GULPER HO !!!

THE WEEDS ARE RIGHT

It'll Only Get Better,

cruel winds starting later

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.. The heat hath it's blessings. One notable blessing is that the zephyrs of the high country have been starting well into the afternoon. Who knows how long this will last - BUT - for now it's a small compensation for the poor showing of afternoon rains.
.. Hebgen Reservoir produces Callibaetis at a prodigious rate. The fish have figured out this simple meal. The fishers are, of course not too far behind.

.. The lore and lure of gulper fishing is varied, contradictory, and profuse - seldom is it profound, often it is profane. It's a simple thing, really. Get an attractive fly in front of a slurping submarine and chances are they will take it.
.. The lake has been like glass. Get on it early. On many mornings Tricos will also hatch early. Midges are still around. The Callibaetis can pop early this year so take your second cup of coffee with you - better yet, take your your breakfast and coffee, and lunch with you as you leave the door.

.. Conventional wisdom dictates a Callibaetis cripple for the floating fly. Almost all patterns work some of the time: go for it. Long precise casts are part of the tradition. Stealth should be too.

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.. Although there is a small "purist" tradition building over the last six or eight years, it hasn't reached the obnoxious level of some in the fly fishing world, yet:
**Cast to only one fish.
**Time it's nose appearances.
**Lead it by five feet.
**Cuss when it takes the natural right next to your perfectly presented, exquisitely tied, grotesquely expensive, designer fly.
.. This ritual has a certain snob appeal befitting gurus, guides, feather merchants, and shop dogs. Enjoy the elite feeling and your new found ribald vocabulary.

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.. The truth is quite a bit different. There are many fish in the same area. Fish change directions without telling anglers. There are millions of targets for the fish. There are hundreds, (nay, thousands,) for the fisher. It's really just a statistical game.
.. Maybe, just maybe, your fly's number is up! So then, put an appropriate fly in the appropriate area and wait for the appropriate signal to lift.

.. Fishers in tubes take "gulpers" while trolling submerged flies. Maybe they are slurpers and not really gulpers.
.. The double fly rig is popular with our most successful neighbors. Hackle Stacker, Shop Vac, Challenged Callibaetis, Feather Duster, and even PMD's in the right size take fish with surprising regularity.
.. Try a small hopper as a bobber and dangle a very light colored $3 dip about 18" behind it. Hell, even Bill's Pisser accounted for over two dozen fish yesterday morning before a giant sea monster ran off with his last one.
.. What ever your predilection - now is the time. It will get better by the day for the next two - three weeks. Enjoy some of the easiest, (or most challenging: snob-wise,) fishing that the neighborhood has to offer.

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BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND

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Takin' Five

BIG DOIN'S IN TOWN

Neighborhood Feasting

rods running

DELIGHTFUL AND USEFUL FOR SUMMER DINING

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.. On occasion, there are happenings that take precedents over fishing. So we participate.
.. This last weekend we were chided mercilessly for missing the morning bug frenzy on the Gallatin River, (mile post 29,) and the evening suicide flights of the fresh hoppers - same place.

However . . . .

.. We enjoy the benefits of a large Latino population in our village. One of them is the importation of fine Mexican food products. Peppers, sure: Maria's Cookies, Coconut Candy, Gamesa Sugar Wafers, etc.
.. Before we continue, the recipe below is one of the most useful ever devised - just make it up and try it - in everything!

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CHILI PASTE

One bag of dried peppers, (seeds, stems, skin and all!)
4 cloves, (or more,) garlic,
1/4 cup sugar,
1 Tablespoon salt,
2 Tablespoons milk,
1 (or 2,) Tablespoon cooking oil, (Olive oil - if you choose,)
White vinegar to make paste - add very slowly for desired consistency,

Throw it all in a blender - blend until really smooth. Refrigerate overnight for best taste and consistency.

Add bits of paste, (to taste,) to hamburgers, soups, salad dressings, mayonnaise for sandwiches, stews, fresh salsa, tartar sauce, etc. YUM  - YUM

*******

.. As close as we got to fishing was the observation of gear in the village. The owners were, as we were, enjoying the cruising Street Rods, Hot Rods, and Custom cars at the 42nd annual West Yellowstone Rod Run.
.. Of course several neighborhood feasts were happening and we had to visit them all since we could not show favoritism to any of the neighbors.

.. Even some of the neighborhood fishing fanatics cut short their marathon catching, (the Gallatin River is hopping right now,) and used the excuse that their arms were sore from catching so many fish.
.. There are 16" fish in Bacon Rind Creek, There are 14" fish in Specimen Creek, There are 20" fish at the park line near Snowflake Springs, - AND - the Taylor Fork is running cold and clear.

.. Now is the time for your favorite hopper-dropper combination. Float 'em both, sink 'em both, float one and sink the other - it's all good.
.. The apparent most successful combination, (we weren't there,) reported by the catchers of note, was a high floating hopper, (size 6 - 10,) followed by a drowned Stiff Hackle, (size 10 - 14.)
.. We caught a few of the neighbors at the park and around town and snapped some photos of the cars. It was just a wee bit too hot for our taste but the doin's was worth it.

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Go Low

IT'S STILL SUMMER

Down In The Valley

hoppers & droppers reign

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.. Up toward Mammoth in the lower elevations of  rivers, that we seldom visit, there are eager fish waiting for adventurous anglers willing to wander among cobbles and boulders in order to dance with trout.

.. The Trout Whisperers of the civilized corner of Yellowstone National Park are dragging in fish with conventional rigs and no secret flies.
.. By avoiding the big fish syndrome and fishing on the Gardner River or Yellowstone River anglers are having great catching success.
.. Depending on the locale, it's hopper-dropper or attractor or big-n-ugly. Fish are moving around and upstream. They eat and run and it is useful to cover a lot of water and fish all the apparent and less apparent places. The little darlings are very active right now.
.. Closer to home, the Madison River is seeing an influx of head hunters and submarine chasers. There are even folks with huge Spey Rods seeking the denizens from Hebgen Lake.
.. Some of these fishers are just getting an aerobic workout - others are catching a few fish. One thing for sure, they move the elbows out of the way with their flailing on the river.

.. The resident fish are taking some of the big flies and disappointed expletives are ringing through the incised stream courses as fishers set themselves up for disappointment by targeting the very few runners in the system. They'll be here in numbers soon enough.
.. Big-n-ugly seems to be on the end of most rods along the Madison right now. The mindset seems to be that it can do no harm.
.. Meanwhile the caddis have fired up on the Firehole River and also on the Gallatin River. Neither of these two rivers require a Spey Rod and neither is crowded right now.
..It's time for huevos rancheros and some hot chocolate - the second pot of coffee is gone. The neighbors make a killer salsa and we're invited.

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Get 'Em Ready

HOPPERS ENTER FINAL MOLT

Wings Just Around The Corner

invent a double dropper

FISH HERE FOR BIG RAINBOWS

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.. We saw one hopper with wings over the weekend. It was at the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park. We saw quite a few with stubs of developing wings. We saw very many hoppers without wings.

No Wings

.. We saw two kinds of hoppers: gray with dark gray speckled spots about 1/4" long, AND brown with yellow about 3/8" long. Neither sort had fully developed wings. The one with wings was too fast to get a picture of - unless we decided to abandon the rod for the camera.
.. Terrestrial bugs are prolific on the Gallatin River right now. Soon it will be impossible to walk without killing some trout food.

Wings Just Starting

.. The inventive minds in the neighborhood have already prepared an arsenal of double fly rigs for the upcoming shenanigans.
.. The traditional favorite is the widely used "Hopper-Dropper" combination. A big hopper up top with a nymph or emerger of some sort on the point.
.. Coming on strong over the last two years has been the "Hopper-Hopper" rig. Big hopper on top and little hopper on the point. Also being used with some regularity is the "Dropper-Hopper" combination with a small nymph on a short tag, (2") about 14" above the hopper on point.

Armed And Ready

.. The "Bobber-Hopper," "Hopper-Bobber," & "Hopper-Bobber-Dropper" variants have their adherants as well. One thing for sure - it's easy to see the bobber rigs.
.. The trout of the Gallatin River are about to be inundated with food. The PMD's are still working late on cloudy afternoons.
.. Caddis are starting about 1:40 PM. Ants, beetles, spruce moths, hoppers, butterflies, segmented annelids, and neotenous forms of stoneflies are all on the plate.
.. The neighbors are already on the river. The visitors are too. The thistles have grown spines, and are beginning to bloom, (hopper food,) and will soon be a hazard to your waders.
.. If you plan to fish the Gallatin River please carry your bear spray. The lush valley is full of bears. The bear scat is on the trails and in the weeds. Fish with a friend and make some noise as you stroll from giant fish to giant fish.

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THE GATEWAY

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