A Different Drum

EXPLORING FISH FOOD

There's A Lot Of It

mostly it's very small

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.. We are headed out to avoid big fish fishers. The visitors are still thick as . . . .

.. The weather is too warm for fishers but the visitors are loving the bright days, cool nights, and the missing thunderstorms of Autumn. We're not too disappointed either. And, some a few big fish are being caught.
.. Just up the road there's a bit of water that's infested with small fish, weed beds, cool temperatures, and bears & berries.
.. We're armed and ready for a bit of non-congenial, anti-social, cell-phone-less, fishing. Perhaps the catching will be good too.
.. The neighborhood kids tied a bunch of minuscule scraps of fluff on some tippet material for me and suggested that it would work if I  could see well enough to get the knots right. We'll see! Report to follow.

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Interlude

THREE HOT DAYS

It Don't Mean A Thing

it's just a capricious mom

Empty Bridge Over The Firehole River

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.. The colors are Autumn: the temperature is Summer. Grasshoppers are loving the brief pause in the steady temperature decline into Fall.

Funny How They Look Gray From A Distance

.. They get to warm up earlier in the day. They get to display their surprising colors for all to see. They get to fly in squadrons around the amber meadows. They get to feed more birds and fish. They just know how to  live. The hot interlude is just mom being a sad comedian.
.. Fishing is still good in Yellowstone National Park. Terrestrials are claiming most of the attention from feather merchants and experts alike. Hoppers, ants, beetles, spiders, and sundry attractors are doing their thing as they entice fish to the hand.

Closed Means Closed

.. We headed to Nez Perce Creek in an effort to enjoy some solitude and cool water.
.. Surprise! The bear is being persistent and the trails along the river have been closed. The crowds are gathering along the road and over the bridge. The bear is nonchalantly providing entertainment as it enjoys the cool water, abundant ants, hoppers, berries and beetles.
.. For us, it's not a photo-op but rather a grave disappointment. We had to walk about twice the same distance up the Firehole River to find the cool water of the Little Firehole River.
.. It's a chore for our legs and the reward, (besides the dances with trout,) was a visit with a neighbor who was bitterly whining about the same things that we were.
.. Not a single fisher nor photographer that we talked to had bear spray. None considered themselves in any danger. None had heard of the recent death by bear. None could, apparently, read.
.. It's a sad state of affairs when the illiterate masses with $4,000 cameras and $12,000 lenses can't read, and believe that the National Park Service is just a cartoon force. Believe it or don't: this IS bear country.

Safety Tip: Put The Kids Between You And The Bear !

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.. Soda Butte Creek is attracting anglers without bear spray and, of course, the meadow bear is still there. Catching is very good on both Slough Creek and the Lamar River. Bugs is the fare when hatching. Terrestrials and attractors when no hatch is present. Sneaky and closed-mouth fisher folk are drowning big Woolly Buggers and Silli-Legs in the meadows of Slough Creek. We wonder why?
.. Up on the Gallatin River the same critters are being gobbled by the bears and fish alike. It seems, right now, that any old attractor, (size 8 or smaller,) will take fish.
.. There are three active bears along the Gallatin River inside Yellowstone National Park. Combine this fact with the interesting notion that only one feather merchant in town carries large canisters of bear spray. We wonder at the marketing forces at work given this condition.
.. Bear spray costs about the same as two days worth of commercially tied flies. Unless you lose less than 5 per day. It also costs much less than a ride in a medivac helicopter. Enough of that!

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..The mosquitoes of Bechler seem to have taken a break during this warm spell. Boundary Creek, the Bechler River, and several not-to-be-named tributaries in the Cascade Corner are getting a fair amount of attention from fisher folk. Flying ants and beetles seem to be the predominant offerings that are taking fish. Bless 'em all: we hope bear spray is in attendance for the dances.

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Up A Lazy River

THE ELBOWS DESCEND

The Bears Persist

please park safely

TIE ONE ON !

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.. It's not your typical postcard idyll on the Gallatin River these days. In fact it's become a damn dangerous circus.

GREAT FISH FOOD

.. Cars, trucks, buses, motorpickles, dune buggy's, screaming bicycle riders, and bear jam congestion's are all on the roadway.
.. The river has finally come into it's own. You can fish all day and score with just a simple rig. A size 10 Elk Hair Caddis up top followed by a size 12 or 14 Prince Nymph 12" down on the point. You will catch fish.
.. There are PMD's that confuse the picture just before any clouds descend, (rare right now,) and spruce moths are beginning their dance in earnest. Two years ago at this time we were singing the virtues of hoppers. Well, this year, the little pogo sticks are about a week or ten days away from being our first pick.

THE PLACE

.. There are a few bears visiting the haunts of our neighborhood fishers. The Fan Creek bear is a cinnamon colored black bear that is curious and hangs out even in the presence of fishing parties and trail riders. This bear has been up the Gallatin River along the Bighorn Trail as well as along Fan Creek.
.. A small grizzly bear is causing traffic jams near Specimen Creek and the meadows below the road and the narrow canyon above the road. The annual visitation of the large black bear around Black Butte is also becoming a regular occurrence.

HAND CARRY

.. Fish with a friend or two. Sing ribald songs, tell dirty jokes, laugh and guffaw with gusto.
.. Make your presence known and by all means carry your bear spray in your hand.
.. There has already been one death-by-bear in Yellowstone National Park this year. Try not to become the second.
.. The Madison River is beginning to see some small hopper action along with a sparse but persistent PMD hatch. Caddis is still king along the big water and foam lines. Some of the fish are taking small brownish nymphs such as the Shop Vac.

BUBBLEBACK EMERGER

.. The folks down at Galloup's Slide Inn have a variation on the Pheasant Tail Nymph that is becoming popular with some of the neighbors. It's called "Trina's Bubbleback Emerger." Most of the neighbors use it as a dropper fly for general searching. It's pretty good early in the hatch as well.
.. The bear is still on the Mary Mountain Trail along Nez Perce Creek. So too, are the fish. This river is seeing better fishing than we've seen in a few years. Sage philosophers allow that this may be because a lot of Firehole River fish 'ran-up' the creek early during the monster high water phase last month. Could be.
.. What ever the case may be, they are still behaving like Nez Perce Creek Fish: Attractor dry flies and yummy-looking terrestrial imitations are working just fine. Even grasshoppers!

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AS CLOSE AS WE WANT TO BE !!

West Side Adventures

YELLOWSTONE FISHING

Just Plain Fun

enjoyed by all

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