Cutthroat Fishing in Yellowstone

I fished the Yellowstone and was lucky to catch a great salmonfly hatch. Craig just bought a hat cam that I was testing out and haven’t quite figured out the best angle to use it. I try to hold up the fish but obviously over shot it. Forgive me. The next ones will be better I promise.

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Two Products I Like

It’s always nice—for a couple reasons—to find fly fishing products that work well.  They prove a pleasure to use personally, and when suggesting them to customers there is satisfaction in knowing you are recommending and providing quality products.  Here are two that I think are excellent.

First, the Rio Gold fly line.  This is perhaps the best combination of a slick, moderately hard finish, decent taper and supple core that I’ve seen in a long time.  A slick finish on a fly line obviously contributes to casting ease, at all distances.  As for the tapers Rio put on these lines, they’re fine.  (These days, there is too much emphasis placed by manufacturers on changing tapers as line weight changes.)  Suppleness is an often overlooked feature in a line, yet it is an essential quality—maybe the most important of all—for easy handling while fishing.  Too many lines today resemble coiled spring steel, owing to their persistent memory.  A line that is too stiff is the primary cause of the many annoying tangles we experience when using them.  The Rio Gold does not suffer this fault.

John Harder of Rio told me last week that they’re working on an even softer core for this line, which he expects to be out late this year.  We’ll be keeping an eye out for it, and will pass judgment after we’ve tried it.  Meantime, if you’re in the market for a new line, consider this one.  It is available only in a weight-forward design.

Scientific Anglers has gone through countless iterations of leaders and tippet material over the last few decades, but I think they’ve finally arrived at something better than average.  I’ve been using their Freshwater monofilament tippet material for about a year now, with excellent results.  (I do not fish fluorocarbon.  It is a non-biodegradable material and, in my opinion, shouldn’t be in the environment.)

This  S. A. monofilament is strong, supple, knots well and mikes out accurately, which pretty much sums up my requirements for tippet.  (Prior to switching to S. A. I used both Orvis and Rio monofilament.  Both remain fine choices, though occasionally the Orvis would snap for no apparent reason, and some spools of Rio miked out heavy.)

I have had no issues with the S. A. material that I could not attribute to my own angling missteps, and I recommend it unequivocally.

Try one or both of these products sometime and see if they work as well for you as they have for me.

After all, successful angling depends on quality tackle.  Every single item of it.

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last Evening on the Madison River

I hurried through a retrieving training session with our German Shorthair pup, Finn, and sped to the river arriving at 8pm. As I sat on the bank rigging a new leader and tippet I saw a few trout rise. With all the Hydropsyche caddis flying around i assumed the fish were taking these caddis as they emerged. Knotting on an Iris imitation I walked on my knees along the bank until I was within 15 feet of a couple rising fish. I cast out fully expecting a take on my first, then second, then 20th presentation….Then, after several casts without a take, I reeled in and watched…what did the river tell me? I saw several #20 black caddis, Glossosoma sp. on the water both egg-laying and emerging. I tied on a #20 Black X Caddis and took 3 nice browns on my next 5 casts. I walked further down the river searching for more risers and located a couple more. I tied on a #17 Iris again and was refused again, by the rising fish. OK Craig, what did you learn on the first try?  Black Caddis…I tied the #20 Black X on once again and scored a couple more nice browns, the very fish which had refused to even look at the Iris.

Around 9pm with fish porpoising and rolling in nearly every run and pocket of the river near Big Bend, I knotted on a #15 Amber Iris Caddis and scored several more fish. At 9:45pm I took the best brown trout of the evening, a fat 17″ male that ran me downriver a ways so I decided to call it a night and head home…4:30am comes fast when you climb into bed at 11pm!

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Waiting for Godot

An angler waits for Godot Brown Drakes on a recent evening on the Railroad Ranch of the Henry’s Fork.

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The Yellowstone River in the Park

The Yellowstone in the park upstream of  the lake to the falls opened up today. However, I received a recent report that is not fishing well. The way to succeed on this stretch is to actively spot fish and then sight cast with either dry flys or nymphs. A friend headed down there today to see if he could pick up some of the big beautiful cutthroats that are typically in there this time of year. The report he gave me indicated that there are not a lot of fish in the river currently. Tales from the Yellowstone in the canyon brings other news with tales of Salmonfly and trout actively feeding on them. So, there is a great opportunity if you’ re willing to hike.

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