Road Trip, Part 3

Road Trip, Part 1

Gallatin and Madison Rivers

To close out the fishing on our trip we fished the Gallatin River (inside the park) and the Madison River (outside the park).  I thought the Gallatin was a perfect little river in the park but it's very close to the highway, which is unfortunate.  I caught a nice rainbow and westslope cutthroat (third subspecies of the trip).  On the Madison we were mostly foiled.  With both of us hooking nice fish, but only keeping them on momentarily.  We were a little disappointed in the fishing, but if we had caught one of those big fish we might have felt differently.  (To be fair I caught a couple monster whitefish.)

Madison River at dusk

Yellowstone National Park

Lamar River cutthroat

Lamar River

Lamar Valley

Slough Creek cutthroat trout

Slough Creek cutthroat trout

Slough Creek cutthroat trout

Slough Creek cutthroat trout

Lamar River cutthroat

Bufflehead family on Slough Creek

More Slough Creek

Slough Creek

Slough Creek is probably my favorite place to fish.  It's sight-fishing with dry flies for native cutthroats.  How can you beat that?  Oh, and some of them are rather large.

We didn't run into an epic grasshopper day like last time, but we did catch quite a few nice fish.  The camerawoman even got into the action.  After some frustrating misses and small fish, she finally caught a really nice fish.  And then another.  I think the pictures tell the whole story.

Yellowstone River

The Yellowstone River inside the park has a certain allure to it.  Historically, it was one of THE places to fish.  Unfortunately, due to a Lake Trout invasion (for more info and to donate to the cause, click here) and whirling disease the run of fish from Yellowstone Lake is not what it used to be.  However, there are still a few large trout that run up the river to spawn and hang around to feed before moving back into the lake.  These fish are survivors who have overcome long odds and the harsh realities of nature (as well as the man-made curve balls).

Thanks to Britt's spotting and ML's spot picking, I got an opportunity to cast to one of these trout.  At first she was cruising around and ignoring any offerings.  (Prompting someone, who will remain anonymous, to refer to the fish as a "jerk.")  As the daylight faded, this fish took up a feeding position at the edge of the current. I placed a cast to drift my fly at the edge of the current and it was fish on.  A few minutes later and the largest cutthroat of my life was in the net.  What a beautiful fish.  Clearly an old hand who had seen many tough Yellowstone winters.  (After seeing how pretty the fish was, she was no longer considered a jerk.)  As I let her go, I hoped she will be back a few more years.  Hopefully, several of her offspring will return in the future.  Maybe then there will be more cutthroat in the lake and river.

Grey's and Blackfoot Rivers

We just got back from a trip through fishing paradise with Britt and my parents.  I put 2,341 miles on the rental van (perfect for 4 people, fishing and camping gear, but lacking in a tailgate for changing waders) and spent over 53 hours driving.  It was worth every hour driving as we had a great trip.

The first fishing destination was the Blackfoot River in Idaho.  It was much lower and warmer than last September.  Trout were not in the same spots.  I tried but did not catch a fish.  I only saw a couple trout and a lot of suckers.  I'm guessing this will not be a banner year for the river, but I'd be happy to give it another shot when it has more water.  (I also failed to reconnect with my dog friend I met there last year.  I'm sure he's happy somewhere, hopefully getting spoiled.)

The next destination was the Grey's River in Wyoming.  It's a very pretty river, but very popular.   There were campers up and down the river.  It was good to get out on the water and catch some fish on dry flies.  The fish were not big but they were fun to catch.  I took pictures of one of the fine spotted cutthroats I caught, but it's a little blurry.  The pictures from later in the trip are better and I'll get those up later this week.

Spring is here

The weather was too good this past weekend not to get out on the water, even if the water was higher than I would like. Managed a few small cutthroat yesterday in the afternoon. Looking forward to getting out some more and hopefully having better luck.

Saving the Yellowstone Cutthroat in Yellowstone Lake

There was a new article on this yesterday. It's actually pretty encouraging compared with what we had been hearing (that's not saying much).

http://www.eastyellowstonetu.org/files/billingsgazette_2-23-2012.pdf

To donate to the cause, I found these addresses from this site:
http://www.eastyellowstonetu.org/images/savetheyellowstonecutthroat.html

Tax deductible donations are being accepted at:

Save the Yellowstone Cutthroat, P.O. Box 3008, Cody, WY 82414
Wyoming Council of TU, YL Project, 250 N. 1st St., Lander, WY 82520

Idaho Ramblings

My father and I returned recently from a week long trip through Idaho. We started off with tough fishing on Silver Creek and the Henry's Fork. The bigger fish did not want to cooperate and the biggest fish was probably 6". We saw some big fish, but they weren't in a feeding mood. (There was one "toad" on the Henry's Fork that was rising, but it wanted no part of what we had to offer.)

The fishing improved on the South Fork. We also had some luck on the Fall River and Blackfoot River. Unfortunately, some camera problems and camera shy fish led to only one getting his picture taken. I guess that means we'll have to go back again to get some fish pictures.

Also, if you stop at the farm (Stocking Ranch?) on the Blackfoot River for access say hello to the friend we made there. He wanted to come back to Oregon, but I had to tell him that my apartment doesn't allow dogs. He's a sweet dog, so give him a scratch on the head and he'll be your friend.

New York Times Article on Saving Yellowstone Lake's Cutthroats

The latest efforts to save Yellowstone cutthroats in Yellowstone Lake. They are releasing "Judas" lake trout with transmitters to try to find where they spawn, then they can more effectively kill them. The story does a good job of talking about the current program and the different sides of the story. The one thing the article doesn't touch on is how Yellowstone Lake is one of the last strongholds for the Yellowstone cutthroat. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/us/24trout.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=judas%20fish&st=cse

If you want to donate to the cause (and others), here's a link:
http://www.eastyellowstonetu.org/images/savetheyellowstonecutthroat.html

The Joys of Sleeping in a Tent

Britt and I hiked into a couple lakes over the weekend. It was a nice, short hike. Even the off trail hike was easy. Some fish were caught on the lakes and fish was had for dinner. It was shaping up to be a really good trip....then the fun happened.

Let me set the mood. It was a full moon and it looked almost like a flashlight was being shined on the tent. Very eerie stuff. Then around 10 that night Britt heard something. I wasn't sure what it was. It slowly and quietly walked beside the tent (on the opposite side from the moon, so there was no shadow). It went away for about an hour. When it came back again it walked by the tent, trying to figure out just what it was and what was inside it. It came back a few more times that night. We could hear it sniffing at the bottom of tent. Needless to say, it was not a very good night of sleep. Unfortunately, there was no place by the tent where tracks could have been left, so I guess we'll never know who it was.






"I swear the map says the lake should be right here! Why is it just a pile of rocks?"

Yellowstone Fish Management Plan

Slowly Yellowstone is beginning to put more and more effort into protecting native fish. Not sure Yellowstone Lake will ever be the same again since there doesn't seem to be a way to eradicate the Lake Trout. I do think they need to put lots of effort into keeping their population in check and maybe someday we'll find a good solution (or better yet Mother Nature will).

http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/11046.htm


One more week of classes and one review session then I'm free for the summer (well, until I teach). I think some fishing is in order as it has been a long Spring with little time on the water.

Help Protect the Yellowstone Cutthroat

Yellowstone National Park is proposing increased efforts to remove non-native species and restoring native species. I have been fortunate to visit Yellowstone the last two years and I feel that it is truly special place due to the native cutthroat trout that swim in its waters. Take a moment to make a comment on the proposal and let them know what you think.

Comment here:

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=111&projectID=30504&documentID=37967

More Pictures