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Post by mspaddler on Aug 21, 2013 22:07:51 GMT
Best fish of the day 14 inch Rainbow from the bottom end of Specimen Creek just before it joins the Gallatin River in Yellowstone NP. Still liking the Tenkara USA Ayu but it was a little long in places for this Creek. I read up on fly recommendations and consulted one of the many fly shops here in Big Sky and bought a bunch of local flies, but this trout fell to a Silver Head Nymph I brought from UK. Attachment Deleted
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Post by mspaddler on Aug 21, 2013 22:09:34 GMT
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Post by mspaddler on Aug 23, 2013 3:50:26 GMT
Well David I took your advice and drove to Soda Butte Creek, and yes it did take 3 1/2 hours. Of course most of the journey is in Yellowstone National Park so the scenery and wildlife alone was worth the drive. I picked a lay by which wasn't occupied with other fisher folk about .8 mile West of where the North East Entrance road crosses Pebble Creek. Fantastic spot both mountain meadow and some classic tumbling rocky pocket water. Slow start to the day. I fished 'hopper/dropper' like klink & dink but fish would have a look at the dry but not take it. I switched to straight dry and again lots of looks but no takes. I constantly swapped the fly until finally I had my first fish in the pocket water on a double badger (again brought from the UK). Two or three on the badger then nothing again. So back through my fly box until I remembered reading that the fish are partial to a big Blue Dun. I switched to a Blue Dun size 12 and bingo none stop hits, takes and to the net. I don't know how many I eventually caught but it was quite a few, all native cutthroat. When I exhausted the pool I decided to head for home. A great day's fishing in a fabulous setting. See Photos: Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
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Post by daves on Aug 23, 2013 7:12:59 GMT
Brilliant & obviously well worth the long drive. Near to access points the Soda Butte Creek fish are very well educated & microdrag-free drifts are essential. I am very envious: it makes me want to get back there. Well done. Super pics..
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Post by mspaddler on Aug 23, 2013 23:51:34 GMT
I am in Montana for a week and I brought 2 conventional rods (9' 5wt & 7' 4wt) as well as 2 Tenkara USA 13' Ayu (I have 2 one to leave in Minnesota for next year and one to bring back to the UK in September). Well this is day 4 (or 5 I arrived Monday) and to date I have only used the Tenkara rods. Does this say something? This morning I went to fish the Hyalite Creek in the Gallatin National Forest not far from Bozeman. I had fished the Hyalite briefly when I was here in Montana with the family in July. It was a little grey and overcast this morning, which was a pleasant change from the sunny days we have been having. However, about an hour or so into the fishing a few drops of rain fell and then an almighty clap of thunder. I beat a hasty retreat to the car with my 13 foot lightning conductor, I turned on the radio to hear that there was a severe thunderstorm warning for the area so that put paid to the morning's fishing. The fishing was great fun while it lasted, a little over an hour, 11 trout to hand all on drys. The trout in the creek are mainly a mix of Brook and Rainbow. I started with the blue dun which was still on the Ayu from yesterday but although the trout sniffed it they wouldn't take it. I changed to a small black Klinkhammer ( I had caught fish at the creek in July with the Klink) and they liked that for a while and finally went to a double badger, I'm so glad I brought these flies from the UK. The fish in the creek are quite small between 6 and 12 inches, I think the largest I landed today was close 12 but whose counting! Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
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Post by daves on Aug 24, 2013 6:19:34 GMT
Yet more drooling on my part!!!!
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Post by mspaddler on Aug 25, 2013 4:08:10 GMT
OK this may seem bizarre but today I had my best 2 trout day ever. I fished 2 of the smaller streams in Yellowstone NP, Bacon Rind Creek and Specimen Creek. Bacon Rind Creek because of the name and a return to Specimen. Bacon Rind Creek gets it's name from a rock formation at the source, which apparently looks like a slice of bacon. This is a small creek, it reminded me quite a bit of the Tenkara Syndicate water in the Peak District. I fished the creek hard for 3 1/2 hours and although I had the occasional 'look see' at my constantly changing fly routine it wasn't until I put on a Royal Coachman Trude that I finally landed a small what I think was a Brown Trout although the guide book says mostly Cutbows, judge for yourselves. My second trip to Specimen Creek also lasted about 3 1/2 hours. In fact I hunted one fish for well over an hour! I saw it rise to a naturals and proceeded to cast to it with just about every thing in my fly box. Every time I changed flies it would have a look and I hooked it a total of 3 times! The first 2 times it was off in about 5 seconds, the 3rd time on a size 12 black klinkhammer it was well and truly hooked and went crazy it made a run downstream for a fallen tree and that was the end of that. I gave up on him figuring he deserved his freedom.
Now frustrated I fished the deeper pockets down to the Gallatin Klink & Dink, same black Klink and a size 14 black brass head. I cast in front of a large boulder at the junction of the two streams and bang a strong hit on the nymph. I saw a big fish rise and away it went bending the Ayu like I was expecting something to break. I'm glad to say I got the fish to shore, I'm guessing about a 16 inch Cutbow and very chunky certainly the largest fish I have landed on Tenkara. So a great 2 trout day!
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Post by daves on Aug 25, 2013 7:45:01 GMT
More drooling!!!!!!!
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Post by mspaddler on Aug 26, 2013 1:39:53 GMT
OK the final part in the Montana fishing saga. I had planned to fish Grayling Creek which is in YNP just to north of the town of West Yellowstone. So I checked the internet to see if there were any fishing reports for the Grayling and found this on the park website: " Yellowstone Begins Native Fish Restoration in Grayling CreekYellowstone is taking another step forward this week in efforts to restore native westslope cutthroat trout and Arctic grayling in park waters.
This week an interagency team of biologists will introduce a fish toxin into the streams to remove the non-native trout as part of Yellowstone's Native Fish Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment"So they are killing all the fish! Plan B for me. I went back to Hyalite Creek Nr Bozeman. A wonderful Tenkara stream. Today was a great 20 fish day, the 19th was my first confirmed Brookie of this trip. The rest of the fish were Rainbows ranging from 6 to 12 inches although maybe a little larger. Hyalite Canyon is a beautiful drive with the creek the road's constant companion, no problem with access. Interestingly it is technically a tailwater creek as there is a reasonable sized lake/reservoir at the head of the canyon. The lake is very popular and surprisingly it is where Bozeman gets it's drinking water supply. At a campsite the National Forest folks and a local environmental group got together and built an accessible 1/3 mile trail with 3 fishing platforms, they even moved some pretty big boulders to create a nice habitat for the young rainbows. Photos are one of the accessible platforms and the brookie. Back to Minnesota Monday and back to UK in 2 weeks, with fishing in Yorkshire, Wales and Slovenia to look forward to........ Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
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Post by daves on Aug 26, 2013 7:27:18 GMT
Enjoy the rest of your trip.
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Post by mspaddler on Aug 28, 2013 21:52:44 GMT
Thanks Dave see you on the Beck
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