Fishing Forum

We have been to Yellowstone National Park 10 times since we were about 7 years old. In fact it was one of the 1st places we ever tried to fly fish at the young age of 7. We were horribly skunked and this trip EvilTyeDyeTwin and I planned to reverse that. We were gonna rock the place from July 25 to July 29th!

A bald eagle flying in Teton National Park was the first excuse to bust out the camera.


A bald eagle flying over the Grand Teton.


Me scoping out the Snake River in Teton National Park.


The Lewis River in Yellowstone National Park.


Me fly fishing the Madison River in Yellowstone.


Me fly fishing the Madison River in Yellowstone. With just 3 bites I called it a night.


DAY 2

We started by doing the tourist thing....checking out the Lower Geyser Basin.


There were some recent grizzly bear tracks on the trail.


The colors in the pools were great.


There was plenty of geyser activity.


The Grand Geyser during a large eurption. This geyser was a first for us and we have been going to Yellowstone for 10 years.



The Grand Geyser (on the right) and Turban Geyser (on the left).



One of the many hot springs encountered on the trail.


A beautiful cloud over the Old Faithful area.


Old Faithful during an eurption. It is a "combat viewing geyser" for sure.


We left the old faithful area for Aster Creek in the South end of the park. It is the closest I will look to being an orvis dork.


It was prime bear, moose and wolf territory.


Me fishing Aster Creek.



Me fishing Aster Creek. All we got were a couple of bites from little 4 inch fish.


On the drive back to camp we stopped at Grand Prasmatic Spring, where ETDT and I climbed up a small hill and got a great view through the telephoto lens.


Yellowstone's Grand Prasmatic Spring.


The Firehole river.


Saw a Coyote on the side of the road.


We drove out to a spot that some friends of ours suggested on the Madison River.


Debating on where to fish the Madison River.


Sometimes you just got to fish it for what it is worth....and we did not even get a bite that evening.


DAY 3

On day 3 we drove over to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This is Lower Falls.


Some flowers were on the side of the cliff and offered a unique background.


The Lower Falls.


We drove down the road and got a great view of where we were just standing on the Lower Falls.


While driving to Insperation Point we ran into a fleeing Elk.


A telephoto shot of the Lower Falls.


The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Lower Falls.


A Bison parked itself right on the side of the single track trail.


While driving along the Yellowstone River we saw this angler's worst nighmare.......a Bison coming right for him! I am guessing he did not cast till after the noisy beast passed by.


We went to Yellowstone Lake in search of Cutthroat Trout.



A black and white of Yellowstone Lake.


Me fishing Yellowstone Lake.


Not getting anything at the lake we opted for the Yellowstone River.


Me fishing the huge Yellowstone River.


Right here was where a BIG brown trout followed my CD7 rainbow trout rapala all the way up to me. He looked just under 20 inches and took my breath away.


Me leaving the beautiful Yellowstone River....skunked!


These bugs were in an all out hatch on the river.....and we had the flies to match.....just no trout were biting.


On the drive back to camp we saw a sign that hinted at some wildlife encounters.


A Bison Calf, up close and personal.


Even being in a slowly moving car, ETDT still did not feel very safe next to this little guy since the parents were so close as well.


A large Bull Elk getting his 10 seconds of fame in the Hayden Valley.


DAY 4

On day 4 we started by hiking the Artists Paint Pots trail near the Norris Geyser Basin.


A telephoto shot of the Artists Paint Pots.



We drove up to the Northeast Section of the park in search of some fish. While driving through Tower Falls there were plenty of these iconic figures lining the road.


Me fishing the BEAUTIFUL Slough Creek in Yellowstone National Park.


I switched to an Elk Hair Caddis and managed 2 hits on the dry but failed to hook up with them. Meanwhile EvilTyeDyeTwin lost one fish on the reel in with a sand pepper tube jig and a tungsten jig head and a bent barb.

A mid afternoon hail storm stopped the fishing and sent us packing for the car. Here is the picture.


It hailed so hard that it appeared like it snowed in the Lamar River valley.


Bison in the Lamar River Valley with what appears to be snow in the background.........guess this is as close as it gets to snowing in July.


We took a drive out to the Northeast section of the park.


The Soda Butte (an old hot spring) and the mountains of the Northeast section of the park.


The bad weather was done, so we returned to Slough Creek. It was prime bear country, so making noise and keepin an eye on the brush was a must!


Me fishing Slough Creek.


After some serious (and back hurting) effort.....EvilTyeDyeTwin finally nailed a FISH! It wrapped itself on a stump and was suspended in the air. I had to jump down an 4 foot embankment into chest high water to net it. ETDT bit the line and I delivered it to him.


What a beautiful place to catch a fish.


My Cutthroat Trout from Slough Creek.


Me fishing Slough Creek.




Me fishing Slough Creek. What a beautiful place.


Troy using some cover to trick the fish of Slough Creek in Yellowstone National Park.


Me fly fishing Slough Creek in Yellowstone.


Me returning to the spin gear.


Some Prong Horns near Slough Creek.


A Bison gaurding the entrance to Slough Creek.


Overnight rains and cold tempertures created some early morning fog in the Biscut Basin Trailhead. Amazing how quiet Yellowstone is on a monday morning! Spoiler alert......The last day was a great day for photography.


Old Faithful gearing up for an eruption.


Old Faithful during an early monday morning eruption.





The whole family decided to hike up the hill on the side of the Grand Prasmatic Springs. One day the hill will close for erosion control, much like Tower Falls, which has been closed for over 8 years.

The Grand Prasmatic Springs again.



The Firehole River


The clouds rolling in for another day of thunderstorms.


At camp we had a surprise waiting for us outside the door of the tent.



An Elk, up close and personal.


Hiding in the brush this baby Elk was more than a little scared by our approach.


But it soon calmed down, and began to feed.



Its not every day that you get the opportunity to get this close to a baby Elk.



Soon ETDT was led to the other baby Elk in the small herd.



This Elk was fine with some close ups, and ended up being the closest ETDT has ever come to an Elk.


Taken from just a few feet away, this Elk was sticking its tounge out at us.[:p]




An Elk from just a few feet away. When ETDT put the camera down the Elk was so close ETDT could feel its breath. As you could imagine......ETDT got the hell out of there!


The baby Elk was scared of any, and mean any noises. So cute, ETDT tool over 100 photos of the guy.


The baby Elk feeding at the Madison campground.
Later the campground host asked if we were on our way out, and added that a couple of campers were bothered by the Elk taking a bathroom break on their tents.

We told her, the Elk roaming through the campsite was the perfect grand finale for our stay in Yellowstone National Park.


Most bloggers end their post with their most beautiful pictures....but I am not like most of them.

So that's right, I am ending........


.........this years pictures of the trip..........


..........with a beautiful garbage can in downtown West Yellowstone, Montana.


Happy Trails out there
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Wow. Sounds like an incredible trip. I've been there a few times myself, but you don't get to experience that with carsick family. haha. My brother and I might need to take a trip next.
Thanks for sharing TDT. Great reports guys.
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I have no idea how many times I have gone to Yellowstone (went frequently as a child) and can't get enough of the place. Thanks for the beautiful reminders of what a special place Yellowstone is.

Too bad the catching wasn't better.
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Wow - so I'm like scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling - FINALLY I get to a FISH picture. Boy, some "fishing" report.

Sure - colorful geysers, grand scenery, exciting hikes - yeah, yeah. She me the FISHIES!

Boy - what a load of Buffalo. Nice report bud! [:p]

[quote CoyoteSpinner]Wow - so I'm like scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling - FINALLY I get to a FISH picture. Boy, some "fishing" report.

Sure - colorful geysers, grand scenery, exciting hikes - yeah, yeah. She me the FISHIES!

Boy - what a load of Buffalo. Nice report bud! [:p][/quote]
There was lots of "fishing" in that report...just not a lot of catching is all.

Besides it is not all about how many you catch in a place like that!
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First class photos guys. I understand you can't successfully fly fish Yellowstone without first spending over $1,000 at one of the local fly shops -- your biggest mistake was not having a $500 net made of Macassar Ebony with hand-carved trout on the handle and gold inlay []

Check out this web site for entertaining observations, information and photos on fly fishing Yellowstone http://flyfishyellowstone.blogspot.com/
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Wow. A lot of time an effort into this post. Thanks for sharing. The photos were fantastic. I need to get up there one of these days.
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WOW, I've not seen such a wonderful diary of pic.s of that area. I'm overwhelmed!!!
What makes it so special to me is that most every one pf your experiences brings back memories of what I did 30 years ago alone, but didn't have digital camera, or any camera, etc., just memories. I have to admitt, I didn't fish all the creeks you did, but one of my best fishing experiences for catching and viewing wildlife was hiking several miles up Pelican Creek. Did you happen to see it? It's probably much more public now so may not be the same. That was a time of an old pick up, Jessie my golden of many years back, a dome tent, sleeping bag, small propane burner, back pack and fresh boiled trout wrapped in tin foil.
That was the time I hiked up a trail W. of Yellowstone lake, an the way back notice bear tracks on the trail, it left the trail, a while later, had to pee, left the trail, came back, noticed bear tracks tracking me, kept going, bear left the trail. got back to my truck and there he was up the trail and looking at me. Said "howdy" and left.


_I was also chased out of the willows on the Yel river, by a bull moose that was kind of scary.
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Pelican Creek is closed for the 1st 2 miles so we did not go. My mother was with us so we had to "share" the vacation so to say.

A little limiting but we had a great time.
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nice man, looks like some pretty sweet country up there.
and atleast you got a few for the trip.
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I agree beautiful photos even if the fish look like they came out of Millcreek. Funny thing if you get out of the park just a bit and the big fish don't require Macassar ebony and gold inlet to catch.
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[quote TyeDyeTwins]
Besides it is not all about how many you catch in a place like that![/quote]





True Dat and you have proof![] Trout don't live in Ugly places[laugh]
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[quote Jazzperch1]nice man, looks like some pretty sweet country up there.
and at least you got a few for the trip.[/quote]


I only nailed 1 fish in 5 days, after fishing 5 bodies of water. Talk about tuff fishing! And to CYS.......I took over 2,300 photos, so just be glad I kept it to about 100.
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Great pictures. Thanks for sharing your adventure.
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Nice report! I was there at the same time as you, in the picture with the bull elk, that is my silver car he is walking behind! He started out in front of us and all the people pushed him right at the car, here is what he looked like coming out of the trees towards the car:



Rut
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Nice report and great pic's TDT. I love the effort that goes into your photographs... anyone can "point & click", but there's a lot to be said about; perspective, shot framing, using available light, editing, and just being creative... all your shots reflect that. Good stuff! []

Funny - I was there at nearly the same time with my daughter (July 22-26). We did well on Cutt's on Soda Butte in the Lamar valley and browns/rainbows on the Gibbon above Madison Junction.

Regarding the fishing, especially in Jul/Aug, definitely consult a fly shop next time. I know one of the posters joked about it, but Yellowstone has specific rules and the fisheries are ever changing. For example, a respectable fly shop owner should have told you;
--that section of the Yellowstone River is not what it was 10 years ago as far as fish numbers go
--The meadows at Slough Creek are the hardest hit waters in the park... super picky, over caught, and slightly abused fish. You can get that right here in the Provo River. [cool]
--and that the Madison River was actually closed to fishing daily from 2pm-midnight starting the week of July 15 due to elevated water temperatures.
--Also, the entire Yellowstone area is about as fertile water as you'll find anywhere and hatches vary (greatly) across the park... picking up a few specific patterns - always a good idea.

I understand it's not all about the catching while you're there... but you're entitled to have your cake and eat it too on occasion. [cool]
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Thanks Joe for the kind words..................as for the closure on the Madison, we did check with the Ranger Station at the South Entrance, The Rangers at the Visitor Center at Old Faithful as well as the ranger who happened to be at the Madison Campground before we got the lines wet.

All of them said there was no closure on the Madison.

The only reference I read to that time regulation was ironically....on 1 fly shops website before we left....hence why we bugged just about EVERY ranger we encountered on the trip to make sure we weren't breaking any rules.

Next time we fish Yellowstone.....its gonna be slough creek....and beyond!
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Never saw the picture RuttCrazed.....but considering I was there I get the picture[bob]

I followed that guy and his twin into the woods. A woman made my day when she said, "that was a moose, that was a big moose". That had to be the tannest, most Elk shaped moose I have ever seen.
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[quote Joe_Dizzy]Regarding the fishing, especially in Jul/Aug, definitely consult a fly shop next time. I know one of the posters joked about it, but Yellowstone has specific rules and the fisheries are ever changing.[/quote]
I wasn't dissing the West Yellowstone fly shops -- they are great and run by true professionals (and I always have to spend hours in each one).

I was dissing the folks you see walking up and down the road by the Madison and Firehole carrying $$$$ in gear but who seldom actually fish. The Twins are the real deal.
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Loved the photos, thanks for sharing. Been thinking of taking a trip over there in the fall, and even more so now.
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