Yellowstone Help Please

My son is set to graduate from college in May and when I asked what he wanted for a graduation present he indicated that he might want to go on a special fishing trip. The first thing that comes to my mind is Yellowstone. I've never been there and am just starting to research the area. So if you were going to spend 5-6 days in the area: 1. Where would you stay ($50 - $75/night range if possible) 2. What waters would you fish - Same waters every day or hit a variety? Any lakes? 3. What time of year would be best to go (I assume the best fishing time will mean the most people - so avoiding crowds would be nice if possible - see #2 above) 4. The budget can only handle a guided trip for one day, guide recommendations and waters 5. Should we bring the pontoon boats Any suggestions you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

I haven't fished too many rivers there, but make sure you hit the Henry's Fork just west of the park in Idaho.

For lodging at that price and right on the Madison I would recommend Campfire Lodge and Resort. I have parked my camper there each time I have been there. They have a great Cafe' with good food.It is about 18 miles to the Park. Not far to the Gallatin. As was mentioned the Henry's Fork is about forty miles. The Ruby is just about an hour away.
The time of year late June is good if the water is down. The HF fishes the best in June or Sept. If you fly into Bozeman and rent a car your right on top of fishing.

There is a Spanish Rest. in West Yellowstone called Madriz, true Spanish food, not Mexican.

I prefer Sept and have been there for six weeks for the last four years. A great place for a father son trip.

Depending on how you get there, the Grand Tetons are worth seeing. That's the National Park next door to Yellowstone. If you're researching the area you'll come across it.

1. Where would you stay ($50 - $75/night range if possible).......$50-75 will be tough and impossible in high season (even $100 is low in high season, June-September). No chance inside the park. Check out www.yellowstonerivermotel.com 2. What waters would you fish - Same waters every day or hit a variety? Any lakes?.......Definitely fish a variety. That's really the whole point of this area. Bigger fish, better fish of certain species, etc. are all available elsewhere, but not the variety in such a small area. Except Hebgen, lakes are usually an early and late season bet unless you're going high in elevation. 3. What time of year would be best to go? ------------ Depends on if you can hike or not. If yes, this year, late July. That's when the widest range of waters are fishing well, so even though there's a lot of people, there's more room to spread out, too. If you'd rather stay relatively close to the road, October. September is typically quite busy now until at least the 20th, and with the likely low-normal water levels this year, they will be super-spooky on roadside streams. Prior to the usual equinox storm around the 20th, early-mid September is my least favorite time to guide in the region. I have very in-depth info on flies, hatches, river guides, etc. here: http://parksflyshop.com/howto/planning/planning.html 4. The budget can only handle a guided trip for one day, guide recommendations and waters: --------------Well, hopefully me or at least someone from my shop. If July, I'd suggest a float on the Yellowstone. If October, either a private lake trip or hunting runner browns on foot in the park. 5. Should we bring the pontoon boats? --------------- Depends on how much whitewater they can handle, how good you are with them, and when you want to come. In July, I'd say no because the Yellowstone is burly enough that it would be hard to control the boats and fish, and there aren't many places to bank fish, and there's really no reason to fish roadside lakes at that time because the streams are so good. In the fall, yes, though bear in mind you can't use them on flowing water inside the park. Rivers are much lower in the fall and there are a lot more places to get out and fish the riffle corners. Hope that helps.

Where you go kinda depends on when you go. The Park opens for fishing the last weekend in May; I think the same for the Madison below Quake to Lyon's Bridge. If your there in May/June you'll probably be hitting runoff on a lot of the rivers, but Madison (in the Park and above Beaver Creek)/Firehole/Gibbon should be fishable with good hatches. If you base in West Yellowstone you'll have easy access to those waters; not sure what kind of lodging you can get for $50-75 (Campfire Lodge, as noted, may work for you). My favorite shop is Blue Ribbon http://www.blue-ribbon-flies.com/ ; great shop, great people. Used a guide from them once and was pleased
Rivers in the NE end of the park will most likely be either too cold or in puking mud; Yellowstone outside the Park may be fishable.

Congrats to your son, and you.

Regards,
Scott

ps- looks like Wally put in his 2 cents while I was typing

When I go up to that country, I stay at the TLC Inn on north 7th in Bozeman. Looks kinda shady from the outside, since it sits between a couple chain hotels, but it is clean, comfortable, fairly quiet, with fridge and micro in each room, and they don't mind you getting up at 0 dark 30 to fish. And a week of it will set you back between 3 and 400 for two, depending on season.

I go up that way around the first of April and the end of October, to avoid most of the crowds, but I don't fish inside the park at that time (although I have on occasion). I never bother with the toons but there are places they would come in handy. I would wander around and hit what the reports said was fishing well, but there are so many choices it is hard to recommend any.

If you don't have your heart set on th Park, there are reasonable accomodations and plenty of good water South around Alpine, WY and Northwest around Dillon, MT.

Yellowstone National Park is a spectacular place to enjoy and visit. A person can easily spend four or five days seeing most the major sights in the park and have minimal time in those four or five days to fish. In those four or five days, you will see a lot of people. From my limited experience, however, Yellowstone is not the place to go for a pure fishing trip.

Yellowstone has a lot of places to fish, but it can be incredibly crowded unless you are willing to back pack and camp in the back country. The rivers and lakes in Yellowstone get an incredible amount of fishing pressure. It is also expensive to stay in the park or close to the park if you are not camping. I think that that there are plenty of places in that part of the world where you can find good fishing, enjoy solitude, and stay in reasonably priced accommodations where you are away from tourists and the madding crowds.

BigA,

Sounds like you've had an unpleasant experience in the Park; sorry to hear that but I have to disagree with you. The Park can provide spectacular fishing to go along with the scenery & wildlife. There are times when the crowds can be absolutely awful, but spend a little time hiking, even on some of the name streams and you can have plenty of room to yourself, and the occasional bison, elk, moose, grizz. Just be willing to do a little exploring, get away from the pullouts with 20 cars and you'll be amazed.

Regards,
Scott

Thanks for the suggestions thus far guys! I really do appreciate it! I'm definitely going to check out the lodging and fly shop website suggestions to gather as much info as possible for planning the trip. And Longs for Cutts will be my first call in looking at a guided trip!

As far as timing goes we are pretty flexible right now, he graduates mid-May and we could pretty much go any time from then until mid-September. He'll be looking for his first "Real Job" starting the end of May beginning of June so I'll have to be somewhat flexible; from what I'm hearing mid to late July is what I'll tentatively target. The original plan was to drive out with the pontoons, but based on your comments I'll start looking into flights to Bozeman and getting a car. Come to think of it, I think I've got a certificate for a free weeks car rental around here somewhere!


I've always thought of the Yellowstone area as Mecca for Fly Fisherman and am excited to be planning the trip and look forward to catch some new species of fish. There's no Grayling or Cuts to be found in the Driftless Area, our home waters. The best part of course will be spending some time with my son, if only the little $#!# would quit out fishing me!!! :D

Grayling in Grebe Lake in the park, easy hike and easy to float tube. A few other spots around there with grayling, some common knowledge and others less so.

Grayling can be caught in some of the lakes as was mentioned or in the streams. For stream fishing the upper Ruby, the upper Big Hole and the Red Rocks area. I was headed to the RR last year but was advised that it was not a smart idea due to a vey large presence of Grizzly's so I didn't go. Besure to pick up some bear spray before you hit the water.

If you don't catch a fish, it will be a trip you will always remember. My wife and I went there in 1999, the year after I retired. We spent over a week there and still didn't see it all. Yellowstone is absolutely amazing in its beauty. It's like several parks rolled together with different scenery in different areas. I fished in a lot of places. Didn't catch a lot of fish, but I still consider it the best fishing trip of my life.

I told my wife-if God has a vacation home to get away to, it's somewhere in Yellowstone.

Dave

Scott,

I was in the park near the end of August and it was not unpleasant. The park was great, and the fishing in the park was decent despite the obvious heavy fishing pressure. I expected the crowds to be heavy, but it was worth putting up with the crowds to see the sights and be in the park. I did hike in the park to get away from the crowds, but there were quite a few people on the trails, too. I saw quite a bit of wildlife, including grizzly bears on the longer hikes that I took. I would assume that

I really like solitude. In my opinion, back packing or horse packing would be the best way of getting into more un-pressured fishing in the park and away from the tourists. I found that when I fished in areas outside of Yellowstone, I was able to get away from the crowds and into good fishing with much less effort.

Yellowstone and Grand Tetons are too beautiful to just go fishing. I would plan on a lot of hiking and sight seeing in addition to the fishing. I would go early, Last week in May after fishing opens and the first week of June. By June 15 the Park gets very crowded and there are buffalo and bear jams everywhere. The downside is, that early your fishing is somewhat limited. The Firehole should be fishing well all the way up to the Gibbon.

Another place we fished was the upper part of the Gibbon beyond Virgia Cascades north of the road up to Wolf and Grebe Lakes (known for grayling). This area receives very little pressure and the trailhead is hard to find. It can also be marshy between the trail and the river. We saw a lot of bear scat on the trail, but no bears.

I tried to fish the Madison inside the park since it runs along the road, but the buffalo were so thick and aggressive I didn't chance it.

When I go up there, I go for months at a time and usually stay here because it's about 10 minutes away from $3.00 Bridge:

http://www.driftwatersresort.com/Cabins.html

I don't fish inside the park until mid-September, when the crowds are gone...

Here is the hatch chart for the area:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...NEHATCH-1-.jpg

...from the Blue Ribbon Flies catalogue

You and the kid will have a blast !!!

Mine always do...

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ALLYMAD_2_.jpg

My daughter Ally gives her brother Michael nymphing tips in the channels section of the Lower Madison...near Ennis, MT...

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ISON6AM-2-.jpg


PT/TB ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BH Spey

; from what I'm hearing mid to late July is what I'll tentatively target. The original plan was to drive out with the pontoons, but based on your comments I'll start looking into flights to Bozeman and getting a car. Come to think of it, I think I've got a certificate for a free weeks car rental around here somewhere!

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There is still 2 months of winter left, but this looks like a slightly less than average snowfall so far this winter. That sould make mid-July a pretty safe bet from a trip planning standpoint, but keep in mind that there could still be some runoff then.

Also, if you are flying and renting a car, Billings isn't much farther distance, and the airfares are often cheaper than flying into Bozeman.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by planettrout

When I go up there, I go for months at a time and usually stay here because it's about 10 minutes away from $3.00 Bridge:

http://www.driftwatersresort.com/Cabins.html

I don't fish inside the park until mid-September, when the crowds are gone...



Here is the hatch chart for the area:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...NEHATCH-1-.jpg

...from the Blue Ribbon Flies catalogue

You and the kid will have a blast !!!

Mine always do...

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ALLYMAD_2_.jpg

My daughter Ally gives her brother Michael nymphing tips in the channels section of the Lower Madison...near Ennis, MT...

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ISON6AM-2-.jpg


PT/TB ;)

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That's a darn nice lookin place to stay

PT, THANKS FOR THE HATCH CHART!

Cool wall hanger

I've been lucky enough to fish "Greater Yellowstone" several months each year for the last decade.

If you would provide some info on the "type" of fishing you seek it might help us help you. I'm thinking of three people I know that each fish well over 60days/ year in the area within a few miles of each other but seldom, if ever, overlap. They each enjoy a different type of water and different techniques.

Many short term visitors seem to be on a "name collecting" journey, adding to a "been there done that" list, zipping from place to place .... while those of us that have fished them all tend to return over and over to the true loves .... maybe our perspective is too different to be helpful?

As for the Park itself, it is crowded after mid-June and until mid-Sept. But it's not really the fishing that is so crowded as the roads getting to the fishing ... it can take hours to go a few miles if a "Buffalo Jam" happens or other wildlife decide to invite Clyde and Maude to park in the middle of the road for an hour and take pictures .... leave town much earlier than the masses, take your lunch, enjoy the scenery, and bring your patience. I, personally, don't visit the Park during peak season more than a couple times to run over to Slough Creek and plan those days to avoid the masses, .... but I visit often, early and late.

If you have $30 bucks to spend I'd suggest getting this DVD ( Disclaimer: I don't profit but I do know all the players personally, so I can't claim impartiality )

http://www.blue-ribbon-flies.com/sho...e_hatches_dvd/

"Fly Fishing Yellowstone Hatches" .... it's very entertaining and will get you drooling, if nothing else, and it gives you a look at and basic info on most of the more popular area waters ( note Yellowstone Lake has suffered horribly since the DVD was made and is no longer as portrayed ... the River above Chittenden is way down too, both hardly worth fishing, at this point )


One last thought .... did you ask your kid where he'd like to go ... maybe Yellowstone isn't what he had in mind?

The good news and the bad news. The bad first - the closer you get to Yellowstone, the higher the cost for lodging. Fishing pressure on streams such as the Firehole, Lamar, Madison and Yellowstone can be a little discouraging. Traffic inside the Park can be a problem and it will always take you twice as long to get somewhere than you planned for, (all it takes is a bear near the road and the traffic grinds to a halt).

The good news - If I were going to spend some time in Yellowstone fishing, I would concentrate on the Northwest corner of the park. Grayling Creek, Fan Creek, Specimen Creek, Cougar Creek and the Gallatin. These streams get much less pressure and you can have same great days here fishing dry flies to willing fish. Your best bet for inexpensive lodging will be around Ennis which is about 70 miles from West Yellowstone. If I were going to fish I would spend my daytime on one of the small streams I've mentioned, and then hit the Madison around Seven Mile Bridge in the evenings as this is the best time of the day to fish the river. For a guided trip I would try and get a half day evening trip from Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone (just checked and they don't do half day trips) or Madison River Fishing Company in Ennis on the Madison. Late June thru August are probably your best bet as run-off should be over. There's a Salmon Fly hatch on the Madison that runs from late June to early July and then the Caddis take over.

Hope this helps

You won't find lodging for that price anywhere around Yellowstone and if you go in peak season, if you haven't made reservations months in advance you may not find a place to stay, no matter what the price is. Just a heads up. Camping is the most economical if you have the gear. It's wise to go with a hard sided camper instead of a tent or have a portable electric fence (bear fence) if you are tenting. A lot of campgrounds don't allow tents at least part of the season, some just don't allow them at all now. Getting a camping site without reservations isn't any easier then lodging with regards to finding a site in YNP proper, but you can find them outside of the park if you plan on setting up by lunch time in most cases. If you want to stay at places that have a first come first served camp site in the park...you want to be waiting for them at the crack of dawn. There is a LOT of fishable water in the GYA (greater Yellowstone area). Finding a fishing spot is easy and you won't experience crowds. It's easy enough to have a whole lake to yourself or not be in eyeshot of another human being. That may or may not be a comforting thought depending on if you have company with you or not. It's easy to go nuts trying to figure out where you will go and travel time from one place to another always takes longer than you think or plan for. There are some good books on fishing Yellowstone. It would be wise to get your hands on at least some of them.
The crowds all stick to the roads and the key tourist locations. The backpackers and the anglers pretty much have that aspect of the park to themselves.

Here are three that I used. http://www.amazon.com/Yellowstone-Fl.../dp/155821545X

http://books.google.ca/books/about/F...MC&redir_esc=y

http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CIoBEPMCMAs

A word of caution! There were a few places you may be tempted to fish that require a bit if a hike. If you don't have a group of at least three people (the more is better), hikes longer than a few hundred yards from your car is ill advised. You want to have bear spray on your person and easily accessible at all times.

I fished primarily the Lamar or North East sector... Slough Creek, Lamar, Soda Butte, Pebble Creek, a lake that shall remain nameless on here that was out of this world ...and some smaller feeder creeks that may or may not have names. Picking and choosing is difficult. Remember...it takes a lot longer than you think to get a few miles. You'll get sick of Bison pretty quickly. Don't bother going for fishing in the park before July 15. (Float trips on the Madison and some of the larger rivers are the exception) Most waters are closed to fishing until then, but some places may have an earlier season...you really need to do the research. One reason is run off. Spring comes late in this part of the world...though this year won't be bad at all. Snow pack is minimal....not like last year, which broke records. The other reason is the cutthroat are just finishing up there spawning runs. The peak park season is Mid July - August. It starts snowing in the higher elevations in mid September, but you can get snow there on any time of the year.
If you have a float tube, you'll want to take it along for some still water opportunities, but it's not a must have. You'll need a permit for it that you can get at the gate when you come into the park. Not all lakes allow them so read the regs carefully. Shore fishing can be pretty good at times.
You don't need a Montana or Wyoming fishing licence inside the park but you do need a Yellowstone Park fishing license. Years ago, it used to be free. It's not anymore...but its' still the best deal out there. The state licenses are quite pricey...Wyoming is anyway.

If you have questions...feel free to ask.

Hope these wet your appetite...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...P2509web-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...TroutLake2.jpg








(Sorry about these photos...something seems to be going wrong with Photobucket. It's NOT ME! )

If Yellowstone is your destination and camping is an option, it would provide you more flexibility (camp near where you want to fish and you can avoid those unsightly bison jams; I actually enjoy the bison, it's the 2 legged animals stopping their vehicles in the middle of the road that drive me crazy) and save a lot of money in lodging and gas. I have a 4 person tent that weighs about 8 pounds, sleeps 2 in comfort and packs into a rolling duffle along with sleeping bag, pad, cooking gear, waders, boots, vest and flies. The campgrounds usually are full in high season and some big ones like Grant Village, Canyon are way too crowded for me (for some reason Madison, although big, doesn't bother me); ones like Pebble Creek, Slough Creek, Tower, Indian Creek are a lot quieter and provide a nicer experience. I've found that the best time to find a spot is between 10 AM-noon, when campers are subject to behavioral drift cycles.
There are also some campgrounds just outside the park, especially on the NE and East sides, that are usually not nearly as crowded. All, however are in grizzly country and you need to be bear aware and plan accordingly. Sadly, Mato has experienced first-hand how even experienced campers can end up in the wrong place at the wrong time; fortunately, she survived the attack, another camper was not so lucky.

Regards,
Scott

I just want to note that there's plenty of great fishing in June: the Firehole, Madison, and Gibbon in the park all peak at some point in June, as do the park lakes. It's only the north end rivers that are too high then, and in fact the Gardner River is often fishable depending on day-day weather, though it's quite rugged.

Also, everyone is gloom and doom about snowpack: the upper Yellowstone/Madison basin (basically the park) is at 88% of average right now and the forecast is for generally normal or wet weather for the next two weeks. With the good groundwater from four high snow years, I expect conditions to be just below normal. For reference, right now there's more snow for the date in the Yellowstone basin than there was any year from 2001-2007, and except for 2001, 2006, and 2007, runoff was a factor on the north park rivers through June even in those drought years.

That's good news re the conditions. Thanks for posting. I'm kicking around a venture out there this year but there's family stuff that may get in the way. Time will tell!