Lewis Lake and the Lewis Channel offer the angler the chance at some of the best trophy fishing that can be found within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. In this coverage I break down both fish the lake and channel in separate sections.

I will start with Lewis Lake which is named for Meriwether Lewis one of the Co-Captains of the famous Lewis & Clark expedition of 1893 to 1806. The lake covers 2716 acres making the third largest in Yellowstone Park and has a maximum depth of 108 feet meaning that the lake is approximately 2.5 miles wide and 3 miles in length.

For most of us, fishing, let alone fly fishing is a progression. Most come to fishing in the same manner that includes a spinning or spin-cast rod and reel, a bobber and some form of bait. Not all, but most. It's the period where hooking fish is not really the paramount objective in the journey, but rather the hooking of the child to the outdoors and fishing that matters most. Many never leave this form of fishing, and happily for them so-be-it. We all attempt to get what we need as an individual from the outdoors and it's a very personal journey.

Dave Merical and Dale Sanders contacted me about coming down and fishing some ponds. We finally got a date set and after we met we headed out to one of my favorite ponds. We did not take the kayaks or my canoe as I was not sure we would be able to drive in. After walking in I am pretty sure it would have been hard to drive out.

It is interesting to note that there is a solid population of stonefly nymphs found in Livingston's spring creeks. These are what we call "Golden Stones" (Family Peridae, Genus Acroneuria). It seems no wonder considering the location which is right by the Yellowstone River. But not many anglers would think of stoneflies when they talk about spring creeks. Perhaps it might be due to the fact that most anglers would imagine that the slow, flat, and mirror-like flow of spring creeks, is not suitable for stonefly nymphs to survive. Indeed, I often collect these nymphs in riffles, which are highly oxygenated. They are about 30mm (from tip of antennas to end of tails).

This is an essential guide to a simpler world of fly fishing in this small yet informative book on the method of Tenkara Fly Fishing. 

Misako Ishimura is a well known top international fly-fishing competitor and was the charter director of the International Women Fly Fishers and the founder and president of World Fly Fishing of Japan. Kevin Kelleher is a family Doctor, backpacker, canoeist and devotee of the Tenkara method of Fly Fishing, and I might also add that he is an award winning artist.

The article I did several months ago, "Hyrum and the River" discussed an old 'vinegar pie' recipe that was actually used in logging camps across the country. The reason they made vinegar pie was because it was cheap to make and logging camps had a hard time acquiring fresh fruits.  The recipe is from the logging camps of the 1800s here in Michigan. I make it every couple of years. It's very tart!

This isn't a pattern of my own invention. Many years ago Alan Roe arrived home from work late. On looking in the refrigerator for something to eat he saw a box containing 4 packs of Birds Eye Cod in Parsley Sauce. Grabbing it he put two in the microwave for dinner. Between the packs he found a sheet of thin foam packing material. After his dinner he sat for a couple of hours thinking that there must be a fly tying application for this foam sheet. This pattern is what he came up with. A few years later he taught me fly tying; one of the patterns he showed me was this one.

If you have been fishing with flies for as many years as I have it's possible that you may have become a bit jaded. That's not to say that you don't still enjoy getting out on the water and catching a few fish with your fly rod, however it may have lost some of the appeal it had when you were just beginning. The key to recovering the spark is finding a challenge to perk your interest.