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Welcome to the Weekly Newsletter
Thanks for tuning into our weekly update. We'll keep the pictures and trout talk flowing so that you can feel like you're in Yellowstone, all the way up until you actually arrival.
If you're in town, stop in and see us. We're open 7am to 5pm, seven days a week.
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Yellowstone Park Opener Edition
Introduction by Craig Mathews
The wait is nearly over. It is almost here! The opening day of Yellowstone National Park's fishing season is this Saturday, May 28th.
The local angling faithful struggled through a long winter, and cold, wet spring. Some of us attended Tom McGuane's lecture, "Does Fishing Mean Anything?", at Montana State University a few weeks back, trying to piece together reasons why anglers endure those long, dark, cold, and windy Yellowstone winter days in order to fish.
Many of you will remember our old friend John Voelker (pen name Robert Traver), who wrote what many consider the "why" anglers fish for trout. His immortal words:
"I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; because of all the television commercial, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant-and not nearly as much fun."
John and I traded letters and Christmas cards over the years. He was a State of Michigan Supreme Court Judge and I was West Yellowstone's Police Chief. His books included "Trout Madness", "Trout Magic" and "Anatomy of a Murder". I once invited him to come fish Yellowstone country. His response came back... "with gasoline approaching the price of bourbon, and since I am afraid to fly, I must decline..."
Jackie and I are lucky to have several of his notes, cards and letters in our collection. Soon they'll become part of Montana State University Library's Trout and Salmonid Collection along with other letters, papers and photos.
I apologize for getting off track but a flood of memories rushes over me when I consider why I fish, and what opening day means to anglers like me. Let's hear it from you; what does fly-fishing mean to you?
I begin counting down the days to the general opener of Yellowstone Park's fishing season in mid-February when we close in on the last 100 days. I know many of you do, too, those like the Heppels and Middleton, Marsden and Owens and dozens more.
Yesterday, Jackie and I cruised in to the Park to check water conditions and see if insects might be emerging and fish rising to them. Near Midway Geyser Basin we came on a small herd of bison crossing the Firehole River. A great sight as bison cows coaxed their calves into the water to swim across while trout rose nearby to emerging Baetis and Pale Morning Dun mayflies and white miller caddis. If heavy rains do not raise the river between now and Saturday we should see a banner opening day. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
I'll be there at noon with my new TFO Tenkara 11'6" rod. We designed this model specifically to fish dry flies on rivers like the Firehole and Madison. The soft tip protects fine tippets and makes pinpoint accurate casts a dream. The rod allows for tremendous line control and drag-free floats. Stop in the shop and let us show you the advantages of fishing tenkara. You will catch more fish, I guarantee!
If you are fishing the Firehole with traditional gear, make sure you get one of our new furled silk leaders from Zen. This leader turns over like no other and requires no babysitting to get it to float, making it the perfect dry-fly fishing leader.
My fly boxes are jammed with fresh Firehole PMD Sparkle Duns, and this year I've tied some PMD Film Critics after watching friends score dozens of big rainbows on the Henry's Fork using them last year.
We just scored a limited stock of Whiting EuroHackle saddles. I've been working on a couple new parachute patterns this week. I've struggled tying parachute flies in the past due to hackle stems being too stiff or bulky, or the stems not long enough to wrap more than a turn or two. With these awesome saddles it makes it easy to take several wraps of hackle around the post material. These saddles are absolutely the finest for tying gray, green and brown drake flies. We will dye them to order, too, but if you want one you'd best call quickly because they'll be gone in a day! I should mention that the hackle sizes run 12-14, perfect for drake patterns.
Those of us at the shop have favored a post material for tying our own parachute flies for over 30 years, but at times the material has not been available in quantity to be able to offer for sale. Due to the cattle market, we all know how much beef prices have risen the past few years, beef calves have not gone to the grocery shelves. However, we have finally located a consistent source for calf body hair and we're now carrying it in a beautiful dun color. Easy to stack, bombproof, and highly visible, this stuff is a dream to work with and ties beautiful parachutes.
I'm pleased to say our Yellowstone Fly-Fishing Guide is back on our shelves in time for the Park's opening day of fishing season. At times this little guidebook has been hard to get from the publisher but we have it back in stock and would love to autograph one for you!
This morning as I finish this up, I look out our front window at a glorious sunrise over the Madison Mountains. Jackie and I will not be on one of our hikes today, although we should be. It has been cold and wet for over a week and this is the first we have seen the morning sun break through the clouds in some time. I look above the ridge to the east above the Madison River and see three calf elk with their moms climbing out of the shadow and into the sun. The first two calves came three days ago, this morning a new baby joins the others along with the six cows. For many years we've watched the same patch of sagebrush in a sharp draw that holds a small slice of last winter's snow until June; around those two acres of sage we see the first elk calves of the year. I don't have to, but I check my notes anyway from past years that report six to twelve cow elk with calves traditionally showing up the 26
th to 28
th of May. I emailed Marina, manager of $3 and Elk Meadows Ranch to the south, and she emails back, "you win this year's contest with the first elk calves of the season."
I love winning this kind of contest! It is good to be here in Madison and Yellowstone country. I hope you'll come share it with all of us at BRF this season. And, stay tuned here for the latest in fly-fishing information and news! I'll see you in the Park this weekend.
Rising fish on the Firehole
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Fishing Report
Photo by John Juracek
Fishing Report by Peter Scorzetti
The Firehole is set to provide a fine opening day of fishing. The water is a little low for this time of year, and it won't be warm enough to bump the water up before the opener. Pale Morning Duns and Baetis will likely hatch through most of the river and provide terrific dry fly fishing. The water may be a little cold near Biscuit Basin, but the river from the top of the Firehole Falls to Midway Geyser Basin should be in great shape. Don't be afraid to walk and spread out. There may be some White Miller caddis around but the hatches probably won't be strong until the weather gets warmer. We'll list the right PMD dries to have later on in this newsletter, and it won't hurt to also carry the various White Miller dry flies and the White Miller soft hackle.
Though the opening weekend is usually a little early for dry fly fishing on the Madison and Gibbon, current flows and temperatures suggest that they'll be ready for good fishing. If it is still a little early, it will only be a matter of days until PMDs and caddis are hatching in big numbers and fishing picks up.
Each time the wind lays down, fish boil on
Hebgen Lake
. Unfortunately the wind has been unpredictable. We typically have mornings and evenings to count on for low wind, which midges love to emerge in, but lately the fishing has happened mid-day, when no one expects it. If you get on the water when fish are rising, you can try for them with a Griffith's Gnat, Zelon Midge, or one of Bucky's Zebra Klinkhammers. You can also fish a little bigger dry fly and drop a zebra midge off of it.
The
Madison below Quake has been teetering on the edge of dirty water. Cabin Creek and Beaver Creek have been pouring out brown water for several days now, but the Madison hasn't quite gotten past green yet. Several days last week saw terrific hatches of Baetis, and the fish were willing to rise. It's hard to be certain what each day brings, but the water quality hasn't spoiled anything yet. For subsurface fishing, small nymphs paired with a rubberlegs will be the ticket, day in and day out.
The fishing has been the same for several weeks
In Between the Lakes. Plenty of big fish have been caught on small flies like Micro Mayflies, Half Pints and serendipities. You can also strip a streamer, or nymph a rubberlegs for some bigger fish. And as always in the spring, keep an eye out for and steer clear of spawning fish.
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Flies of the Week: Park Opener
Each stream is different, which often makes the insects that inhabit them a little different. There's something about the Firehole ecosystem that makes the PMDs look bright orange rather than yellow. Which is why we tie our Firehole PMD Sparkle Dun with a specific orange dubbing. There is no more durable and trusted mayfly pattern than the Sparkle Dun. It's been proven for over 30 years. Everyone that fishes western freestones should have Sparkle Duns tied in every mayfly they fish. For the material list and an instructional video on this fly, head over to our
BLOG to see our fly of the week post.
It's not often that we bring in new dry flies that are specific imitations of insects. John and Craig's patterns like the Sparkle Dun, X Caddis, and Iris Caddis have rarely failed us. But there has been so much demand among customers and guides to try out this
fly that we had no choice but to bring it in. As you can see, this fly is buggy, there's something about it that just looks right. If you don't have a go-to emerger in your box, you might give this one a whirl.
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Loon UV Clear Fly Finish
Do any of your favorite flies have limited durability? You might want to treat them with some type of resin. This is Loon's thinnest UV resin. It can be used as head cement or as a coating for bodies. It cures within seconds from direct sunlight or from a UV light. We've been very pleased with Loon's products lately.
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The Yellowstone Fly-Fishing Guide
If you're a YNP junkie, there's no better book to help you plan out summer expeditions than the Yellowstone Fly Fishing Guide. Every stream you'll ever need is mentioned in this book. Many of our customers have their copies all marked up from past and future fishing trips.
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11'6" TFO Tenkara Soft Hackle Rods
Dont let the name fool you, Craig's input helped make the 11'6" TFO Soft Hackle Tenkara rod a great dry fly rod as well. It bends nicely and easily provides a delicate fly presentation. At 11'6" long, this rod allows the angler to mend and manipulate line easily. If you're interested in tenkara and you like to fish dry flies, this is the rod for you.
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Blog Series: The Compleat Gang
Make your own submission by emailing a photo of your favorite fishing possessions to thecompleatgang@gmail.com
Submittor: Fred Rickson, Tuscon, AZ
Home Water: Hebgen Lake
I really don't fish any "old" stuff, and even a hundred or so books collected over the years have been given to kid's fly fishing programs. I do fish with a few 1950 or so Hardy reels, just so my nearby pals know I'm still alive from all the racket those reels make.
This is the only photo I have of my dad. He owned the largest machine/welding shop in Los Angeles in the 1930s-1940s (the Navy sent him to Guam after the war to repair various bombed-out Pacific ship docks). He wasn't around much when I was a kid, but this stream, above Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Mts., was where he introduced me to fly fishing, when I was 10, in 1948. I do remember him and some pals, all dressed like this, planning for a long weekend "road trip" of maybe 50 miles to the San Gabriel Mts. The photo is hand water-colored from the 1930s, and, from what mom said, was taken by a local photographer, because dad was so damn good on these tiny streams (note the fish slime stain on the creel).
After having fly fished for tarpon through steelhead, I am now settled 20 feet from Hebgen Lake for four months each summer, with a boat, and a long-time wife who out-fishes me all the time. Not a bad deal at all.
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These colorful boxes will liven up your fishing vest. Choose
from a
bunch of different patterns that we just got back in stock when you click the image or the link. They're made out of solid plastic that you can trust. The patterns were created by Jeff Currier and other well known artists.
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Silk Zen Leader
Aaron and Bucky have been testing out these leaders and have been thoroughly impressed. Like all Zen leaders, the Silk is pretreated to float, and float it does. It's also incredibly supple like the silk leaders of old. If you need a new leader for fishing PMDs on the Firehole, this should be a top candidate.
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Primed for the Firehole
Photo by John Juracek
Early season Firehole fishing brings every angler back to our sport's roots. During this time of year, the hazy silhouette of a veteran fisherman standing in geysers steam is a common image. The fisherman might be hunched over, tying on a Catskill style PMD, or Sparkle Dun. You'll also see young anglers sporting hip packs, and rookie guides with their clients. They might be fishing Missing Link PMDs, or another modern mayfly dry. As the season moves along, different parties will travel down separate fishing paths. But for these first few weeks, the Firehole will bring them together. It's impossible to resist the connection to the scenery and the river one feels when fishing here on a nice day. The epic hatches, mobs of rising trout and mystic thermal features will tie you to the land whether you like it or not. If you're fishing here for the opener, take a seat in the tall green grass and watch the spectacle. You don't need to have a fish on the line to be fulfilled at the Firehole. - Peter Scorzetti
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Gunnison Net by Solitude
Old school wood meets modern rubber with the Gunnison net. These quality wooden nets are wide
enough
to fit big trout. The rubber net is durable, and sports a measuring tape that runs vertically through it. A magnet release is included with the net, making this product a steal at just $109.99.
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Calf Body in Dun Color
We just recieved a fresh stock of dun dyed calf body. Our new supplier has been able to provide us with top notch calf hair in four fine colors. Use calf body to tie posts in all the best colors to improve visibility. Don't settle for sub-par calf body, order online today.
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Euro Hackle Saddles
We have a limited stock of Eurohackle so call in now if you're interested. Most of the feathers will tie size 12 and 14 flies. They're perfect for various drakes and flavs. They come with a free option to dye them to match the fly you're tying. Call in only. 406-646-7642.
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Hope you enjoy the latest issue. We'll keep 'em coming, keeping you up to date on the best fishing water, tips, and gear we can get our hands on.
Thanks for spending a little time with us. We'll see you soon!
Until next week! Have a great weekend.
The Gang at Blue Ribbon
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email: brf@blueribbonflies.com
phone: 406.646.7642
fax: 406.646.9045
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