Leaving Yellowstone as the Storms Roll In
Well today was our last day in Yellowstone. We started off by cooking up an amazing breakfast for all of us and then headed up to Trout Lake for one last shot at the monsters. Luat and I vowed that we couldn’t leave the park this year without landing one of the elusive and very selective trout from Trout Lake.
It was a spectacular day and shortly after we started fishing I landed a bruiser of a Cutthroat and a leach pattern that PT tied up this morning. We had fish deny our flies so many times and the rejection was starting to get to us when we noticed that some of the trout were beginning to spawn.
Luat tied on a simple egg pattern for laughs and threw it out to see what would happen. Lucky for him, a MONSTER rainbow decided that was exactly what it wanted and took the fly. The battle that followed was awesome and I was able to capture it all on video for ya’ll to watch which rocks!
Sad to be coming home but I’m anxious to check my food plots and trail cams. It was an amazing trip with some of my best friends. Can’t wait to do it all again next year.
Tight Lines,
Opie
Storm Rolling In On The Slough
Well we had a tough day fishing today. Hike the 6 miles into the second meadow of Slough Creek and were met by a lot of fish that were spooky and not to hungry.
After an hour or two you could see the storms rolling in and the barometric readings falling. The fish were there but just didn’t want to bite. We each ended up with a few nice fish that we fought hard for and made the tough hike in somewhat worth it. I have to say that seeing the storm roll in was spectacular enough to make it all worth it.
We are tired and our bodies are exhausted from a long week of pounding the streams. It’s been an amazing trip once again. Tonight we had a few buddies we met last year in camp and enjoyed some good stories around the campfire.
Tomorrow is our last day in yellowstone and we are heading up to the infamous Trout Lake with reinforcements to land a monster or two.
“Be as you are”
Tight lines,
Opie
Opie With a Nice Cut
Words just can’t describe the day we had today. But if I had to I would just have to say AWESOME.
Landed a bunch of nice Cutthroat trout on the second meadow of Slough Creek which made the 10 mile round trip hike totally worth it.
Combined we had close to 500 inches of sweet trout in the net including a few hogs and 15-16 inchers making the majority.
Love it out here!
Opie
Filling Up Water Bottles from a Ice Cold Brook
Luat with Another Nice Slough Creek Cut
Luat with a Nice Lamaar Cutthroat
Well we have been having an absolutely awesome time out here. Had a great day fishing the confluence of the Lamaar River and Soda Butte Creek.
Doc struck out but between PT, Luat and I we must have landed 20 nice fish. Luat was king of the morning with a 20″ bruiser rainbow trout and a 17″ cutthroat (pictured above). PT was a close second with a few nice trout himself.
I had a pretty slow morning but ended up landing a pile of smaller 10-12 inchers.
Heading to the canyon of the Lamaar tonight to tangle with some monsters.
Tight Lines,
Opie
Chilling Out at Camp After a Day on the Meadows of Slough Creek
…Well just about a good day of anything else.
We woke up early this morning and were on the trail hiking up to the first meadow of Slough Creek by 8. I spoke to a fellow fisherman who told us the river trail was clear this year so despite memories of a treacherous hike last year we decided to take it. Turns out that was probably a poor decision on my part as the trail was still very treacherous and the other fellows were adamantly expressing their displeasure with my choice.
However, the hike was stunning and we all made it to the meadow and had a great day fishing. Unfortunately the hatches were a little slow and the wind picked up to gale force after lunch and we really had to work for every fish we caught.
We all ended up with some nice fish except for Luat who got skunked on the meadow. He did catch a few from camp when we got back just to make sure the “spell” was broken.
Great times with great friends made it an amazing day. Can’t wait to hit the confluence of the Lamaar and Soda Butte tomorrow for some hard hitting terrestrial action.
Tight Lines,
Opie
Heading to the Firehole
Boy do I feel refreshed this morning after an amazing night’s sleep.
We made it to Slough Creek yesterday around 11 and after setting up camp we headed out with PT and Doc to catch some fish.
We ended up catching a few decent cutthroats and rainbows on the Slough. PT managed to break his brand new rod and Luat ended up loosing the tip section of his in the river. Can’t help but laugh and be thankful we brought extra rods.
Heading out to the famous Firehole river today. Word is that it has been fishing really well.
Tight Lines,
Opie
On the Porch of Roosevelt Lodge Waiting for Luat’s Fly Box
Rolling Through the Black Hills at 1 am
Well it’s 1 am Mountain Time (feels like 3am)and I just finished up another shift behind the wheel.
We have about 6 more hours to Cody, WY where we’ll make a last stop for supplies (adult beverages) before heading into the park.
PT and Doc called earlier to confirm they were in position at Slough Creek and had secured the prime campsite. PT even managed to wet a line this evening and supposedly caught the first fish of the trip. However, he said it was a rainbow (non-native species) and their isn’t any photographic evidence so there will have to be some discussion on whether it’s counted as the official first fish. 
Been having some great twitter conversations with @chunkadee and some others who have fished the park this week and it sounds like we are arriving in prime time to slay some monsters.
I’m gonna get back to enjoying this awesome lightning storm that’s illuminating the Black Hills right now. Pretty neat if you ask me.
See ya’ll in the am.
Opie
Have a Lot of Asphalt to Cover
Well we are on the road heading west for the second annual FLG Yellowstone Fly Fishing Adventure.
PT and Doc left a couple days early and took it easy on their drive out. Us other guys had long work weeks so we are pushing straight through. The 24 hour drive is gonna be tough but the thought of that first monster Cutthroat trout taking my dry fly will keep me driving through the night.
I can already tell it’s going to be an incredible week. Leaving it all behind in pursuit of a great adventure with some amazing friends.
Just as free as we’ll ever be.
Tight Lines,
Opie
Well it’s that time of year again and soon we will be heading west for another great Yellowstone fishing adventure. Can’t wait to bend some fly rods with some of my best friends. Just got word this morning that some of the friends we made on last year’s trip will be joining us again this year too.
All in all it should make for a pretty amazing time.
Tight Lines,
Opie
The "Henryettan" The Legendary First Decoy by G&H Decoys
The boys and I here at First Light Gear have been searching for a quality, American made decoy to hunt over for quite some time now. I personally have been hunting over a mixed bag of decoys from different manufacturers that just have not stood up to the abuse of hunting hard for a full season. I’ve had decoys leak right out of the box, paint chipping after only a couple uses, and various other problems that effect the full usefulness of the product. In our search, we focused on companies that offer superb realism in their decoy design, quality control so every decoy out there is anatomically correct and have the same look as the next one, features that stick out from the competition that make setup any easy task and companies that are family owned and operated that focus on customer service and staying in touch with what their customers are looking for.
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