Seattle Foodie & Olympic National Park Fishing

We had a super fantastic family trip to West Coast😁.
Although I once lived in Washington for a certain period of my life (you can look back my posts from 2009 and 2010), it was eastern part and I had any businesses or opportunities to visit western counterpart such as Ocean and cities like Seattle.

Although we're very content with our life in Montana or Yellowstone Country, we'd also like to enjoy what we don't have or what we can't do in our area. Our top list is nothing but enjoy seafood🍣🍤🍥🐟😋Our special interest was Poke Bowl. We chose to dine at FOB Poke Bar. With so many options and combinations, what we can order is limitless😲and not to mention very tasty😋

We next headed to Uwajimaya - a well-known Japanese & Asian grocery store. The Seattle one is the largest. We wish we could have tried those but just watching many items was fun enough.

Then we ordered, well, Poke bowls again from the seafood department. Those were again fresh & tasty😋

From our hotel, we could easily walk, with Sage in a stroller👶, to Pike Place Market. This was another place that just watching stores and items was enjoyable enough.

Now we had to try the world famous Pike Place Chowder. As each item looked oh-so-wonderful, we went with the sample plate😋

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After we enjoyed all kinds of dead fish, we headed to Olympic National Park to see if we could meet live ones😏 We stayed at beautiful Kalaloch Lodge within ONP right along the Pacific Ocean. From there, we explored the area.

Before our trip, like any fishermen would do nowadays, I looked for information online. I had some very fresh surprises. There are not many information out there😲 unlike Montana or Yellowstone, really. There are only some outfitters and a few fly-shops in the area and not many books seem on the market either. That got me really curious. It's been a very while that I became a visiting fisher myself.

We tried from small creeks nearby our lodge.

Sage's first day on the stream with us👶😎

Ocean is just a step away!

I bet salmon and steelhead would swim up even to these small creeks during their peak season.
Next we headed to the main body of ONP into Hoh River surrounded by rain-forest.

This was quite a river and I had quite an experience. The Hoh is, with this flow, just about the size of Yellowstone River at the lower end closer to the Ocean. Upper river where we were was just about the half of Yellowstone River. Water seemed to have some color in it but water was actually clear. I think color is due to water ingredients (glacier fed) and river bottom contents.

Well, I hooked something......ah..........very little............😓
Sunset was beautiful over and down the Pacific😲

Since the lodge was so comfortable and also as we immediately fell in love with the area, we decided to extend our trip one more day. Renee and Sage got retired from fishing and decided to stay cozy at the lodge😊so I was on my own. On this day, I checked the very lower end of the Hoh, near the mouth.

The lower end was larger than the upper section, which made it hard for gears I had. In the afternoon, I decided to head back to the upper section again. On the way, I saw the region's unique Roosevelt Elk.

I again hooked something............ah...........very little. As the sun started to set behind tall rain-forest trees, I walked along the bank and tried to read structures. Then I saw something............ A giant fish swam right by me..............It didn't look like a trout-shape I'm used to. I bet it was more like Chinook........BTW, I do have one Chinook experience - see my old post😏

I kept on, at the last light, I felt something and this time it was hanging onto my line and fly😬

😂

As dada failed to catch proper trout, a trout aquarium in a gas station at St. Regis, MT was Sage's first trout experience👶😊

We quite enjoyed this trip and are already thinking about going back over there. Next time, more & serious fishing😬 and slightly less grocery shopping😅
Our quests for Steelhead and Pacific salmons will continue👍

Whoopie Ti Yi Yo - Wyoming's Bighorn

UPDATE & FORECAST
Spring runoff is in full-swing in area rivers. We all know most of Western states have had severe winter with lots of snow accumulations. This is the frustrating period in terms of fishing options under gorgeous spring/early summer weathers, but over all this is an important event for rivers' health and our fishing through summer.

• I wouldn't predict anything for Yellowstone River at this point. Still lots of snow in Yellowstone National Park, of which weather can be unpredictable. I usually have some ideas by the end of June as I commute to guide at Livingston's spring creeks. Keep your eyes on the changes on USGS website = Not only Yellowstone River but also Soda Butte Creek, Lamar River, and Gardner River. For visual observations, I keep you posted from here.
• Looks like we can be optimistic for Bighorn River this year, after some turmoils and unusual conditions of last year (again, fishing was excellent for those who had accurate info and who did show up). This year, Bureau of Reclamation's management seems working for every party's interest at this point. Actually I wish the spring flow would have been somewhat smaller for excellent dry-fly fishing but it was alright (I reported last month). And thanks to fore-thinking reservoir release early in the year, there is plenty of room to accommodate runoff water from both Montana and Wyoming. Keep checking this website and click Bighorn Lake, in which Inflow = runoff basically & Outflow = Bighorn flow that we fish. I would expect we still see some high flows during the peak of runoff = June, perhaps = but we can anticipate summer flows wouldn't be as crazy as last year, so now is the time start booking guide trips for July, August, and September!! 

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Then here comes our story along Wyoming's Bighorn from the other day............

Immediately after a trip to Idaho Falls, we headed to Laramie, WY for some other businesses. I have passed Wyoming many times, just like the route we took on the way, but on the way back, I was able to see and feel more of Wyoming intimately for the first time.
Over all Wyoming is still cold, dry, and full of desolated lands😂, we were able to visit and see some of landmarks and special features that have been on our "someday" list.

We headed to Thermopolis. Along the way, we passed Boysen Reservoir, Wind River Canyon, and Wedding of The River = all the upper sources of Bighorn River. We stopped by Hot Spring State Park. It rivals to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone Park😲. We saw something very particular and "fishy"😏 Seeing is believing, folks😉

We then reached to Lovell. At just outskirt of this small cozy town, we can see the upper portion of Bighorn Lake/Reservoir.
We also knew that we were close to Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Refuge. After we collected information from a nice lady at the visitor center, also in Lovell, we might as well have made a detour. Now we were in the middle of Bighorn Canyon - we have not been from Montana side yet. It was immense😲😎

Then just as the lady told us, we spotted wild horses🐎🐎😲

And this is the level, as of our visit 4/26, at Horseshoe Marina. 

Perhaps our last trip while we are still two of us🤰👫⇨👪

We enjoyed another road trip to our neighbor state. We hope to explore more😉

YNP Pre-Season River Check & Wildlife

Wednesday May 17th, it was rainy all day, and eventually turned out to be wet snow. In the evening and overnight, we have had several inches of snow on the ground, vehicles, anywhere!! It seems Livingston got hit the heaviest in the entire area. Since then it has been a series of cool weather. This subsided runoffs of rivers around here.

Also it's just a week before Yellowstone National Park fishing season open on Saturday May 27th. So we planned a round trip to check major rivers in the Park.

Soda Butte Creek was surprisingly almost all "fishable green". Really. It's only "As of now". Repeat: it has been cool days, once day-time temp reaches back to around 70F, it will change. So is Lamar River.

Slough Creek below campground. This lovely creek doesn't get really muddy during summer storms. It's certainly running very high.

Very much the same story on the west side. We checked Gibbon, Firehole, and Madison Rivers. These rivers had good clarity. But then again, we shouldn't be too optimistic for the opening day. Keep our eyes on weather patterns and changes on hydrographs through week.

It also turned out to be one of the best wildlife spotting days we've ever experienced in the Park😎🐂🐻🐾(apparently there aren't enough Emoji's to cover all😓). This is the time of year when I can do something other than actual fishing. Also the summer tourism has not begun yet and lots of wildlife still remain in lower elevation.

Starting with a coyote.

 A regular one

We, along with many other people, were supposedly looking at a bear behind Lamar buffalo😓

 It looked like a relatively large black bear along the road.

Then we observed a large traffic congestion (it's nowhere close to what we have during the summer months😑😐) at around Norris Campground. It was a pair of mother-cub grizzly bear😲 ❗❗
Up until this day, we've never seen "Griz" in the Park.

One more 'Yote.

 As we drove along Firehole River, we stopped by Fountain Hot Paint Access

And Midway Geyser Access (here's Grand Prismatic Spring).  These sightseeing spots will be oblivion once the fishing season kicks off........ It was quite fun!! - actually the very first time for me!!

Yellow Belly Mormot  (common name around here Rock Chuck)

As we got out of the Park from West Gate, headed north, and re-entered a short section of the Park along Gallatin River. We spotted another rare kind - Moose😲❗

Bye👋

What a great day to check both rivers and wildlife!! Especially for the wildlife part, we've done very well for a while😎!! Now high hopes for the fishing season 2017😁

YNP River & Snow Check

This winter has been a real Montana winter that we know of. First half of January had been cold, last week was slightly easier, reaching 40F. Then the cold spell is on the way as of this typing. 

We drove to Yellowstone National Park for the first time since The Last Day of Fishing. 

Though nowadays we can check snowpack/precipitations online, we wanted to see and feel ourselves. We "walked" - no snowshoes or XC skiing...........Quite an exercise😆

First we walked from Roosevelt Lodge to Tower Falls, along Yellowstone River. 

Moose!!??? oh, deer.......

Calcite Spring Overlook - We thought of Yellowstone Cutthroat swimming and getting cozy around the spring............ Hope to see them soon.........

Next, we did something wild on a truly unmarked and not a known trail for winter months - actually our fishing trail during the season........ Some of you readers must have fished here on your own or with me......... One of the loveliest streams and one of the most enjoyable spots in the Park.

We wanted to take a look at the spot.......... Initial third or so was truly a challenge........we could have been buried......... However once we got through the section, we really appreciated these buffaloes stomping on snow, much easier for us to walk!!

Reminiscing the past season and hoping to make more memories in the upcoming season.........

We made sure there have been good amounts of snow in our headwater region = YNP. 

Though there will be some more factors to consider = how spring rolls =, we can definitely have high hopes for good water year!!

Autumn Scenes from Yellowstone Country

It's been a nice fall so far here in Yellowstone Country. As of today, we are having some sizable snow (no pictures). Other than that we are having nice autumn days that we can expect for. This snow wouldn't stick. We still have number of days to get out and enjoy some of greatest fly-fishing that the fall in our area can offer.

Renee and I hit Yellowstone Park waters together. We started at one of my favorite & go-to spots!

 As always, she catches a big one!

 I had a good one also that put lots of actions on my light 4-wt.

 What was hatching............

See the ratio..............

We fed ourselves by "tailgating"!!

In the afternoon, we moved to another stretch of river and we had some commotions..........

These two renegade buffaloes walked straight toward far bank, stomping over rising trout and invading our spot! Furthermore, they couldn't climb out as there's a little crater like dip there!! They attempted a few times, gave up, and then finally found a spot to get out and walk away........

Anyways.................
This was a spring-creek look-a-like section.  To make things complicated, couple of different insects/species were hatching...... Renee got a couple of good ones! I was focusing on one particular trout that appeared really big from its rise form, but couldn't get anywhere close.........

On the way out, we stopped by perhaps the most notoriously popular spot on Madison, if not entire Park! I just wanted to show her how other (visiting) fishers act and things go.......... We stepped aways from the "club", then we swung large soft-hackles. I caught a feisty whitie by swinging my Coyote!!

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Rivers just steps away from our towns are also in great fall shapes.
Regardless of sizes, trout are feisty and colorful this time of year............

Once in a while..........

I could catch a stonefly-nymph-biting-big brown!!

..........But always she catches a big one!!!

Enjoy fall fishing!!