Fishing Yellowstone National Park and the Great Rivers of the West!!
An Annual Odyssey
Andy Batcho ('97,'98,'99,'00,'01,'02,'03,'04,'05,'06,'07, '08, '09, '10)
John Richardson ('98, '99,'00,'01,'02,'03,'04,05,'06,'07, '08, '09, '10)
Mike Shaunnessy('98,'00,'01,'02,''03,'05.'06,'07, '10)
Chet Leach ('98 - deceased late 2007) See Memorial Story and Pix
Greg Koenig ('00,'01,'02,'03,'04,05,'06, '08, '09, '10)
Jeff Morgan ('02)
Al Miller ('97 '98, '99, '00,01,'02,'04,05,06,'07, '08, '09, '10)
Goal: Fish all of the best Rivers of the West before you're too old to do so!
Plan: Go every summer to fish the premier Rivers of the West - Fishing publicly available waters in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, California, Alaska, British Columbia, and Alberta!!
What's inside: Travel Journals and pictures from the annual trips from 1997 through 2010 to selected locations in the greater Western North American Continent including, of course, Yellowstone National Park. Places to fish, Places to stay, Folks to look up, and Motivation to do even more of this in our great American outdoors! Come on in and enjoy. Let us know your adventures, secret spots, and experiences (good or bad!). Everything in here meets our fishing tale standard of "it could have happened that way" except for the Product Reviews where "it did happen that way".
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The 2010 Trip to Wyoming is Complete!!
Aug 17 - 28, 2010 - "Wandering Wyoming Wilds" - the Cuttslam Redux!!
See our 2010 Trip Report for the details!!
Waters fished - all in Wyoming except as noted during this
3200+ mile trip!
Smith's Fork
Ham's Fork
Salt Creek
Salt River
Grey's River
Little Grey's River
N. Fork Horse Creek
East Fork Wind River
Wind River
Wiggins Fork
Bull Lake Creek
Upper Sweetwater
Rock Creek (MT)
Also please feel free to visit our new friends at The Nature Conservancy (see our adventures on Aug 26 for why!)
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2011 Trip to Idaho, The Gem State!
Esto Perpetua - It is perpetual - I hope they are talking about the fishing and hunting!! Maybe they meant Pesto Perpetua?
The planning has started for the 2011 YG Trip - Working Title - Indolent Idling In Idaho!! No dates have been set yet but we plan on visiting areas like Kelly Creek, Lochsa, Selway, etc plus a bunch of water hopefully no one has even heard about!! Stay Tuned!
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FLASH!! FLASH!! FLASH!! November 2009
Yellowstone Gang Member JR Qualifies for IGFA Royal Salmon Slam!!
AB Notes from Fishing Trip to Skykomish River System:
Well, the Coho trip to the
Wallace River (near Sultan / Startup) was a big success!
After spending two hours doing G2 to find access to the river..…we couldn’t
access our favorite spot …water was HIGH and somewhat doubtful that one could
cross.
We were given info by a local in the parking lot to check fishing below the
hatchery. When we checked on access at the hatchery we talked to another local
that said going down to the road bridge was better….based on that G2 we finally
found a good spot to fish. The river had quite a few nice
sized Coho and guys with roe were catching them pretty regular.
Andy was first….& second to hookup on a pink fly he tied….AB handed off the rod
& JR landed them. Good thing JR got some practice cause it wasn’t long before he
got into the swing of it and caught his very first Coho!
The last of the Salmon species he needed to
qualify for the IGFA Royal Salmon Slam.
Coho, King, Sockeye, Chum, Pink & Atlantic. Andy claims credit for guiding JR to
3 of the 6. Yahoo!!….JR joins Mike & Andy on the Salmon Slam….it won’t be
long before the YG dominates most of the list. We ended up
catching about 15 of these nice Coho….a couple were a little “rough/beat-up”,
but most were very colorful.
Andy was ecstatic….he’d been wanting to catch Coho on a bright pink, spun deer
hair Bass Popper (the size of your thumb) since he’d seen it done in Alaska many
years ago. Three big Coho stuck their heads up out of the water and grabbed the
fly!!! Coho on a dry fly….way cool!!! I told JR it was like a pink Caddis
hatch!!!
Way fun was had by all !!
Congratulations to JR!!!
Andy
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UPDATE: We have lost one of our own - Jim Danskin (86), who was truly one of the originals in the Yellowstone area fishing scene, passed away on June 6, 2008 in Bozeman Montana. We first met Jim in 1999 at Cappy's coffee shop in West Yellowstone, Montana. Truly a legendary and warm figure, Jim regaled us with great stories of the area and on where to fish. We are saddened by his departure. His write up is on 3 Sep 2008 web-page as part of our 2008 travels.
Field & Stream Magazine
Hero of Conservation Recognition for:
Andy Batcho - The Salmon Engineer!!
As a special note, Andy Batcho of our little team, has finally been recognized for all of outstanding stream restoration work he has been doing for a quarter of a century! First he was recognized as a “Hero of Conservation” by Field and Stream magazine – you can see videos about Andy at
http://www.fieldandstreamextras.com/heroes/videos.php- Andy is in episodes 5 & 6. You can also see a short write-up on Andy at
http://www.fieldandstreamextras.com/heroes/heroes.php?y=08&m=batchoAndy has also received attention here in the Greater Seattle area as they had a special article on his work in the community -
Seattle Times article:
Former engineer Andy Batcho becomes a friend of fish
Seattle-area conservationist Andy Batcho taps his space-program drive and
fishing acumen to lead the rescue of two salmon-rearing creeks.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2008253615_nwbatcho13.html
We are honored to have Andy as part of our Yellowstone Gang! However, he still
has to pay his share of the gas and lodging bills for these trips!!
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Also New For the Yellowstone Gang - Product Reviews! We inevitably procure more "things" for our trips some of which actually work! We figured that we might as well share our thoughts on what we learned about using these things (maps, eye magnifiers for stream side knot tying, etc.) with you all. Comments and disagreements are OK -please share back. Also we receive no, nada, zero, zilch, and zip in terms of discounts or other gratuities for these reviews. We don't buy things to review, we buy them to be used. Our comments are entirely our own opinions and have no commercial value - our liability extends only to what you paid us for these comments (ie exactly nothing!)!! Check them out on our new Product Review Pages.
Also New! A Special Pix page for those shots of the YG team and our friends that occur on individual trips! Check those pages for pix of cool fish and cool places!! Super picture of Dave from Yellowknife, Canada with a monster char - you can see it in the Special Pix tab Also an update from Alaska with chum salmon from Roy Nakano and Andy Batcho.
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Summary of Rivers/Waters Fished from 1997 - 2009 are shown below:
1997 trip:
St. Joe R. (Idaho), Rock Cr., Clark Fork R., Big Hole R.
Bitterroot R., Blackfoot R., Flathead R.
McDonald R.(Glacier Pk.), St. Mary's R.
Rock Creek, Clark Fork River, Boulder River, Yellowstone River, Madison River, Ruby River, Big Hole River, Bitterroot River (main stem), West Fork of the Bitterroot, Darrell's Pond (private), Lochsa River
Gallatin River, Madison River, Yellowstone Lake, Gibbon River, Madison River, Soda Butte Creek, Lamar River, Firehole River, Delacy Creek, Aster Creek, Snake River, Teton River, Warm River, Henry's Fork of the Snake, Gardner River, Trout Lake, Warm Springs Creek, Pond 2, Pond 3, Clark Fork, Jobs Corps Pond, Silver Bow Creek
North Fork of the Shoshone River, Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River, Soda Butte Creek, Lamar River, Lava Creek, Yellowstone Lake, Madison River, Firehole River
South Fork Boise River, Big Wood River, No Name Creek, Silver Cr., Big Lost River, Henry's Fork of the Snake, Madison Arm, Madison R above Quake Lake, Madison R by Raynold's Pass
Missouri River, Gardner R (YNP), Joffee Lk, Slough Cr, Soda Butte Cr., Yellowstone Lk, Gibbons R, Yellowstone R, Tower Cr, Gallatin R, Madison R, and Rock Cr (Clinton)
The Missouri River below Holter Dam @ Craig, MT; the Blackfoot River Drainage (130 miles long) including the Blackfoot River, Mike Horse Creek, Monture Creek, the North Fork of the Blackfoot & the Clearwater River.
2004: Wyoming Cuttslam
Smith's Fork, Greys River, North Fork Horse Creek, Green R
(by Warren Bridge), Jackson National Fish Hatchery, Gros Ventre R (GTNP),
Frontier Cr, Emerald Cr, Horse Cr, Wind R, Jakey'sFork
Completed Trip on Sept
5,2004 - Had a great time and did the cuttslam (Wyoming
Game and Fish - Cutt-Slam Program) (only needed 3 of 4 subspecies)
in 3 days - Fishing and experiences were great. See our story on this website!
We have our Cuttslam Certificates - great advice from Wyoming Fish & Game!!
Contact them for where to fish. Webmaster.
Here is a picture of JR's cuttslam certificate. As noted in the report, all were successful in achieving this on the trip. Pretty cool certificate for a great fishing experience!!
Summary of waters fished: Kootenai River, Yaak River, E. Fork Yaak, Big Creek, Lake Creek, Keeler Creek, Fisher River, Elk River, and Stream X.
We completed our trip on 4 September, 2005 in pursuit of trout in the Greater Northwest Montana and Southeast British Columbia Regions. We took multiple (6) float trips on the Kootenai River out of Libby Montana with Tim and Joanne Linehan (www.fishmontana.com). We also visited Fernie, British Columbia where we got great flies and advice from Ned Cooper and the outstanding staff at the Elk River Guiding Company (http://www.elkriver.ca/). We also fished Stream X, an Elk River tributary, which was unbelievably good the days we were there - the pictures of the fish and waters have to be seen to be believed.
SPECIAL:
Yellowstone Weekend Trip 2005 -
New update!
Weekend trip to Yellowstone in July 2005 - pictures
are now loaded up (05 Sept 2005)! Fly from Seattle to Bozeman on Wednesday
evening (2 hour flight) - rent a car - head for the Park! Fish Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - fly home Monday morning - in the office by
10:30!!
July 21, 2005 Madison River, Tuff Cliffs Sign, Tuff Cliffs, Gibbons Falls, Lamar
Mouth by Yellowstone, and Yellowstone River
July 22, 2005 Soda Butte Creek and Lamar River
July 23, 2005 Lamar River, Soda Butte Creek,
July 24, 2005 Slough Creek and Yellowstone River
Fantastic Fishing and Wonderful sights - hopefully the pictures alone will explain the beauty and lure of Yellowstone National Park.
2006 Lake X Trip Report is now
on-line - Fishing for Tiger Trout!
Captain Mark Taylor, besides being an awesome fishing buddy runs the
"Raven's Luck Guide Service" which specializes in: "You name the species, I can
help you catch it". Mark fishes freshwater & saltwater species from his small
aluminum lake boat or his 18' fully equipped (GPS, Downrigger, depth-sounder,
etc.) Raider aluminum boat. Saltwater bottomfish, cutthroat or freshwater
bass, trout or panfish, Mark can guide to to all of them. He can also guide you
to IGFA World Records.
Contact Captain Mark Taylor at:
"Raven's Luck Guide Service"
206-200-2640
email: emtbckt@msn.com
2006 Golden Trout Trip (California) - Andy gets Royal Trout Slam Certificate from IGFA!!
2006 Trip has now occurred. Our itinerary was as follows:
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Wednesday (23 Aug 2006): Drive to Fernie - stay at Fernie condo
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Thursday: Fish the Elk drainage - stay at Fernie condo
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Friday: Guided Trip to the Wigwam River and Stream Y -stay at Fernie condo
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Saturday: Free fish in Fernie area (Alexander Cr. and Stream X) - stay at Fernie condo
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Sunday: Drive to Alberta jump off point for Heli trip the next day. Stay at David Thompson Hotel
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Monday: Helicopter Trip - camp at altitude at Michelle Lake
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Tuesday: Return from HelicopterTrip; stay at David Thompson Hotel site
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Wednesday - Fish Blackstone River and surrounding waters
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Thursday - Fish Sheep River and Oldman River watersheds
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Friday - Fish Oldman River watershed and Crowsnest River
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Saturday - Crowsnest River - stay night in Fernie
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Sunday - Arrive Home in Seattle area
Appetizer Pictures on this page with the full story on the 2006 YG trip pages
2007 Trip We have completed the 2007 trip! Details in the section on 2007 but a short synopsis would be:
Wed 22 Aug : Drive to Fernie - Fish Stream X
Thu 23 Aug: Wigwam and Stream Y - Big Bull Trout!
Frid 24 Aug: Elk River and Stream X
Sat 25 Aug: Calgary and Wedge Pond
Sun 26 Aug: Nordegg and Blackstone River
Mon 27 Aug: Blackstone River and Beaver Pond
Tues 28 Aug: McLeod & Embarras Rivers, Lambert Creek, Brazeau River
Wed 29 Aug: North Fork Ram, South Fork Ram, Elk Creek Trout Pond, Clearwater
River
Thu 30 Aug: Red Deer River, Panther Creek, Sheep Creek
Fri 31 Aug: Highwood River, Livingstone River, North Fork Oldman River, Daisy
Creek, Racehorse Creek, Oldman River
Sat 01 Sep: Crowsnest River, Castle River
Sun 02 Sep: Drive from Fernie to Seattle - Home!!
Spectacular fishing and scenery including a few really nice fish of course!!
2008 Trip Now
Completed!!
We completed our “Making Montana Memories” tour for 2008 when we were on the
road for 15 days this time. Starting Saturday 30 August, we traveled around
Western Montana until our return on 13 September. We covered 2766 miles and
caught just a slightly smaller number of fish (but still a big number!!)
Rivers fished include:
· Bitteroot River (West Fork, East Fork, and Main Stem)
· West Fork Rock Creek (Skalkaho Pass route)
· Silver Bow Cr
· Warm Springs Cr.
· Big Hole River (Melrose)
· Madison River
· Taylor Creek
· Upper Ruby River
· Ruby River
· Indian Creek
· Jefferson River
· Bloody Dick Creek
· Upper Big Hole (Headwaters)
· Big Hole (Wisdom)
· Wise River
· Big Hole (Jerry Creek)
· Rock Creek
On this trip, we also remembered the passing of fly fishing legend, Jim Danskin,
who left us in June, 2008. His obituary is reproduced herein as part of our 3
September visit to West Yellowstone.
Also on this trip, we got to experience spring water flows on the Madison due to
breakage of one of the water flow gates on the dam controlling Hegben Lake!
Pretty interesting water levels to fish although we did catch fish in those
flows!! Likely if we had spent more time exploring, we might have caught a lot
of fish since the holding waters would have been much smaller at the higher
flows.
Among the many people we got a chance to meet on this travel adventure, we often
learn about new ideas and information. We met Jess on Sept 3 at the
Sportsmans Warehouse in Bozeman and she told us about the site she and some
friends had about Yellowstone Fishing - so we want to point you to a web site
which is new to us http://bestflyfishingyellowstone.com
but which offers a lot of current and relevant info on fishing in the
greater Yellowstone area!! Check it out!
Lastly, we want to extend a grateful "thank you" to the wonderful people of Montana who made this trip so much fun and memorable. You truly do live in the “last best place”!!
Here are some pictures to whet your fish porn appetite!!
Questions and critiques on our 2008 trip are always gratefully solicited!!
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The 2009 Trip is complete! Our Braids of Montana travels are now uploaded to this website for your reading pleasure!! Fabulous fishing and fun! The full story is now available - here are a couple of grab shots to whet your appetite! Visit Montana and spend some $$ - it's good for you and for them!!
Waters Fished:
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Madison River Braids
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Upper Ruby River
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Madison River below Ennis Dam
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Big Hole River (Salmon Fly access area)
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Big Hole River (Cemetery Hole)
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Big Lake Creek
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Rock Creek
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Flint Creek
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Monture Creek (lower)
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Blackfoot River
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N Fork Blackfoot River
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Monture Creek (upper)
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If you have inputs for us, please let us hear from you!! Email the webmaster at: mailto: WebMaster The Yellowstone Gang
A Counter for our Friends:
We recommend you visit the Trout Unlimited Homepage for more
info on fishing and conservation. They can be reached at: http://www.tu.org
Also we recommend you consider joining the Yellowstone Association at
Welcome to the
Yellowstone Association [http://yellowstoneassociation.org/
GIF's above from Hank's Flyfishing Specialties
which can be reached at:
http://www.ida.net/users/henryl/home2.html
Tirelessly working for your recreational satisfaction and edification!!
Web last edited: 10/20/10