On Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at 3:25:23 PM UTC-5, Connor Donovan wrote:
--Last week I met up with a few buddies (two being fellow TPFRers) in Montana for a Thurs-to-the-following-Sunday fishing trip. This was the third year in a row I've done a week long, late October trip to the area. We floated about 20 miles of the Missouri, spent a day wading Henry's Fork, and the rest of the trip fishing in and around West Yellowstone.We got into Craig, MT early in the evening on Oct 23 and setup camp at the boat ramp in town. On Oct 24 we rented boats from HeadHunters and floated from Holter Dam to Craig, about 9 miles. We got into fish early in the day then things slowed down in the mid-afternoon. We cowboy camped at the Craig ramp again Sat night and floated Stickney to Paradise Mountain on Sun Oct 25. We rented two boats the first day and decided to cram all four of us in one boat on Sunday just to save some money. At $150 a boat per day, which included shuttling our cars, both days were a total blast and very much worth the money. The river was tough to read, being entirely flat, but we had success sticking to the banks throwing streamers, baetis patterns and emerger and san juan worms. We had luck on dries but we didn't land any of the dry sipping monsters the Mo is known for. Although on that Sunday, about 2/3 of the way through the float, we came upon a massive eddy on river left with what must have been 200+ fish rising during a BWO hatch - definitely one of the highlights of the trip.After our float on Sunday we packed up and headed south through Ennis towards West Yellowstone where we would ourselves for the rest of the trip. For anyone hitting Yellowstone looking to lodge off the beaten path, check out Basin Station Cabin reserved through recreation.gov. It's a two room cabin with a shed full of chopped wood with no water or electricity. It has a few bunks, an outhouse with a solid view of the mountains, a great porch to watch stars and listen to coyotes, and a wood burning kitchen stove and a wood burning stove in the bedroom area. This is the second trip I've stayed in the cabin and highly recommend it for at least a night or two for anyone checking out West Yellowstone. And its $30 a night to rent the place.We fished the park Monday and Tuesday but I'll get back to fishing the park after Henry's Fork.On Wednesday we drove the 30 miles from the Cabin over the continental divide to Island Park and fished two stretches of the ranch and of Box canyon. Backing up for a second, on Oct 23, the Friday morning we spent in Bozeman, we had lunch with John McDaniel, who is a family friend of one of the guys that joined in for the trip. He has fished the ranch stretch for over 30 years and started guiding at Trout Hunter in late 90s. We got to pick his brain for the hour and half we sat down with him and it was incredible. He brought a few copies of his map, pointed out a few named spots that he enjoys to fish and told some great stories of clients from all over the world he had guided over the years. We knew fishing the ranch would be tough but that Wednesday was exceptionally sunny and from what we were told by the guys at TroutHunter, water was low, bugs were small, and the wind was picking up. Throughout the day, we all had shots at fish but only managed to land small fish for that those stretches of the river. There was a great hatch from about 12:30 until 2:00 which helped us locate pods of big fish by spotting what looked like shark finds rolling like tarpon on bugs around some sand bars but with such small bugs/flies and increasing winds fishing become Mossy Creek-like difficult. We packed up in the early evening and headed back to the cabin to grill over the fire.Okay. The Park. We fished inside and outside the west entrance of Yellowstone on the Madison, and inside the park on the Gibbon and Firehole on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (Halloween). For those who have fished the Madison above Hebgen Lake in October know what I'm talking about. Simply put, Hebgen lake holds a tremendous amount of large Rainbows, Browns, and Whitefish during the summer. While there are big resident fish hanging out in the Madison inside the park, the water is generally too warm for fish to survive/thrive. Beginning as early as late August (from some I've talked to) when weather begins to change each species heads up the river to spawn and hang out in the caldera warmed, mineral rich waters of the Madison for the winter. And yes, these are fall/winter spawning rainbows. The run really starts to pick up steam in late September or early October depending on weather and from what I've been told doesn't peak until after the park closes for fishing on the first Sunday of November. The average fish is in the 17-18 inch range but the browns top out around 24 inches (although 30 inchers get caught each year), rainbows top out in the 22-23 inch class, and Whitefish in the 3-5 pound range. Of all the fish we caught while in and around the park, I remember the handful that snapped me off on 2x, or that snapped the other guys off on 2x, and the whatever-it-was that snapped a streamer trailer stinger hook tied with heavy picture frame wire the most. But hands down the best part, you can catch these fish any way you choose. For those looking to catch a bunch of fish and really test/break your drag, nymphing with eggs, big stones, midges, caddis patterns, PMD/BWO/general baetis soft hackles and emerger patterns, and san juan worms was the most effective. For the streamer junkies, we took big rainbows and browns on 7 and 8wts with sink tips with 2-3 inch baitfish patterns. Although we had our share of dry fly fishing with the Ranch and the Mighty Mo, we saw plenty of folks nailing these monsters on dries and swinging soft hackles during late-morning/mid-day hatches.Hands down, this was the best trout fishing trip I've been on in my life. Friends I haven't seen in a few years let alone fish with were able to join. The weather was perfect - cold and snowy most mornings with highs in the upper 30s and low 40s - with no real heavy dumpings of snow. The sights and wildlife viewing were tremendous - between the group we saw moose, grizzly bear, otters, elk, rams, the ever-present Yellowstone bison, numerous birds of prey, sand hill cranes, and coyotes just to name a few., The fishing was tremendous and we got to check about a bunch of new challenging water.Needless to say, I've already started to planning to do this trip again next year and will be putting a jet boat ride through the land of Giants high on the list. Thanks again to all who answered my posts leading up to the trip. I greatly appreciate it.If only I could figure out how to add photos....
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