Medieval Knights

Elbow Room

In Praise Of Gray

A LOVELY OPENER

Just The Perfect Overcast

bazillions of bugs and noses

PERFECT OVERCAST ON SUNDAY & VERY BRIGHT FOR THE AFTERNOON CADDIS

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.. Not too much to report. Saturday dawned clear and bright without a cloud in the sky. By noon the white wisps had filtered over the continental divide and by mid afternoon the sun was shielded by high thin clouds. The breeze was constant and persistent.
.. A bit of midnight drizzle brought more dense clouds and Sunday was right out of the guide books. It was bright with layered clouds for the first 2/3 of the day and a bit broken in the late afternoon. By 8:00 PM there were patches of blue between the dense gray clouds and the air stilled to dead calm - ruined our casting stroke.

.. Gentle rain and a spit or three punctuated the day and into the evening. The rivers are clear, cool, and slow. Three to four feet visibility in the Madison River and up to six feet in the Firehole River. Nifty. By nightfall there were blessed rains and a few thunder boomers in West Yellowstone.

.. We saw mayflies all day, (even through lunch,) on both the Madison River and the Firehole River.

Green Sparkle & Yellow Traditional - Fish Eat Them

.. Sunday evening produced 18 different kinds of caddis. There were big brown ones, little brown ones, gray ones, tan ones, flying ones, walking ones, big white ones, flying white ones, stationary white ones, variegated ones; ones with battle stripes on their wings, some with short feelers, some with long feelers, a few with no feelers, there were even smashed ones and crippled ones, and swimming ones, and fluttering ones, and floating ones.
.. How do the fish keep track of which ones to eat? We foiled them with a pair of commercially tied soft hackle flies. They flew through the air when we cast them. They floated when we greased them. They sank when we weighted them. They were big to begin with. They were small when we plucked them. They skittered when we stripped them. They caught too many fish to count. We wonder what they were imitating?

CHANGES AND CLARIFICATIONS IN REGULATIONS THIS YEAR

.. The National Park Service has once again re-classified the waters in Yellowstone National Park.
.. The regulations have new wordings and limits of take.
.. Killing is a "must" rather than a "should" in some additional areas. It's best to read the regulations.
.. The regulation book is very clear this year. There should be no questions, (except for the note about disposing of fish in park trash cans.)
.. One note that is very interesting states that tributaries to the West Side Rivers are not restricted to fly fishing. Unless, of course, we read it wrong, (pg. 8 of this year's regulations.)

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Lovely Dark Holes Along The Bank - Six Fish - Four Whistle Pigs (one in lower right corner.)

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.. We found our opening day, isolated, dark holes guarded by Whistle Pigs this year. We watched for a while. They weren't fishing so we tromped through their living room and gathered in some fish. Given our current count of lustra and the state of our non-bionic wheels it's nice that there are so many places to fish that are less that 50' from the car door. Seems that folks just drive by without a look or glance. Fine by us.
..  The Mary Mountain Trail is officially closed. Access to Nez Perce creek from the bridge is possible. If you fish here be sure to understand the bear closure and fishing access rules. Carry, IN YOUR HAND, bear spray. Fish with a hoard of singing Girl Scouts, and do not run if you encounter a bear. The river is clear and cold and has some large fish if that's your cup of bile.
.. More to come in a day or two. It's time for stories and some vitamin "B." There's a new pub in town that's open right now. Another one is opening in a day or two. We suffer by fish and vitamin riches.

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WHISTLE PIGS GUARD THE APPROACH TO EASY FISHING HOLE ON THE MADISON RIVER

Diversions & Plans

ABOUT ONE WEEK TO GO

Indy 500

yellowstone opens for fishing

BEST WITH BUDS - OF BOTH KINDS

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.. It's that time of year. Hoards of visitors are already arriving in the neighborhood. They bemoan the gentle drizzle as if they would melt. We're loving it to death.
.. The Firehole River is cooling with the overcast and the manna from above. The runoff event, in the other neighborhood rivers, is slowly building to the supposedly "unfishable" stage.

PHEASANT AND BLUE

.. We've got some very large dark flies that cast both a shadow and produce a fine silhouette. It's not a secret. It takes fish. It takes time, patience, covering lots of water and lowered expectations in the numbers department. Size of fish is no problem.
.. The lowland Madison River is coloring up nicely and it takes a sage fisher and/or savvy guide to gather in the trout.
.. Right this instant there is about 3/4 mile of perfect conditions on the Gallatin River. It snuggles in between the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park and the Taylor Fork. This is that section that the gentleman fishers in the region call too cold to fish. So be it.

Gift From Da Kids

.. The neighbors have migrated from the lake edge to the weed beds of the estuaries and the prominent points along the periphery of Horse Butte. Leeches and midges may seem to be a pair of strange bedfellows - works though!
.. We visited the relatives and caught a few fish on the Madison River below the dam at Ennis Reservoir. Burned up some high dollar beef, fortified ourselves with some vitamin "B", and soaked a bit in the drizzle. Not your typical tourist attraction day in the neighborhood.
.. We're planning for the exuberance of next weekend. A bit of couch time, some more grilled beef, additional vitamin enhancement, fish a little, watch the parade of automotive sameness, fish a bit more, and snooze some.
.. A blindingly strenuous weekend looms. We'll use this one to relax: fish a bit more and rest up for the foray into the social fishing scene on opening day in Yellowstone National Park.

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STILL MOTHER'S DAY ??

Edict

NO QUESTION ABOUT IT

Firehole River - Park Opening

a seldom mentioned location

Quick - Read This

NPS RESCHEDULES OPENING DATES

Just Three Days To Go

revise your plans

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.. Due to low snow and a warming trend in the weather, Yellowstone National Park will open the roads on the west side of the park on April 19, 2013. That's a week earlier than previously scheduled. To say the least, we're pleased. Fishing is starting as regularly scheduled.

Read the official news release HERE.

.. Expect some rain and snow and hail, and wind, and bison, and elk, and bears. It should be grand.
.. Restrooms will be open. Pay at pump gas at Old Faithful. Regular services, (such as visitor centers, etc.) begin on or about April 26, 2013.

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Eastward HO !

GATES OPEN AT 8:00 AM

We'll Be There

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.. Yellowstone National Park will open it's gates to wheeled vehicle traffic this morning.
.. We're going to check and see if the rumor that they have moved it to New Jersey is true. You will be the first to know.

Simple Pleasures

FOUR SEASONS PER DAY

Well -- Three anyway

the sun appeared briefly

FISHERS AND BISON SHARE THE SAME MEADOWS

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.. As opening days go, it was fairly typical. It snowed some, it rained some, the sun peeked out some and fish were caught - some.
.. The faithful who worshiped at the holy waters were rewarded with blustery weather, crowded waters, wildlife, and a few bugs. Most who came sought the simple pleasures of whipping the water to a froth while waiting for some surface action.
.. It's a simple bit of fun. Get your new waders wet in the deep spots where you just kicked out the fish, then cast to a rising fish 50' away.

THE F3 SPEY FLY

.. The cool weather and the falling snow of the last few days have slowed the runoff to a fishable torrent and the water is clear enough to fish.
.. A few sneaky fishers with the wherewithal to find the big fish tucked under the banks used nymphs, streamers, wet flies, and other assorted fluff below the surface. We used a small Spey fly. Fish were caught by most fishers.

PMD Fun

.. Worshiping and genuflecting was persistent for the whole day. Brief sunny spells punctuated the blustery day while it rained and snowed more than anything else.
.. The PMD's showed up about 2:30 PM and the congregation was rewarded for their patience with the howling wind and blinding snow flurries.
.. Sunshine seemed to be the enemy. With it came the screaming kids, nosy visitors, news photographers, and the family dog, (or dogs,) it was like unto a party. The bison near Ojo Caliente, on the Firehole River drew crowds to watch the wildlife, (hominid and bovine alike.)

THE SUN BRINGS FORTH A PARTY ATMOSPHERE

.. Sunday was a repeat of Saturday with more and heavier snowfalls. The bugs appeared again, right after lunch, and drew the magnetized hoards to the water. The Firehole River was the main attraction on the west side of the park.
.. Some less-than-social fisher folk noticed that the bear closure signs had been removed from Nez Perce Creek: up they went. Reports of clear water and eager fish rolled down the Mary Mountain trail like ball bearings on a playground slide. There was more snow in the Nez Perce Valley but there seemed to be easier fishing and catching, (for those that care.) It's a pleasure reserved for those who will walk a little farther.

NEWSREEL PHOTOGRAPHER FORCED TO
CHOOSE BETWEEN BISON & FLY FISHER

.. Rumors of enormous fish, (about the size of oil drums,) have filtered to our ears from the small party of mud fishers that walked the bank of Duck Creek in it's last 1/2 mile before the impoundment and the park line. A fuzzy cell phone image went a long way toward convincing us that even heretics catch fish away from the holy water.
.. The discharge rates have already started to rise after the cool weather. Color will probably return to the holy water. Fishers will still traipse the banks and dogs and children will frolic along the shore. This brief pause in the high water phase is soon to end, (given the improbable veracity of the near term weather forecast.)
.. The Madison River drew few fishers and even fewer catchers. Those that knew where the water slowed and the banks were deeply undercut had a field day. The rest just wet their waders.
.. As always we'll keep you posted about the fishing and catching. The neighbors will be pissed, the feather merchants will be irked, the rangers will be peevish, (as usual,) & a good time will be had by all while Fly Fishing in Yellowstone National Park.

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The Throngs Of Spring

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.  

~Henry David Thoreau

Midnight Snow: May 26 - 27, 2011

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.. They've been arriving on schedule: just like the swallows at Capistrano. It's an annual migration: from the cluttered lowlands of our nation to the idyllic meadows of Yellowstone.
.. Last night while they slept in their cozy motel beds Mom spewed forth a greeting of white stuff for their edification. The kind of greeting that is but a foretaste of tomorrow's opening day in Yellowstone National Park.

Just Like Christmas

.. For the moment, at least, there is no place in our little village that received more than two feet of snow. The famous rivers of the west side of the park are cool, and their meadows can all be traversed without having to trudge through more than knee deep snow.
.. This migration is a ritual that has little to do with fish and much to do with the space between the visitor's ears.
.. Spring, (such as it is this year,) has arrived in Yellowstone. The indicators are present in abundance:
1,] it says so on the calendar,
2.] the Firehole River came within 1 cfs of setting an all-time discharge record last Tuesday, (it's back down to a gentle 100 cfs above seasonal average,)
3,] the Gibbon River broke it's discharge record for the last four days by over 400 cfs, and the trend continues,
4,] the Madison River has been running at between 500 and 700 cfs above the seasonal average for the last week, and is continuing to pump chocolate sludge into Hebgen Reservoir.
5,] feather merchants are dancing with glee at the in-migration of the faithful,
6,] pub proprietors have finally found an outlet for their weirdly named and highly over rated local beers,
7,] park rangers have a fresh supply of ball point pens and stacks of newly printed citation forms for the visitors that have not read this year's new regulations - or are ignoring them - or have parked poorly in their haste to not catch fish.

Full Dress Feather Duster

.. This year opening day will, again, not be about the fish. It's about the ritual, the mentality, the commitment to fish the holy water and conditions be damned!
.. This year it's about slogging around frozen meadows and hanging out in the snow doing senseless things that the wife will not let the old codgers do at home.
.. We'll take our favorite flies, (guaranteed not to catch fish in the current conditions,) and tie them on with our frozen fingers. We'll have a net with holes bigger than any anticipated fish. We will even take a camera to record beautiful scenery because we know that there will be no fish to pose for a portrait.
.. We'll be there tomorrow to participate in the snowstorm, the soggy cigars, and the amber liquids. We've been invited to traipse through the tundra with our neighborhood mud-fishers. It will be a day to remember.
.. Damn the conditions - full haul ahead!

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Your Fee Dollars At Work

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Through The Roof

BRIEF NOTE OF DESPAIR

Day To Day Anxiety

Saturday cometh

SUCH A PRETTY COLOR

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.. We're headed out the door, so this is brief. The Madison River, Gibbon River, Firehole River are responding to the recent and continuing rain in a spectacular fashion. There are no official records yet, and we don't look for them for another hour or so, but the water continues to be high and thick, and very muddy.
.. "Traditionally" the Firehole River is fishable on opening day, (you can fish any water, but catching possibilities are problematic.) Charts below.
.. We'll let you know on Friday where the throngs are going and where the catching might be possible.
.. We're in the park daily and are frequently amused by the long-distance reports and prognoses of folks that have a soft easy chair and piles of historical data. The web is full of: "Traditionally," "Usually," "Frequently," "Ought to be . . .," etc. There is no substitute for "WE STUCK OUR THERMOMETER IN THE MUDDY WATER."

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The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly - (sorry)

10 DAYS TO GO

Record Flows In Reach

rivers like chocolate syrup

Here's Madison Mud In Your Eye

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.. The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend marks the opening of fishing in Yellowstone National Park. This year that is May 28. That's the good news.
.. All rivers on the west side of the park are very high. Both the Madison River and the Firehole River are within reach of new record flows, (again.) The Gibbon River set an unofficial record on Tuesday. On that same day The Firehole River was within 100 cfs of a record.That's the bad news.
.. The beautiful brown, amber, and occasional mauve colors in the water make for interesting photographic exercises - not good for catching. That's the ugly news.
.. For the moment "Tea-Stained" is an appropriate comparison. Soon the color will turn to one that is best described by referring to a baby's diapers. In-water visibility is up from just a few days ago to about 8", it's bound to go down again with the next increase in discharge rates.
.. This year the park regulations are emphasizing those regulations that protect native fish. They have raised the harvest limits for Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout in areas where they compete with native Cutthroat and Grayling.
.. Many fishers, (and guides and feather merchants,) release all trout. It's an unthinking and destructive dogma of their religion. We suggest that you download the regulations, know the harvest limits for where you fish, and kill the invasive species. If all you want to do is catch fish go to a trout farm.

This Year's Regulations

.. The downloadable regulations (PDF) also contain an expanded section on preventing the spread of other invasive species, (besides the trout.) It's an easy thing to do - be legal and be conservationist.
.. If you have not made reservations for a dwelling space in Gardiner, Jackson, or West Yellowstone, it may be too late. There are still a few places left in the park but they should be fully booked by the end of this week. The rush is on and visitors of the non-fishing variety are already banging the the gates. Last year was another record year for park visitation. This year may be the same.
.. We intend to keep a close watch on the waters of the west side of Yellowstone National Park. There is still plenty of snow around. The extended forecast calls for temperatures in the high 50's to low 70's with daily rain for the next two weeks.
.. As the warm weather continues we anticipate only a few places where the catching will be as good as the fishing. We'll keep you posted.

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The Lost Is Found

Madison River At The Park Line

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Obligatory Bison

GENEROUS SNOW PACK

No Muddy Water - Yet

very few visitors

The Stroll
(note injured horn)

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.. It's incumbent upon every visitor to Yellowstone National Park to photograph a bison in the road. So we did. They look less stressed from the continuing winter than was to be expected: the ones that survived.

Gibbon River At National Park Meadows

.. Our brief reconnoiter was just to Old Faithful for ice cream and then back to town for chores. We only stopped briefly to view the waters. We did see fish rising in Biscuit Basin. Must have been the phantom midge hatch.

Firehole River Just Above The Falls

.. The roads are mostly clear of snow but the continuing snowfall, (4" today,) will keep most visitors in their cars, (a fairly normal way to "see" Yellowstone - anyway.) There are only a few pull-outs that are navigable, while most have between 2 and 4 feet of snow blocking passage.

Nez Perce Creek At Grand Loop Road Bridge

.. The snow is wind polished and crusted; some of the 4 foot deep snow banks even held our considerable mass and girth as we ventured close to the waters for a better view. Persons of the rotund variety, (including us,) could easily find themselves chest deep in the white stuff if imprudence wins the day.

Upper Gas Station At Old Faithful

.. The river edges are still covered with overhanging cornices in many stretches. Too close a look and cold and wet awaits. The warm meadows and geyser basins are clearing nicely but not a trace of green grass is yet to be seen.

Old Faithful Inn

.. We did some dry-run photos for World Wide Pinhole Photography Day and have about mastered the digital techniques. The large format pieces are at the processor's right now. We'll see: aiming, exposure, reciprocity effects, and film choice are variables that we're not very conversant with yet.
..Time is precious right now and we'll continue to monitor the snow melt and grass greening inside Yellowstone National Park. But, the trip "down-canyon" to good fishing gets shorter every day and the gradual warming, punctuated with some spring snowfall, is making the trout crazy. We'll be there tomorrow.

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Opening Day Ice Cream

Biscuit Basin Bridge - Digital

Biscuit Basin Bridge - Digital Pinhole

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