When we started our River Ramble in 2016, we were a bit overwhelmed as you can imagine.  We were plotting how to navigate the USA, fishing 100 rivers (and more)… driving a motorhome (the SaraLinda)…how to use a new camera to capture all of our “Guide Talks” and other video highlights… how to create a blog site (and keep hackers out!)….  whew!  We made a conscious decision NOT to add another piece of complexity to our “Ramble”…. a drone.

Well, we made it two years now and while we are still learning about all of the above gizmos, we are getting ready for “30 Days in Alaska” and ready to add one more piece of tech, a drone.  We did our research, and while there are better, faster drones out there, we picked the DJI Spark drone because of its blend of quality, ease of use and size.  It’s tiny…. fits in your hand.  

On the day it was scheduled to arrive, I anxiously watched out the window and jumped up when I saw the FedEx truck.  I didn’t wait for him to ring the doorbell, having already gone out the door to meet him at the front porch step.  Grabbing the box (and signing for it), I went back inside and began to carefully open the box and all the smaller boxes and compartments inside.  I was so excited…. can you tell?

While I was carefully reading all of the documentation (wink, wink), I charged the drone batteries and the remote controller.  One of the first things I read was the requirement to register your drone with the Federal Aviation Administration.  Yes…. I’m officially an owner of a registered aircraft.  The second thing you were required to do is name your drone… which led us to… River Eagle.   

There were also warnings about this and that including where it was “legal” to fly.  “No closer than 5 miles to an airport without an approved waiver from the airport”.  There even was an APP for that, which quickly showed me that there was no place in Bozeman to fly.  Who knew there were so many big and small airports in and around the city.  So where to go?  

I had an idea…. where is the nearest spot we go where there is NO internet and somewhat open spaces?  The road to one of our fav fishing holes, Beartrap Canyon along the lower Madison River.   The one problem with Beartrap Canyon is often the presence of wind, which as I read the Spark instructions, isn’t the best thing for a first time drone pilot to encounter.  But that led to another idea….

The best time to avoid wind is early morning.  The night before, when I asked Barb if she wanted to join me, she didn’t sound too enthusiastic.  I was so happy the next morning at 6am when I got up, Barb wanted to go as well…  so we headed off toward Beartrap, which took us by our favorite stop at Four Corners, Mama Macs (which we highlighted in our “Opening Day” post).  With breakfast burrito in hands (we split one) we headed west on the Norris Road toward the river.

As we drove along the river, we searched for what might be a perfect spot to fly and eventually came to a day use spot next to a campground at the turn to the road to the canyon.  We found an out of the way parking spot to get as far away from the campsites.  When we opened the car doors, we were so happy…. no wind!  We walked down to several picnic tables that were set down the hill right by the river and proceeded to lay everything out in preparation for our first drone flight.  

After pairing the drone to the controller to my iPhone to the drone network (whew), I hit a button, slid a slider and up it went, 4 feet and hovering, awaiting input.   After playing with the controller sticks a bit, we began our maiden flight.   Surprisingly, it went very well…. flying wise at least.  We found out later that only one of our videos came out, but it was enough to put together the short music video above to share with you.

I promise we’ll get better at this, but this first flight took off, safely flew here and there along the Madison River, and landed safely on the same picnic table where it took off.   River Eagle is headed for  West Yellowstone (MT), but not Yellowstone National Park as it’s not legal to fly in national parks.  Next, we’re headed to the Flaming Gorge and Green River near Dutch John (UT), where we’ll capture images of fishing and fishing buddies; James Kelley and Dan McCormack… can’t wait guys.  And on July 20th, we begin our “30 Days in Alaska” adventure, where we’ll make great use of River Eagle for sure. 

It’s a long story that I won’t bore you with, totally, but Barb and I learned to fish from our daughter Krista and her future (at the time) husband Chris.  Mind you, when Krista met Chris working at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park during the early summer of 2002, she wasn’t a fisherman either.  However, Chris was an avid fisherman, who ultimately put a fly rod in Krista’s had and got her started, fishing on Pacific Creek in the park.

Pacific Creek is a beautiful small stream that begins high in the Teton Wilderness of the Bridget-Teton National Forest before flowing into Grand Teton National Park.  It flows into the Snake River near Moran Junction.  It’s fish population isn’t nearly as great as the Snake and several other tributaries, but it offers tremendous solitude.  In a park as crazy with people as Grand Teton National Park can be, with everyone wanting to float and fish the Snake, a bit of “getting away from it all” isn’t a bad thing.  So it’s no surprise that Chris took Krista out to Pacific Creek on their days off working at the Main Dining Room at Jackson Lake Lodge where Krista was a hostess and Chris was a server.

That same summer, Barb, youngest daughter Kelly  and I decided to take a trip out to see Krista (and meet this Chris guy she was seeing) and experience the area.  Of course we did the “usual” things in the park… hiking, rafting, searching for moose and bears, sitting in Jackson Lake Lodge just looking up in awe of the Tetons… but while we were there, Krista wanted to teach me what Chris had taught her, fly fishing!  So, off to Pacific Creek.

Not trusting our rental car on some of the roads we’d be on, we loaded into Chris’ “vintage” Chevy Suburban and headed out toward the creek.  We found one of Chris’ regular pullouts, parked the Suburban (took a pic) and headed out to fish the creek.  At this point, Chris was the experienced fisherman, Krista was a budding angler, I was about to learn, and Barb and Kelly were pretty much along for the ride and hike and swim.  It was VERY warm that day as I remember.

We made it down to the creek, got rigged up, and the fishing (and lounging) began.  We never saw another angler or hiker the entire time we were there (remember, solitude).  The creek felt wonderful as we “wet waded” it in our shorts and swimsuits.  Yes, I’m owning up to the pics you see in the video above as I had swim trunks on rather than fishing shorts one day.  Remember, I wasn’t a fisherman yet at this point and from the looks of my white legs, I hadn’t seen much sun yet that summer.

We fished for a few hours, hiking up and down along the creek, didn’t catch many (ANY in my case), but had a tremendous day.  It was fun watching Krista in a new element, fly fishing… and watching Chris continue to help her, as she helped me get started.  I took in as much as I could, but while I really struggled that first day with the timing of it all, I loved being outdoors, in one of the most spectacularly scenic spots on the planet, and sharing the time with family, including our soon to be son-in-law Chris.

In the days we were there in the Tetons, I only caught a couple of fish.  Barb hadn’t started her own journey into this passion of ours just yet, but I think she saw how much fun Chris, Krista and even I was having, and perhaps subliminally she was starting to get hooked herself.  Kelly on the other hand, just enjoyed being outdoors, getting some sun, and frolicking in the water AFTER we’d fished a spot and didn’t get any bites.  I know we’ve said this before, but “It Isn’t About the Fish”.  Sharing this time, in the great outdoors, no cell phones (the won’t work there), just family/friends, is priceless.

So, while Pacific Creek is not on the list of the TU Greatest 100 Trout Streams, it holds a very special place in our fly fishing and family memories.  The whole Grand Teton/Yellowstone National Parks areas are incredibly dear to us and we keep coming back again and again to create and share even more special moments together.   We hope you enjoy the short music video above of some of the memories from those first trips to Pacific Creek 16 years ago.

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

Pteronarcys californica…. two words that strike excitement in the minds of avid fly fishers everywhere…. better known as….salmonflies!  In our fly fishing adventures, we’d yet to really hit a true salmonfly hatch on any of the rivers we fished.  Even before we started our River Ramble, we’d ventured to a couple of Montana Rivers in search of these creatures, but had never quite timed it right.  So when our good friends Sue Doss and Dud Lutton invited us to go fishing with them, on the Henry’s Fork, at the very beginning of the salmonfly hatch, we jumped at the opportunity.

Our first stop was TroutHunter Lodge and Fly Shop on the banks of the Henry’s Fork in Island Park (ID).  Sue’s dog Solomon, as usual, was greeted warmly by everyone and made his home at the front door, welcoming everyone as the came into the flyshop.

After we’d secured our Idaho fishing license, we met our guide for the day, Chris Andelin.   Chris had already picked out an assortment of bugs for us to use for the day and we were thrilled that included in the mix of bead head nymphs and Pat’s rubber legs were an assortment of salmonflies.  Game on!

Barb and I loaded into Chris’ truck and headed for our put in spot near Ashton (ID).  When we pulled into the lot, there were about 6 other guide boats in various stages of “rigging up” in the lot.  While Chris found a spot to park and began getting the boat ready for launch, Barb and I explored the bank and immediately started finding the stars of the day hanging on bushes and blades of grass everywhere.  While it was still early, we knew it was going to be a great day fishing using these giant salmonfly patterns on our lines.  Chris started Barb on a “dry/dropper” rig with a salmonfly on top and one of the nymphs below…. for me, just the salmonfly.

We started off downstream with Chris explaining various highlights about the Henry’s Fork and forewarning us to “be ready” as you never knew when a big brown or rainbow would rise to eat that big bug off the top. Every so often, Chris would pull over to the side, hop out of the boat, and literally pull us back upstream to fish a certain spot where we’d noticed a rising fish or two.  We took a few opportunities to ask Chris questions along the way (edited into the video above) about these amazing bugs, their lifecycle and fishing the Henry’s Fork hatches in general.

As we continued downstream, we’d hit into a few really nice fish, all on the Salmonfly pattern.  This caused Chris to take off the “dropper” flies from Barb’s rig and leave her with just the one salmonfly.  A moment later, my fly disappeared in a flash… I raised my rod high and what I could only surmise was a very big trout had been tricked by my fly.   Several times it took me on a ride, making runs away from the boat.  Chris’ advice was “take your time…. we want this one”.   Chris even rowed downstream and upstream chasing the trout. Barb even had to put her rod down when it made a run back in front of the boat.  When it finally showed itself to us, it was a solid 20+ inch brown trout.

As we continued downstream, a storm looked to be brewing, so, Chris parked us under the Vernon Bridge for protection.  All over the concrete wall of the bridge were salmonflies and the shucks of salmonflies.  The adult salmonflies were everywhere, on our clothing….  on Barb’s hat…. everywhere.  We tried to do a bit more interviewing of Chris, but the wind howling beneath the bridge washed out the audio (although I included some in the video above…. apologies for the sound quality) of our impromptu interview.

After the storm passed, we headed downstream picking off a fish here and there although the storm seemed to put down the number of salmonflies we saw in the air and on the water.  We reached the takeout and caught up with Sue and Dud who’d had a very productive day on the water as well.

We made it back to the restaurant at TroutHunter Lodge where anglers from around the world who come here to experience the salmonfly hatch were busy telling tales of the day’s fishing.  We did our best as well, enjoying a few cold beers and a burger before jumping in with Sue, Dud and Solomon for the drive back home to Bozeman.  And yes, we’re already planning to head back to the Henry’s Fork VERY soon for salmonflies.

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!

When we drove south out of Virginia on a beautiful autumn day, our first stop was Bristol, home of one of NASCAR’s most famous tracks, the Bristol Motor Speedway.  We had to make a pilgrimage to this legendary half-mile oval and a somewhat legendary Cootie Brown’s for lunch.

Our 19 days in Tennessee featured not only a chance to fish the 6 TU Top 100 trout streams in the state, but also to visit the Great Smokey Mountain National Park with dear friends James and Janice Kelley.  We fished four big rivers more suited to floating than wading (Watauga, South Holston, Hiwassee and Clinch) and two small mountain streams (Tellico and Little).   The fall foliage was in bloom…. mornings were crisp… and it was an ideal time to be in the Volunteer state.

We hope you enjoy this short highlight video above regarding our time here.  Below you’ll find a bit of info on each of the rivers (and GSMNP) we visited along with links to information, “Guide Talks”, fly shops and more.

Watauga

Like every stop along our River Ramble adventure, our first stop was at the local fly shop, the South Holston Fly Shop, to meet up with our guide, Matt “Scooter” Gwynn.  After getting everything ready, we were off “Scootin’ the Watauga” with Matt.

South Holston

We had the pleasure of fishing the South Holston with Matt Champion, the owner and outfitter for the South Holston Fly Shop.  When I mentioned “crisp” morning above, this morning was so cold, we hung out in the shop for an hour waiting for warmer weather before embarking.  Once we did, it was “FISH ON” all day.  We truly had some beautiful “South Holston Views“.

Hiwassee

Our meeting spot for our Hiwassee float trip was a riverside park under a train bridge near Reliance (TN).  When we met our guide, Jeff Flake, of Southeastern Anglers at the park, we knew we were in for a great day full of “Hiwassee Hijinks“.   It all started with a trip to the Reliance Fly and Tackle where the hijinks began and just kept coming all day, including some really gorgeous trout!

Tellico

If you thought naming our first “Guide Talk” with Jeff, “Hiwassee Hijinks” was unique… just imagine what our chat with Jeff after fishing the Tellico “Don’t Ever Ever Fish Past the Barricade” was like!  If you missed this one the first time, give it a listen.  Amazing!

GSMNP

Townsend (TN) is know as being the “quiet” entrance to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  We met up with James & Janice Kelley (both native Tennesseans) here and began our “Smoky’s Adventure with the Kelleys“.   We toured several historic sites and structures inside the park as well as some of the most beautiful waterfalls anywhere.

Little

James also came to Townsend to fish with us on the Little River inside GSMNP, so, off we went with our guide, Chad Williams of The Smokey Mountain Angler.  The beauty of this small mountain stream is evident in the video above, including its trout.  Highlights of our time with Chad can be found in our post, “Little River, Little Fish”.

Clinch

Our last (but definitely not least) stop on our 2018 “Ramble” was Knoxville (TN) to fish the Clinch with Michael “Rocky” Cox, owner/lead guide for Rocky Top Anglers.   We had so much fun fishing the Clinch with Rocky and hanging out in/around Knoxville, we know we’ll be coming back…. “Rocky Tops!

When we mapped out our River Ramble route, we knew we’d be hitting some locations at their “ideal” times for fishing and others not so much.  When we worked on Colorado, we’d planned on fishing the South Platte and Arkansas in October 2017.  In 2018, our plan was to fish the remaining 7 trout streams from the book, “Trout Unlimited’s Guide to Americas Greatest 100 Trout Streams”.  As it turned out, we hit the Colorado fly fishing jackpot.  We hit 8 of the 9 streams under ideal conditions (Big Thompson was way high) and were able to fish dries almost exclusively on most of the streams.  At each location we visited, the water had recently come down, and the fish were hungry.  We were definitely on a “Rocky Mountain High” in Colorado…. just on fly fishing…. winks!

We know you’ll enjoy this highlight video, “Colorful Colorado”.  Below is some brief information about each stream (in order with the video above) and links to our individual posts, “Guide Talks” and more.

Animas

What’s not to like about Durango…. live music, incredible craft beer and incredible fly fishing.  We floated the river with “Crazy Mike” Sulkosky (Duranglers Flies & Supplies), caught fish….. took a swim, had a blast and did our “Animas Antics” guide talk.  Our Durango area adventure then took us on the Durango & Silverton Railroad toward Silverton along the Animas River , but we got off at Cascade Creek and fished.  Talk about an adventure…. we wrote a blog post, “Cascade Canyon Caper” just on this daylong journey.

Arkansas

When we met our float guide, Billy Hicks (“ArkAngler Billy“), for our Arkansas River trip in Salida at the ArkAnglers Fly Shop, we found out he was originally from a small town in Missouri nearby where Barb and I grew up. Billy put us on fish all day as we floated the section right through town.  We were joined by our good fishing buddies, James Kelley and Dan McCormack for more fishing, along with another ArkAnglers guide, Preston Larimer.  We waded in several different sections of the river and found fish in each one.     You’ll notice the epitome of “high sticking” done by Dan in the video.

South Platte

Just up (or down) the road from Salida, we fished the South Platte River with Vinnie Renda (“VSP“) of South Platte Fly Shop in Woodland Park.  We found a few of those fabled browns in the “Dream Stream” and chased them in Eleven Mile Canyon as well.  Several evenings we found ourselves in a local cafe, eating, drinking and watching the Cubs win the National League pennant on their way to becoming World Series Champs.

Big Thompson / Rocky Mountain National Park

We pulled the SaraLinda into Estes Park and headed to Kirk’s Fly Shop to meet up with Jeffrey “Mohawk” Curren (“MO“), our guide for the Big Thompson.  The river was flowing high and fast, but “Mo” found spots for us to wet a line and hook into a few fish.  Our youngest daughter Kelly joined us for some hiking to alpine lakes and viewing wildlife… really wildlife when you see the pic of Barb and Kelly at one of the trailheads.  We found some beautiful fish along our hikes as well.

Upper Colorado

We fished the Upper Colorado both inside Rocky Mountain NP, as well as at several local access points such as Hot Sulphur Springs State Wildlife Area…. small fish in the park, larger fish downstream at the access points.  I even found a nice rock in the middle of the river to enjoy!

Frying Pan

We met our guides for the two rivers near Basalt at Frying Pan Anglers.  Eric (“in the Frying Pan“) Way, our guide for the “Pan” as it’s known, took us to several spots that were more remote from the horde of anglers that flock to this stream in the summer.  Right off the bat, he put me onto a big rainbow that set the stage for our day.

Roaring Fork

July 4th on the Roaring Fork (“Fireworks“) was a trip to be remembered forever.  We put in with Ed Deison, in a drift boat, along with what seemed all of Aspen, Basalt and Carbondale.  There were rafts, tubes and drift boats galore working their way downstream.  However, the “bite” was on…. dry flies, nymphs…. everything worked!  In one of the pictures in the video, you’ll see me holding a big fish, with Ed taking a picture of it…. supposedly because each day the FPA guides see who catches the biggest fish.  Ed thought this was a candidate until as he was taking this picture, Dylan Mendoza pulled up next to us and his client had just caught one a couple of inches longer.  We went back out a couple of days later with Dylan and had a “double”.  We had some tasty BBQ as well at an out of the way joint, Slow Groovin’ BBQ in Marble.

Gunnison

We didn’t float just any section of the Gunnison, we floated the Black Canyon section.  Another one of those “bucket list” trips that involved meeting at 6am…. riding to the Gunnision Gorge…. then 7 miles down a road that no one in their right mind would go down without a SERIOUS 4WD, high clearance vehicle.  Then, after 7 miles driving, we walked Chukar Trail down to our waiting rafts on the Colorado.  The fishing was great, but you have to watch “Our Day in the Gunnison Gorge”, which details in video what this trip feels like, including the 19 named rapids.  We visited the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and descending down a 16% grade to the water, found some good fishing holes.  We also took time to visit a very cool mountain town, Ouray, and also found some beer…. of course!

Rio Grande

We laughed as we pulled into the RV park in South Fork (CO) seeing about a dozen RVs, all from Texas.  Seems South Fork is a “home away from home” for many Texans.  We’d met the owner of Wolf Creek Angler at a GRTU TroutFest a year before and were set to fish with them.  We set off with our guide, Aaron Horrocks, and fished assorted dry flies all day with nary a need for a nymph or streamer.  We coined it “Dry Fly Daze“.

We couldn’t resist putting the last picture in.  We’d driven up to Creede to see the small town and eat at a restaurant Aaron had highly recommended.  We stumbled across the Ramble House fly shop…. seemed appropriate along our way.

Note:  The opening video clip is from the Frying Pan and the closing video clip is from a bridge overlooking the Roaring Fork.

Montana has been our second home for years now, and will become our primary summer months home soon.  We absolutely love this state, the spirit of its people, the near perfect summertime temps,  the endless opportunities for outdoor adventures and especially its world class fishing.  Before we even looked inside the pages of the Trout Unlimited’s Guide to America’s Greatest 100 Trout Streams book, we knew there would be numerous Montana streams included.  Below is the list of the 9 rivers included in the book, along with links to our “Guide Talks” and highlights of our time in Montana.

Big Hole

When we fished this river in June, 2017, we found a Big (fast) Hole flowing.  We’d just missed the famous Salmon Fly hatch by a couple of weeks, so we’ll be back.  Another reason to come back is the Beaverhead River which is nearby, and while for some reason excluded from the TU Top 100 book, is itself a tremendous trout stream.  If you visit the area, make sure to make Melrose (MT) your base came.  The true Montana feeling of this small town with the Sportsman’s Motel, Sunrise Fly Shop and Hitching Post restaurant/bar right next to one another is not to be missed.

Big Horn

We’d never fished the Big Horn before our River Ramble, but it has become one of our favorite rivers.  We took a memorable ride on the “Bighorn Mothership” with Merritt Harris and had a “Bighorn Blast” fishing in the area.   If you want to experience catching lots of big fish, this is a fishery not to be missed.

Bitterroot

Bitterroot Chase” Harrison was our guide on the Bitterroot and Pat’s Rubber Legs was the fly of the day.  When Chase learned we were interviewing “characters” along our River Ramble, he immediately recommended someone we had to meet, Andy Carlson.  Andy is a guide/outfitter, fly creator (Purple Haze among others) but most importantly, his “Conservation Leadership” has been critical to keeping the Bitterroot a world class fishery.

Blackfoot

We had the distinct pleasure of fishing with “Ben DeMers on the Blackfoot” River.  Ben, like Chase, guides for Missoulian Angler in Missoula.   It was our first trip on the Blackfoot and Ben made it memorable with both the fishing and his knowledge of the river and surrounding areas.  He gave us tips for fishing Rock Creek as well.  This river was highlighted in A River Runs Through It.

Gallatin

The Gallatin is our “home river” out of Bozeman and we’ve fished it from far up in Yellowstone National Park to its joining with the Jefferson and Madison Rivers to form the Missouri.  Our goto shop in Big Sky is “Wild Trout Outfitters” and we sat down with owner JD Bingham to talk about the Gallatin.  We also took time to feature our local waters with a highlight post “Gallatin-Big Sky Highlights“.

Madison

While the Lower Madison is closer to our Bozeman basecamp, the Upper Madison from Ennis into Yellowstone is our primary fishing stretch of the river.  We featured this river on two different float trips.  The first was “Madison Mayhem” with Spaz out of Kelly Galloup’s Slide Inn.  The second as a “Madison Redux” with Steve Smith out of River’s Edge fly shop in Bozeman.  Needless to say, we really enjoy fishing all the stretches of the Madison.

Missouri

While we both grew up in a small river town, Lexington (MO) on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, it bears little resemblance to the Missouri River in Montana, especially the section just below Holter Dam.  Our River Ramble “Mighty Mo” trip with Shane Wilson of Headhunters Fly Shop in Craig (MT), was not our first on the river, and it sure won’t be our last.  This stretch of the Missouri is filled with acrobatic, hungry bows and browns ready for an epic fight.

Rock Creek

We fished Rock Creek from Clinton to Phillipsburg and were blown away by the beauty of the area.  We didn’t have a guide for our time on Rock Creek as all of our guides in the area told us we’d be just fine on our own.  Turns out, they were right.  A stimulator, purple haze or parachute adams were all we needed to bring hungry trout to the surface…. so we dubbed our river post “Rock Creek ROCKS!”.

Yellowstone, Middle Section

Like the Gallatin and Madison, the Yellowstone is one of our “regular” rivers to fish and the section between Gardiner and Livingston is our favorite.  We’ve floated it many times with varying degrees of success.  Our last trip, with Jeff Pavlovich of Flies Only Fishing was incredibly successful.  As a matter of fact, we only used one fly to catch a lot of  beautiful Yellowstone Cutthroats…. which gave us our “Guide Talk” title “Chernobyls on the Stone“.  The only modification was between brown and yellow colors.

 

Last year, almost to the day, we fished the Lees Ferry Reach of the Colorado River with Skip Dixon and Kevin Campbell of Lees Ferry Anglers.  We were joined by fishing buddies Dan McCormack, James Kelly and his son, Andy.  What we discovered was one of the most strikingly amazing landscapes you can imagine…. as well as a world class fishery.  At the Lees Ferry put in, we watched as anxious rafters prepared for their journey downstream through the Grand Canyon while we boarded a jet boat for our run upstream toward Glen Canyon dam.  After a great day fishing, Skip and Kevin shared their perspectives on this fishery and its surroundings in Lees Ferry Fanatics.  While we were in Arizona, we also took numerous photos and incorporated them into our highlight video post, AZ Memories.

Our time last year was so good here, we decided to come back this spring.  Skip took us out again on a beautiful day in the canyon.  We found some gorgeous fish that Skip captured in his photos shown above in this post.  I told Skip that our post on this trip was going to be about him and his photos.  He has an eye for photography that captures not just the fish, but most importantly, the surroundings in this magical place.  He also uses a variety of filters to further enhance the images and their meanings.  His pictures are always treasured as mementos of our time with him on the water.

Skip avidly chronicles his time on the river, as well as providing fishing reports.   He takes a very mathematical approach to his guiding, making sure to document river flows, temperatures, hatches and fishing success among many factors.  His methods help assure his clients have the best chances at success on the river.  You can find his reports and chronicles on both his Instagram feed as well as on his Facebook page.

When to come fish with Skip?  Anytime is the right answer, but according to Skip, the summer Cicada hatch is not to be missed.  He also hinted that if you want to target big browns, think about fishing in January or February.  We can’t wait to get back whenever we are in the area to fish the river and experience this vividly stunning landscape.

There are three rivers listed in the Trout Unlimited’s Guide to America’s 100 Best Trout Streams that hail from Virginia (Rapidan) and West Virginia (Seneca Creek, Cranberry).  As we traversed these two states we couldn’t help but imagine there were many more rivers that could have been on the list, especially given that two of these rivers are very small mountain streams of which there are many in the mountains here.  We actually did fish another, Hazel Creek in Virginia, when we found we couldn’t get to the spot on the Rapidan that our guide, Carson Oldham of Albemarle Angler in Charlottesville had originally intended to take us due to the road being blown out.  Luckily, Barb and I had hiked up the Rapidan the day prior to fish it from another access point.

One of the things we were most struck by in both VA and WV was the natural beauty of these states.  As you’ll see when you watch our music video of The Virginias (above), this natural beauty was for us, the highlight of fishing here.  While we did hook into fish in each of these streams, the fishing was not spectacular from a “catching” or “size” perspective.  We fished Seneca Creek and the Rapidan in the fall and the Cranberry in the spring, so perhaps it was our timing.  We did enjoy our “Creek Stompin’ in West Virginia” and the “Wild and Wonderful” Cranberry.  However, one of the things we found fishing the two WV streams was the lack of guides and fly shops to assist us in our fishing.  We did get great help for the Rapidan and Hazel having Carson along with us on our “Oh Shenandoah” journey.  In a downpour of rain, we fished small pockets of water along these beautiful streams hooking into beautiful small trout.

We hope you enjoy this short video chronicling our time in The Virginias.  We’re sure to come back and find more of these small mountain streams to explore.