Great Time on Firehole River

Thursday September 10, 2015    Day 44      Yellowstone National Park, Madison Campground, site B44, day 3

 Another morning in the mid 30’s.  Coffee inside where the furnace allowed us to finally emerge from the coziness of 3 wool blankets.  By the time we drank our two gallons of coffee, it was warm enough to cook a big breakfast outside on the propane stove, while we sat in front of a morning campfire. 

 

After a leisurely morning in front of the campfire, I left to go fishing in the Firehole River at 11:00.  I was frustrated with it when I fished it on Tuesday.  The Firehole is such a unique river.  It receives a lot of spillover of boiling hot water from Lower, Middle, and Biscuit Geyser Basins, and Black Sand Basin.  It is also surrounded by hundreds of people every day.  The Madison-Old Faithful Road parallels it for most of its length.  So to find a nice solitude experience in pristine wilderness along the Firehole River is not easy.  But that’s what I found today.

 A section of the river turns off from the road, or better said, the road turns off from the river since the river was here first.  Most of the river access is parking turnoffs along the road, next to the river.  I found a parking turnoff in an area where the river is away from the road about a quarter mile.  I pulled over and saw a trail leading west towards the river.  When I got to the river, I was in one of the most beautiful stretches of the Firehole that I had seen.  And it was all mine.  Upstream it opened out of the forest into a big meadow with meanders and runs.  There was excellent fish holding water.  It was one of the nicest days I have ever had fishing in Yellowstone Park. 

Where the path from the road intersected the river.

Looking downstream.

Looking upstream.  Note the clarity of the water.

On the edge of the meadow section looking downstream.

 

Now here’s the part that will shock you.   I caught no fish!  But that didn’t ruin my day.  There is a good reason why.  The water was too warm and the fish were hunkered down in the deep pools, trying to breathe.  I measured the stream temperature when I arrived and it was 68^o F. (or 528^o for those of you who use the Rankine scale).  I saw a few fish rises during the next few hours, but not consistent.  And the fish were small.  I had two strikes during the day on an ant pattern.  Nothing else the whole day. 

 I spent some time sitting on the banks and observing my surroundings as to insects, rising fish, and observing some feeding rainbows eating nymphs.  I passed several flies over them and they ignored them.  I was content that I couldn’t catch them and enjoyed watching them for about ½ hour.

 When I left, at 3:00, I measured the water temperature and found it at 74^o.  That is very warm for trout.  A trout caught and fought to exhaustion, unhooked, and release has little chance of survival in that temperature.  Insufficient oxygen to revive him (or her).  So not catching a fish under those conditions, knowing they were stressed, but having the chance for solitude in a pristine environment made for one of my best fishing days ever.

 Back at the truck, a father and son was parked behind me and preparing to go fishing.  They were from Oregon and he has fished the Firehole at that location for the last six years.  He was surprised to find me parked there and had never seen anyone else there before.  He asked me how I ended up there.  I explained that I like to fish away from the road and people.  He told me that he chose that spot for the exact same reason and was always his go to spot for the Firehole.  We chatted fly fishing in the different Yellowstone Rivers for about ½ hour then I returned to the campground at about 4:00. 

Marsha made homemade English Muffins while I was gone and we used two of them for hamburger buns for dinner with Bush’s Grilling Beans.  But not until we had our pre-dinner chips and salsa. 

 Later an Airstream guy (which the campground is full of due to the Airstream convoy here), came over to Admire our trailer, having never heard of one or seen one like it.  He told us that he thinks this may be the only competition that Airstream has.  He liked it a lot and was considering downsizing.  So he's going to seriously consider an Oliver.

 Back when we had the Casita, we would get the same attention, too, so we’re used to it.  We have seen a lot of Casitas on this trip, as we did last year.  A lot of Scamps, also.

 Tomorrow, we go back to Bakers Hole for four nights, then we will head home.  I want to fish the Madison one more time before we leave for home.