Tags: Pic of the Day

Tags: Pic of the Day

I’m not sure what it is about water moving over a freestone river bottom that I find so mesmerizing.

The fascination well predates my introduction to fly fishing and the opportunity to live in areas where freestoners are the norm.

Growing up in country flatter than a pancake and dry as a bone did inspire a fascination with water, though pretty much the only moving water I remember as a kid came from a hot hose roasting in the sun or ran in the gutter after a rare but rabidly coveted thunderstorm.

Stepping into a free flowing stream or river transports most of us to a place where stock market drops, unemployment, flash mobs and politics don’t matter for a few hours.

Even on relatively slow moving water there are enough sounds of the river to gently push the clutter of the day out of your stream of consciousness until you adjust back to the pace of river life.

For me, the Firehole is one of those waters with an intriguing bed and typically pristine flows that make time stand still.

Beam me to the Firehole, Scotty.

Tags: Pic of the Day

Tags: River - YNP - Firehole

Tags: Water on the Brain

Yep, today be a hallowed day.

It’s the opening day of the season in Yellowstone.

Though not at all beyond the realm of reasonable season expectation, today’s weather will be a bit blustery and Yellowstoner reports a little new snow on the ground.

This will be the first day in some time that one or more of us hasn’t spent the better part of the day hip deep in the Firehole, looking down at the waters rippling over my boots and the bottom pictured above. (Cue deep theatrical sigh.)

Firehole flows are looking a little better this morning, though that will change as this latest dump of snow melts and starts its run to Gulf of Mexico.

Yellowstone National Park has revised the fishing regs again this year and has a brand spankin’ new regs pamphlet for your enjoyment. Download it here.

Tags: Yellowstone National Park

Though somewhat ironically born and raised in the near waterless Texas panhandle, I’ve been fascinated with water, particularly moving water in freestone creeks and rivers, for as long as I can remember.

From the perspective of beautiful freestone rivers and creeks, living in Bozeman can make one think you’re the proverbial kid in a candy store.

Here’s a couple of images from a series that we’ll throw up on our portfolio site later today we’re calling River Diamonds – all the images happen to have been taken on the Firehole and have a unique faceted look that is not a Photoshop effect.

It’s a river effect, and a damned nifty one.

[And yep, we're boycotting HB 309 news today until there's something meaningful to report.]

Tags: Dry Fly Media

Been working for about 18 months on a series of water images with an interesting faceted look…….should have a gallery of images up soon.

This was taken on one of those incredibly clear blue sky sunny days on the Firehole.

Tags: Pic of the Day

Tags: Pic of the Day

No sacrilege intended, but I’d hazard a guess that I’m not the only fly fisher breathing a sigh of relief today.

The mania that can be the holiday season is at last behind us and we’re staring right down the barrel of a brand spanking new 2011, even if winter has seemingly settled in to stay over the past few weeks.

Much of the blue-line water around the country is locked down tight for the season.  Visions of spring mayfly hatches (though really only 12-16 weeks away) are near impossible to conjure up given the snow and cold yet to come.

Aw hell, those spring mayfly days will be here before you know it, particularly given how much there is to do before high season is back again.

Better get those damned BWO nymphs tied up; in fact, the whole nymph box is looking a little skinny right now.  Need to broaden the array of mayflies and tie new bass bugs, crabs, clousers and shrimp.  Hoppers, beetles and other critters too.  And leaders to tie up and a 5 weight to wrap.

Damn, should have gotten started back in November.

Bet the hoar frost is thick on the trees near Biscuit Basin this time of year; even in late October things looked pretty damned frosty.

Thinking about the Firehole – better tie up some of those white miller caddis too……

Tags: Fish Stories

It simple seems impossible that this will be our last report on the Firehole for this season.   I’ll be damned if it seems like just yesterday we had driven into the Park back in April to say hello to an old friend.

There is a lot of water around the region that is fishing very, very well, though yesterday events conspired to put us on the Firehole and Madison.

The weather forecast (more below) combined with family and work schedules for the week suggested that if we didn’t hit the Park yesterday, it just might not happen before the closure upcoming on the 1^st of November.   After securing appropriate clearance from all spouses, etc. involved in the decision making process, Jake and I headed down 191 from Bozeman expecting to see a fair amount of hunt related traffic given the opening of the big game season yesterday at sunrise.

As we drove through an empty West Yellowstone the only person on the street was a successful hunter showing off a 5 by 5 elk bull to friends at Bud Lilly’s.

We headed for a stretch of the Firehole in the Fountain Flats area that had fished well late last fall.  Soft hackles were again a nifty approach drifted over and around the weedbeds until the size 22-24 olives started coming off.  There are some amazingly nice fish in this area who yesterday demanded a spotless drift or they were down for several minutes, but they’d be back at given the temptation of some of the last bugs of the season.  The sun felt toasty despite the 30 degree temps and guides iced for the first time this year.  Three hours flew before cold fingers and toes demanded a break.

It was then on to the Madison looking for some bigger bruisers – Jake even drug out the spey rod to play with…..

It got chilly when the sun dipped behind the last ridge; don’t forget to pack all of your cold weather gear this week – the forecast looks a little chilly.

The Firehole and Madison are having a banner fall in the Park; if you have to hit Yellowstone one more time, there will be plenty of fishing to do before the gates swing closed on the 2009 season.

Tags: River - YNP - Firehole

With just under a couple of weeks left in the Park’s fishing season, yesterday Jake and I were able to break away from our respective families and work duties to hit the Park with the intent of fishing three different waters.

Two were ‘drive-by’ fisheries that attract a lot of attention and to be honest at times a bit of scorn from the neighbors given the ease which even a marginally fit fisherman might amble from their motorized chariot to the water’s edge.  Sometimes you just have to do it anyway.

One of those ‘drive-by’ rivers is of course the Firehole, our second river of the day.  There were a smattering of Baetis, Caddis (believe it or not) and midges; our fish were taken on swinging soft hackles and nymphs as the surface activity was inconsistent and spotty.  Photographic light was a bit funky and the approaching thunderstorms tossed a breeze here and there.

The late afternoon / early evening power snack between the Firehole and Madison.

We closed the day out on the Madison throwing streamers and drifting a soft hackle here and there.  No pics in the rain and darkness, but a few nifty fish until darkness fell and a tired (and somewhat cranky) ranger reminded us that it was time to call it a day.

The first river of the day?  We’ve been sworn on pain of death to silence, though it’s fair to say that thousands of fishers drive right by it on the way in to West Yellowstone every year.   Not big, never crowded, almost always fishy.

Bring the bear spray, we were nudged off yesterday by Ursus arctos horribilis.

Tags: River - YNP - Firehole

Twenty days of YNP fishing are remaining in this season.

Twenty days.

I’ll be damned if it doesn’t seem like just yesterday we were gearing up in May and early June for the Firehole’s spring mayfly run.

The Firehole is a most interesting river this time of year;  despite the chilly air temps the Firehole’s geothermal features feed warm water into the system and preserve some very interesting fishing opportunities when many other rivers and streams in the area are cooling rapidly.

There are still Baetis to be sure on the river; we have our favorite riffle runs to swing soft hackles through, and there are still midges (often useful) and a Caddis or two.  A little sun this week and warming temps should make for a great week here.

Tags: River - YNP - Firehole

I’m not sure about conditions on Park roads this morning; obviously there’s some snow down in West Yellowstone and on into the Park.  It is 27 this morning in West (0730) according to The Weather Underground with snow ‘ankle deep’ according to Yellowstoner.

Have another cup of coffee this morning. Have two.

Mid to late fall means Baetis on the Firehole, and while we wholeheartedly agree that there are many other waters that are fishing just dandy right in and around the Park (particularly on the west side), for me and a lot of other folks fishing the Firehole is kind of a must-do, almost spiritual thing this time of year.

The most active mayfly hatches have been coming off roughly from 11-1500 and from reports have been pretty damned active the past few days.   The Caddis can’t go on forever but they still been out from about 1500 – 1900 keeping fisherfolk busy most of the day.

Weather this week will be unsettled (understatement of the day) early and late in the week; be prepared for temps to be a bit more chilly than normal and for a little snow.

There’s still lots of fishing to be done before the Park season ends…

Tags: River - YNP - Firehole

Wednesday will likely be one of those days Firehole fans been looking for – a long awaited cool, cloudy and rainy day.

The Firehole has been quite fishable given the smattering of Baetis coming off and fairly robust White Miller Caddis hatches coming off on the sunny warm days that have graced the neighborhood for the bulk of September.

Weather isn’t everything, but fall on the Firehole often brings to mind overcast, cool / cold and drizzly days.  If the forecast holds the rain will start Tuesday night, with the high on Wednesday forecast to be 40 in West Yellowstone, with Wednesday night forecast to be a chilly 21.

Time for some warmer gear – gloves and hats will be making their way out of the closet shortly.

See you on the Firehole this Wednesday…..

Tags: River - YNP - Firehole