Yellowstone Trip: Day 4

Yellowstone Trip Day 4
September 13, 2008
Camp 2S3, Slough Creek, Yellowstone National Park

We did our best to get up earlier this morning so we could be on the river at an early hour. Sleep wasn’t as good, although it was warmer. But for me it was fitful sleep. I awoke before Jason and got out my book to read while waiting for him to get up. Polished off a few more pages of In The Heart Of The Sea.

Jason and I arose first and got to work preparing our breakfast and rigging up. Scott came down shortly after, but he had to eventually go back up to roust Geoff who was racked out.

Jason and I started the morning fishing at the upper end of the honey hole I’d been working all day yesterday. He caught the first fish, but I quickly caught up and passed him. We left the hole with seven fish total (4 for me, 3 for him) with the smallest at 14" and largest 18"+. We moved up and Jason settled into a nice spot. After he pulled a couple out, I headed up to find another spot. He would end up catching 7-8 fish out of that spot, which amazes me.

I eventually found a nice run where I took three more trout, all 15"+. Six of my seven for the early session took the black ant, in fact I wore a couple more out. I did catch one on a hopper pattern, though.

We broke for lunch at around 2:30P, and after eating returned to the tent to journal, read and perhaps take a nap.

Weather was cooler, cloudier, and we even had some sporadic raindrops. Looking forward to our final fishing segment this evening.

Dozed a little after reading and then after hearing Geoff and Scott get up to go back out, Jason and I did the same. Geoff and Scott headed back up river, Scott enjoys exploring as much ground as possible. He ended up by the Ranger Cabin at 2S4 (saw our friends the rangers who said no bear activity!) and he even went beyond that. They saw a herd of elk while up there as well. (NOTE: Checking the map after the trip, it turns out they likely hiked into Montana from Wyoming, thus fishing two states).

Jason and I were creatures of habit and chose to go back to the spots where we’d caught the most fish. And it was a productive decision. I caught five more fish ranging in size from 12"-16", and Jason caught four more. Mine were caught predominantly on cinnamon ants, which has been the go to bug for Jason. I did catch one on a beetle that I’d cut the legs down on so it looked like a fat ant. Retrieving my last cast, a nice 15"-16" cutt took the cinnamon ant, I landed and netted him. As I was trying to take the hook out the tippet broke and he scampered off with the ant in the hook of his mouth. An appropriate ending!

The walk back was fairly eventful. We decided to head back a bit earlier than the night before because the temperature had dropped quickly and we were both quite cold. As Jason was making his way downriver to my spot, a buffalo decided to follow along! This buffalo had being lying down – and standing occasionally – about 50 yards from where I was fishing. Then, he’d risen and moseyed across the river to Jason’s side. Jason moved more quickly to put some distance on him and the buffalo, and fortunately he decided to veer off across the valley. We let him get some distance and alerted Geoff and Scott (via radio) up at camp that a buffalo was headed their general direction. Once the buffalo – now dubbed "Barry" – hit the main trail, he headed south away from us and camp.

We attempted to dry our boots by the fire after dinner so they wouldn’t be as waterlogged for the hike out. Hopefully, we’ve eliminated some weight!

Went to bed a little earlier tonight according to the height of the planet to the west in relation to the ridge line. It was getting mighty cold!

Yellowstone Trip: Day 3

Yellowstone Trip Day 3
September 12, 2008
Camp 2S3, Slough Creek, Yellowstone National Park

Night was cold, but several layers helped keep me warm inside the sleeping bag. Sleep wasn’t too bad considering. We did our best to sleep in. Our tents are pitched several 10′s of yards from our eating area, as recommended, and uphill in a stand of trees. That helped to keep things darker longer. Jason and I awoke to a "smack" of small pine cones hitting our tent. We could’ve swore it was a group of militant squirrels bombarding us, but learned it was something far less nefarious – simply falling pine cones.

Jason, Geoff and I got up first. Frost covered the ground – and my wading boots – and the water left in the cook pot was partially frozen. The sun, however, had reached the eating area which helped us warm up. Our camp is on the east side of the valley – which runs roughly NE  – so it takes a while for it to be in the sun. With no watch, we had no idea what time it was.

Jason fired up the stove and got the boiling water going for our breakfast. Instant oatmeal, hot chocolate (w/a spot of instant coffee courtesy Jason) and a protein bar for me. My "go to" backpacking breakfast since the first trip I took in 5th grade. All that was missing was a Pop Tart, a little treat my mother always put in our backpacking breakfasts.

After breakfast – and the morning constitution – Jason, Geoff and I began rigging up for the day’s fishing. It was at that point that Scott finally emerged from his tent. Scott quickly ate as the rest of us puttered around. We definitely weren’t in any hurry that morning.

Finally, we headed out to the creek. Jason and Geoff headed downstream a stretch, Scott headed upstream, and I went straight down to the creek to the bend where I’d caught my fish the night before.

I approached slowly and peered over the 4′-5′ bank and through the gin clear water could see many, very nice sized cutthroat trout cruising and sipping bugs. I walked quietly downstream and started fishing. I was using a two fly rig with a grasshopper on top and a black ant on bottom. The fish spooked easily, particularly if you false casted out over the water. So I was careful to cast over the shore/field behind me as much as possible. After a few refusals on the hopper, I swapped it out for a beetle, keeping the black ant on the bottom. Again, several refusals on the beetle. But then, one of the biggest fish in the hole sucked in the black ant which had become water logged and sunk. I set the hook and the fight was on!

Landing a very large trout from a 4′ high bank isn’t easy! I grabbed my net – still attached to my tackle bag which drug along behind – and tried to work the fish downstream to an opening in the bank where I could hop a couple feet down to some dirt. Upon landing, I promptly sunk knee deep in mud, but was able to net the fish, a beautiful cutthroat about 18" long. Fatty, too! I pulled the fly from the corner of his mouth and let him go – after a photo of him in the net, of course.

The challenge wasn’t over yet, however. I still had to haul myself back up on the bank. Pulling a foot out of the muck, I tumbled sideways into the river going belly deep. I was wet wading, so the cool water definitely got my already pumping adrenaline going even more! I managed to get back to the mud and then used the grass to pull myself back on the bank.

My second fish of the day was equally exciting. I cast the beetle/black ant combo out an as soon as the ant hit the water a big trout charged from midstream and hit it like a freight train! Again, the challenge became how to land him. Not wanting a repeat of my muddy wet landing before, I opted to try another method: Lay flat on my belly and reach over the bank with the net. Fly rod high overhead in my left hand, I found a lower section of the bank to lay on. I reached down with the net in my right hand and netted the fish. Slightly smaller than the first (16"-17"?) he was nonetheless a great fish. I dropped my rod on the bank so I had both hands over the edge to remove the fly and set him free. I tossed the net up on the back and promptly lost my balance! I began sliding head first toward the river. I clawed and grabbed at the bank with desperation to save myself from a head first dunking in Slough Creek!

Fish three for the early session circled the fly a couple times before sucking it down. The landing was a lot less exciting as he shook the fly as I was reaching to net him. I ended up fishing a stretch of only 20-30 yards before we headed up for lunch. (Again not knowing what time it was).

After "lunch", which was just before sundown, Jason and I headed downstream to a spot he’d done quite well at that day. He picked up two more fish. And, he guided me into a nice trout he’d tried to catch earlier. I cast my mayfly/ant combo into a little back eddy and as I set to recast, missed the take. So I went right back to that spot and hooked him! Beautiful fish and great way to end the day.

Dinner, drinks and fellowship preceded bedtime.

(Additional photos by Jason Hoff, particularly the underwater fish shots)

Yellowstone Trip: Day 1 & 2

Yellowstone Trip Day 1 & 2
September 11, 2008
Slough Creek, Yellowstone National Park

Woke up early, again, to continue our drive to the park. Wednesday, September 10, Scott Nelson and Geoff Horning met me at our house at 5AM. I’d gotten up at 4:40 after just three hours sleep – last minute work requirements and then packing had kept me up. The three of us left my house and headed east for our 8:30AM meeting with Jason Hoff in Kennewick, WA and leave my car in the Red Lion parking lot. A 30 minute stop in The Dalles for breakfast at a local coffee shop put us a little behind, but Jason was running late so it would work out. After an amazing pack job by Jason to get all our gear into his Dodge Charger with rocketbox on top, we headed back to I-84 in Oregon and east to Idaho.

We stopped in Boise for lunch and a visit to Cabela’s. I needed to pick up a few extra flies as well as some new lightweight wading boots. Our final leg of the Wednesday journey took us to Idaho Falls where we rolled into the Red Lion about 8:30PM. After some repacking and fly organizing – and some Dominos Pizza – we hit the hay. 5AM came pretty fast! But the free buffet breakfast – our last real food – was quite tasty.

Drive to the park was gorgeous. We watched the sunrise over the Tetons, crossed and followed the Henry’s Fork, skirted briefly through Montana and rolled into Yellowstone at 8:25AM.

Then, our average speed dropped precipitously! And not just because the speed limit is just 45 MPH. But because of all the tourists driving slowly and pulling off to see elk, buffalo etc. Sure, those are nice to see, but we were in a hurry to get to the Mammoth Junction Ranger Station for our mandatory back country orientation and permit check-in. We knew we’d see buffalo much closer on our hike/camp. (In fact, I just took a break from journaling to take photos of a buffalo 50 yds from camp!)

A Mammoth, we checked in, watched the 20 minute back country orientation video (and actually learned something), bought fishing licenses and a map, and got back on the road to the Slough Creek trailhead. The backcountry ranger told us about a  couple bear incidents about one to four miles up the valley from where we were going to be camping, but no one was hurt. The bear just messed up a couple tents in the middle of the day when the people were gone.

We arrived at the trailhead a little after 11AM and began our final repacking. Before heading out, we each buried a favorite/memorable fly at the trailhead, took a sip of whiskey, added a moment of silence for the victims of 9/11 and their families, and had our picture taken at the trailhead.

Then we left and hiked up – and up – and up. In fact the bulk of the elevation gain on our six mile hike was right off the bat. Which really really sucks! The weather was nice – not too hot or cold – so that definitely helped.

On the way in we met several people. A young kid (18?) from Michigan was hiking in for the day. He’d spent several weeks at the park with his father. He walked with us for over half the way. Jason met a man who ended up being a Director for Cabela’s. He was pleased when the man confirmed that a Cabela’s would be going into Yakima in 2010. And we chatted for a few minutes during our break with two Yellowstone rangers who were hiking into the ranger cabin a mile past our camp. They were with the Bear Unit and were going up to haze the bear we’d heard was causing trouble. They had a shotgun with cracker rounds and a fake tent that is "electrified" to teach the bear to knock it off! It was comforting to know they’d be close by and were specifically there to haze the bear.

We rolled into camp about 2:30P. Our only timepiece is on the GPS, so we aren’t really paying attention to clock time. We set up the tents, prepared the food hanging area and I ate my lunch before hitting the tent for a power nap. After that, we headed down to the creek for our first fishing.

The creek is actually a pretty good hike down from the camp. Probably 15-20 minutes through some high grass. Jason and I went down stream and Geoff and Scott went up.

I worked some faster water with no luck and walked up to a slower stretch that I thought wouldn’t be very productive. In fact, I was going to skip it. Until I saw a little sip of of a trout. Then another and another. I sat down on a rocky beach to change flies and watch the water. I switched to a green bodied, small mayfly because one had landed on my leg earlier when I was rigging up. It did the trick and one of my early casts into this pod I hooked and landed a 13"-14" Yellowstone Cutthroat.

The fish kept rising so I waved Jason up. We worked the water pretty hard for a while and were only rewarded one other time. Jason caught a 12"-13" Cutt on a cinnamon ant. It got dark and cold so we headed back to camp.

After dinner, I quickly called it a night, crawled into my bag wearing 2-3 warm layers and fell asleep. I was tired after a day of hiking and fishing.

Slough Creek, Yellowstone

One of the main reasons I decided to start this fly fishing blog is to have a place to post my journal from the four day fly fishing/camping trip I took last September. Four of us headed to Yellowstone National Park and hiked into Slough Creek. The trip ended up being one of the best fly fishing trips I’d ever done. Each morning, I wrote in my "journal" about the previous day. I say "journal" but is consisted of several blank pieces of white paper folded in half. No way I was carrying the extra weight of a real journal in my pack.

So, over the next several entries, I will be posting my journal and photos here. Hopefully, you’ll find it somewhat interesting, educational and perhaps it will inspire you to take a similar backcountry fly fishing trip.

Fly Fishing Stillwaters: Callibaetis Mayfly

For another fly fishing related project I was working on with a couple other guys, I was putting together a chart of major hatches, what the basic imitators are for each, and other notes that might help you fish those hatches.

Here is the info I put together on the Callibaetis Mayfly, a staple for stillwater like lakes and ponds.

Callibaetis Mayfly

Dry Imitations: Light Cahill #12-16; Compara Dun #12-18; Colors: pale olive to light brown

Nymph Imitations: Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear #12-18; Colors: light tan, grayish brown, pale olive

Notes: Found in lakes, ponds and other stillwaters. Also found in slow moving streams especially around weedbeds. Callibaetis get smaller as the season progresses because they mature faster, so be sure to match the size to the actual hatch. “During a Callibaetis emergence it is quite common for trout to ignore hatching duns in favor of ascending nymphs.” The Complete Book of Western Hatches, Hafele & Hughes

Fishing Round Lake in the Cascades last summer with Geoff I witnessed this last point. We trolled around a bit, did a little cast and retrieve, but it wasn’t until later in the day that I figured the trick while nymphing. The trout were keying on the nymph, in this case a gold ribbed Hare’s Ear, but only when it was barely moving and the takes were super subtle. Literally, I would watch the end of my fly line where it entered the water and if there was even the slightest tension I would set the hook. BAM! Started finally hooking up on fish.

Winter Fly Fishing: I Can’t Feel My Feet!

Cabin fever. Shack nasties. There are numerous slang terms for that feeling you get during the winter when you really want to be out fishing. This condition is far worse for trout fly fisherman because our steelhead brothers and sisters are hitting the streams and shaking the ice off their rods all winter long. While I’ve been steelheading more and more over the past three years, most of the guys I normally fish with don’t so I find ways to fish that includes them.

In Oregon, most streams are closed for trout this time of year and those that are open are more of a drive for someone in the Portland area. The Deschutes, McKenzie and Metolius are all open, but the closest of those is still nearly two hours away. On the flip side, most lakes in Oregon are open year round, but they tend to be at higher elevations and thus snowbound until early summer. So when you find a new lake that just might be accessible in February, well you have to try it out.

Geoff and I got a free Saturday last weekend and went on a mission to find one such lake. Because of the heavy winter snow Oregon has had we weren’t sure if the road to the lake would be open. But we set out anyway and we were rewarded with clear roads all the way. It’s a nice, smaller sized lake and the best part is that it is maybe 70 minutes from home. We got on the water about 11:00A on a nice sunny day. The direct sun and about 45 degree weather kept us warm at least from the waist up. Since we were float tubing, it was a tad chilly from the waist down!

Now, normally I throw the pontoon boat on the roof and use that, which keeps more of me out of the water and thus more of me warm. But Saturday there was a chance we’d be hiking in if the road was under snow, so I left it at home. Wishing I hadn’t!

There was a little midge hatch coming off most of the three hours we fished. I kicked to the far, south end of the lake to explore it, trolling the whole way with no bumps. It turned out that the south end of the lake was still under a thin layer of ice! After a couple hours with no strikes, I took a break on the shore to try to thaw my feet out. I decided that I’d fish my way back and call it a day. Murphy’s Law, as soon as I got back in the water Geoff saw a rise and got a strike. I have to fish a little more now!

I kicked over and he and I worked the section where he’d gotten the strike. Saw a couple more rises and Geoff had a couple more missed strikes. But I just couldn’t stay out there. My feet were so cold they were beginning to hurt! I kicked back in.

No fish, but I consider it a successful trip. Scouted a new lake and spent several hours in the outdoors enjoying solitude and the beauty of Oregon.

Thin Current: Musings on fishing with a fly

I started another fly fishing blog about 18 months ago on different platform (that shall remain nameless). After writing for a few months and several entries, I lost track of it and it lay fallow. Looking back on it, though, it was a nice place to keep stories, photos and musings on my fly fishing trips. So, I am bringing it back to life here.

I’m starting my migrating over several of the best posts from the last version.

Enjoy.