and, many eager fish.
.. There are fish under every bank. Many are very small. All are eager eaters. This is a creek that allows you to use your winter rejected flies with impunity. With a bit of stealth you may even be able to cast to a 12" monster on the surface.

WIDE SPOT - -  WAY UP HIGH

.. By the time you get to the thick willow meadows by the current and previous beaver ponds you will find the creek hidden from view.
.. The meander bends are deeper than expected in this stretch.
.. Depending on where the sun is; those fish could be or, not be where they are expected.
.. Should you choose to sample only the bottom reaches it is possible to access the Gallatin River at the bridge and fish up to the confluence with Fan Creek.

CONFLUENCE: FAN & GALLATIN

.. The bridge pool, (both sides of the road,) can hold fish in the shade and the dark pockets between the boulder riffles. The riffle and run stretch along the steep headland is very productive nymph water for big bugs and, yellow ones as well.
.. The green growth this year is nearly blinding. This has been a Springtime for growing. Willows, grasses and sedges, are crowding each other and look like one big plant throughout the meadows.

FOR A WET YEAR

.. Wet years produce a fine crop of mosquitoes. If you tie 'em, use em.  This is the perfect time and place.
.. We anticipate a good hopper hatch in about six weeks. The beetles are already showing themselves along the elk trails and crumbled bank.
.. The best part of this little creek is that you can spend the first half of the day fishing up the stream and then fish back down in the afternoon or evening.
.. You can fish the same spots and even catch the same fish - if your stealth skills are good and you have some small binoculars and a bit of patience.

GET IT !

.. There are other small waters throughout Yellowstone National Park. They are less fished. They are not for the headhunter or glory water fans.
.. They all have fish and, right now, the catching is as good as it has been in the last five years - - maybe more.
.. Explore some and catch many.  Have a great Fourth Of July and don't forget the bear spray!

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BILLIE'S SPIDER

.. Morning is still coming after daylight. We'll manage. And, fools that we are; we're headed back out into the fray. The wind is up and we have a 10' four weight with a spider that ought to fool a few fish into a mid day dance.
.. Yep! Bright sun and spiders dancing near an undercut bank. It's an old fishers' trick.

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WALLPAPER:   BISTEC a la MEXICANA