Yellowstone National Park
	Accommodations& Services in this Region

Fishing and Camping in Yellowstone National Park

Fishing Fact: Larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined, Yellowstone National Park is immense at 3,472 square miles. Yellowstone Lake alone covers 136 square miles. As the world's first national park, it no doubt vies for the title “World's Greatest Trout Park”. If you are limited to less than a week to both explore and fish Yellowstone Park and you are mainly interested in driving to your destination or taking a day hike, this section of the book will serve you well. However, if you have planned an extensive vacation in the Park to fully fish its riches, including the backcountry, then I would recommend purchasing Fishing Yellowstone National Park by Richard Parks or The Yellowstone Fly-Fishing Guide by Craig Mathews and Clayton Molinero.

Campground Information

“Campsite availability is first-come, first-served at the following campgrounds: Mammoth, Norris, Indian Creek, Pebble Creek, Slough Creek and Tower Fall. During peak camping season (late June to mid-August) all campgrounds may be filled by 11:00 am; arrive early to obtain a site. [Slough Creek often has vacated campsites filled by 9 am.] Reservations can be made for Canyon, Bridge Bay, Madison, Grant Village, and the Fishing Bridge RV Park by calling (307) 344-7311. Overnight camping of any type (tent, vehicle, or RV) outside designated campgrounds is not permitted.

“Hookups are available at the concession-operated Fishing Bridge RV Park, which is open from late May to early October. The RV Park provides water, sewer, and electrical hookups. The RV Park is restricted to hard-sided camping units; tents and trailers are not allowed.
“Showers and laundry facilities are provided by a concession service for an additional fee. They are located adjacent to the campgrounds at Canyon, Grant Village, and Fishing Bridge RV Park (showers and laundry are located within four miles of Bridge Bay campground).” –Park hand-out: Yell 361, 1998

The park entrances are the South Entrance above Jack-son, Wyoming, the West Entrance in the town of West Yellowstone, the North Entrance below the town of Gardiner, Montana, the northeast entrance a few miles from Cooke City, Montana, and the East Entrance leading to Cody, Wyoming. All entrances lead to Yellowstone Lake, and a loop connects all the entrances. In keeping with the spirit of this fishing guide, I have included only those rivers, streams and lakes that can be reached by vehicle or in a short day hike. Since the Park does not employ mileage marker signs like the state of Montana, I have concentrated on the park entrance roads and the Grand Loop Road.

Note: Unlike the state of Montana, Yellowstone National Park does not use mileage marker signposts (MM). Mileage estimates within the Park are based on an odometer from a 1993 Chevy pickup truck with oversized tires. I was often in conflict with the official signs so look upon these declarations of mile-age with a jaundiced eye (M=mileage estimate).

West Yellowstone Entrance

Park Entrance to Madison Campground: 14 miles
Madison Campground to Old Faithful: 16 miles
Old Faithful to West Thumb: 17 miles
West Thumb to South Entrance: 22 miles

Note: The information covering the Park section of the Gallatin River and its tributaries along Highway 191 is covered in the Southwestern Montana section, Highway 191. Highway 191 is the western border of the park to the Gallatin Canyon, where the Park boundary ends.

North Entrance: Gardiner From Mammoth to Tower to Cooke City

Gardner River

A special bait section for children provides excellent fishing for small brookies above Osprey Falls close to the Indian Creek camp-ground. Below the falls, the Gardner plunges down a canyon on its course to the Yellowstone River. The next access is the Mammoth-Tower Bridge a few miles east of Mammoth. Up-stream from the bridge the canyon impedes progress, but this short section holds numerous 6- to 10-inch rainbows and brookies. Below the bridge the Gardner River is joined by Lava Creek. Standing on the Mammoth side of the bridge, you can look down to where Lava Creek joins the river. Hiking down below this section provides good fishing for cutthroats and brook trout, although be prepared, for some of the choice waters do come up empty. Rather than turn the corner and head upstream to the bridge again, take the time to fish the first half-mile of Lava Creek. Lava Creek is strictly dabbing your fly in small pockets, but when I last fished it during August of 1998, the rainbows were averaging 10 inches, and they were fat. This section of the Gardner River, extending for three miles, can be hot during August so tie on a bead-head Prince as a dropper.

Yellowstone River in the Black Canyon

Cross-country trail access. The Black Canyon may be reached by hiking across sagebrush, bench land and down to the river. From the bridge above Tower, near the confluence with the Lamar River, down to Blacktail Deer Creek, the distance to the river may vary from two to four miles. I especially enjoy fishing this rugged canyon with its big water. Concentrated nymph fishing is so much easier than training my trifocals on a size 18 dry at Buffalo Ford. But hiking in and out unnerves me, even with my pepper spray, as I generally fish alone. Somehow I never remember to make noise. I huff and puff up the slope, furtively glancing behind me.

Mammoth to Tower

Mileage is estimated beginning at the junction in Mammoth.

To Tower Junction: 18 miles
To Canyon Village: 37 miles
To the Northeast Entrance: 47 miles

M 1.7: Mammoth-Tower Bridge (High Bridge)

M 4.7: Lava Creek Picnic Site

The fishing is somewhat difficult both upstream and down-stream of Undine Falls due to brush and downed trees, but the fishing is good for small trout.

M 6.3: Blacktail Ponds

A small pond a short distance from the road, Blacktail Ponds is void of shrubbery or brush, although it is very boggy for most of the shoreline. It is rare to pass by this pond at dusk without seeing at least one nymph fisherman working the pond for 10- to 14-inch cutthroats and brook trout.

M 6.9: Blacktail Deer Creek

Blacktail Deer Creek crosses the Mammoth-Tower Road above Lava Creek crossing. The creek cascades down the mountain four miles to meet the Yellowstone River. The creek offers good fishing for brook trout above and below the road.

M 15.3: Floating Island Lake Fishless.

M 18.5: Conoco Gas Station, Roosevelt Lodge

M 20.8: Tower Falls, Hamilton Store and snack bar

Tower Creek

Tower Creek may be reached from the Tow-er Creek Campground. Fishing is good for small rainbows and brookies. From the Hamilton Store next to the falls, a trail leads down the canyon to the Yellowstone River and a short section of Tower Creek. This trail is the only easy access to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Pack a lunch.

Tower Junction to Cooke City (Lamar River)

M .7: Yellowstone River above Tower

The confluence with the Lamar River is a mile down-stream. Just as you cross the bridge leaving Tower Junction, there is a picnic site and parking area. A trail leads down to the confluence of the Lamar River and the Yellowstone River. The Lamar section consists of heavily silted pools and steep banks, but from the Lamar upstream for a half-mile, the Yellowstone River offers rough and tumble nymph water. It is too small of a section to share, but I have always been pleased with the results.

M 5.1: Access to the Lamar River

M 5.9: Slough Creek

Years ago when I lived and taught in Wyoming, I heard near-reverent praising of Slough Creek. As I recall at that time, only trailers were allowed in the campground so I passed it up for more favorable fishing in other areas of the park. In finalizing the Park, I headed for Slough Creek as soon as I entered the Park. Pulling a 15-foot 1984 Komfort camp trailer, I was prepared. I arrived at a gala of colorful tents at the campground at 9 am and watched two families depart. Slough Creek Campground is off the beaten track, actually only 2.3 miles of washboard road from the Cooke City Road, but it is a long ways from the Interstate for travelers heading home. By 9:30 the three vacated sites were full!

During that first day, I returned to fish the Gardner again. Returning to the campground, the sky clouded up and in no time at all, my windshield wipers were on high, smearing and skipping across bug splats. The next day I fished the Lamar for the first time. Because of a heat spell, it had been fishing very slowly. When I arrived at a secluded spot, the water was somewhat roiled, but the off color was not enough to concern me. I fished for an hour and a half, to no avail. Having been skunked, I headed for the confluence of the Lamar and the Yellowstone determined to catch a fish on the Lamar – nothing. Catching a few hefty cutthroats on the Yellowstone River, I headed back to Slough Creek for an early dinner. After dinner I hiked up the trail to the first meadow.

The trail to the three meadows of Slough Creek does not begin in the campground, as a narrow canyon impedes progress. The first meadow is notoriously difficult to fish, from what I had read and from what I heard in camp. Everyone advised me to pass up the first meadow and fish the second meadow, which is about five miles up from the trailhead. By the time I had hiked in to the first meadow, I realized that I had only about two hours to fish. I walked up to the first bank and peered into the softly flowing creek. I put on my Polaroid glasses, and in doing so I looked down to see a 16-inch cutthroat slurping midges, oblivious to my presence.

I crawled through the grass to the next run and spotted a 17- or 18-inch cutthroat gently fanning his tail and sip-ping bugs right next to the bank less than 10 feet in front of me. Ten offerings later, I stood up. The cutthroat moved one foot over and two feet up and continued slurping size 22 white midges. Slough Creek cutthroats are like the elk and buffalo. If you don't get too close, they just ignore you and go on chewing their cud, or in this case sipping midges. For the second time in one day I had been skunked!

Most of the fishermen I spoke to that evening said they had poor to fair fishing at the second meadow and excellent fishing for smaller trout at the third meadow, which is eight miles from the trailhead. Next time I am going right back to that first meadow with 7X tippet and an assortment of midge patterns.

Slough Creek offers excellent fishing from the camp-ground to its meeting with the Lamar River, but it is similar to a spring creek and requires skill and patience. Surprisingly, few people actually fish this section, while upwards of a hundred fishermen a day hike up to the meadow sections.

M 8: Lamar River

Another day! Regardless of my dismal experiences on the Lamar, the river offers excellent fishing for cutthroats and rainbows once the river has cleared (later than most). Craig Mathew in his book The Yellowstone Fly-Fishing Guide mentions the proclivity for Lamar cutthroats to migrate up and down the stream, which in turn keeps anglers covering a lot of ground.

Gliding through open meadows with towering mountain ranges in the background and sparse clusters of cottonwoods, it is easy to visualize what the entire region looked like prior to settlements. From its confluence with Soda Butte Creek to the canyon, a distance of six or seven miles, the Lamar receives lots of fishing attention. The expansive grassland, home to buffalo and antelope, hosts large grasshoppers and other terrestrials, which find their way into the Lamar. The canyon, although more difficult to fish, offers slightly larger trout in the pools and pockets.

M 18.3: Trout Lake

How could an angler pass up a body of water named Trout Lake? Nor should you, if you have the time to fish this little gem nestled in the mountains a mere half-mile from the unsigned pull-out. If you are coming from Cooke City, the pullout is 1.3 miles from Pebble Creek Campground. What Trout Lake lacks in fast action, it more than makes up for in the size of fat rainbows in the 14- to 17-inch range. An excellent lake for a float tube, head for the left side of the lake if the wind comes up.

M 19.3: Pebble Creek and Campground

Pebble Creek has a small volume of water, but up in the canyon section the creek has many pools which hold small cutthroats, although passage becomes difficult. The upper section above the canyon may be reached by crossing the footbridge in the campground and hiking a little over a mile.

Soda Butte Creek

Gliding down a beautifully timbered canyon from Cooke City down to the Lamar flood plain, Soda Butte Creek offers quiet solitude and good fishing for cutthroats.

Gardiner Entrance: Mammoth to Norris to Madison Junction

Mammoth to Norris: 21 miles
Norris to Madison Campground: 14 miles

Gardner River

From the Gardiner Entrance to Mammoth, the road parallels the Gardner River and offers a number of pull-outs, but this section is swift water and not for neophytes. The Gardner River may also be accessed at the mouth from Park Street in Gardiner. Take the trail past the pump house down to the river.

Boiling River

If you want to take a break from fishing and soak in a hot-pool on the Gardiner River, follow the Boiling River Trail one mile to this popular swimming hole. Look for the trailhead 2.6 miles from the Gardiner Entrance.

Mammoth Campground and visitor center

The Mammoth Campground is just below Mammoth. The campground is popular.

Joffe Lake

More aptly described as a one and a half-acre pond, Joffe Lake is an old reservoir a couple of miles south of Mammoth. Take the Mammoth-Norris Grand Loop Road. At 1.3 miles south of Mammoth, turn south onto a dirt road. The lake is great fishing for youngsters, who will be thrilled catching 6- to 8-inch brook trout.

Swan Lake

The lake is exceedingly shallow and fishless.

Indian Creek

Sitting on a small rise eight miles south of Mammoth, Indian Creek Campground is surrounded by verdurous meadows and winding streams. Indian Creek joins the Gardner River near the campground and offers special bait fishing opportunities for children fishing for small brookies. Obsidian Creek joins the Gardner River in the vicinity of the campground and also offers good fishing for brookies with special regulations for children. By following the Bighorn Pass Trail near the campground, families may also fish Panther Creek, a small tributary of the Gardner River. For children and novice anglers, this campground offers wonderful fishing opportunities and good wildlife viewing prospects.

Gardner River, Sheepeater Canyon

After the Gardner River picks up the tributary creeks, the river takes a sweeping turn and heads back north, where it is crossed by the Mammoth-Tower Road and then joined by Lava Creek. Leaving the meadow section by the Indian Creek Campground, the river plunges down Sheepeater Canyon and drops over the 100-foot Osprey Falls. Access is difficult above and below the falls, and the fishing is considered to be not really worth the effort or the risk. One such access, however, is from the Sheepeater Picnic site.

Grizzly Lake and Straight Creek

The trailhead to Grizzly Lake is reached 15 miles from Mammoth or 6.5 miles north of the Norris Junction. Look for the pullout and a trail sign for the Grizzly Lake Trail. It is easy to miss. Grizzly Lake is a 1.8-mile hike up a series of switchbacks to the lake. The 136-acre lake offers good fishing for 7- to 10-inch brook trout. Straight Creek both feeds and empties the lake. An alternate route to the lake is to fish up Straight Creek from the meadow section next to the road. Look for the parking area for the Mount Holmes Trail, which is three miles south of Indian Creek Campground. The trail follows Obsidian Creek for a mile, but do not waste your time fishing it. From Straight Creek the trail gradually climbs another three miles up the canyon to meet the lake.

Straight Creek provides excellent fishing for small brook trout. However, for every 8-inch brook trout that you land, you will have to release 10 dinks from 4 to 6-inches. The canyon was burned badly in the 1988 fire, and the gray husks of mature trees litter the creek bed and hillside. I do not disdain fishing small creeks for small fish, but this creek seems to promise more than it de-livers. This is another great creek for kids, as it provides lots of action from hungry little brook trout that will hit any fly thrown their way.

Beaver Lake, Lake of the Woods

Beaver Lake is located just over seven miles south of Mammoth. It is basically fishless, as is Lake of the Woods.

Twin Lakes

Although you will see people fishing these two shallow lakes, they are considered to be almost barren.

Norris Campground, Solfatara Creek

Entering the Gibbon River at Norris Junction and the campground, Solfatara offers fair to good fishing for smaller trout.

Canyon to Norris (Upper Gibbon River)

From its source waters, Grebe and Wolf Lakes, the Gibbon River flows through timbered terrain until it crosses the Norris-Canyon Road and enters Virginia Meadows on its way to the Norris Campground area. Anglers can expect to fish for browns, rainbows and brook trout. Joining Solfatara Creek at Norris Junction, the Gibbon gradually gains stature along with wary browns. Down further lies the Gibbon Meadow followed by a nice fishing section before Gibbons Falls. From Gibbon Falls, the Gibbon resembles more of a freestone creek until it reaches the meadow section and the confluence with the Firehole at Madison Campground. The best fishing period is the latter part of June and fall, but the fish also respond to a well-placed hopper during the heat of summer. The following information begins at Grebe Lake on the Canyon to Norris section of the Grand Loop Road. The Gibbon River flows down to Norris Campground, circles around Norris Geyser Basin, then follows a southerly course to the point where the Gibbon joins the Firehole to form the Madison River.

Grebe Lake (headwaters of the Gibbon River)

The trail is an easy three-mile hike on a level trail, which no doubt adds to this lake's popularity for scenery and good fishing. The trailhead parking lot is 3.6 miles from Canyon Junction or 8.4 miles from Norris Junction. Grebe Lake is good fishing for both rainbows and arctic gray-ling. The rainbows generally run in the 10- to 12-inch range. Anglers also have the opportunity to catch native arctic grayling. Generally the trail is passable by mid-June. A float tube is recommended, although wading is best accomplished on the northern and eastern shoreline.

Gibbon River

Cygnet Lake

Fishless.

Wolf Lake

Wolf Lake is downstream from Grebe Lake. Wolf Lake is generally described as good fishing for both rainbows and grayling. A small lake a little over 50 acres in grizzly country, the lake may be accessed from Grebe Lake or from Ice Lake, which is reached three and a half miles east of Norris Junction. Follow the trail for a half-mile to its junction with the Howard Eaton Trail at Ice Lake (fishless) and continue east. The trail continues on the Wolf Lake Trail, a total of four miles from the trailhead.

Ice Lake

Fishless.

Virginia Cascade Drive Access

The access road is available for hikers who would like to get close to the Gibbon River. This section of road is 1.7 miles east of the Norris Junction and provides access to Virginia Meadows.

Norris Campground, Norris Meadow

The meadow section around the campground is heavily fished, and during the heat of summer with increased numbers of campers the trout learn to be wary after a couple of months of bombardment.

Norris Junction to Madison Junction

Gibbon River

For the next 15 miles, the Gibbon rushes to meet the Fire-hole. For the most part the road parallels the river through a series of meadows before dropping down into the Gibbon Canyon to Gibbon Falls. During the heat of summer the meadow sections can present some challenging fishing. In lieu of a good hatch, the best bet here is if the sky is overcast, the wind is blowing and the hoppers are popping. Below the meadows the river picks up speed and flows over small cascades. Pocket water and some pools are available as the river narrows and picks up speed before plunging over Gibbon Falls. Just below the falls is the Gibbon Falls Picnic Area. Anglers may hike upriver a few hundred yards to access Canyon Creek, which joins the Gibbon River on the east bank. Canyon Creek offers good fishing for small brook trout in the 6- to 8-inch range, as well as a few resident grayling. Below the falls is a popular gathering spot for anglers fishing the fall brown trout spawning run. During the heat of summer, this section of the Gibbon River draws savvy anglers. The river offers riffles and long runs, and the road is high up on the mountain, which provides some sense of solitude. This last section flows through carved bench land until it meets the meadow section at Madison Junction.

Madison Junction to Yellowstone Lake

Madison Campground, Madison River

Centrally located, the campground borders the confluence of the Gibbon River and the Firehole. West Yellowstone is 14 miles. This 14-mile section of the Madison River offers numerous access points, but during the heat of summer it only offers fair fishing.

Firehole River

Offering a mix of geological wonders, the Firehole offers a classic mixture of brook trout, brown trout and rainbow trout in this nutrient-rich stream that draws anglers from around the world to match their skills with some picky and educated trout. From its headwaters at Madison Lake, the Firehole resembles a mountain creek as it courses downward to Old Faithful and the Geyser Basin. The river is closed to fishing starting at the bridge a mile and a half east of Old Faithful to the bridge at Biscuit Basin. With the discharge of water in the Geyser Basin and the infusion of water from the Little Firehole, the Fire-hole reaches its maturity. Above Old Faithful the Firehole runs cooler throughout the summer and provides anglers with good opportunities for catching smaller brook trout.

With the discharge of thermally-heated water from the closed section, fishing in the Little Firehole provides cooler water and larger fish in the lower reaches and smaller fish in the canyon pocket water.

From Biscuit Basin to Cascades, a distance of ap-proximately 12 miles, the Firehole glides through a classic meadow with spring creek-type water. Here dry fly fishermen present their match-the-hatch offerings in early summer and fall. The Cascades change the nature of the river as the water spills and tumbles. The Firehole, joining with the Gibbon River, begins the Madison River. Shallow wading water in an idyllic setting promise more than what the river will produce during the summer months when thermal heating drives the fish to cooler sanctuaries. The best time to fish the Firehole is during the spring and again in the fall. The season opens on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Many sections of the Firehole are easily accessed along the road from the Madison Campground to Old Faithful and beyond.

Shoshone Lake

The second largest lake in Yellowstone Park with over 8,000 acres, Shoshone Lake is huge, remote and accessed only by trail. When I taught in Jackson, Wyoming, my first fishing outfitter was Roberta Knapp. Roberta was one of the first woman outfitters in Wyoming. A tall, strong woman, this lady could fish and row a boat under any conditions. I learned a great deal from her, as she was a generous person and a passionate fly fisher. Driving out of the Gros Ventre one summer day, she shared with me all of her great fishing stories about fishing big browns and lake trout on the channel between Shoshone Lake and Lewis Lake. If you are fishing the Park during the fall, be sure to take the Lewis Channel Trail, a seven-mile hike, or the trail just above it, which takes a straight line through the woods directly to Shoshone Lake, a distance of 4.5 miles. Fishing heavy fall streamer patterns for big browns and lake trout in the fall has to be a wonderful experience, and I am sad to say I never made it.

Shoshone Lake fishing is rated excellent during early summer with drys, nymphs, scuds and leech patterns. Later in the summer the trout retreat to deeper waters, which can be reached by canoe paddling from Lewis Lake, through the channel, and into Shoshone Lake (with a one-mile portage at the end of the channel).

Lewis Lake

Lewis Lake allows motorized boats. Boat fishermen both spin and troll for large lake trout and browns. The lake's east shore parallels the road leading to the South Entrance. Fly fishermen fare well at both the inlet and the outlet to Lewis River.

West Thumb to Fishing Bridge Junction

Yellowstone Lake

Looking at a map of Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Lake draws center attention at 87,450 acres. Famous for its staggering numbers of Yellowstone cutthroat, the lake is presently under siege from the unauthorized introduction of nefarious lake trout. Thanks to some stupid bucket biologist, lake trout are expanding rapidly and preying on cutthroats. Regulations now require killing all lake trout caught.

Excellent fishing may be experienced right along the shoreline using small drys and nymphs. Anglers may keep two fish under 13 inches, but this is not always easy since most Yellowstone cutthroat measure between 14 and 16 inches. Boating is allowed, but it requires a special permit along with special regulations for fishing in the arms of the lake. The most popular fishing from shore is between the Sand Point picnic site and the Gull Point area, which is on the Grand Loop Road between West Thumb and the Fishing Bridge Junction. Be sure to walk across the Fishing Bridge and gaze at all the fish.

Yellowstone Lake Outlet to Gardiner

The river gathers her source water down through the meadows of the Thorofare to empty into the Southeast Arm of Yellowstone Lake. Only hikers with long strides and heavy packs reach the pristine fishing of the Thorofare for 16-inch hungry cutthroats that snatch offerings rejected anywhere else. Only experienced hikers conditioned to arduous terrain, hordes of early summer mosquitoes, and the ominous presence of bears should contemplate planning a trip to the Thorofare.

Although the outlet of Yellowstone Lake is closed the first mile, the next six miles of catch and release draw fly fisherman from around the world to test their skills against 16- and 18-inch Yellowstone cutthroats. But into this zone of packed fishermen and multitudes of hefty cutthroats, Mother Nature levels the playing field with prodigious hatches. For the uninitiated, wading knee-deep into the broad Yellowstone amidst what appears to be hundreds of sippers can be awe-inspiring. After a fly fisher has changed flies a half a dozen times and added a section of 6X or 7X tippet to no avail, the river suddenly becomes daunting, more challenging than a spring creek. On my last visit to Buffalo Ford, I wandered the banks with only a Canon AE-1 intent on catching a big one on film. My photographic experience, with the camera set on automatic, matched the expertise of the majority of young fly fishers eagerly casting over the water. After an hour of observing five or six casters, I realized that the light was fading fast and with it the prospects of photographing a landed fish.

I moved up the road to the next pullout and spotted my man. Ten feet from the bank, I saw the flash of line, splaying droplets of water across the darkening water. The rod arced and the pumping action told me he was about to land a nice cutthroat. Parking my truck, I quickly crossed the road and sat down on the bank behind him. Two friends were fishing below him with the same success, and their banter and jubilation frayed the nerves, I'm sure, of those frustrated fishermen in the general area who never did land a fish as long as I sat observing. Sunglasses were off, and the men strained their eyes across the water skewing their heads to negate the water's glare in the closing hour of dusk. Suddenly a rod flew up again, and the same man landed a hog which he guessed, and I quietly concurred, was in excess of 18 inches. He quietly advised the two other men to switch to a rusty spinner, as that was the only fly the bigger fish were keying on in the middle of a smorgasbord of aquatic offerings.

A rusty spinner, I thought to myself. Do I have one in my box? And then I remembered my first enthusiastic foray into the waters of Buffalo Ford over twenty years ago. I was teaching in Jackson, Wyoming, and joined two high school students on our first Yellowstone River initiation. The river was crowded that day, and it appeared that everyone was landing 14 to 16-inch fish all around me. I was so eager my hands were shaking in anticipation.

After 40 minutes of chasing rises like a dog chasing his tail, I was dejected. My two young companions, fortunately, had moved far down the river and were not witness to my dejection. Wading over to the bank humbled, I asked another fisherman what he had been using. He was leaving and looked on me in kindness. I had no idea what the fly pattern was that he handed me, but I caught fish for the next hour before it broke off. When I lost that fly, I went to my fly box and found a similar colored fly and trimmed it down to size. Although not as efficient as the first, it, too, caught fish. I joined my two young companions with a sigh of relief and a feeling of wonder having caught so many beautiful fish in a relatively short period of time.

From Sulfur Caldron to Alum Creek the river is designated as a bird sanctuary and wildlife study area. Just above the falls lies a short section open to fishing, but the water speeds up in this section so wading is risky.

From there the river gathers speed and plunges 300 feet over Yellowstone Falls, coursing its way through the Grand Canyon where angels fear to tread. Anglers seeking solitude need to have stamina in order to reach this section. Anglers may once again ply the waters of the Yellowstone at the confluence with the Lamar River and in the Black Canyon region east of Gardiner.

Saga: Yellowstone

On my very first trip to Yellowstone Park in the early ‘70s, I stopped at Bud Lilly's Fly Shop in West Yellowstone. My two fly boxes in those days held mostly my own attractor abominations. I was eager to gain some good advice, as I was camped at Madison Campground. My first day fishing produced pretty slim pickings. As a young man in my 20s, I was mostly familiar with creek fishing for rainbows and brookies on the eastern slopes of the Sierras. I had “novice” written across my forehead.

Bud Lilly assisted me and never gave me the bum's rush when he found out that I was near broke and planned only to purchase three or four flies. He dropped three huge Bitch Creek nymphs into the palm of my hand and told me how to fish them. I had never seen such leviathan monsters. I was incredulous. I wasn't even sure how well I could cast one. But oh, how sweet it was when I landed a 19-inch brown out of a meadow pool on the Gibbon River, a short hike from the campground. Later that evening I cast to the same trailing piece of grass, the exact same spot, and pulled in an 18-inch rainbow.

One of my sons was horrified a few years ago when he found the photographs of me holding up those bloody corpses. I explained to him the mentality of those days and quickly shared with him my conversion during that same year. I suppose as a final act of contrition I should burn the photographs, but I have put off that decision for lat-er. Ten years later I moved to Jackson, Wyoming, and I had another great Yellowstone fishing experience, which I will always treasure. I backpacked to the outlet of Heart Lake as a fishing guide and leader of five teenage boys.

The last trail hike I had made was as a Boy Scout. My pack was an old hand-me-down from my father, and it didn't have a padded hip belt. We had reserved the last campground at the outlet of Heart Lake. Getting a late start, we arrived at the ranger station on the lake and made arrangements to sleep at a mid-way campsite. One of my attendees had just leaned over the lake to scoop up a handful of water, and his sleeping bag fell into the lake. It slowly expanded with water like a graham cracker in milk.

It was mid-June and cold. During the day I had already lightened the load of one boy's pack, and I was exhausted. That night I lay in a small tent with nothing to keep me warm but my clothes. I was shivering. Giving up my sleeping bag to the youth was my responsibility, and I had no bitterness until early in the morning when I was shaking terribly from the cold. This homophobic young man in my warm sleeping bag wouldn't let me get near him!

The next day four of the boys pulled off the trail a mile from the campsite to fish the rising sippers on the lake. I was stuck with the frail young man who by this time had passed on the remaining heavy items from his pack to mine. Arriving at the camp we were so exhausted that all we could do was collapse to the ground. The youth was so exhausted that he didn't bother extricating himself from his nearly empty pack. We were just a few feet away from the outlet creek. The boy turned to me and said, “I'll never do this again for the rest of my life. I'm sorry you had to carry all my stuff.”

“It's ok,” I said. “And just for the record, I've decided that I'll never backpack again for the rest of my life! My feet are killing me, but I'm too pooped to take off my boots.”

Suddenly, a cannonball dropped into the small creek beside us. Thinking the troop was behind us up the slope, I yelled out, “Knock it off!” When the next rock slammed the water, we waited, but there was no response.

The young man, struggling out of his pack, looked up the slope and then gazed at the water. “Dave, those aren't rocks. They're fish. They're huge fish. They're feeding right in front of us, Dave.”

“Go ahead, sport. They're all yours,” I said.

“Maybe later,” the lad replied. Within two seconds of this arcane conversation, we were both energized and racing to present the first cast. Within the next hour or two, we had both landed seven or eight spawners returning to the lake. All of these fish ranged in size from 18 to 20 inches, and all of them were caught on size 12 attractor patterns. At the outlet, I caught and measured a 24-inch male that I landed on a small Muddler. All of the fish were caught along a quarter-mile, flat stretch of water before the creek plummeted down the canyon. The remaining young men boisterously appeared a few hours later bragging about catching a ton of 16-inch cuts along the shoreline. We nonchalantly told our tale, which earned nothing but hoots of derision.

For the next two days we caught the same fish and more. Each time one of us stalked the water's edge, we had to scale back our offerings until the last fish landed was caught on a size 20 Adams. I will never forget those two days.