Yellowstone: need a little advice on fishing for ...

The coolest fishing I found out there was, for greyling in Grebe lake.  That was a lot of fun, and one of the only places in the lower 48 that you can catch them.

oth,
 i live about 25 miles north of yellowstone and with the weather being as nice as its been lately, ive had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time fishing the park. i havent had the opportunity to fish for lakers on yellowstone lake yet but i have quite a bit of info on it. as for the ticks well they are a fact of life here in the rockies. not much you can do to avoid them aside from bug sprays which arent always effective. when do you plan on heading out? ill send you an im with more info. if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.                                            m.f.

Montana, i'm leaving in the morning. i was suppose to leave monday but i'm taking my nephew and brother now. it'll be a great oppurtunity for my nephew to see America. long drive but worth it. we all use to go to Lake Ontario for lakers, browns, salmon etc... he really enjoyed it. since his brother died 3 years ago (tomorrow is the anniversary) we haven't done any special trips anywhere. Time to get back on the horse and have some fun. he's missed out on a lot of good times.

he has special needs and wading the rivers will be difficult. that's why i really want to get him out on the lakes for trout. i heard yellowstone lakes cutthroat population has crashed because of the lake trout eating them. one river in the early '70s use to have 70,000 spawning cutthroat. 2 years ago researchers only counted 414. last year they didn't bother counting. to those that don't know, lakers are not native to yellowstone lake and are really causing a major disruption in the ecosystem. thru DNA testing, they found the lakers were illegally put in the yell. lake from 2 other lakes in the park. i forget the names of the lakes at the moment.

I will do my civic duty to rid the lake of these exotic predators and have a good meal or two. i'll also be fishing the shoshone when we first get out there.

i'm taking my laptop will be able to keeping reading this thread as we go along. will download some digital pictures as  i go along.....

Thanks to all for giving me tips and advice on the rivers and ticks.

OTH

oth,
 if youre looking for a good place to stay i would recommend the red pole ranch in wapiti, wyoming. if youll be entering the park from the eastern entrance they are located about 35 miles east of the park. the owners names are don and patty and they are some of the nicest folks youll ever come across. they have cabins you can rent. the shoshone river youll be fishing is actually loaded with cutthroat and luckily they arent very particular about what they eat so you should catch plenty of fish there. if you end up staying in or around cody, wyoming there is a small lake a few miles north of cody called newton lake. it is an artificial lures only trophy lake and i know for a fact that it holds a few 5lb plus brookies along with the browns and bows. as for places to avoid well im not a fan of jackson hole. virtually the entire town is a tourist trap and it has very little genuine character. its also very expensive but being tourist oriented seems to make it an immensely popular destination. as for the park itself, if you get the opportunity, fish the firehole river. its on the western side of the park but its and enjoyable river to fish. if you end up entering the park through the north entrance, passing through livingston montana let me know and i can give you all the info you need on this area, afterall it is now where i call home. good luck on the trip, youll love it and if you have a digital camera you may want to upgrade the memory card to hold more photos, soon youll understand what i mean. anyhow, hope this helped.                                m.f.

oth,
 if youll be heading out via the northern entrance keep in touch if you can and perhaps we can hook up for some fishing on the yellowstone. the world famous salmon fly hatch is due within the next 2 weeks and if you manage to hit that hatch the fishing can be absolutely unreal from what ive been told.  also the livingston roundup is coming up in a week. dont know if youll be around then but the roundup is one of the largest and most popular rodeos, events in the state and its a weeklong festival full of activities. everyone here is looking forward to it. the actual rodeo takes places the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of july with festivities starting next weekend and fireworks each night. its a great place to take the family. as for the firehole river, well luckily it does have some very easy access points in the park which dont require very much walking at all, in some cases less than 50 feet, and the same applies to most of the rivers here in montana. the state has done a great job of providing easy access to montanas rivers for the public. anyhow, have a safe trip and i know youll have a great time at the park. look me up if you want to get together for some fishing. oh yeah and one last thing. if you leave the park via the northern entrance, gardiner, montana. there is a great restaurant down there called the town cafe, youll see it when you leave the park. i was talking to the owner of the restaurant not long ago and he said they were about to add buffalo prime rib to the menu. not sure if they have yet but he swears its the best meat youll ever eat. and if its burgers your after, about a mile after you cross through the stone arch of the park and after you cross the river on your left hand side will be a little place called helens corral. great burgers there.  hope this helped. have a safe and pleasant trip.                                      m.f.

tippy,
 actually the big hole is between 100 to 125 miles from where i live but as luck would have it i was up that way this morning. according to the local fly shop guys the river is flowing good right now and the fishing is excellent, but they are all wondering how long the good flow will last because the mountains didnt receive the snow they usually do this past winter.they did tell me that it doesnt really matter though because in the fall the fishing is great no matter what the river conditions. i remember you mentioning you were planning a trip out here but i dont remember when you said you were heading out. are you planning a fall trip or a summer trip? either way if theres anything else youde like to know feel free to ask, ill do what i can to help you out.                m.f.

Thanks Montana..... We are coming out the first week in August. Hopefully the flow will still be good. We are hoping to catch the spruce moth hatch and maybe some hopper action. It will be my first time out that way so good fishing or not I'm sure it will be a trip to remember.

tippy,
 im not familiar with the moth hatch but i know the hoppers will definitely be effective at that time. thats what every guide in every fly shop has told me they use during the height of summer. one thing is certain, as you mentioned, it will be a trip to remember. what town are you staying in when you come out? the big hole runs for over 150 miles so i was just curious which stretch youll be fishing.                                                                      m.f.

ORIGINAL: montanafishrmn

tippy,
im not familiar with the moth hatch but i know the hoppers will definitely be effective at that time. thats what every guide in every fly shop has told me they use during the height of summer. one thing is certain, as you mentioned, it will be a trip to remember. what town are you staying in when you come out? the big hole runs for over 150 miles so i was just curious which stretch youll be fishing.                                                                      m.f.

 
We are staying near Wise River. I've heard that they close the river if the flow gets too low(I hope that doesn't happen). We were hoping to float it so I hope the flow stays up.... If not I know there is LOTS of water out there.

oth,
 yeah the badlands gets pretty hot i came through there last year in august and it was just like what you experienced today. here in montana though it was about 75 and sunny with a slight breeze. perfect weather. sounds like youre making pretty good time. if i might offer you a little advice, if you get a room in cody and you plan on staying there for a while you might want to reserve the room. cody has the buffalo bill stampede every year over the 4th of july holiday and its a guarantee that by the weekend every room in cody will be booked. i was also wondering if you had it planned in your schedule to drive the beartooth highway. that route has been named the most scenic drive in america by a few different sources and trust me, its well worth the time. it will take you over the highest elevations in the lower 48 and it is simply breathtaking. best part is its not far from cody, and some of it runs through montana. if you want to get some pictures of scenery, there is nowhere better to go. one nice thing is once you get to cody, it wont be as hot. hope your trip continues to go well.                                                         m.f.

montana, we're gonna try the beartooth. did hear it was a great ride. today is fun day. casinios, relaxing. tomorrow we'll head to cody. we're suppose to be in powell for the fourth. got invited to a biker campout at a friends house, providing all goes well. talk to you later today....OTH

north fork shoshone river in beartooth mts.  grizzly country. day before i took this picture, i walked upstream to fish, walking downstream an hour later, there was a fresh griz track in the sand. it still had water in the toe prints. never saw it (the bear). sneaky buggers.

5X5 elk grazing around our cabin.

Thanks for sharing the photos!  Any fish pictures?