Slough - Never Pronounce "Slow"

Today I could finally scratch an itch in my mind and from the list. I could finally make to my favorite waters in Yellowstone Park; Lower Meadow of Slough Creek and Lamar River. This is more like personal enjoyment rather than scouting spots or experimenting flies (though I did report to my fellow guides as I found some interesting).

Morning was actually slow. Lots of trout came up or moved under my dry-flies but no bites or hook-ups occurred. There was not much insect hatches that cause trout to rise either. It started active after I had my lunch. Terrestrial time!!
I started with a rainbow (pretty much pure rainbow).

Cutty of course!!

This was larger rainbow that took my original ant pattern. I will talk about this little fly later on.

As I was moving along, I faced a coyote. It has to be a good sign. Remember my COYOTE? (no link needed, right??)

Indeed!! COYOTE ATTACK!! 20-inch Rainbow came up and took my ant!! I fought well and securely netted him!! Time for "Grip-&-Grin" with self-timer mode.......... boy, he's gone.............

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After 6pm, I went to Lamar River. This was interesting as water was not quite clear from last weekend's incident. I was brave enough to cast terrestrial patterns to see if trout would look up.  First cast to a likely spot, BOOM!!, nice huge Cutty took my black Chubby Chernobyl!!

"This time, I will make a shot!!".................de-javu.................

I caught some more. At least I made it with a little one.

I worked some more. "Fishing God" gave me one more chance. It was another nice Cutty who took my Chubby.

I'm really glad that I could get done this in July. Luckily waters around our side (northeast) of YNP are remaining cool. All Cutty are fighting very strongly this year. You should come and check out yourself!!

One-Day Vacation

NEWS: Same ol', same ol'. Yellowstone River is experiencing muddy condition again due to mud plugs from Soda Butte Creek and Lamar River in Yellowstone Park. Bad thing is we are out of business again for a next few days. Good news is this will revive the river and trout again and add some water for this dry-low-water condition.
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So I was off today. Fly-fishing, fly-tying, and guiding have been proud to be my professional career. In other words, job. That means I'd better take off from work once in a while. "I have been guiding over 30 days in a row", not like that (I wish!!) but when I was not guiding this month, I went out to learn and scout more waters for guiding and reported fishing & water conditions to my fellow guides at Parks' Fly Shop (www.parksflyshop.com). Also, I admit my stress for dealing with traffic (vehicles in YNP and boats on the river) was getting to its peak. So if I could enjoy fly-fishing as a hobby for a day, I needed a quiet setting without much driving and with some elbow-room. I could think of only one; DePuy Spring Creek (www.depuyspringcreek.com). I was one of paying-customers there. No clients or no mission from shops, but just for myself.

I went early in the morning. Before some insect hatches start, I fished anyway. I was somewhat anti-dry-fly for the first thing in the morning for some reasons.......

Look what they were eating.....

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It's true that PMD hatch in gently thinning as July goes by. There still are. I found spinner and dun at the same time.

To mix things up, baetis was hatching too!! I played some. But with those couple of slabs caught on nymphs in the morning and under nice weather, I went back to the bench and started to take a nap till just after noon.........Hey it's my day-off!! I need some relaxation!!
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In the afternoon, I did what I had planned to do; terrestrial fishing!! My expectation went up as I heard hoppers clicking all over the creek and black ants crawling on my shirt. My choice was Carnage Hopper in olive size 12

and Parachute Ant in black size 16 or 18.

BINGO!! Trout did come up!! They were expecting too!!

Yellowstone Cutty in DePuy's rise in a totally different manner from what I experience in Yellowstone Park waters (Stone, Lamar, Soda Butte, Slough, etc). This one rose gently with sipping/slicing motion like any other spring-creek trout.

 HUGE!! Happy!!

 BEAUTY too!!

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In the middle of terrestrial fever, Sulphur Duns appeared all over and trout shifted their eyes and appetites. This mix of every material pattern worked!!

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Now I was staying well after 6pm. Other anglers started to head home. At one of my favorite spots, I started to observe rises. I tosses Suphur pattern above again but no response. I walked down-stream and seined. I collected midges (I was suspecting) but also ant after ant?? So I tied on Para Ant above, trailed with this simple quill body midge.

 I hooked and netted 3 NICE CUTTIES in a row!! I did stomach-sampling and they were indeed eating midges and ants!! Wonder what kind of taste it can be...........

Bad picture but get a point..........

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 So I came home well after 9pm. Is this a day-off? Yes!! I feel better!! I simply enjoy the day. Over all trout were healthy and strong. Considering number of hours and trout, today's rod-fee ($100) is divided into tiny pieces. PRICELESS, that's the right term.
People out there who are planning to visit Montana should give a try at DePuy's any time of the year. Let me know if I could be any assist for you.
I may treat myself again next month.......

Just Around Town

My good friend Chris is visiting Livingston. So I got him on board and we hit the 'Stone around town of Livingston. It was a great morning. Night temperature seemed to cool down water but kept warm enough for us to wade in for the first thing in the morning.
At our first stop (or spot), we fished separately then as I got back to the boat. Chris set the hook for the rising trout!

As seen in the video, it was a very strong & beautiful rainbow!

It wasn't a non-stopping action per se, but still a pleasant morning float. It's true that water is much lower than last year's. However, occasional thunderstorms help water to stay cool. But also, there's major change in river braids around town so if you float this section for the first time, gather some information at local fly-shops!!

F150 Milestone

Yesterday, just before all of those fishing in my last post, my 8-yr-long companion/house/vehicle F150 (2001), aka "BIG FELLA" reached its milestone, 250,000 miles. I doubled the mileage since I retained it in 2004.

I was anticipating this event and filmed it. It had to be while driving........ It happened to be somewhere in Yellowstone National Park. As I'm saying "I shouldn't do this, but........."

"If you take care of you car, it will take care of you" (Lieutenant Columbo)
Indeed, Big Fella & I went through a lot. I'm sure HE will keep me safe & steady on the road till he reaches 300,000 miles. Which means, I will visit and fish more rivers and trout!!

Guide's AM & PM

Today, I had a float trip scheduled in the afternoon. So, as always in the morning, I did my homework. Ooops..............

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I floated with father & son visiting from Scotland. They were excellent fishermen. Great to ask/hear about Atlantic Salmon fishing in Great Britain, which is always a lore to me. Unfortunately we had to face NE winds all afternoon. It wasn't dangerous, not to mention new for me, but surely uncomfortable for them. Also, I observed Yellowstone River got somewhat tinged (Lamar River experienced some storms again!! Hopefully it's a short one).
I did whatever I could do the best to show them our native species.
Whitie for sure!

And about 200-yard above take-out, finally Cutty came on a Hopper!!

Looks like indirectly I completed THE GRAND SLAM (catch major 4 species in a single day)!!

More Brookies

Today Bill & Charlie (9) from Maryland fished with me. They said they were beginners but......they started to catch fish right off the bat!!

Probably due to summer heat and recent fishing pressure, even brookies seem a bit tired recently. Considering that, we had a very good morning.

Charlie is holding!

 Slippery!

Once he got a hang of it, he kept me running back & force between his father and him. Nice Brookie, young man!!

How many did he catch? He lost the count.....

As a guide, I actually learn a lot from beginning anglers. What is the easier way to explain? What is the suitable method for him/her & situation?  It's not solely about his/her fishing experience....... Age, height, physique, desire/wish, etc. are up to each client.....

"With Fly Fishing you never stop learning and it is the same with guiding; you are always learning new methods or better ways to teach the methods." Don Williams, 1998

Quoted from "A Montana Guide Legend; Don Williams" - by Tom Travis 
(Eye of the Guide in Fly Anglers OnLine www.flyanglersonline.com)

YDFG (Yellowstone Dry Fly Guide)

I repeat. Yellowstone River is back in great shape. Indeed it seems revived water and fish from the first 3 weeks of intense fishing.
After intense guiding of this past week, I got rested. As I was ready to back in business, I called my friend Link in Gardiner to see how revived 'Stone would fish. We exclusively fished with dry-flies.
Today's hot flies are (we ended up using only these......) Peacock PMX, size 12.

Link's original Lynx Foam Bug.

We caught lots of trout! And lost (rise but not quite hooked) as many!!

Nice Cutbow!!

BTW, this is just below Devils Slide.......Can you see anything?

Boldy along the river is always cool!!

I really felt we are having the 2nd Season Opener for the summer.
Come & fish with us for Grater Summer here!

Fly-Fishing Has NO Age-Limit

NEWS: Yellowstone River is back in shape! "Unfishable" Warning was over in a day!! It will be another busy weekend at every boat access...........
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As I've been reporting, so far I have guided from elder gents to teenagers. Today I had youngest clients at this point.
9-year-old man,

and 11-year-old lady.

As you can see, they can cast & catch trout on dry-flies!! All I did was to assist them to locate fish-lies and dry-out their dry-flies.
I'd better think about my retirement plan from guiding before they get taller & older........