Yellowstone Country Update
Through the week of August 27th through September 2nd, I had the pleasure of fishing some of Idaho/Montana/Yellowstone’s pristine waters with my wife and friends. Here is what I found.
Madison River
Usually, the first place I want to fish when I make the drive to Yellowstone country is the Madison River. We were able to hit the river for roughly four hours, and it didn’t disappoint. The well-worn streamside trails indicated that this summer was no different than any other, busy. Luckily for us, when we rolled into Raynold’s Pass, there was only one other car in the southeast parking lot.
From the bridge, we walked upstream and were able to find a few trout. The combination that worked best for me was a good ol’ #10 brown chubby chernobyl with a #12 olive Pat’s rubber legs as a dropper. I knew hoppers would be a big part of the trout’s diet at this time of year. As for the dropper, nocturnal stones are usually active this time of year. During the time we spent on the river, we were able to land five healthy trout, miss a handful, and move a couple hogs. I couldn’t resist but to break out my Echo TR Trout spey and attempt to swing into something bigger. I missed a couple grabs on a white #8 sculpzilla, but that was it.
Virginia Cascades/Gibbon River
We shortly stopped by Virginia Cascades with hopes of hooking a handful of small uneducated brook trout on dry flies. It didn’t take long to figure out that there were no trout in the stream. I later found out that Virginia Cascades was recently poisoned to clean out the brookies and make room for the native Yellowstone cutthroat. The cutthroat won’t be planted until 2019 or 2020 as far as I know.
The meadows of the Gibbon River had a healthy population of fun-sized brown trout with an occasional 16 incher. It is technical fishing. Using 9-foot 5X leaders and 20-30-foot casts are fairly regular. What I love most about this river is how the trout sip. Even a 6-inch brown sips #16 rusty spinners like a pro.
We fished the gibbon midday, which wasn’t ideal. I believe if we came back in the evening, we would have been in for better fishing. Hoppers, ants, and beetles were the flies of choice for this beautiful stretch of river.
Wade Lake
The views were incredible. The fishing was tough. From what I saw, most of the trout were feeding in shallow bays, cruising for leeches, crayfish, and callibaeitis. After a half day of fishing, we hooked a small handful of trout on #8 Halloween woolly buggers and #14 soft hackle callibaetis imitations. A few trout were sipping duns, while most of the feeding was occurring sub-surface.
Henry’s Lake
I had heard mixed reports from Henry’s leading up to the two mornings of fishing we spent there. “No fish. It isn’t worth your time.” Having fished Henry’s every summer of my life, I was going to fish the lake even if a trout hadn’t been caught there this entire year.
A few friends and I went out on the lake before the crack of dawn, and to my surprise, we had some decent fishing. The bite didn’t really turn on until 7:15 a.m., but it is always worth it to be on the water prior to then. We managed to land seven hearty trout during the two mornings we spent on the lake. The biggest trout we landed was knocking on 3-pounds. The biggest we lost was around 4 or 5-pounds. It’s funny how the big ones always get away! The flies that worked best for us were a #8 and #10 olive woolly bugger, no bead. It was very simple but very effective.
Quake Lake
Being that it was a little later in the year than I am used to, I didn’t expect there to be much surface activity on the lake. We stuck with slow sinking lines and woolly buggers for the most part. A #8 BH thinmint was the most productive fly for my wife and I. Anchoring the boat and casting into tree patches seemed to be the ticket. The brown trout we found were cruising closer to shore, while the rainbows were out a little deeper.
I was able to convince a couple trout to sip my #14 Arrick’s ant near Beaver Creek, only to lose them shortly after the take.
Now is the time of year when many hardcore anglers migrate to Yellowstone Country to fish in the fall. While you’re there, stop by and support some of the local fly shops. Every fly shop I stopped at was very helpful and treated us like we were longtime friends.