Fly Fishing Yellowstone National Park-Chapter II
The summer of 2010 will no doubt go down as one of the most incredible Montana fly fishing seasons thus far. The Yellowstone River has only been “plugged” one time, and even on this day when even fewer were on the water than usual, the focused fisher still found fish feeding. I know this because there’s an image of one of my lifelong friends and clients who’s been fishing this river nearly as long as I have branded in my head as I write this.
My high school biology teacher and his wife continue to visit us nearly every season. Duane and Joyce Grahm of Pennsylvania probably rival for the title of our first fly fishing guests. Matter of fact, maybe even our first employee. I fondly recall Mr. G trimming trees at the lodge with Stan “horse-trading” for time on the water. Needless to say, any teacher that survived even a day with me in the front of his classroom deserves a little relaxation!
I finally caught up with this fishing fool the other day right after the latest mud-plug came through. He excitedly told me of the big fish he caught in the shallow water near shore. As he shared this tale he also used his hands as props to demonstrate the shallowness of the water. When he’s telling a fishing story, he gets pretty excited, his voice raises and the speed of the words increase dramatically. So, the first time through I got a little confused since most fish stories usually show the hands further apart. Kind of like a mime offering a definition of Oxymoron’s.
Living right on the Yellowstone river next to Yellowstone Park has it’s pro’s and cons, yet with each day I am certain I am one of the fortunate few. This summer was a record year for Yellowstone Park visitors, but not necessarily those seeking its miles of trout streams. Hopefully all those folks found and saw what they were looking for.
Traffic has slowed down quite a bit on 89 south. This is the time of the year when as I’m told “the serious fly fishers” arrive. I’m not exactly sure I can confirm or debate this claim since I figure every person that fishes Yellowstone is a serious fly fisher. Me, I fish it because it’s fun. There’s always an adventure that often goes beyond the fishing.
The roads in Yellowstone are far from what most of us might call “hi-ways”, but if you live in southwest Montana I-90 is about as close as you come to a highway. If you visited Yellowstone this past summer it wouldn’t have been any different than the past 30. The two lane roads are designed to offer traffic in a single file in two directions. The speed limit is 45 mph. Yellowstone Park is 2.2 million acres-it’s a 5 hour drive from one end to the other and you’ve only covered the middle of the park.
“Bear Jams” are still plentiful, but it’s not just bears that cause these traffic jams. In general, any wild animal that stood in one place long enough for more than one person to spot them would cause most every driver to do what everyone does in a bear jam-stop in the middle of the road, get out of the car and run up to where everyone else was. Unfortunately, the world famous Wolves rarely cause these traffic jams since “wolf watching” is just one step up from rolling down the window and taking a few pictures. It’s like they’ve become the elitist and most privy of wildlife watchers.
There are no short-cuts…
There’s a silver lining to every cloud. Even though it saddens me when that many people try to “get through” Yellowstone Park it fills my heart with joy that they got through. Maybe someday they’ll look back and realize what they missed. I just hope they appreciated it enough to know how important it is to this country.
Slowing down isn’t easy. If there’s one path less followed worth taking, then it’s stringing up a fly rod, strapping on some bear spray, pulling on a pack and finding some water. If you don’t like people, keep walking. If there’s someone fishing your favorite spot, find another one. When you find it-enjoy it. I cannot re-call any day that someone was in my favorite spot in the past 20 years. Sure, there are some places I go back to twice, but not very often. There’s just too much allure to what’s around the next bend. It’s even more fun to follow a blue line on a map and pick the spot furthest from any black dotted lines on the same map.
A Favorite Spot on the Yellowstone River Inside Yellowstone Park.
If there’s one place in particular that stirs up a lifetime worth of fishing memories in Yellowstone Park then naturally without any intended irony it’s a special place my dad and I fished a lot in our Yellowstone days.
Just a mile or so East of Roosevelt lodge on the way to “Cooke City” and the Beartooth highway is a large bridge that spans the Yellowstone. On many a springs when the run off was wicked we’d hike down to this bridge at sunset. As the turbulent, thickly mudded river hit this bridge it was easy to hear the sound of car sized boulders being shuffled. Often 100 foot Lodgepole Pines would whip down the middle. It was always a rush when one of these trees would whack that bridge. It was an erie sound and vibration.
On the other side of this bridge is a little pull off on the left. However, the secret was (and should still be if anyone’s listening) to park on the Roosevelt side and sneak across the bridge to the other side. Efforts had to be made so that passer-byes thought we were “looking for a place to fish”. If they kept on driving, that was good. If they stopped and asked “you guys fishing” that’s when things got interesting. Some of the tales my Dad wove were so extensive in detail that the driver usually had to move on so the next vehicle could get across or they just stopped listening. Each result reaped the same reward.
We’d duck down on the left side of the bridge then slip off the trail which goes back to the confluence of the Soda Butte, Lamar and Slough Creeks into the Yellowstone. There’s no trail here, but we did it in Teva’s with rods strung up, so it’s not too bad depending on whom you ask.
On this inside bend of the Yellowstone there were always tons of fat Cut Throat bedded down. Regardless of the flow of the rest of the river, this area was always accommodating. Rarely would you want to take more than one step into the river since this was where most the fish were. It didn’t take me long to realize it made more sense to just cast from shore rather than wade out and cast back towards shore.
Our favorite patterns always included a Royal Trude, Yellow Adams, Hoppers, Prince Nymphs and a few Hare’s Ears. Nothing fancy, just the standard that usually didn’t float well as a dry and required much more maintenance than some of the silly foam patterns we often use. However, if the fish didn’t eat it on the surface, it was a good call to just continue turning downstream, let it sink and swing, hang a bit, pull it a bit, drop it a bit and usually some mixture of the above worked to hook big fish after big fish.
“When you’re knee deep in the Yellowstone River in the summer there’s not many other things besides breathing and smiling that will take precedence over just making another cast.” (Photo)
It wasn’t too often that we’d find a reason to nymph. While we certainly would probably catch more fish it just didn’t seem worth the effort at the time. When you’re knee deep in the Yellowstone River in the summer there’s not many other things besides breathing and smiling that will take precedence over just making another cast.
Since I worked at Roosevelt Lodge as the manager of the Recreation Department (I was incidentally the only employee in that department, so management was challenging). This little fishing spot gave some of my fellow employees, other managers and myself plenty of opportunity for stress-free business meetings. It worked well, we could still hear from the two way Motorola’s if the cook out was going okay as well as from base where there was often a full lodge of guests. My pal Tom managed the main lodge, guest cabins and employees. Although it’s the park’s smallest location, the local Hamilton store there is rumored to have the highest alcohol sales in the park. I guess it really is all about location and this article is complete fiction (in case anyone asks).
In fishing this spot we could reel in quick, run up to our vehicle and be back to the main base before anyone knew they’d missed us. Just so no one gets the wrong idea, most managers who work in Yellowstone usually put in solid 16 hour days and “on call” most of the time whilst living “on location”. Obviously, the benefits far outweighed the hourly wage. The real action didn’t get going until the sun went down. This is usually when we were planning some sort of activity with the staff be it a barn dance, talent show or the usual card night at the now famous “Hole in the Wall”. (A free hat to anyone who can prove to me they’ve tipped a glass in this heavenly place).
There’s definitely more to Yellowstone Park than incredible fly fishing, but it sure makes a good cover story.
That’s enough secrets for one night.
“Tight Lines & Smiles”
Jim “JB” Klyap, Outfitter #7843
