Headed off to YNP this morning to meet up with a long-time friend. 0530 start in West to hit a few precious spots on the Upper Gibbon. First, the park is doing an outstanding job of screening incoming vehicles for the right license plate number, turning away vehicles with the wrong number well before the main gate. Usually, the West gate is not manned until 6AM and prior to that only one lane is open. This morning at 0530 they were promptly processing two lanes. Traffic in the park was light at 0530 and pretty light as we exited the park around noon. There still are idiots on the road who stop and block traffic, even on bridges, to metaphorically take a photo of the chipmunk crossing the road. Sometimes I wish I had some Gallagher Darts.
Fishing was marginal as the river had crested well over bank full about a week ago and massive amounts of earthworms and leeches had been washed into the river. It was back to just about normal for late June, but it was obvious, the fish had been feasting for a least a week and weren't that interested in desert. The fish we did catch were obese in the belly. The alternative explanation is that most of the fish had odd number license plates, and this was an even number day.
As we headed well off road into a remote meadow, we encountered some pretty obvious Grizzly tracks along the path including a huge pile of grizzly scat. Head on a swivel time. My partner did connect with one of the Westslope Cutt brood stock the park service keeps dumping in the river. Soon the Upper Gibbon will be too warm to fish, and we'll have to wait to fall to try again.
In a couple of weeks, fishing opportunities are going to dry up on the west side, leaving only Yellowstone Lake, some backcountry lakes and the Yellowstone river as decent options.
It was good to be back on the water.
Fishing was marginal as the river had crested well over bank full about a week ago and massive amounts of earthworms and leeches had been washed into the river. It was back to just about normal for late June, but it was obvious, the fish had been feasting for a least a week and weren't that interested in desert. The fish we did catch were obese in the belly. The alternative explanation is that most of the fish had odd number license plates, and this was an even number day.
As we headed well off road into a remote meadow, we encountered some pretty obvious Grizzly tracks along the path including a huge pile of grizzly scat. Head on a swivel time. My partner did connect with one of the Westslope Cutt brood stock the park service keeps dumping in the river. Soon the Upper Gibbon will be too warm to fish, and we'll have to wait to fall to try again.
In a couple of weeks, fishing opportunities are going to dry up on the west side, leaving only Yellowstone Lake, some backcountry lakes and the Yellowstone river as decent options.
It was good to be back on the water.
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