Trash Cans and Madison River Fishing

Sunday September 6, 2015    day 40    Gallatin National Forest, Baker’s Hole Campground, 3^rd day

The days are getting colder.  Only 34^o this morning.  We used the electric heating element in the A.C. to keep us warm during the night, in addition to the two wool blankets.  First time we’ve had heat on at night and first time we’ve used the electric heat.  It was too cold to sit out, even with a fire.  Stayed inside the cozy trailer.

Went into West Yellowstone for some grocery items.  There is a quilt shop there that Marsha wanted to poke around in.  They had a lot of western and outdoor themed fabric.  But, being Sunday, they weren’t open until noon.  It was only 10:00.  I went to Bud Lilley’s fly shop to buy 7-day Yellowstone Park fishing license for $25.  Then the usual gas and ice.

But you have a Yeti cooler.  Why do you put ice in it so often?  I thought they were super insulated. 

I keep the Yeti in the back of the truck.  It mostly holds beer, but we also use it as the overflow for our refrigerator for things like milk, that are kind of big for our RV size refrigerator.  For the past 5 weeks we’ve stayed in campgrounds requiring bear practices, which means nothing can be left out unattended, like coolers, grills, and at Yellowstone campgrounds, even water jugs.  So the Yeti is always in the back of the truck.  When we had temps in the 70’s, the back of the truck gets hot, just like the cab when it sits in the sun.  That’s what’s using up the ice at the rate of about 1 bag per day.  Adding new warm beer to it also sucks up ice.  Lately we’ve been using 1 bag every other day because of the cooler weather.  I’ve asked other Yeti owners about their ice usage and they said the same thing.  Keeping it in the back of the truck all the time challenges it.

West Yellowstone has bear proof trash receptacles all over town.  This year they are all painted with nature type themes so they look like pretty bear proof trash cans.  I actually took some photos of them.

 

I went to the Madison River again at my normal spot.  I parked on top of the bluff where I always do. 

The bridge crosses the Madison River.  I then go left (upstream) after crossing, about 1 mile. 

You've probably seen some of these pictures already, but I love the view from up there on the bluff that I always take pictures of the surrounding area.

The meadow I take 30 minutes to cross.

Almost at the river.

Looking upstream towards my favorite fishing hole.

At the river at one of my favorite fishing holes.

Looking east from my parking spot.



Looking north from the bluff.

Looking northeast from the bluff.

 This time there was an old red Tacoma up there with a guy sitting on the tail gate eating a sandwich and drinking a beer.  It was about 12:30.  It is the first time I’ve seen someone parked up there besides me, this year.  We chatted fly talk.  He had three Sage rods and I was holding my Sage 5-wt.  He was also a fan of Simms products as am I.  His waders, vest, and boots were all Simms, and so was mine.  Simms products are manufactured in the USA in Bozeman, MT.

After my 30 minute walk across the meadow I went upstream another ¼ mile and spent the next 3 hours nymphing the fast water.  I hooked three fish, one of which was about 18”.  But I netted zero.  The big one broke off just as I netted him and away he went. 

You hear me talk about nymphing a lot.  When no insects are hatching and it’s too cold for terrestrials like grass hoppers, beetles, and ants, you have to go underwater.  Nymphs are the larva of the acquatic insects and they live under the rocks in the river.  This is the food source for the trout when nothing else is happening.  So you use flies that imitate the nymphs.  They are weighted and are drifted below a strike indicator.  We hate to admit it, but the strike indicator is like a bobber.  I'll take a picture of some nymphing flies in an upcoming post.

Got back to the campground at 17:00 and made barbequed boneless chicken breasts.  Super good.  Hung out inside.  Too cold to sit out.