Fall Trip 2 - Trout in the Fall: Tactics

On my way to West Yellowstone, I dropped by a section above West Fork of Madison. I striped a streamer and saw a big shadow. That was it. I dropped by Blue Ribbon Flies and talked with a guide Cam. Been fishing several times with them, I think I can interpret what guides are trying to tell me. Fishing had been good and lots of larger trout had been caught then "depends". "Depends" means to choose flies and spots and then watch for crowds and weather. Most likely combo of two, three, or four!! I did some homework myself. Even before the trip, I had remained cool, relaxed, and flexible. I just made sure that my mind-set was right by talking with Cam and other BRF people.


Like I experienced last year, using nymphs was probably the most consistent way to hook fish, large or small, trout or whitefish. At Talus and Nime Mile Hole, I used streamers but didn't get any actions. I moved to Upper Haynes and started nymphing. I tried a couple of patterns and then right after I switched into Beadhead Krystal Serendipity, this 16-17-inch brown came out. I finally broke the hard time that I experienced in late summer though I wasn't sure if this was a run-up from Hebgen Lake.

At Nine Mile Hole, I chuked a rubber-leg and this nice 18-incher came out.

Rubber-leg eater!!

This handsome buck rainbow was a total accident for both him and I. At a good looking run just below the Madison Junction, I started false-casting and dipped my rod to the water to thaw off some icicles on my rod guides. Then something was hooked and running away from my line. I was like "what?? I haven't even started!!" Anyways, I reeled in and saw a big body. Then I saw it was snagged on his belly. Sorry. Furthermore, that was a San Juan Worm. I just figured he was resting in the shallow and slow water on the cloudy and snowy day. Then I would have stepped in and messed up his comfort. So he had run away and even got snagged on the belly. Whatsoever, he had a nicely curled hook jaw. Since I had to bring him in a bit too hard, I quickly released him after the shot on the snow. I believe he must have been fine.

When I chose nymph patterns during this trip, I basically stuck with Rubber-legs to look for bigger rainbow or brown, not whitefish. Then I trailed smaller nymphs. The most chosen pattern from my previous experience was Beedhead Krystal Serendipity for brown trout. Rest of the patterns (such as San Juan Worm and eggs) seem to catch only little rainbows and whitefish

However this time, nymphing was not all I did.