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3. TR West Yellowstone in September

Okay, here is a quick report...


I stayed again this year at Campfire Lodge and fished in the West Yellowstone area for a week...



I have to believe the most popular breakfast place in West Yellowstone...



Nothing like eating and watching guys catching fish



Three Dollar Bridge







Used a nymph dropper on a size #16 Hanak jig hook, I noticed always hooked the trout in the upper lip with the jig hooks. The rainbows really went for this silver beadhead nymph pattern.



A short video of Madison River trout sucking in Baetis emergers on this cold, wet early afternoon above Three Dollar Bridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MRWLz6l6ao

Madison River in YNP







Trout on the Madison River in YNP sucking in Trico emergers on a warm, mild morning. Extremely tough to get to these fish because of currents and way out in the river. Plus, the wind always seemed to start blowing every time I would make a cast!!!

View this full screen to see all the risers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEsJNftxk2U

Yellowstone River catching cutts (not me some guys above me)


then back through the Hayden Valley to go to the Gibbon



Grizzly across the Yellowstone River. The great thing about September in the Park is only about 3 minutes to get through the cars and people who stopped to watch the grizzly. I actual saw 3 different grizzlies in Heyden Valley - all far away thank goodness.



Fun fly fishing in the Gibbon Meadows





trout feeding on Tricos



until it started to snow!! A heck of a snowy drive back out of the park.



Lots of snow Thursday late afternoon and evening.



Snowed melted the next morning and some of the trout were looking up!

I love bank feeders! (See my video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTzy7Tm9X9A

Yup, I caught the bank feeding rainbow on a size #18 CDC wing, cinnamon ant.



Lots of hungry trout regardless of the weather





My Hardy reels were screaming a lot!!



Jim Slattery, the owner of Campfire Lodge and I hiked up Cabin Creek to see the fish barrier they were building to stop rainbows from going up Cabin Creek from the Madison River and spawning with the Westlope cuttthroat trout. They took out 250 cutts to check their DNA and we were told they were killing everything above the dam and then are going to put the cutts back. The fish barrier is above the Cabin Creek campground.

Hi. Thanks for posting the photos and report. I always love the photos.

Great photos and report, John! I'd love to get down to that part of the world and explore it sometime.

Jason, the YNP is fascinating not just for the fishing but also for the wildlife, geysers, caldera and much more. When I have taken the family out West we have spent days just exploring and hiking throughout the park.

Of course, on the way back I had to check on our cabin and get it ready for winter, which meant driving by my favorite local WI troutstream. Since my fly fishing gear was still accessible I naturally had to stop and fish for an hour. So I ended my trip with a couple small WI browns.

Now there you go! That's a fishing report! Nice vids too...Who doesn't love rising trout?!

I'm a bit curious about the fish barrier...They are getting real serious out there about protecting that fish!

A couple years back I was up at Red Rock Lakes Nat Wildlife Refuge and they are killing all the Cutts in Red Rock Creek for the Grayling.

http://ravallirepublic.com/lifestyles/recreation/article_4cb0a362-e866-11e3-a405-0019bb2963f4.html

In the Park now, in some spots they want you to kill fish other than the Cutts.

Got a couple notes from Mr Mathews. He and his wife have been doing some hiking and ran up on two bears on kills. It was a mess and they high-tailed it out of there. Those bears are stocking up before the real cold sets in.

Great report John...Thinking about a re-visit next year and was thinking about a different time of year. All my trips have been late July early August save one in 2004 when I was out there just prior to Labor Day. Was camped out at the Third Meadow of Slough then and it was in the upper 30's at night...

Thanks for sharing, sir!

Spence

Spence, I have been thinking about doing a trip out there next September but inviting a few dedicated FF'ers that have the skill and knowledge. The kind of fly fishing I like is not for the novice. It would be fun to finally connect with some other dedicated FF'ers too. The cabin rental cost is pretty cheap if you have several guys.

September is great because the tourists are all gone so the park is not wall to wall cars and crazy people who want to pet the wildlife.

Hi guys registered a couple weeks ago so this is my first reply or post. I have been flyfishing for 45 years, here in Ct., and in the catskills. I have traveled to Montana 7 times since 2005. All of my trips have been in July but I want to do a late summer early fall trip soon, maybe next year. I have been holding back going at this time because I enjoy the hatches and fishing in July. After looking at your pics John I think my next trip will be in September. This year we stayed at the Slide Inn for 5 days and enjoyed the breakfasts at the Campfire every morning, great food.

Gene

Nice report John! Thanks for posting!

Gene,

I have done several trips in May, July, August and September to both YNP and to the Henry's Fork. Actually, I think anywhere out there can be great.

Kelly's Slide Inn is another nice spot on the Madison. I just like that Campfire Lodge is nestled in the national forest and along the Madison River between the lakes. Internet sucks but I just drive to the top of the hill along Hebgen to check messages on my iPhone and text my better-half. Since I am a computer guy I like having limited access for a few days. :-)

When I go out with the family (and/or just the wife) I like July and August and I will tolerate the crowds. But when I go out to do some serious FF'ing I don't want to drive into YNP and have miles of backups every time a squirrel or something bigger wanders by the roadways.

This was like 90 minutes to get through the buffalo going up to the Gibbon Meadows in 2012...

Thanks John, been there done that. We usually get in the park real early and that helps quite a bit. I may have to try September though, just for something different.

Gene

When I saw TR and West Yellowstone, I thought you were talking about me. Then I realized that I was there in August, not September.
Nice report, John.

TR

Hey, so how was your August trip? I always enjoy hearing about others fly fishing trips to the YNP area.

It was another great trip. Not a lot of fish at that time of year, and they were very selective and spooky. All were big and all were caught sight fishing. Everything was on 6x. I only caught 2 fish smaller than 20".
Here are the 2 biggest:





John, I bet you know both of these places.

Awesome!! That looks like... :-)

I love sight fishing and bank feeders!!!!!

Thanks for posting, made my day!!

:)

There's a couple nice trout! 6x?! What happened to your 10x Tony. :)

Spence

Nice fish! I need to get back out there.

Tony,

Where's your vest? You're gonna lose that box of flies...Eric will scold you. :)

I wish I could do that and force myself to fish with one box...

Spence

Big Beautiful Fish! Well done.