Yellowstone-Recon Day Two

John LaRue and I took the boys out yesterday on the Yellowstone. One of the reasons I got into fly fishing in the first place was because it was the perfect opportunity to explore new things. Figuring out a river and catching trout on your own is kind of the essence of exploration. You put yourself into their world and try to not only find them, but understand and predict and then control. It's the scientific model in a pure form and it's who we are as humans to our core that's driven us to figure out things like harnessing electricity and inventing cars and TV's and computers and now these cell phones that have completely changed how we do things and how we communicate and maintain or even destroy relationships. But it's also a way to get away from all of that and to simplify life for a while and get back to nature.

We put in at Grey Owl and took out at Mallard Landing. The boys started off with a nymph rig and John chucked big ugly streamers. Given the time of year and the fact that the run-off has started early muddying things up a bit, we had the boys use worm and egg patterns and John tried just about every size and color in his box. The beginning was tough. We made a few changes on the boys rig and eventually stumbled onto a small olive bugger and the worm--let the whitey slaughter begin. I guess the Stone really does have a lot of whitefish.

The boys were having fun though and John was working his arm back into shape chucking the big uglies into every water we could think of. Around noon, we came across some fish rising in an eddy and got a few to eat a small royal wolf and a midge pattern. We rocked the dries for a few hundred yards feeding a few fish on a flat where the midges were thick and then the sun came out and the fish went down...back to the big uglies and watching the kids land whitey after whitey.

With John rowing, I decided to pull out the secret weapon...Big Bird. Those who have chucked streamers with me know what I'm talking about. I trailed a small olive bugger behind it and for a little while it was game on. Trout came out of just about everywhere chasing Big Bird but would eventually turn on the olive bugger. I didn't put a lot in the net but did get some hooked up and a couple really good ones. By the time we ate lunch and got back on the river though, a cold front came through, the wind picked up to about 35 mph and the fishing turned back off. That's fishing and that's the Stone.

As a follow-up to a blog posting from a few days ago, Robin from FOAM has left a comment and I responded. I can't express enough that I do appreciate people contributing by leaving comments even if they oppose what I'm saying. I don't claim to know everything about the situation and want there to be more dialog on it. There are changes coming. There are people in positions that can influence those changes and are re-defining or re-interpreting rules that affect us all. Keep talking and...

Keep 'em where they live...