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Yellowstone Part 2 #11058111 08/23/15 03:40 AM
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RexW Offline OP
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I got to go back to Yellowstone last week. I never thought Id get to visit there twice in one summer. This was a very fast trip, I went back to help my daughter drive home before school started Monday. It was a short trip, but I took advantage of the park slogan and enjoyed it.



I arrived after lunch Thursday which gave me about 3 hours to fish before my daughter got off work. That is not much time so I went to the Gardiner River here:



The farther upstream you get from the bridge the better the fishing.



One thing about the park, wet wading is the way to go. Just leave the waders in the car, you dont need them.



Here was my view of the Gardiner River. I had the place to myself.



OK, true to my usual form, when the fish started biting, I forgot to take any pictures. But, I did get a picture of whatever this thing was. It was huge!



I can honestly say that I have hiked on a real buffalo trail. laugh This game trail was part of the path out from the river, and it reminded me of hiking in west Texas. I fully expected to find a rattle snake on this trail. I was more concerned about finding a snake than I was a bear. Waders are not needed in the water, but youll appreciate long pants during the hike in and out from the river on these trails.




I had most of Friday to fish on my own. So, bright and early I headed for Soda Butte creek. All the reports for several weeks have been that Soda Butte has been on fire. So, how could I not go there?

Entering the Lamar Valley, I was greeted with the mother of all YNP traffic jams. A large herd of Bison had decided to make a mile or so of the highway into their personal highway. I lost about 45 minutes of travel time, but it was very cool to experience.

However, for future reference, being downwind of a Bison is a very bad place to be...











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Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11058112 08/23/15 03:41 AM
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I finally found a parking spot at one of the trailhead areas. While everyone else parking there headed up the mountain, I went to the creek. What I found was amazing.



I fished about a mile of the creek without ever seeing another living soul even though I could hear cars going by on the road above me. No one else was in sight, but fish were everywhere.





Gear for the trip consisted of a 5 wt TFO Pro series rod. If you can only take one rod with you, a 5 wt seemed about perfect for fishing YNP. I was also using one of TFOs new fly lines. This summer is the first chance that Ive had to spend time fishing one of these lines and I liked it a lot, especially for a $40 line.

I was also using a William Joseph Coastal backpack for the first time. I bought it on clearance because I didnt have a pack that I could strap a rod to easily and this one was on sale for a cheap price. When I received it, I was disappointed. It has metal frame that makes it bulky to transport and it was a bit of a pain to carry on an airplane. However, this pack is by far the most COMFORTABLE pack that I have ever worn. I used to backpack and have worn a few packs before, so I dont make this claim lightly. I usually take my pack off when I get to the water, but I kept this one on and wore it as I worked my way upstream. It is not perfect, but it is a comfortable pack.



Look Mom bear spray!



The hot flies were all dry flies, with a Cards Cicada and a Korns Spent Caddis catching the most fish. Heres a picture of what is left of the spent caddis fly. It is chewed up, but it continued to catch fish. I took this picture because this was the ONLY fly of this type that I had and I wanted to know what it was. I have never seen any species of fish attack any fly as aggressively as they were hitting this fly. It was definitely the hot fly of the day. Before being mauled, this pattern has a couple of small feathers laid flat on the back of the fly similar to a moth. It floats low in the water.



Every fish caught that day was a Yellowstone Cutthroat and all of them were caught on dry flies. It was a fun day. Here a couple of them. (Yes, I know, it was out of character for me to actually photograph a fish, but these are pretty fish.)





Heres the sad news. Starting Monday, in an effort to eradicate the non-native Brook trout from Soda Butte, they plan to remove ALL fish from this creek. The Yellowstone Cutts will be removed using electroshock and then the entire creek will be poisoned. The Cutts will be released back into the creek at some point. The reason is to help the endangered Yellowstone Cutthroat trout in the creek. I hope it works and the creek recovers, because it was an incredible fishery this summer.

You cant talk about Yellowstone, without at least one shot of Mammoth Hot Springs.



Saturday, we loaded the car and started the two day drive home



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Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11058122 08/23/15 03:48 AM
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Here's more information on the Soda Butte non-native eradication project. This article does not seem to have dates, but what they were saying while I was there is that the project is supposed to start on Aug 24.

http://rivernewsnow.com/index.php/homepa...oda-butte-creek


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Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11058888 08/23/15 06:50 PM
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Great photos Rex! Looks like you had a good time.


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Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11059212 08/23/15 09:37 PM
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Thanks, it was a good time.

Here are the flies that were mentioned. I'd never heard of either of them. These examples came from Park's Fly Shop in Gardiner, MT.

Card's Cicada:





Korn's Spent Caddis: Note the way the wings are tied.





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Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11060172 08/24/15 11:25 AM
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Solid post. Thanks for sharing. cheers


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Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11066516 08/27/15 07:59 AM
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Mutant stonefly shuck on the rock.

Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11066545 08/27/15 10:43 AM
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Thanks for sharing, great post!

Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11067060 08/27/15 03:47 PM
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thanks for sharing; great post; both flies interesting-p-

Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11067210 08/27/15 04:43 PM
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Awesome post and pictures. Thanks sharing all the details on locations, gear, flies and of course the fish. Interesting story about the cut throats. I hope their plans work out.

Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: Fwt] #11068405 08/28/15 02:26 AM
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Originally Posted By: Fwt
Mutant stonefly shuck on the rock.


I was wondering if it was stone fly or one of the salmon flies that they have in the park? Either way, it was big.


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Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11068410 08/28/15 02:28 AM
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Thanks for the comments. I was a fun trip.


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Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11068480 08/28/15 03:02 AM
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Originally Posted By: RexW
Originally Posted By: Fwt
Mutant stonefly shuck on the rock.


I was wondering if it was stone fly or one of the salmon flies that they have in the park? Either way, it was big.



It's a type of golden stone that hatch before the sun comes up.

Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11069437 08/28/15 05:19 PM
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Great pics!

Re: Yellowstone Part 2 [Re: RexW] #11082948 09/04/15 01:38 PM
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wonderful post and congrats on an awesome trip!


Mark Cooper
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