October 29th – November 4th, 2022 – 55th – 61st day of fly fishing
Yes! The Amigos were at it again! Once again we returned to Yellowstone National Park (YNP) just before the park closure on November 1st. Next we headed south to Dutch John Utah and spent two days floating the famous Flaming Gorge of the Green River!
Day One
The journey began in West Yellowstone at a 3 bedroom townhouse, VRBO, just outside the gates of the west entrance of YNP. On the morning day one we headed to the not so “secret spot” we fished last year on the Madison, up near the confluence with the Firehole and the Gibbon. Although we were there plenty early, meaning before first light, a guide had already staked it out for his clients. We were bummed, but we quickly recovered and it the Gibbon in the meadow. It was a beautiful morning as we watched the sunrise. We started by throwing a mouse pattern and Reid hooked into a smaller brown right off the bat. My mouse was underperforming so i switched over to a leech pattern and began casting in a nice slow bend n the river. The leech worked and I pulled in a really nice brown. I signaled to Reid and he joined me in the hole and got a nice brown as well. Mel tried the hole too but did not hook up.
Next stop the Firehole. We found a nice picnic spot and decided on a lunch break. While we were eating I was checking out the water and noticed that heads were coming up. As we were getting into the heat of the day, it turned out that there was a baetis hatch coming off. It is always fun to tie on a dry fly and set the hook on a rising trout. These fish were all fairly small, but were fun to catch none the less. I made a lot of fly changes trying to match the hatch. However, the Florida were both sticking them with a bigger fly and I finally joined in on the fun. Before too long the hatch was over and we decided to call it a day.
Photos From Day One
Day Two
On Day Two we decided we really wanted to fish the “not so secret spot” on the Madison. So we got even earlier, and this day we arrived first. We donned our headlights and crossed the river. Again, I started with the mouse pattern at first light. I worked a 100 yard section four times, no luck. Meanwhile, Reid was nymphing the riffle and he only had one smallish fish on, but no fish to hand. Mel and I switched to streamers and worked the entire area below the riffle several times. Nada. At this point it was still only about 18 degrees and we were freezing ass. We decided to work the run above us by swinging soft hackles and got nothing there. The best part of this morning for me was the small herd of female elk that crossed the river just below us. We were in awe and did not have our cameras ready.
Reid pitched us on going back to YNP and getting breakfast somewhere. We ended up at the townhouse and making coffee and pulling together breakfast. We were all discouraged, beaten but not broken. Then I came up with a plan
The spot I had in mind was on the Madison but way downstream just inside the park. They bought in. Upon our arrival at the parking area we soon realized weren’t the only fishermen with this idea. When we reached the water, I realized that the best spots were taken; by a guide and his clients, no less. As we watched, they landed fish after fish. When we were walking by the guide said, hey don’t just wait for us, there are a couple of good spots upstream. I knew one of the spots he was speaking about and so we hoofed it up there. I parked Reid in the riffle, which is where I expected the trout to be. I decided to drift a “whitefish rig” further down in the slow water of the run. After casting a zebra midge and an 18 copper john, with no eats, I was ready to give up. Reid was working the riffle and had several eats, but couldn’t keep the fish on. I decided to go “all in” on the ham and eggs rig. The squirmy wormy and the egg pattern. I was in the slow, deep part of the run and had the indicator slid 8′ up on the leader. First cast I had an eat and right away I knew it was a sizable fish. Took me over 5 minutes to land a 19″ rainbow. Awesome! All good, except my partners are my guests and they are supposed to out fish me! But anyway, I made a few more casts with the ham and eggs, and low and behold I had another eat on the “ham”, the squirmy wormy. Several minutes later I brought another big rainbow to hand. Now I felt even worse. Sorry, not sorry.
Finally, the guide and his clients were off the spot. We put Reid on the run, right in the sweet spot and sure enough, he got one eat and missed the hook set. Then he got another eat and missed that one too! it was just a weird day.
Photos from Day Two
Day Three
Back at the townhouse, we realized that check-out time was 10am which was going to make fishing YNP in moring difficult. And frankly, we were all a little disappointed. So the guys decided to buy a two day Idaho license and we decided to fish our way south to the cabin. Maybe hit the Ranch and also further down the Henry’s Fork in Ashton.
We decided to check out a spot that worked for us last year and as we pulled up to the parking lot, we noticed the action was already underway and it was still morning. We ended up staying there all day because the action never stopped. I scouted a really good spot and had already caught 25 fish and Mel was having trouble getting consistent action, so I gave him my spot and he out fished us all! We caught over 100 fish between the three of us. Mel said it was his best trout fishing day ever! Yay! Redemption for me!
Photos from Day Three
Day Four
Back at the cabin in Victor, the plan was to sleep in and get in an easy float on the South Fork. We even had a shuttle reservation in. Then I received the high wind warning for Swan Valley on my phone. So we cancelled the shuttle and decided to wade an area we had fished before. The water was really low and it turned out to be a tough day.
Day Five
A travel day from Teton Valley, Idaho to Dutch John, Utah. Yes, it was a long day of driving with the Hyde in tow and due to snow we had to change our route to avoid Teton pass. We arrived in Dutch John, checked into our cabin, went to dinner and just hung out to unwind.
Day Six & Seven
We woke up to six inches of new snow, but not to be deterred, we were up and at em’ at 8:30 and we headed to the fly shop to order our shuttle get some words of wisdom. The fly shop person was not much use from a fly selection perspective. We decided to start with streamers and fished them most of the day. Unfortunately they did not work at all. So day six was a total bust. I think Reid may have caught one small one.
Day seven started out again at the fly shop. The guy at the shop said, hey ask one of our guides when he s using. However, when we launched at the dam, there were two other boats launching as well, both were guides with clients. We asked one guide what to use and he said small and green. Thanks dude! So today we rigged nymphs and I didi my best to get their flies over fishy runs. No dice, we made lots of fly changes and included little baetis patterns in green. However on this day we also had a baetis hatch. The baetis were gray and ran 18-22. I rigged a dry fly but couldn’t coax an eat. In my defense, the rises were extremely sparse. Toward the halfway point Mel went back to the streamer. We were all little frustrated at this point and frankly I was a bit embarrassed because I had built up the Green to be this amazing fishery with 8000 fish per mile up by the dam. Of course they could see tons of fish, no of whom seemed interested in eating. Finally, after making a pit stop at the bathrooms, Mel was casting in and around big rocks when bam! The brown hit his streamer! He landed that fish thank God! It took a bit of the sting off of two really slow fishing days.
Photos from Days Six and Seven
Day Eight
Day eight was a travel day to SLC. We took our time and explored a bit before we got underway. In seven days of fishing, we had one off the charts awesome day, a bunch of ho hum days.
In Summary
We decided to schedule our next trip to Teton Valley in the early summer and we will pass on the late October trip to Yellowstone. We heard from local fly shops that the big browns had not moved up the Madison to the confluence. They were late due to higher than normal water temps in the early fall. Also, it is clear to us that all the fishermen, not just the guides, fishing in the park at that time of year know all the secret and not so secret holes and runs. It s truly combat fishing and we are not into that.
However, we will definitely return to the Green, perhaps in June, even if it means combat fshing. I have personally had awesome days on the Green and we need to go back.
