pgw
10-01-2011, 09:05 PM
So, my last day at AAA was August 31st, what’s next? Leave for a two and a half week trip to Montana on September 1st!
The first stop was the Northeast corner of Yellowstone Park (we stayed at Roosevelt Lodge, a group of cabins) to fish the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/031.jpg
Landing a Lamar River Cutthroat, seven fish came out of a run about 4 feet wide and 4 feet deep, a rod length from the bank (visible seam in front of me).
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/IMGP0905.jpg
This fish and half dozen others took a Tan Parachute (after rejecting BWOs, Caddis, and Ants & Beetles)
.
A couple of days, later (and after watching wolves feed on a bison carcass lower on Soda Butte Creek) I found a couple handfuls of smaller cuts farther upstream
After a brief excursion over the Beartooth Highway, we spent a couple of days in Red Lodge where Rock Creek flows through the town.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/IMGP0910.jpg
All I caught on Rock Creek were Browns on BWO Cripples…this one came out of the water five times!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/056.jpg
This establishment had a menu selection which was listed as “The Ultimate Chicken Fried Steak”
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/058.jpg
…I couldn’t resist!
After Red Lodge, we backtracked to Cody, Wy. After a day at the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center (worth the trip), a gunfight downtown (for us tourists), and a lot of shopping for the grandkids, I spent a day molesting Rainbows (30!) from 5 to 11 inches in the North Fork of the Shoshone River. No really big fish but a lot of scenery, we traveled from Cody through YNP to West Yellowstone, Mt…home for the last 8 days of the trip.
During a drift trip on the Madison, I landed over 50 Rainbows and Browns.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/IMGP0919.jpg
All these fish took either BWO or Micro Wulff emergers
Fished the Madison (Rainbows), Firehole (Browns) and Gibbon (Browns above the falls and Rainbows below) in the Park and…
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/160.jpg
…dodged bison here and there (Gibbon Meadows)
Overall, a great way to ease into retirement, I was able to figure out hatches (or at least what the fish were eating) and catch fish throughout the trip. Claudia (who doesn’t fish) and I had a great time taking in the sights and doing non-fishing stuff (did you know that the Buffalo Bill Dam was the highest arched concrete dam until Hoover dam was built?) and visiting with friends we’ve made in the area over the last 25 years. It’s a trip worth taking even if you don’t fish. We’ll be up there next September; and maybe in July too since I don’t have to go to the office anymore!
The first stop was the Northeast corner of Yellowstone Park (we stayed at Roosevelt Lodge, a group of cabins) to fish the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/031.jpg
Landing a Lamar River Cutthroat, seven fish came out of a run about 4 feet wide and 4 feet deep, a rod length from the bank (visible seam in front of me).
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/IMGP0905.jpg
This fish and half dozen others took a Tan Parachute (after rejecting BWOs, Caddis, and Ants & Beetles)
.
A couple of days, later (and after watching wolves feed on a bison carcass lower on Soda Butte Creek) I found a couple handfuls of smaller cuts farther upstream
After a brief excursion over the Beartooth Highway, we spent a couple of days in Red Lodge where Rock Creek flows through the town.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/IMGP0910.jpg
All I caught on Rock Creek were Browns on BWO Cripples…this one came out of the water five times!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/056.jpg
This establishment had a menu selection which was listed as “The Ultimate Chicken Fried Steak”
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/058.jpg
…I couldn’t resist!
After Red Lodge, we backtracked to Cody, Wy. After a day at the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center (worth the trip), a gunfight downtown (for us tourists), and a lot of shopping for the grandkids, I spent a day molesting Rainbows (30!) from 5 to 11 inches in the North Fork of the Shoshone River. No really big fish but a lot of scenery, we traveled from Cody through YNP to West Yellowstone, Mt…home for the last 8 days of the trip.
During a drift trip on the Madison, I landed over 50 Rainbows and Browns.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/IMGP0919.jpg
All these fish took either BWO or Micro Wulff emergers
Fished the Madison (Rainbows), Firehole (Browns) and Gibbon (Browns above the falls and Rainbows below) in the Park and…
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/160.jpg
…dodged bison here and there (Gibbon Meadows)
Overall, a great way to ease into retirement, I was able to figure out hatches (or at least what the fish were eating) and catch fish throughout the trip. Claudia (who doesn’t fish) and I had a great time taking in the sights and doing non-fishing stuff (did you know that the Buffalo Bill Dam was the highest arched concrete dam until Hoover dam was built?) and visiting with friends we’ve made in the area over the last 25 years. It’s a trip worth taking even if you don’t fish. We’ll be up there next September; and maybe in July too since I don’t have to go to the office anymore!