Day Two at Slough

Personally, I was excited about yesterday's opening day bonanza possibilities, but realistically, i was anticipating our day at Slough Creek even more. Slough Creek (pronouched 'slew') required a 1.x mile hike from a trailhead that was a bit off the beaten path near Slough Campground. I thought the hike might reduce fishing pressure for the native cutthroats. I had hoped to hike to the second meadow (ca. 4 mi.), but due to very warm weather there was a Fish Advisory posted in which a voluntary stream closure from 12 noon to 6 PM was in effect to reduce the 'stress' on the fish. Perhaps this is what we have to look forward to with a warmer future climate!

At any rate, though we rose fairly early and got to the trailhead by ca. 8 ish, we felt the longer hike would take away too much fishing time. So we fished a small part of the first meadow. The hike there, by the way, was very pretty and worthy of simply the hike, with views back toward the valley of the Yellowstone.

When we arrived, we found a beautiful meadow stream and could easily see small (6") to large (16") cutthroat trout cruising the shoreline. Being in the first meadow, we expected these fish to be a bit more wily than some. However we all had good success! My success came with a fly called a PMD (Pale Morning Dun), followed by a fly called an 'attractor'. I basically stalked the larger fish cruising the shoreline by crouching low and dropping a fly in front of their noses. I caught 3 sizeable fish that way, including the beauty shown in my hand above. It was very exciting to have fish of that size on the line, and I lost a couple of them - one broke my line and swam away with the fly in its mouth.

Slough Creek does have a feeling of remoteness about it - true wilderness. We were alert for bears and whistled the Andy Griffith theme song to alert them to our presence.

Bill found the cutthroat nursery and hauled in several pretty smaller fish, but he was having a great time with his high rate of success. Jamie found a more challenging stretch of river, but managed to land a couple, including a small one that was followed by a huge fish as he reeled it in!

All in all, a very successful morning of fishing, and Slough Creek is one place I must go back to, if only for the beauty and the wilderness experience. This is Yellowstone fishing at its best!