Our Vacation Trip

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Carolyn and I started planning our trip out West a few weeks ago and we even got our plane reservations back in the late Spring. We decided that we wanted to go thru Yellowstone National Park first, and then move to other areas in different states surrounding the Park. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was our first destination. We flew from Nashville to Salt Lake City and got a rental SUV for the road part of the trip. We arrived in the middle of the day in Salt Lake, acquired the rental car, and drove all the way to Jackson Hole by dark. We had wanted to fish Flat Creek the first day, but we were held up in getting our license at Jack Dennis Fly Shop. We got into a conversation with Jack and by the time we got onto the stream, all the water was being fished. That sent us looking for nearby streams that we could wade. We tried The Gros Ventre River.  A frontal system had moved into the Jackson area and we caught no fish. There were also many numerous thunderstorms that hit. The next day we did get an earlier start and managed to get a spot that wasn't being fished on Flat Creek. Carolyn took the first fish, which was a nice 15inch Cutthroat.  It put up a great fight and drew a lot of attention from other anglers that were close by.  This action finished our day because the other anglers just swarmed the section we were fishing. It turned out to be the first and last fish we caught that day on Flat Creek.

After spending a couple of days in Jackson Hole we decided to move on to West Yellowstone Montana. This little city turned out to be a great location to operate from, and we bought a 7 day permit to fish in the Park.  Many of the better streams were closed to fishing after 2:00PM in the afternoon because the water was so warm. We were also having some issues with thunderstorms and wind getting up by the middle of the day. We fished several streams while we we staying there and some of the names are famous ones. They included the Madison River, the Gibbon River, Yellowstone River, the Gallatin River and some other lesser known ones. The Gallatin River seemed to be the best one that we found. It was not affected by water temperature and had a great supply of  Cuttthroats,  Cuttbows, Rainbows, and Brown trout. We took lots of these and others like them.  A thunderstorm hit one afternoon and muddied up the Gallatin. It stayed this way for 3 days so we searched for new water. The Gibbon River above the Gibbon Falls was a pretty good location for Carolyn. It produced several of these, even though the water was pretty warm.  Carolyn had wanted to practice some on streamer fishing while we were there, and I told her that we should try the Gallatin River while it was still dingy. We talked about techniques and  what she should do if she happened to hook a big fish while trying this method. We stopped at Blue Ribbon Flies where she picked up a few streamers that they said had been productive in that area. We took a tapered leader that I had cut down to about 4-1/2 feet long and to where the tippet was about 10-12lb. test. I felt like that would hold most any fish that she might hook. I also told her that if she did hook a big fish that she would probably have to follow it downstream thru some rough territory until she could get it worn down. We have gone over what a fish can do if it ever gets into fast water and decides to just keep going. This was a day that we would really get tested to the limit. After arriving on the Gallatin, we drove through some sections just looking for water that had some good deep runs that were mixed with undercut banks. It had dropped down to 40degrees that morning and it was chilly. I was shivering as we made our way to the stream. We tried to get down a steep bank to the stream and finally found what looked like a section ahead of us that had a big deep hole with that undercut bank. (At this point I want to let Carolyn relate what took place next.) To our surprise, it also had two river otters that were laying on the bank eating their catch.  The river otters had taken possession of this place and really took offense at our presence.  They would take turns diving into the water and then sticking their heads up to stare at us, while making an awful noise.  There was no mistaking that they were telling us to leave.

The large, beautiful water was too good to pass up, and we decided to fish there anyway.  We were however, concerned that I would hook one of the otters and then what would I do???  These creatures were the size of medium dogs.  In a few minutes after I started to stripjerk the streamer, I saw a big brown come up and take the fly. He turned and started boring back to the depths of the pool. I put a lot of pressure on him causing him to turn back toward me. He decided to make a wild dash upstream and then he came up out of the water, leaping 3 or 4 feet into the air, landing with a huge splash.  This really got Hugh's attention, and he started giving  instructions to help me.     You can see in this picture what this hole turns into, and the battle that followed, after he got into the fast water.  It took every bit of strength I had to hold the rod tip up in proper position.  The battle went on for about 15 minutes and the fish finally made his way toward the bottom of the big hole, after twisting and turning numbers of times.  This twisting and turning pulled the barbless hook out of his mouth, and the hook caught in his side where the line was wrapped around him.  This gave him the freedom to do about anything he wanted to do. and he made his way to the edge of the fast water.  This was a long 1/2 mile of water that had no breaks in it.  It was a nightmare about to happen and we had to follow.      You can see from the last picture what we were faced with as the fish took off down this long and fast run. The power of the fish and the current had the rod almost bent double.  We were stumbling, falling and half running, trying to follow the big fish down the river. I was just praying, "O Lord, please, please PLEASE don't let me lose this fish.  On 3 different occasions, the fish took me into the backing.  I would loose ground and then I would gain ground as we went down the stream.  About 1/4 mile and 30 minutes into the battle, the fish was finally worn out.  So were Hugh and I.  We finally got our hands on the fish, and Hugh started taking pictures.   Hugh measured the fish at 23 inches and it appeared to weigh about 3 to 3 and 1/2 pounds.  We were both drenched from perspiration and from falling while trying to follow the fish.  Hugh said that this looked like the episode from, A River Runs Through It, where Brad Pitt caught the very large fish and had to follow it down stream.  This was the biggest fish that I had ever caught and the most awesome battle that I had ever been in.  That afternoon, mine and Hugh's knees were so sore that we could barely walk.  I know that many people land bigger fish than this, but with conditions on the river being as they were, this is my most memorable fishing story -- my miracle fish.  I thank the Lord and Hugh for all of their help.
   We fished the Madison River on a couple of days, but the fish were not too large. The Gibbon River seemed to be the second best stream that we fished in the Park. We decided to move to Henry's Fork, which was just across the mountain. It was a stream that I had heard a lot of good things about. The writers had apparently forgotten to mention that it is one of the most inhospitable places for flyfishermen to be. It is a place of beauty, I'm sure , when it is not so hot and dry. It is an old caldera of an extinct volcano and it is at high altitude with miles of open ranch land. The river is very wide and easy to wade, except for heavy grasses that grow in it. We found that it has a multitude of insects, but you could not find any fish rising during the day. Every day that we were there, we would barely get started fishing, when the wind would start blowing. When I say blowing , I'm talking about 40-50 miles per hour. Fishing for rising trout becomes impossible after this happens. I talked with several people that said they caught fish in the Box Canyon area while floating, but it is hard to find a decent place to wade fish here. After 3 days of frustration here, we drove back to Salt Lake City and rested for a couple of days. It was a great experience for Carolyn and me. We hope to take another vacation next year and we will look at new places through the winter months. We hope that you enjoy the story.

   Hugh and Carolyn.