The Gallatin River, Yellowstone National Park, Montana

TIME:  4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  Clear, cool, and from 2 to 4 feet deep
LOCATIONS FISHED: Gallatin River, Mile 24 on Highway 191 
ROD USED:  8’ 6” 5 wt Winston Joan Wulff Favorite 
FLIES USED:  #10 Dave’s Hopper, #16 Tan Caddis, #12 Chernobyl Ant 
HATCHES:  Dark Mayfly, Occasional Caddis
OTHER:  Kay had been wanting to fish the Gallatin River inside Yellowstone National Park, so after lunch and naps, we loaded our fly fishing gear and made the hour drive to about Mile 24 on Highway 191, pulled into a turnout, donned our waders, and headed for the river.  It was a great spot, and we found a couple of small pools, but about the same time as we entered the water, storm clouds began rolling in, accompanied by thunder and wind.  What few insects we saw disappeared with the wind, and we had to fish blind.  For western rivers and streams, it is important to “match the hatch”, and apparently we didn’t.  After about an hour and a half, we called it quits, and headed back to the RV park.

Hebgen Lake, Montana

TIME:  8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
WEATHER:  Clear, late breezes, mid-70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  Clear, cool
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Hebgen Lake, Montana, near West Yellowstone
ROD USED:  8’ 6” 5 wt Winston Joan Wulff Favorite 
FLIES USED:  #18 Blue Winged Olive
HATCHES:  Baetis
OTHER:  Fished with long-time friend, Mike.  Really early this morning, about 7 AM our time, I left for Hebgen Lake to fish the gulpers with longtime friend, Mike.  He and I used to fish the Norfork and White Rivers quite often, and I was really looking forward to fishing with him.

We met at the turnoff from the main highway, and visited for about 30 minutes, catching up on families and friends.  After donning waders and getting our “boats” ready, we worked our way across the Madison Arm to hunt for rising fish.  Mike saw a fish working, and stealthily rowed towards it, waiting for a gulping pattern to develop.  He made the cast and immediately hooked-up with a chunky 20+ inch rainbow.  After several more minutes, he again spotted rising fish, worked his way toward them, and made a precision cast, and wham, another beautiful rainbow.  As the day wore on, he repeated this several times, and it reminded me so much of duck hunting back in the river bottoms and sloughs of Arkansas.

Hebgen Lake, Montana

TIME:  9:30 AM to 12:00 PM
WEATHER:  Clear, late breezes, mid-70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  Clear, cool
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Hebgen Lake, Montana, near West Yellowstone
ROD USED:  8’ 6” 5 wt Winston Joan Wulff Favorite 
FLIES USED:  #18 Blue Winged Olive
HATCHES:  Baetis
OTHER:  Fished solo.  The gulpers at Hebgen Lake awaited.  Arriving at the access point about 9:30 AM, two vehicles were already parked.  I parked along side the turnout road, donned waders, grabbed rod, fins, and float tube, and walked down to the lake.  There were already 7 people in the area I fished yesterday, all wading.  I kicked out a couple of hundred yards, and watched and waited.  It was reminiscent of duck hunting, where hunters would wait for a flight of mallards sailing through the air, responding to the wail of the duck calls, finally helicoptering down into the decoy spread.  The fly fishers eagerly awaited the baetis hatch and the resulting gulping fish, all with rods pointed straight up, ready to cast a a second’s notice.  Often times, the gulpers will establish a pattern, and the idea is to anticipate their next “gulp”, cast a fly there, and hope for a strike.  Today, there was a great hatch, and you can see some insects in the bottom of the photo, but few gulpers.  I didn’t get a fish, nor even a look, and didn’t see anyone else catch fish.  It was a short morning, and by 12 noon, most of us were off the water.

Hebgen Lake, Montana

TIME:  9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
WEATHER:  Clear, late breezes, mid-70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  Clear, cool
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Hebgen Lake, Montana, near West Yellowstone
ROD USED:  10’ 4 wt Winston Favorite 
FLIES USED:  #18 Blue Winged Olive
HATCHES:  Baetis
OTHER:  Fished solo.  This was a busy day, animal wise and otherwise.  We began early with a trip to Hebgen Lake to allow me to fish for gulpers.  The pull-off that had been recommended was blocked, though we suspect other fishers had pulled the tree limbs across the road, but just a couple of hundred yards further was another.  I unloaded the float tube, donned waders, grabbed the fins and rod, and headed for Hebgen Lake.  The bottom was more solid that expected, and I kicked out a hundred yards from shore to some rising fish.  All the activity apparently put them down, so I waited several minutes but saw no more action.  I noticed other float tubers further out, so kicked out another three hundred yards or so, and found fish rising sporadically, then after 30 minutes or so, the hatch got fast and furious, as did the gulping, and I managed to cast to and catch a nice 16-inch rainbow.  Despite several more casts, the single rainbow was all that took to my fly today.  However, it was a lot of fun and I’ll be back out tomorrow.

NOTE:  I had Cortland clear 555 line on the 4 weight Winston, and realized that it retained coil in cool temperatures, unless stretched beforehand.  Stretching line from a float tube is too cumbersome, so tomorrow, I’ll switch to the 5 weight.

The Madison and Gibbon Rivers, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

TIME:  4:00 PM to 7:00 PM
WEATHER:  Clear, late breezes, mid-70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  Clear, cool
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Madison River and Gibbon River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
ROD USED:  8’ 3” 2 wt Winston 
FLIES USED:  #16 Caddis
HATCHES:  Caddis
OTHER:  Fished solo.  Kay and I had wanted to fish the Henry’s Fork just to say we had, but one of the employees at Henry’s Fork Anglers told us that the Henry’s Fork was too warm and we should go north for dry fly action.  We drove back to the RV park for our fishing stuff, then headed north, opting to fish the Madison in Yellowstone National Park. 

The water looked benign enough, but the current was very strong, and there were very few hatches and NO rises.

 

I struggled with wading, and after a half hour, we drove upstream to water that appeared a bit more quiet.  We again only saw a few hatches, and one rise, though last night about 7:15 PM, caddis were coming off like crazy.  I fished it hard for a half hour or more, fighting the current the whole time.  And, it was much warmer than expected.  Picking up again, we drove further north to the Gibbon which we fished yesterday, and fished it real hard.  Kay had one miss under a cut bank, and I didn’t have so much as a look.  The river, set in a few scattered trees in a large meadow, looked awesome, and late in the afternoon there was a good caddis hatch; perhaps it was the clear sky today, as opposed to an overcast sky yesterday, but we had no significant luck.

The Gibbon River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

TIME:  4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, breezy, low 60s
WATER CONDITIONS:  Clear, cool, and from 2 to 4 feet deep
LOCATIONS FISHED: Gibbon River, immediately downstream from Gibbon Meadows
ROD USED:  7’ 9” 2 wt Winston
FLIES USED:  #10 Dave’s Hopper, #16 Tan Caddis
HATCHES:  Dark Mayfly, Occasional Caddis
OTHER:  I fished with Kay.   
Driving back into Yellowstone National Park, we found that they were paving the road from West Yellowstone to Madison Junction, with loose gravel everywhere.  We finally made it past Madison Junction, and turned north to near Gibbon Meadows, a place Kay had identified earlier as one she wanted to fish.  We began by fishing from the bank of the Gibbon River, but soon discovered there were too many mosquitos and that to really fish the Gibbon, we would need to wade—so it was back to the car to don waders.  We had a great afternoon, with several hits on a hopper, and even more on a caddis.  Only two fish were caught—a brookie and a brown.