Yellowstone in early September

[Scott V]

I am finally going to take my trip to Yellowstone this year. Kathy and I plan to be there in the early part of September. We will be staying at the Fishing Bridge campground since we will be in our RV. Any information would be greatly appreciated on where to fish in or around the park. I had been given information from board members last year but have lost everything due to a computer crash and burn. It will be our first visit to the park so we will be seeing the sites, but I am really looking forward to getting in some fishing. And I really love to hike in fishing to those secluded away from the general public places. Waht type of fishing can I expect?

Thanks for any information and assistance.

[EricO]

Hey, me too! I'm headed on a road trip to Montana and Wyoming at the
end of July, beg. of August with my wife, 13 yr old son and his buddy.

Can't wait, but need to do some more research. Hope there are some good
responses! (will post cool report upon my return) :-)

EO

[Hibbygibi]

Contact offline for info on your trip
Al

[huntindog]

You will love it. September is far and away the best time to be there, no crowds, hungry fish, bugling elk and fall colors.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

This is a famous time to go there.....Sylvester Neemes of the soft hackle world use to go there in September.

[Troutstalker55B]

Check out Bacon Rind creek outside the park, it's a trib to the Gallaton river - Great hike!
JB

[Pound]

I was there for the first time last summer around mid July, so my information will not be too applicable. It was still “early” in the year, with the huge snow/rain in late season of last year, so we were fishing a lot with rubberlegs with a caddis dropper. We fished with dries only when there was a good hatch and lots of sippers. We were following the yellow sallies north thru the Rockies, but missing the drakes. However, we did manage a day of salmonflies on the Gardiner R.

Some of the rivers that we did fish were the Gardiner (near Gardiner Mt), Slough Creek (really good, but the fish were starting to migrate downstream to cooler water by then), Gallatin, Madison, Gibbon, some others and took 2 days to fish Henry’s fork in the gorge and ranch (which I highly recommend to truly hone your skills and determination). Even by mid July the Firehole was too warm.

There are a TON of shops in West Yellowstone, a couple in Gardiner and few in Jackson. Of course these will be your best bets for up to date information. I was amazed on how few people we encountered when fishing and how frustrating the traffic jams became for another fracken group of elk. However, the wolf, bison, grizzly, black bear and bald eagles were cool to see.

[Scott V]

Thanks for the info everyone, keep it coming. I am really excited about this trip. And I would give anything to see wolves in the wild, that is something I have always wanted.

[caniretireyet?]

Hi-- I was there last year for 10 days in September. It was a truly wonderful experience. The last time I was there was the Summer after the big fire in the 80's. To see how the ecosystem has recovered is spectacular.

The other big change since my last trip was the re-introduction of the wolves. It seems that the entire food chain has benefitted from the presence of top-level predators. From the large mammals all the way down to the smallest insects, everything seems substantially healthier.

I would suggest focusing on the watersheds in a quadrant in the park, rather than trying to cover it all in one trip. If you are wanting to see wolves, look at the Northeast quad, and focus on the Lamar watershed. The Lamar itself is usually great in September, and Slough Creek and Soda Butte Creek can be great. I about pooped my waders when a last cast with a green drake was engulfed by my biggest cutthroat of the trip right at dark on Slough Creek.

I also backpacked up the Bechler River in the Southeast quad. This is truly the least populated section of the park. In 3 days, I saw no other people. You'll have to leave the RV behind there, since the only way in is by trail. If you go there, get an Idaho liscence, and try a special treat: the Warm River, which is a tributary to the Henry's Fork. You'll be there at the peak of hopper season. A few miles up from the last campground there, I had a troutzilla of a brown shoot from under a submerged log and engulf the 13-14 inch rainbow which had engulfed my hopper. Lesson: Bring spare waders on this trip. Also, be prepared for cold mornings, as it was consistently in the low 20's each morning.

Have the best trip of your life, and pm me if you want.

Steve

[Scott V]

Well my original plan was to stay at Fishing Bridge RV park in Yellowstone, but they do not have electricity this year. So can anyone recommend a good RV park on the West side of the park, I have been looking but there are alot of mixed reviews.

Thanks again for any information.

[medfly]

camp, leave the RV at home

[Scott V]

camp, leave the RV at home

Been there done that all my life, thanks but no thanks I enjoy life in an rv.

[pgw]

The West end of the park has the Madison Campground...right at the junction of the Firehole and the Gibbon, where the Madison begins.

Just outside the park is the Baker's Hole (State Campground) that sits on the Madison a couple miles North of the town of West Yellowstone.

Further down the Madison is the Slide Inn Campground and West Fork Cabin Camp.

Have fun.

Paul

[Scott V]

Thanks Paul, West Fork Cabin is looking real nice. Especially since I could rent a raft to float that Madison.

[craigfalk]

I spent three summers working in Yellowstone in the early 80's. It was fantastic. I'd recommend Pebble creek, a tributary of the Lamar River. It's a beautiful and easy hike to some very secluded fishing. The fish are small by Yellowstone standards (up to 14"), but very plentiful and eager.

I returned to the park two summers ago with my family. We stayed at the Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone. It's a great facility and very well manged and has full hook ups. It's not especially scenic, but we spent all our daylight hours in Yellowstone.

Have a great time!

[Scott V]

Thanks for the info Craig, your emails are the only ones that were saved from last year when you sent me information.