Trout Be Gone !!

WILDERNESS INVASION

The Damn Rainbows

we'll fix it

-------  

.. In a continuing effort to remove invasive Rainbow Trout from the Slough Creek/Lamar River/ Yellowstone River system the current environmental assessment shows the way.

.. Above it's barrier falls Buffalo Creek was naturally fishless. Rainbow Trout were planted in Hidden Lake in 1935. They migrated downstream in the Buffalo River to Slough Creek and commenced to hybridize with the native Cutthroat Trout.

.. The current proposal is to remove the invasive species from above the barrier falls to provide a refuge for the native Cutthroat Trout.

.. Yellowstone National Park, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and the National Forest Service are cooperating in this effort. There is a comment email address for response from the public, (fwpregion5pc@mt.gov)

RESOURCES

>> Billings Gazette

>> Draft EA

>> MoldyChum

>> Montana FWP Cutthroat Trout Story

-------  

WALLPAPER: HOT BEEF SANDWICH & MASHED SPUDS

A Different Sort Of Trout

JUST CRUZING

Loosely Schooled

an apex predator

WALLPAPER:  BETTER WET THAN DRY

-------  

.. There is a place about 13 hours by road from West Yellowstone. It's a place where there are cobbled beaches. It's a place where there are sandy beaches. It's a place where rivers meet the ocean. It's a place where tidal flats and muddy estuaries blend together.

FEISTY LITTLE FISH

.. There are canals, boat ramps, docks, breakwaters, sea walls, and storms. It's a place where a trout can make a sumptuous living. It's is, of course, the Pacific coast of northwest North America.
.. The trout is, of course, the sea run Cutthroat Trout. Sometimes called the 'coastal trout,' 'estuary trout,' 'salty trout,' 'rain forest trout,'and other local monikers.

THE FUZZY WORM

.. These fish are driven by the availability of food. Food that is responsive to tides, sun, clouds, substrate, salinity, etc. Their behavior is complex and generally predictable while specifically  seemingly capricious.
.. There is even evidence to suggest that within a single population there is a variability of behavior that suggest diverse movement behaviors are a normal pattern.

THE STEAM FLY

.. Although not as social as trout in lakes or steelhead in the ocean, these fish can congregate in good numbers wherever food is availble.
.. There have been research results that suggest that by the age of two any individual fish has probably, established a 'home' territory. These territories overlap and can lead to the appearance, (during feeding,) of loose schools.

THE FIRE_N_SMOKE FLY

.. There are very few absolutes when fishing for these fish. Flies are variable. Water depth is variable. Food sources are highly variable, takes can occur from top to bottom at any time.
.. There are a couple of near absolutes: not a shallow sandy bottom, not too often in the brightest light, spawning occurs in fresh water streams.

THE FIRESTORM FLY

.. Typical river and stream trout gear is just fine for most situations. Care must be taken to rinse your equipment. Take a shower with it and run all your line and backing through your fingers. Corrosion happens quickly and irreversibly.
.. Smolts can migrate to the sea at any age or first year to sixth year. Some migrate upstream to spawn others  move in and out of streams for their entire life, (up to eight years.) Adult fish can eat insects, crustaceans, fish, annelids, etc.
.. There are many traditional, (gaudy,) flies for the sea run Cutthroat Trout. These frequently mimic Steelhead and Salmon flies in any given locality and region.

THE HAYSTACK FLY

.. There is currently emerging a class of flies that resemble typical stream and river flies. Given the feeding habits of these fish it does not seem to matter which class of fly is used.
.. Of course presentation is often the key to catching, (beside finding the fish.) One of the general rules is "the deeper the wigglier."
.. The ocean beckons. Listen to the clarion call.

-----  

.. Just a day or so left to gall a trout in Yellowstone National Park. The snow has thinned the herd and there are places to park and, water to fish.

THE BEAD HEAD SOFT HACKLE

.. Your favorite rod and a few soft hackles will drum up all the dance partners that you can handle, (keep 'em wet.) No need to even get in the water. There are many eager and anxious fish just waiting for you.

-------  

WALLPAPER:   3 RODS, FOUR TO NINE WEIGHT

Interested In Native Fish ??

YELLOWSTONE SCIENCE

Native Fish Conservation

download vol. 25, #1

DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE !

-------

.. Starting in 2010 a focused and concerted effort was implemented to conserve the native fish of Yellowstone National Park.
.. Although, in the past, there have been smaller programs to the same end, this is a park wide and species wide effort.
.. This report from Yellowstone Science is the first significant release of the program scope and results to date. Public meetings and listening sessions have taken place over the last seven years. This report ties together the dribs and drabs of information that have trickled out over the last seven years.
.. The body of the report is 50 pages, including the bibliography and references.

Appended to the report are:

>> Note from the Yellowstone Lake Working group,
>> Note about suppressing non-native Lake Trout,
>> Note about fish population responses to suppression,
>> Women in science,
>> Movement patterns and areas for spawning Lake Trout,
>> Lake Trout supression [sic] alternatives to gillnetting,
>> Protection from aquatic invasive species,
>> Trout facts,
>> Volunteer activities,
>> Schweber note on catching locations.
>> Birds and mammals that eat cutthroat,
.. Download it HERE-1 or HERE-2.

-----

SIERRA BRIGHT DOT - WORKS!

.. The bright grayness has arrived with a warm mixed drizzle of snow and rain. Perfect fishing weather. The mush will keep the fair weather fishers off of the trails  whoot, whoot!
.. We'll don the gear and brave the warm and wet. Right after breakfast and a nap.

-------

THE NEIGHBORS GROW GOOD WHEAT

Got Wheels ?

TRY OTTER TROUT LAKE

An Often Forgotten Place

eager fish, otters, and grunts

-------

.. While the Hoppers have inundated the campground at Slough Creek, and while the elbows are thronging to the famous northeast trinity of Slough, Soda, and Lamar, free-spirited elbows are working up a sweat and enjoying three little lakes with grand views and glorious fishing. Pretty good catching too.

..If you can handle a steep trail under a blistering sun we suggest that this is a proper destination for the angler not obsessed with headhunting or running water. Take your camera and a lunch. Take your bear spray and someone else who will enjoy postcard beauty and a few fish along the way.
.. The trail is a 1/2 mile of uphill grunting. Once up the hill from the road you will encounter an undulating landscape that holds the true trinity of the northeast fishery: Trout Lake, Buck Lake, and Shrimp Lake. These little gems are tucked into periglacial depressions and are well worth the hike. Plan to spend a day or two exploring.

.. The hardcore headhunters can spend a full day at Trout Lake in the hopes of hanging onto a 24" Rainbow Trout or several 18" Cutthroat Trout. This is the site of an early fish hatchery in Yellowstone National Park. The fish did well then and do well now. The otters know it well;  and some of the neighbors make a pilgrimage during hopper time, (LIKE RIGHT NOW!)
.. Buck Lake is also worth fishing for the catching. Shrimp Lake is supposedly devoid of fish but there are otters there too - go figure ? ? ? ?
.. For some reason known only to the trout the catching has been a bit harder than in recent memory. The fish are still large, (medium and small too.) The fishers are still happy to have been there. The otters are still fat and photogenic. The hoppers are hopping. The beetles are beetling and the trout are eating.
.. If you plan to lug a float tube up the hill be sure to get a boat permit for the tube. It's a park requirement and the rangers know.

.. For those of us trapped on the west side of the park the mysteries of the northeast corner hold a fascination that can only be assuaged by the expenditure of time and gasoline. A few of us trek to Cooke City and stay with friends for a long fishing weekend. Some of us camp in the wild. The affluent grab a motel and hang out: fishing hard each day. A trip up the hill is always on the schedule.
.. Closer to home, it's important to note that the Gallatin River is providing some excellent evening activity for both fish and fishers. Hoppers, ants, beetles and caddis are all active and providing entertainment for a the neighbors.
.. It's a busy time of the year for the merchants in town. High summer shopping is in full swing. The streets are crowded and the grocery stores become genuine freak shows with a cacophony of children's shrieks, carts clattering, languages sputtering, and clerks smiling through it all. It's worth viewing if you don't need the groceries.
.. We're avoiding it all and fishing a small little no name tributary of the Notellum River. We will spend the upcoming weekend enjoying the mass gathering of cartoon cars at the 44th annual West Yellowstone Rod Run.

-------

..

Worth A Couple Of Days

NO MADDING CROWD

The Horse Knows The Way

a truly secret fishing hole

-------

.. Briefly: there is no better dry fly water in all of Yellowstone National Park. It's name is not in the lexicon of "experts" whose stories start with "I fished . . . ."
.. We don't recommend it to many folks. We don't mention it too often. We're not afraid it'll be "discovered" and become too crowded - it's too far from the road. In fact just forget that we mentioned it at all.

Red = Nex Perce, Purple = General Howard

.. Adam "Horn" Miller was born in Bavaria in Oct. of 1839 and moved to St. Louis when he was a child. He came up the Missouri River in 1854 from St. Louis and settled in Emigrant Gulch as early as 1864 or 1869.
.. He prospected in Yellowstone at that time along with John Davis. He later prospected with Bart Henderson, Ed Hibbard, James Gourley, Sam Shively, Pike Moore, and Joe Brown. He discovered gold in the Cooke City area with Bart Henderson and others in 1869-70, naming their mine the Shoo Fly Mine.
.. During the next few years he helped Bart Henderson build the road from Bottler’s Ranch to Mammoth. He acted as guide for Superintendent  Norris in 1877 in the northeastern portion of the park when Norris was looking for another northern approach to the park. He again guided Norris and photographer Henry Bird Calfee in 1880 on an exploration of the Hoodoo Basin.
.. Miller was one of the scouts under Gen. Howard during the Nez Perce War of 1877. Miller also did guiding and hunting out of Cooke City. When asked if he ever killed an Indian, he replied, "I never went to see, but I shot a good many." Later on he settled down in a cabin across the Yellowstone River from Yankee Jim.
.. Miller Creek and Miller Mountain were named after him. He died in 1913. His obituary described him as a "man of sterling character, a man without enemies of any kind, it is said, and a citizen who always had a kind word for everyone." [[ REFERENCE HERE ]] Thank you Geyser Bob.

-------

No Fish & Fires

FRIENDLY FISH ALL GONE

Less Friendly Fires Arrive

and so it goes in our neighborhood

HDR Wallpaper: 'TWO TOP' fire, 4 miles south of West Yellowstone

-------

.. We took a little ride up the road and fished for a spell on the Gallatin River.

LOVELY GRAYLING CREEK: devoid of fish & bugs.

.. On the way home we stopped and grabbed a snapshot of our favorite stretch of a little stream that has favored us with many hours of fine escape and solitude.
.. It's still a pretty place but all the fish are dead. Most of the bugs too.
..Low water, high temperatures and a liberal dose of Rotenone have removed the fish and most of the bugs.
..This is part of the native fish conservation plan of Yellowstone National Park.
.. There will be another dose of Rotenone - maybe two. Then Grayling Creek will be the recipient of some grayling and some cutthroat.
.. We should be able to return to fish our neglected bits of water in 5 or 6 years - if we live that long.

----

.. The Gallatin River is coughing up some nice fish to the local favorite technique; a double hopper rig.
.. There were hoards of hoppers along Grayling Creek. There were no fish on the surface.
.. We await, (but not with held-breath,) the return of friendly fish to Grayling Creek.

-------

.. The "TWO TOP" fire is just a smidgen more than four miles south of West Yellowstone. It's burning in heavy and dry timber along the state line.
.. Since the prevailing winds are toward our little village the Interagency Fire Center has called in resources above the normal for a fire of this size, (about 90 acres.) Smoke jumpers based here were quick to the fire.  The Leland Snow "Air Tractors" are bombing the fire with retardant. There is also a siphon helicopter and a couple of fire crews. Local and State, and Federal manpower is on the scene.
.. The fire is "burning in heavy fuels" - the official jargon for a hot one with lots to eat. Fires are a fact of life in our neighborhood. They rejuvenate the forest and maintain a healthy stand of trees. Of course the burned areas don't usually make for postcard views of the neighborhood.
.. It should be rapidly contained. We'll keep you posted.

==> TWO TOP FIRE PAGE.

--------

B & W Wallpaper:  Watching the "TWO TOP" fire from the edge of town.

-------

Wallpaper: Leland Snow Air Tractor Tanker,  Modified For Fire Fighting.

The Rays Burst Forth

TOO BRIGHT TO FISH

Earthquakes And Landslides

time to hit the road

SO THAT'S WHERE THE MUD COMES FROM

-------

.. The last few days have seen wet and more wet. The rains, or the earthquake, or the mudslides, must have kept Sasquatch in his den - we survived the Myrtle Point woods and caught a fish, (or so.)
.. We were about drowned in the heavy surf as well, but managed to also catch a fish, (or so,) there.
.. So then today, as we're counting our blessings and drying off and packing gear - the sun explodes like a SOCAL summer day. Go figure.


Blueback At Dusk

.. The town of Brookings, Oregon is reeling from back-to-back storms that did considerable property damage and taxed the city's drainage system. The totals are not in but millions of dollars will have to be spent to fix everything.
.. The mud in the river has something to do with a pair of landslides and the runoff associated with the storms. The fish are loving it. The fishers are philosophical, ". . . "It is what it is. . .  "

CRACK SOME

.. The start of the crabbing season is just so-so. We ate some. Yum. The Bluebacks are all along the coast and in the surf. None reported from the rivers yet.
.. Steelhead are in the rivers and scurring upstream under cover of mud. Can you say Spin and Glow? Very few fly-caught fish on the Chetco River. Some, however, in secret places on the Coquille River. Ghosts!
.. The Chetco River is at historic high flows, {LINK.} and you'll have to get someone local to show you the ropes. It's a grand and glorious river. Check out THE MAP courtesy of WILD RIVERS FISHING.
.. Should you like to see "What's Da Hap's?" around here just click on over to the WILD RIVERS FISHING report for a glimpse. They have the right stuff. Chaeck it out {LINK.} Those folks will even take you to the Smith River if you've a hankering for some Golden State Steelhead. As big and wild as they come!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT ?

.. There are some very nice and placid pools on the upper reaches of some of the other rivers around here. Not what would normally be thought of as Steelhead water - that's the best part of local knowledge.
.. We've been gifted with a visit to one. Looks like a city park in the middle of the deep forest. The fish are eager right now.
.. So then, the clouds are rolling back in and we're trying to get gone before the passes get messy. There is a bit of snow up there: not too cold, lots of rain, and mudslides. We're told it's just a normal transition to Winter.
.. Well, it's off to the pizza place. Then, a nap. Then, back to the other pizza place. Then, a nap. Then, a giant dinner at the ART ALLEY GRILL. We will have to see what the market price is for some local fish - OR - maybe a rack of lamb - OR - maybe both. Overnight, then hit the road.

-------

IT'S SO WET THE BIRDS ARE STUCK IN THE MUD

Coastal Wild (?) Life

ALMOST BIG AS A DOBERMAN

They Bark Too

sasquatch sightings abound

FROM THE WILD FRONT YARD - THE BARKING DEER OF BROOKINGS

-------

.. The tail of the storm is breaking up. The sun peeked through the dark clouds this morning but there is more on the way. Perhaps clearing by Monday!
.. We're headed to the headlands and the harbor for some searun cutthroat trout. Around here they call them Blueback Trout. They are hardly the same fish as the greenbacks of the upper Lochsa River. Same species, absolutely different fish.
.. Unlike the salmon and steelhead from these local rivers, the bluebacks hang out around their home waters. In the estuaries, along the tidal flats, near kelp beds, and amongst rocky headlands. They are endangered and cannot be kept if taken in the sea. When the rivers are blown and the the weather is grungy the bluebacks are active and aggressive.

"CHETCO CANDY" - for trout, bluebacks, steelhead

.. We're geared up to go two ways over the next couple of days. To the coast and harbor and estuary and headlands for bluebacks and, to the wild interior of Sasquatch Country to visit some of the ghost run steelhead that sneak in early.
.. Fishing for the inland steelhead is dangerous and life-threatening. People have been killed by the neighborhood Sasquatch.
.. Curry County Oregon may just be the epicenter for this violent subspecies of Sasquatch. Sightings of the "Chetco Monster," (sometimes called the 'Chetco Indian Devil,') are frequent and documented. The sightings and reports go back to the turn of the century, (1899, not 1999.) We'll be in his lair tomorrow. If we survive the ordeal you can be sure that a report with all the frightening and lurid details will follow.
.. Of course coastal fishing is no safer. We will probably avoid the tangles around Myrtle Point, just a few miles up the coast, and inland a ways. There is a tribe of Sasquatch up there that don't like their fish to be tormented by strangers. They have scared the poop out of miners near the Sixes River too.
.. From Bandon, (on the coast,) up the Coquille River to the dark forest around Myrtle Point, lurks the ghosts of loggers, miners, and woodsmen that have run afoul of the seven-foot tall beasties. They rattle doors, howl in the night, and protect their territory with a selfish vengence unheard of over most of the known Sasquatch territory. These are not your typical shy and secretive beast.
.. If you are at all interested in the early run of little, (8#,) steelhead, from the northern 2/3 of the state, you should click on over to "SMALL STREAM OUTFITTERS," they have just a wee bit of information and a few fish porn pictures to document the festivities.
.. Time to go. The porters have about finished packing the horses. The neighbors and the gawkers have gathered. Some of the neighbors are going along as guides and lookouts. We've sharpened the hooks and are ready for any close encounter of the finny or furry kind.

-------

A PAIR OF TRUSTY HORSES - LOADED TO THE GILLS FOR ADVENTURE

Monster Cutthroats

STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE

Happening Right Now

no wading necessary

-------

.. Should you care to walk about a 1/2 mile, there are some fine fish in a little hatchery pond in the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park. The hatchery is gone but the fish are there and just waiting for dance partners.

..

.. Spawning should be done but the action isn't. Enjoy the scenery and stroll around the lake. For more music from Nate Schweber, click HERE.
.. For complete information about Nate's wonderful Yellowstone Fishing Adventures click HERE.

-------

.

Very Important Download

NATIVE FISH CONSERVATION

EA Available

3-part PDF

-------

.. In Rapid fashion Yellowstone National Park and the National Park Service have completed the Environmental Assessment for the Native Fish Conservation Plan.
.. We just received notification and downloaded the files. We'll study them and let you know our thoughts.

GET THE EA & APPENDICES HERE.

-------

.