Relaxing on the Front Porch of Roosevelt Lodge After Fishing
Every fishing trip out west is a new adventure. There are always thoughts about the uncertainty of the river conditions, hatches, campsite availability and lastly but definitely not least the bears. However, once you have crossed into Wyoming and see the signs for Yellowstone all those uncertainties seem to drift away like the current and the real importance of the trip becomes exposed…Friendship. Luckily, on this trip we were able to experience great fishing and great friends, new and old. Well to say we caught fish would be a huge understatement. We caught some great fish and experienced some world class fishing under some tough conditions which I will explain.
Horse Trail to the First Meadow
So it turns out Opie heard that the horse “trail” following the river up to the first meadow of the Slough was clear and open this year. Well, the “trail” if you can call it that, to the first meadow of the Slough, that was “supposed to be” clear this year was exactly the same as last year; non existent. PT and I were fine, a little tired but not too tired to make sure Opie knew and could hear our opinions on this great “trail”. (Doc on the other hand was too tired and to busy blowing his bear whistle to really voice his opinions).
When we finally made it to the first meadow, the boys cleaned up on the fish. I on the other hand, with borrowed flies because I didn’t have my fly box (long story) couldn’t buy a fish. Even though I had struck out that afternoon, the hike (climb) in and Doc hooking up and landing his first ever Cutthroat trout on a fly rod was a great time. Just for the record, I did manage to catch a couple trout at camp to get rid of that skunk smell.
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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
