YNP

The phrase “Opening Day” conjures up a variety of images and emotions.  For baseball fans like our dear friend James Kelley, it’s all about baseball.  I’m sure for hunters, “opening day” brings vivid memories of deer, elk, pheasant and more.  For anglers, it’s the promise of hungry, eager, more gullible fish who’ve not seen any pressure from fishermen for many months.  Opening Day for fishing in Yellowstone National Park is always the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  Since I was in Bozeman this year…… ROAD TRIP!

Before I begin, a quick thought about “Road Trips”.   They aren’t totally about the destination you’re heading toward…. and….. in many cases they are MORE about the journey than the destination.  So, while my destination was the Firehole River in YNP, the journey to get there was just as important.

Having fuel is, of course, a requirement for any road trip but I’m not talking about gasoline, I’m talking about the kind of fuel that keeps YOU going…. food!  My first stop on the way to the West Entrance of YNP was our regular spot, Mama Mac’s at Four Corners.  Four Corners really isn’t a town at all; officially, it is termed a “census-designated place”  at the intersection of US Highway 191, MT 85 and MT 84…. 29 miles to the west is Norris Hot Springs and the Madison River, to the east 7 miles is downtown Bozeman, to the north 9 miles is Belgrade and 82 miles south is the West Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

At Four Corners you’ll find gas stations on three of the corners, a bar/restaurant/casino on the other corner and two great fly fishing shops, Fins and Feathers and River’s Edge West, right next to Simms Fishing headquarters.  But I digress, this first stop is really about fuel for the stomach and Mama Mac’s.  When do we most often stop here…. breakfast….. for what?… a giant breakfast burrito or their special breakfast consisting of eggs, meat of your choice, hash browns, biscuits and gravy.   If you go, I’d recommend splitting either of these with your fishing buddy, the servings are huge.   It’s all cooked to order, served with a smile and stick to your ribs good.

After fueling up at Mama Mac’s, it was back onto US 191 heading south.  After crossing Spanish Creek just before it enters the Gallatin (a fav fishing spot) you enter the “Canyon” area in which US 191 parallels the river with usually only a guard rail between you and the river.  This whole section of the river fishes very well at certain times of the year and we have many pull off spots where we park and drop down into the river to fish.  This trip, I was alone as Barb was back in Missouri visiting family over the Memorial Day weekend.  However, all along the drive on this stretch, I could STILL hear Barb saying “keep your eyes on the road!”.  She knows I like to take a peek to see how the river flows are looking.  Barb…. I was good….. well, ok…. pretty good.

In fact, I was so good that when I wanted to really look, I pulled over and got out of the car to take a peek at the river.  There was this one spot I really wanted to see how the river was flowing; the rapids at House Rock.  As you can see when you look at the House Rock Rapids Video I’ve posted on Vimeo, the rock is literally as big as a small home and at this flow, you really can’t see it all.  Amazingly, with our good friends Ted/Deborah Watson and Don/Kim Freeman, we actually rafted this area a couple of years ago, and while it was definitely NOT at this flow, it was still a bit scary, especially as half of our boat (Ted, Kim and I) had already been tossed into the river at a much less treacherous spot.  Anyway, Watsons and Freemans… I hope you are watching this…. and cringing like I was when I shot the video.

The next stop along the way is often the Big Sky Conoco Travel Shoppe at the turnoff to the Big Sky Resort.  It’s about half way between Four Corners and West Yellowstone.  While we rarely get gas here, having already filled up at Four Corners, it has a great convenience store, a respectable little grill for burgers with a few tables and most importantly, pretty clean bathrooms.  I’m sure you can see the logistics in all of this, right?  Four Corners…. Mama Mac’s…. pit stop half way…. it just works perfectly.

Back on the road, still headed south toward West Yellowstone, you actually cross into Yellowstone National Park for a bit.  Not exactly sure why at this point you pop into the park and then back out before West Yellowstone, but you do.   There is some great fishing in the park section of the Gallatin, and if you’re ever this way, make sure to stop in at Wild Trout Outfitters in Big Sky, right on 191, and see JD Bingham.  He’ll get you the right bugs and give you great Gallatin River fishing tips.  His best one is “walk to fishing spots where you cannot see the road”.

When I finally pulled into West Yellowstone (MT), I did a U-Turn on 191 and pulled up in front of Blue Ribbon Flies.  I was greeted by our friend, Aaron Freed, who has been an invaluable resource in getting us the right flies and sending us to the best locations to fish.  While we talked a lot about our past fishing adventures and caught up on present activities, I was excited to tour the fly stand to pick out some flies for the day’s fishing.  After picking up a few dries and a few wet flies for swinging, I jumped back in the Suby and headed for the West Entrance to YNP…..

And stopped!  Traffic to get into the park was horrendous and backed up past the stop sign back in downtown West…. at least for a mile.  However, being the experienced traveler to these parts, I knew a secret way to cut a bit of time off the wait… and having a Senior park pass, I was able to get into the “fast lane” and make it into the park in about 10 minutes, which as it turned out, really didn’t help me much.

About a mile after entering the park, and being able to drive at the posted park speed limit of 45 mph, I again came to a full stop.  And for the next 12 miles, never got out of second gear (yes, the Suby Crosstrek is a stick so we can tow it behind the SaraLinda).  As a matter of fact, I drove in first most of the way, when we were actually moving.  I knew it had to be an animal jam but thought this one must be big… bears? wolves? moose?  After nearly an hour of “driving” along the road from West to Madison Junction in the park, I came upon what was causing the delays, two bison, just walking down the road, oblivious to the traffic; they were both walking the center line, letting cars pass SLOWLY (aka. stopping to take pictures) as they sashayed their way down the road.  The old saying from the classic Seinfeld episode kept playing in my mind “Serinity Now! Serinity Now!”, but I was already at “Hoochie Mama!”.

Which brings me to our next regular stop (yes Barb, I really missed you this trip, but we’ll be back when you return to Bozeman), the Madison Junction “rest stop”.  I truly needed a stretch after “driving” for well over an hour to traverse the 14 miles from West to the junction as well as a “rest” after drinking the coffee I’d filled into my Yeti at one of those coffee huts.   And while this “rest stop” is a fixture on our trips into the west side of YNP, stopping here always makes us smile, which is why you’ll find a picture of the trash container in the video above.  On one trip, we’d brought some trash in a black trash bag with us, as well as good friend James Kelley’s boots and waders, also in a black trash bag…. can you see where this is going yet?  Yes….  I tossed the wrong bag into this dumpster, and in went Kelley’s wading attire.  The dumpster will live in infamy.

Turning right out of the Madison Junction “rest stop” parking lot, I ventured onto the southern loop road toward Old Faithful, crossing the Gibbon River and climbing up a long winding hill before reaching a plateau.  At this point, the road joins the Firehole River.  The Firehole really only fishes well from Opening Day until it just gets too warm in August, and then cools down in the fall to fish well again.  It’s not just the warm temps that make this river get too warm to fish in summer, it’s because so many thermal features in the park empty into the Firehole.  Aaron had hinted I should fish soft water near the banks, so, the first pull off I found, I parked in a spot Barb would have never let me pull off, given it had a 4-6” lip that dropped onto gravel just about the width of the Suby before falling down rocks into the Firehole.  The spot wasn’t one we’d ever fished before, as we often went for slower flow sections to spot rising fish.  As you see when you watch the video, this spot had fast rushing water that slowed only partially, but slowed enough.

Scrambling down the rock embankment, I found a spot to stand, tied on one of the wet flies Aaron had recommended, and on the first cast felt a slight tug.  Hmmmmmmm… I thought… I have to remember how to set when swinging wet flies.  Another few casts and I actually saw the trout come up to eat the wet fly as it rose on the swing.  A beautiful, 12” brown trout had been enticed as the fly had risen in the water column.  After a brief fight, I got him in, kept him in the water, removed the fly and let him go.  Yes James!….. I mistakenly threw your waders and boots away and do realize that a fish without a picture is JUST a story…. lol… You see, James is one of our dearest fishing buddies (a post on this subject to come soon) and his line about “just a fish story” is always with us.  In this case,  I was fortunate to repeat this cast a quarter downstream….. hold tight… swing… and fish one one more time before deciding to move on.

Moving on, I found another thing Aaron warned me about, the river was going to be crawling with anglers…. after all…. it was Opening Day!  Every single pullout along the road between my first stop and the turn off to Old Faithful was filled with cars, not sightseeing mind you, but fishing.  I saw anglers in various stages of suiting up and gearing up at each spot, or looking toward the water, already in what seemed good holding water.   Given it was already 2:00 and the Mama Mac’s burrito was wearing off, I decided to head to another of our “must stop” spots along this route, Old Faithful Inn and the Hamilton Store.

This is hallowed ground to us that draws us back every time we are even close to it.  We’ve had friends who’ve worked here and our daughter Krista even worked a summer and WINTER here at Old Faithful… the summer at OFI and the winter at Snow Lodge.  If there is one thing you do once you get into the park, it’s just step inside the Old Faithful Inn… and take it all in.  But again, sorry, I digress.

I decided to stop in the Hamilton Store and grab a sandwich, chips, cookie and drink to go; it’s what Barb and I always do if we haven’t made our own sandwiches.  I wanted to take it back to the Firehole, find a spot to pull off if I could, and have lunch next to the river, scouting for rising fish.  As I was checking out, I couldn’t help but notice tables of diners eating their lunches in waders.  What I realized at that moment was, Opening Day really wasn’t about the fishing, it was about the experience of Opening Day…. the camaraderie, the bonding, families together, parents and children fishing for perhaps the first time or the hundredth time.  Truly, “Its Not About the Fish”.

I found a parking spot near a tall stand of pine trees, and after I found a spot to put my chair that didn’t have a mound of somewhat fresh bison “poop” near it, I settled in for lunch.  It was peaceful and relaxing to just watch the river flow by.  A few years back, at this very spot, Barb and I were fishing when two bears appeared on the opposite bank. It’s always fun to be the first to spot animals, especially bears, as they emerge into the open.  That time, within minutes, there were bear jams in both directions, but we’d gotten to watch them for a minute or two, just us.  Again digressing here, but it really isn’t just about fishing, but the memories.

This time, no memories in this spot, other than of a great, store bought chicken salad sandwich.  There were no rising fish, no bears, nada, zip, zilch, nothing…. which in some respects made it….. perfect!  Just lunch and a lazy Firehole River flowing.

After lunch I headed back to the spot where I’d caught the two brown trout earlier, partly because I knew if two fish were there, the likelihood of even more fish being there was good….. and partly because again, all the other pullouts were taken.  This time, after a dozen or so casts, and trying two different wet flies, finding no takers, I moved on.

When I’d originally driven into the park, I noticed someone fishing a spot on the Madison River where in the past, Barb and I had slayed’em, thanks to our guide, Patrick Daigle, out of Blue Ribbon Flies.  Granted, when we fished with Patrick it was in October, and big fish had moved out of Hebgen Lake into the Madison and this was late May.  However, I had to stop and try, right?  Also, there was a herd of bison directly across from me, so I had built in fishing buddies…. sort of.  They seemed much more interested in just resting and every so often, nibbling at the grass or butting heads with one another.  After no bites, and realizing I had a two hour drive back to Bozeman, I decided to head out.

It had been a great “Opening Day”, not because of the fishing, but all of the other things encountered along the way.   The sights, the sounds, the air, the water…. even the SLOW traffic all contributed to a memorable day.  But I knew there was one more stop to be made, another of our favs.

Often, after a day in the park, we’ll be heading back to Bozeman, feeling a bit hungry or thirsty, and make a stop at The Corral.  It’s a friendly spot where locals and tourists alike are welcome.  It’s great food, cold beer and right up our alley.  There are snazzier places along the route back, but this one seems like home to us.  This trip, just to quench a thirst, I stopped in for a cold PBR.  You might be thinking, PBR?  Really?  To paraphrase a famous beer drinker, “I always drink local beer…. but when I cannot drink local…. I drink PBR.”  It’s the “go to” beer of fly fishermen and fisherwomen in these parts.

Cheers to Opening Days everywhere… and….

Ramble On

We started 2018 on the Guadalupe in Texas (Guadalupe River Update), then visited Arizona to see our daughter in Phoenix, play some pickle ball and watch some Cactus League games.  After Phoenix, we headed up to fish the Lees Ferry again (Lees Ferry Redux).  Finally, we packed up the SaraLinda and headed back to our second home, Bozeman (MT). 

Since we arrived,  the weather has been crazy.  One day we see sunshine and 50-60 degrees…. the next, we awaken to a fresh 2-3 inches of snow on the ground.  What we’ve learned is that this is “typical” for a Bozeman spring.  We also learned that the winter here was anything but typical, as Bozeman and the surrounding mountains experienced almost record setting snowfall.  The snowpack is tremendous which means runoff, when it happens, will likely bring flooding, but will also hopefully bring good water conditions for fishing throughout the year.  Fingers crossed!

While we’ve been out fishing a couple of times on the Gallatin and Madison Rivers, we’ve been spending time unpacking some boxes and getting our place here ready for an extended stay.  However, we always get the urge to take a road trip when we’ve been here for more than a week, and that usually means Yellowstone,  here we come.  You can find our previous Yellowstone adventures at: Yellowstone Spring 2017, Snow Day and YNP Magic.

For now, please enjoy the short music video above chronicling our most recent trip across the northern section of the park.  For details regarding the video, please continue reading below.  

While both the north and west entrances to Yellowstone are equidistant from Bozeman, in springtime, the only entrance that is open is the north entrance where the famous Roosevelt Arch welcomes visitors.   We always pause here, take a few pictures (yes, we’re always tourists here) and make our way up the mountain to the Mammoth Hot Springs area.  

Springtime brings many different animals into view as you travel through the park from Mammoth Hot Springs to Tower Junction. We found small herds of elk near the Arch, as well as along the roadway to Tower.  At one point, we saw a herd meandering its way through a group of bison who were grazing in a small open space near the roadway.  Neither the bison or the elk seemed to mind they were intermixed together as they migrated through the area.

We stopped and had lunch overlooking a valley with a view of what was to come on our journey through the park….. snow!  There were small patches of snow still on the ground as we drove the road between Mammoth and Tower, but only patches.  However, when we stopped for lunch and looked in the distance at the mountains, they were still snow covered.

After lunch, we made it to Tower Junction and continued on the road toward Cooke City (MT), crossing the Yellowstone River.  This north road in YNP is kept open the entire winter to allow the residents (and visitors) to Cooke City to get back and forth to civilization.  This YNP road is the ONLY road open to Cooke City in the winter.  

The road to Cooke City eventually meets up and follows along the Lamar River for a stretch, including a canyon section of the Lamar where we ran across an osprey couple getting their nest ready for the babies to come.  Last summer when we drove by this spot, a pair of eagles were raising their young in this nest.  Turns out, sometimes eagles “steal” osprey nests before they come back to nest in the spring.  The eagles got the best of this nest in 2017, but the osprey beat them to the punch in 2018.

As we continued along the roadway, the amount of snow continued to show itself.  No longer were there simply patches, but snow everywhere.  We were gaining elevation each mile we drove toward Cooke City.

The Lamar River is one of our favorite fishing destinations in Yellowstone, so we stopped at various spots to take pictures of some favorite fishing holes.  We’re not too concerned about giving anything away however, since at this elevation, the river was shrouded in snow.  You’d be hard pressed to see the photo and find it again come summer, when the fishing gets going on these stretches.  

At the point along the road the Lamar breaks away and heads up into the distant mountains, Soda Butte comes into the Lamar, and the roadway follows it all the way to Cooke City.  Soda Butte is another of our favorite fishing spots in the park.  It’s also the favorite of many anglers who head here in summer to catch native Yellowstone Cutthroats.  

As we progressed toward Cooke City, the snow piled up about 3-4 feet along the road.  This part of the park isn’t going to be “clear” for some time to come.  However, we had to stop and take a few pics of how beautiful the snow covered meadows and mountains were.  

On the way back, we of course encountered more elk and bison, but also, a lone coyote ambling along the highway, scrounging for food while taking drinks out of the runoff streams that seemed to be flowing everywhere.  What is so special about visiting the park during this time is how quiet it is.  We drove miles at a time without seeing another car, yet the scenery, geological features and animals that people come from the world around to see in summer, are all on display.  Can’t wait for fishing season to open in the park Memorial Day weekend!

Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is one of our favorite places on earth.  We’ve fished in the park many times before, primarily in the northeast corner on the Lamar, Soda Butte and Slough Creek.  While we’ve fished the Madison and Firehole rivers before, we’d never fished them with a guide.

We hooked up with our guide, Patrick Daigle at Blue Ribbon Flies, ready to explore a few of YNP’s gems, the Madison, Firehole and Gibbon.  Patrick took me out to our first hole, totally away from any other anglers, not a soul in sight, and the “Magic” began.  Swinging flies for hungry trout coming up out of Hebgen Lake into the Madison is so fun;  waiting for that strike on the fly as it swings and sets off the trout.  We explored a few holes, had a few tugs but no takes and then, boom!

First it was Barb who hooked into one of these incredibly beautiful rainbows and the fight was on.  We learned some new techniques from Patrick, the most important one was tilting our rod down and upstream.  When we did this, it caused the trout to swim upstream toward us.  This made Barb’s landing of that first fish of the day so much easier.

Next it was my turn in the pool and within about 5 casts, fish on!  While I was practicing the same techniques to land the fish, this trout was really ticked off at getting hooked.  He jumped and then ran way downstream and around some rocks.  Patrick was preparing me for the likely outcome of loosing the fish on the rocks.  However, with a couple of other tips from Patrick, we were able to get the fish away from the rocks and headed back upstream to our waiting net.  It was an amazing fight to hook and land this big rainbow.

Our day was made, but there was so much more to come.  We went to another hole on the Madison and decided to nymph fish.  Good decision!  We hit into a great number of big, beautiful rainbows who hit our rubber legs, shop vacs, and prince nymphs.  It was lunchtime but we didn’t want to take a break given how great the fishing had become.

Afterward, we hit the Firehole in the canyon section and then the Gibbon.  However, the Madison kept calling us back.  While we didn’t get back to it with Patrick, he had shown us an “epic” day in YNP and we were able to go back the next day and hook more fish.

Patrick is an outstanding guide and gave us the confidence in reading the waters, picking the right flies, putting us on fish and helping us with the techniques needed to land them in these waters.  I won’t mention any of the holes where we hooked into all the fish.   You’ll have to book Patrick and let him show you these pristine waters through his eyes and expertise.  For now, please enjoy his interview we did along the Madison river after a magical day in YNP.