Location:Slough Creek in the Yellowstone National Park
Date:08/10/2009
Stream Details: The first meadows
Weather: Sunny, warm, breazey.
Water Condidtions: My first time there, I would say good flow for August. Water was very clear sporadic size #20 PMD hatches.
It is about a 3 mile hike from the Slough Creek trail head to the first meadows. I got a later start in the day than I had wanted to. It was probably about 9:30 AM before I made it to the trail head. I spoke with some backpackers how said there was a Grizzly in the second meadows that had been harassing people. I didn't think much of it at the time and geared up for my hike in. Armed with my Scott 9' G 5wt, hundreds of flies and plenty of water began what I hoped would be the last leg of my quest for a Yellowstone Cutthroat. I started off making quick time up the trail and things had began to warm up. I quickly started to wish that I had not worn my waders. As I usually do, I sucked it up and continued up the mountain. The trails and grade are quite different from what I am used to in North Carolina. The grade was not all that steep but it kept going and going and going. I eventually crested the peak of the trail and got my first glimpse of the valley that holds the meadows.
I was not alone in the first meadows. There was a group of Frenchies who were also my campsite neighbors along with a few others through out the day. Fishing proved to be more difficult than I had thought it would be. I was able to sight fish with out a problem. Many nice size cutthroaghts, but none would take any of my offerings. A lot of this is probably due to the fact that these fish has seen quite a few flies by this time of the season. From what I heard the creek had cleared about three weeks prior. So most of them likely already had sore lips.
Surprisingly to me there was very little insect activity or hatches. I tried a variety of dries all of which were rejected. A few close looks but no takes. I tried various hoppers in different sizes and they simply spooked the wary cutthroats. In fact just about anything that wasn't natural spooked them. I began to worry that I might get shut out, or that I simply wasn't prepared for fishing out west. Fianlly a small hatch of PMDs came off, which of course was the one pattern I was least prepared for. I had a few patterns that could pass but I really needed a sparsley tied 18 or 20 PMD. I trimed down a 16 and started getting some strikes. The fishing reminded me very much of the Davidson in North Carolina or South Holston in Tennessee in the sense of how technical and matching your pattern to what the fish were feeding on. After fishing extremely hard and many gentle acurate casts I finally hooked up with my first Oncorhynchus Clarki!
The native Oncorhynchus Clarki or Cutthroats are truly beautiful fish and my hunt for one was well worth the effort. At this point I thought to myself that my fish were upstream. I could see how the creek made a large S bend and that I could cut across the meadow to shorten my hike. After all the grass was only about a foot tall. The further I hiked the taller the grass got.
I began to realize and think that a Yellowstone land shark aka Grizzly bear could be with in striking distance I would would never know. I was literally about two steps from turning around when I spotted the creek about 25 yards ahead of me. I found a fisherman's trail and continued my way up the creek. The creek had changed a bit. The water was flowing faster and deeper. The trail started fading and the grass began to get taller on me. It was at this point I came across a large pile of fresh bear scat. I decided to cross the creek and continue on up the trail. Once I crossed the creek I came across a bear track much like this one. I ran several scenarios through my head, and while I am one to usually through caution to the wind, I opted to cut my losses even though "my" fish was further upstream and decided to hike back down to a large bend which I new was holding fish. After all, you should just about always fish where the fish are.
I continued to encounter picky fish, but was still managed to hook the occasional taker.
The day was quickly passing and I decided to make my way back to a nice run in a bend I had bypassed earlier in the say which was closer towards camp. The run was a 100 yards or so long, fairly narrow but quite deep. Looking behind me I was once again reminded why they call it big sky county.
I hiked to the bottom of the run and crossed the creek to get myself in better position to cast. Optimally I would have stayed on the bank I was already on but the afternoon winds had really began to pick up and casting from the bank with the wind to my back afforded what i thought would be my best chances for another fish. I changed flies and tied on a black foam ant which hadn't produced for me earlier in the day. Almost immediately I had a nice fish smack the fly. I had the fish on for a moment but he came unbuttoned almost as quickly as he had hit the fly.
I continued to fish the run and made a gentle roll cast just upstream where I could tell there was an undercut in the back. The fly drifted along the bank with what appeared to be a perfect drift but no strike. I made the same cast again and this time I had not one but two fish come up and attack the fly. One ended up winning the fly but found himself on the end of my line. It was also at this point that I remembered that my new camera was capable of taking video and going underwater as well. The fish had obviously been caught before as you will notice somewhat of a broken jaw. It certainly didn't stop him from eating my fly.
I managed to get the fish to run down stream and was able to land him with out much incident. I made my way back to the same position, gave it a few minutes and made another cast. The second fish came out again and took the fly as if it were his last meal. This one proved to be a stronger fighter and made a lengthy run upstream, performed a few acrobatics, and made a run back down stream before I could net it.
It was getting late and I figured I would end it on a good note before making the hike back out and back to camp. I crossed the creek and took my time making my way down the creek bed reflecting back on my day. I was thinking of all the wildlife that I had seen on my way into the park, how compressed the seasons are and how the park in general is truly one of the wonders of this world. I felt like my trip to Yellowstone was already worth all the planning, effort, and travel that was required to get here. I also began to realize that with all the wildlife there certainly must be death. As I closely looked around the life cycle was self evident.
I can't say I have any regrets on how I fished the creek but there are a few things I would do differently. I would leave the waders at camp, I would bring a partner, I would have plenty of PMDs in size 18 and 20 both dries and nymphs, and I would make it up to the second meadows to find "my" fish.
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The day was quickly passing and I decided to make my way back to a nice run in a bend I had bypassed earlier in the say which was closer towards camp. The run was a 100 yards or so long, fairly narrow but quite deep. Looking behind me I was once again reminded why they call it big sky county.
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