Yellowstone 2011, The West Side

My last 3 nights were spent in West Yellowstone. I would have preferred to stay at the Old Faithful Inn (pictured on the left) but waited too long to make reservations. BUT, I am set for next year. I spent an afternoon on the Gallatin which has always been good for nymphing at this time of year and now and then some dries. I have brought some nice ones up on dries, but the hypnotic repetition of driting a Serendipity was too tempting. A Peeking Caddis did okay, but there seems to be something about that little tuft of white Zelon. Got my first Whitefish and 3 nice Rainbows. I left just as some rain clouds were rolling in. I didn't return because of construction on the highway - I'd rather fish for smaller fish than sit in my car reading the fishing regs. I've been coming to Park long enough to forget about how amazing this area really is. I made time to take a couple of shots of the thermals in the Black Sand Basin and made my traditional hands & knee approach to a feeder of the Firehole. I won't divulge the spot, but the locals all know - I was told about it by a Park employee back in the early 90's and if I am careful, I will take some bigger fish from here. This year I took a 13" Brown followed by 14 & 15" Rainbows. There is something about a good rainbow jumping in a small stream like this that reminds me to never pass up the feeder streams. Even though there was a very nice BWO hatch coming off, the fish all slammed a White Miller Soft Caddis. I had been reading about this Caddis activity and tied up about 5 before he trip. I lost all these fishing on the Firehole thanks to the weed clumps. I tied up a reasonable facsimile in the room even though I didn't have the proper dubbing or any Partridge feathers - anything close worked well. A couple of the guides at Blue Ribbon suggested trying the Sentinel Creek area - that small stream was good, but when the fish started slashing around the Ojo

Caliente area, I was ready and armed with the right fly. The fish weren't as large in this stretch, but they made up for it in numbers and enthusiasm. I would see some of the smaller fish jumping out of the water after the caddis, but a conventional or X2 caddis would be ignored most of the time. On the last day in the Fountain Flats area, I caught a few with a traditional green bodied soft hackle (green wire body), but they definitely preferred the White Miller. I did get some fish from the Gibbon (headwaters & junction area), saw a very nice brown landed in the confluence area. I also made an obligatory run to the Barns Hole, but it was too warm for many runners yet. My final afternoon on the Firehole was cold, wet & windy and I loved it even though my knots were crappy because of my numb fingers and shrinking hooks (yes, metal hooks shink as they/you age!). My last 2 attempts to travel had been thwarted and this trip was very theraputic. Apologies to all my fishing partners, but it was wonderful to spend some time alone to purge and reflect.