Yellowstone/GrandTeton Suggestions?

[AugustWest]

For our 30th wedding anniversary, I asked my wife where she wanted to go. I knew her lifelong dream was to visit Yellowstone Nat'l Park, and she did not disappoint. We will be there for 9 days RV camping. Colter Bay in Grand Teton 3 nights, Madison in Yellowstone 3 nights, Fishing Bridge 2 nights and Grant Village 1 night in that order from Aug. 20 - 28.

I am taking a 7'9" 3 wt and a 9' 5wt. This is not a fishing trip per se, but I plan to fish when I can. I don't need to hit the most famous spots and catch the biggest fish. I am more prone to out of the tourist trap type of fishing. I do not want to float, not enough $$ for that anyway. I like to hike and explore and fish, and she likes to hike and explore.

Though my lifelong fishing experience is totally eastern, I fish 50+ times a year for years, lots of experience. If you folks who know the Yellowstone area want to chip in with suggestions of any kind, flies, streams, hikes to streams, shops to check in on, etc. I would be grateful.

We are very excited! Thanks in advance.

 

[pcray1231]

I think virtually every waterway you encounter is gonna have fish. Even the Firehole and such. You can buy fishing guidebooks to Yellowstone. Your options are endless.

The Madison might actually be one of the worse ones in that area. The part in the park gets pretty warm, and is often closed in late August.

Slough Creek is a very popular one with guys on this board. Cutties on dries. It's split up into meadows. 1st meadow, 2nd meadow, 3rd meadow. The first gets pretty crowded I understand. 2nd and 3rd, much longer hikes, fewer people. Though I think in the 3rd they take guided overnight fishing expeditions in there by horseback.

The S. Fork of the Snake is popular in the Teton park.

I'm not super knowledgable of the streams in the parks, other than to say there's a lot. If you expect to go west, let me know. For instance, I've fished the famous Henry's Fork a fair amount, some spots are uber famous but others don't see near the pressure and are still good. That would be about an hour out of West Yellowstone.

You're fishing skills will be just fine. The adjustment is more in the scale of things. It's big country. You go 2 miles, and you still may be in sight of the car... So if you park and see another guy or two, it's not quite the end of the world, there's an awful lot of water out there.

And it's real easy to say "it's just on the other side of the park", but that might be a pretty long trip!

 

[Rolf]

First of all congrats on the trip. I envy you. Below are a few sites you should probably check out prior to leaving. The park site usually has some good information on what to expect in the park regarding current conditions. The second site lists some current stream restrictions due either to construction or warm temps. Basically some streams are closed from 2:00 PM to midnight. Finally Blue Ribbon flies usually has some decent stream reports. It wouldn’t hurt to get on their weekly newsletter. If I had to chose one rod for the park, it would be a nine foot six weight. It WILL be windy. Good Luck and take lots of photos.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/drought/

http://www.blue-ribbon-flies.com/

 

[martin0206]

I camped at Madison campground last year its a great campground. The river is gorgeous there but by this time it will be a little hot to fish but still might be possible to fish depending on temps. Other guys and local shops will probably have more knowledge of that. There were great Caddis hatches in July not sure if they are still going on in August. For fly shops I reccomend Blue Ribbon Flies. I checked out a few others and Blue Ribbon was by far the most helpful and a bunch of other guys on this board recomended that to me.

I did the Slough creek hike to the first meadow and besides getting way to close to a black bear and her cub it was good fishing but beware the bugs were terrible in the meadows and I assume that would still be the case in August. I didnt see anyone else fishing so we just stopped at the first but everyone told me to go to the second meadow.

If your going to do the Northeast part the park for fishing get up way before light and head up to Lamar Valley for Sunrise. We just missed seeing the wolves up there but did see the majority of wildlife in Lamar Valley before we hiked back to Slough Creek.

 

[CLSports]

Buy the Trails Illustrated Map made by National Geographic for Yellowstone Nat'l Park.

You can find it at EMS or REI. Great trail and stream map if you want to get away from the crowds.

 

[ocfisher]

big congrats on 30 Years. And with a woman who picks Wyoming as the trip!
Slough creek is indeed awesome and all but you will eat a full day (of your anniversarry trip) to do it up. haven't been there in about 6 yrs and it seems the backcountry bear situation has gotten a little more intense in that time, so be smart if you hike in. That NE corner is worth the trip for sure, even for that nonfishing wife. you could fish the very lower stretch of slough (below the parking area) or you could hit soda butte (lots of smaller fish, for me anyway) or the Lamar (have caught decent fish close to the road).

If you are skipping the Slough hike in, you should do a float on the snake through GTNP. Lots of fish + some crazy beautiful scenery. It's a win/win.

That creek in the elk refuge in Jackson (Flat Creek, I think) is cool in a challenging/humbling/rewarding kinda way.

I am jealous, even if you don't get to fish a bit.

 

[albatross]

Try the upper Firehole above the Keppler Cascades south east of Old Faithful for brookies.

Cascade Creek crosses the Norris-Canyon road one mile west of Canyon in a beautiful meadow. Small cutties will smash dries here.

Get Craig Mathews Flyfishing Guide to Yellowstone and try some of the smaller, less well known streams.

 

[boychick]

I was in Yellowstone last summer. You'll love it. It is truly an amazing place. Get a fishing guide book for YNP. A new one came out last year, it’s titled Fly Fishing Yellowstone National Park: An Insider’s Guide to the 50 Best Places by Nate Schweber. Richard Parks also wrote a good YNP guide book. I also recommend getting a good park guide. I used Yellowstone Treasures by Janet Chapple, you’ll get good info on the sights and hikes that you won’t find in a fishing guide book. In August, the main rivers that will fish will be the streams in the NW corner. I enjoyed the Lamar and the access is good because the NE entrance road follows the river for a good distance and there are plenty of pull offs. Also check out Slough Creek and Soda Butte. There will be buffalo EVERYWHERE in the Lamar Valley area, they are pretty gentle, but don’t get too close. The Gallatin should fish well that time of year. There are a lot of small creeks in the park that should fish well that time of year too. Send me PM if you have questions.

 

[dave1918]

Congrats on the anniversary!

Done a ton of fishing/hiking in the park this summer while working right next to the park. Best part of the park to fish in late summer is the Northeast. This also means it gets the most pressure. I find though that if you are willing to hike even just a few miles you can be alone and away from the crowds/pickier fish. The one exception is slough creek. It is just too famous and many horse trips head into the second and third meadows.

Some easy day hikes in the norheast that will get you into some good fishing/scenery off he beaten path.

Pebble Creek- Park at warm creek trailhead and hike 2-3 miles into the pebble creek meadows. Trail is very steep for the first mile or so, but this is the prettiest meadow in the park with some fun fishing for small cutthroat. This hike is more about the scenery than the fishing though.

Lamar River/Cache Creek- 3+ miles to where Lamar River trail crosses Cache creek (next to backcountry campsite) either walk upstream and fish Cache creek, or head down to confluence with Lamar river. I have had a few awesome days fishing in this area and hardly saw a soul.

Goose Lake Jeep Trail- Not in the park but just outside near cooke city. Just an awesome hike with opportunities to fish 4-5 alpine lakes. There are a bunch of other great hikes in the Beartooths, but this one is very close to yellowstone.

Yellowstone River (Black Canyon) Easiest access is either from Hellroaring Trailhead or Rescue creek Trailhead. Hellroaring creek is also a fun stream. Easy to find your own secluded fishing spot to go after some big fish.

For the most part you cant really go wrong with any of small streams in yellowstone. They all have lots of trout.


Firehole (below old faithful)/Madison are probably too warm to fish well.

Cascade Corner in the southwest is an awesome place... beclher river and fall river are both great, but its tough to get to.

Send me a PM or something if you want more info on hikes/fishing or just tourist info (I work front desk of a hotel so i know all the tourist spots too)

 

[franklin]

Check with the shops in West Yellowstone. You probably want to go there for some shopping and maybe some local ties. Went to Yellowstone a few years ago and based out of WY for a week. Same week of the year you are going. You will find some great deals on the tourist stuff in town as well as they sell everything off late in the season. I got fishing shirts from each of the big shops with embroidery for something like $10 a shirt.

 

[Sparky]

I have vacation out west for the last 8 summers (CO -Rocky Mt NP, MT - Glacier NP/ Yellowstone/Missoula, WY - Tetons, Yellowstone).

The second stop we make (after grocery shopping) is a fly shops. They are the most knowledgeable for the area. I always buy local flies (support small businesses) and go into a multiple of shops. Fishing is subjective and one man's (or woman's) opinion is not always the best. You get a better sense with multiple discussions. Then decide where to go.

We just got back from Montana last night. Fished Bitterroot, Blackfoot, Clarks Fork and Rock Creek all with great success. Chatted with some guides from Yellowstone and Bozeman area. The water is warm and low. Long leaders/tippet (12' or more), stealthy approach and drag-less presentation.

If you are out, take bear spray and be aware of you surroundings. Was wading and had a black bear about 100 ft upstream of me on the Bitterroot. Made me very nervous.

Best advice - have fun, take a million pictures and enjoy.