I FINALLY was able to pin my son down to some dates (this is his graduation present trip) and get airline tickets booked using FF miles (what a royal pain in the a$$) and am now trying to finalize logistics. We’ll be in the area for 5-1/2 days of fishing mid July.
Which location would you pick for a home base, Gardiner or West Yellowstone, for the closest access to the most Blue Ribbon water?
Currently thinking is:
Day 1 - (1/2 day) Explore on our own.
Day 2 - Wade trip to learn the area in prep for Days 3 & 4
Days 3 & 4 - Wade on our own
Day 5 - Float Trip
Day 6 - Wade on our own
I’d like to fish some of the larger dry fly hatches, Salmon Fly or the Drakes. In or out of the park, it doesn’t matter. Any suggestions on rivers and lodging?
Doesn’t look like runoff is going to be as lengthy or severe as last year so basing out of Gardiner may be a viable option. Not sure if the Big Three in the NE end of the park will be fishable, SC is usually first to clear so that may work; streams in/around town may be fishable as well. Over on the west side, Firehole’s usually thermally challenged by then and probably not worth fishing (fish would be too stressed anyway), Madison (in the Park) and Gibbon could still fish well, Madison outside the Park should be fishing very well, and Henry’s Fork is not that far away from West Yellowstone if you want to give it a shot. If you are on the west side I’d cast a vote for Blue Ribbon Flyshop if you’re looking for a guide - great folks there.
Unless it dumps rain, you could do all of the wade fishing in that time frame within WALKING distance of Gardiner, and there’s a million places to fish within an hour drive, both inside and outside the park.
Expect Salmonflies to still be present in the Black/Grand Canyons of the Yellowstone and maybe the Gardner, plus Green Drakes in the Lamar system. All rivers in the northern part of the park should be at basically their most consistent in mid-July this year. It’ll be a couple weeks after runoff basically drops out, so long enough for the hatches to become established, but not long enough for the fish to be spooky yet. Roadside and famous rivers (and especially famous rivers right next to the road) will be crowded, but there’s a lot of water to spread out in.
I don’t know if you’re the guy who called me earlier this week who was planning for late May originally, but this is a MUCH better timeframe in terms of options. My clients often don’t fish anything but dries then, and there’s really no reason to expect to fish deeper than dry-dropper unless you want to strip streamers.
Also, “blue ribbon” and similar distinctions are wildly overrated. I’d rather fish the Gardner over the Madison any day the former is clear enough. The fish aren’t as big, but neither are the crowds. There are lots of famous rivers around here, but the creeks are at least as big an attraction for me.
Also, here’s my current streamflow forecast. I’d be amazed if there’s anything you want to fish around here that will still be too high by July 10, and probably July 4. Snowpack is 50% lower than last year and 10% below normal. http://parksflyshop.com/news.html
Gardiner is closer to Soda Butte and the Lamar River and as Longs for Cutts states a lot of good water close buy.
When driving in the park expect long traffic delays. People don’t stop to take a photo of the wildlife. They stop to take a photo of every bit of wildlife even if it’s a mile away! You can miss a lot of it if you get on the road early. Also, it can take a buffalo herd as long as they want to cross the road!!
Be advised that the Montana Fishin is the 14th thru the 21st of July on the Madison just West of West Yellowstone. It is at the Campfire Lodge so, if you will be around there about that time please stop by!!
Thanks for the tip, I wasn’t aware of the Fishin! As stated, I’m trying to finalize plans right now and will pop the Campfire Lodge into the GPS. I’d love to get over there and put some faces with the names I’ve been reading posts from for years!
p.s. And here all this time I’ve been living closer to Gardiner, you’d think I would have learned a long ago that I was wasting my time going fishing around West Yellowstone. (please note that I’m smiling.)
If you guys are there between the 14th and 21st, be sure to swing by the Campfire Lodge to say hello. We are having the Montana Fish-in during those dates. You’re welcome to come and fish with us for a few if you’d like.
