Yellowstone National Park
Inside of Yellowstone the road between Madison Junction and Norris is closed for construction. Fishing the Gibbon, Gardiner, Lamar and its tributaries requires a very long drive from West Yellowstone.
Madison River (Yellowstone National Park) 10-14-09
We’ve had a good season thus far for fishing for lake run rainbows and Browns in the Madison in the Park. It seems that there is a very healthy run of rainbows this season and brown trout numbers are increasing. The weather has been perfect for the fishing (though a bit cold for the anglers) and looks like it should continue to be for some time. Soft hackle fishing, streamers and nymphs have all found fish. Cover water and find fish that want to eat rather than pounding on a run that produced a fish in the past. As angling pressure continues to increase, it is important for folks fishing the Madison to show each other a little respect. Avoid entering a run below someone fishing downstream, give anglers space and don’t sit on a run without moving for long periods of time. There are plenty of fish to go around.
Firehole River 10-14-09
The Firehole has consistently produced fantastic hatches of Baetis since the weather got crappy. Some of the best dry fly fishing of the year is available to small fly enthusiasts and the river sees very little pressure when compared to the PMD hatches in June. Hatches tend to start between noon and two in the afternoon and can continue for several hours. Cloudy wet days are best for the Baetis and luckily the forecast sees plenty in our future. The naturals are small, so when the friendly staff at the fly shop suggests #22’s and 6X, don’t get angry and tell them that you can’t see the darn things. Just get some and go fishing! If seeing your fly is important, fish a #22 Baetis dun or emerger behind a larger parachute pattern. In addition to the great Baetis fishing, fish are easily fooled by swinging soft hackles in the riffles this time of year. We like our Bead Head Olive Hare’s Ear Soft Hackles in #18 for this type of fishing. A few anglers have also reported good success fishing buggers on the swing in the Firehole.
Gallatin River 10-14-2009
Baetis fishing on the Gallatin can be a lot of fun this time of year, but we often find ourselves headed to the Firehole instead as it tends to have thicker hatches. There are plenty of fish to be found on the Gallatin feeding not only on the surface insects, but on the small nymphs as well.