July 15 is opening day for the Yellowstone River between Yellowstone Lake and Canyon in the park. It was one of the reasons we timed the trip as we did, for the reputation is that huge cutthroat trout migrate down from the lake to spawn in the river. And supposedly they are naive fish, not having had flies tossed at them since last year! Every trout fisherman's dream - naive large fish!
Well, we had adventures aplenty. The first place we stopped was a popular fishing spot called Buffalo Ford near Sulphur Cauldron. We hiked out to the river, keeping a nervous eye on the bison all around. We crossed a small branch of the river to get out on an island where we could fish the main channel on the far side with a little, mind you a little, less competition from other fly fishermen. The river was very pretty there - tree- lined but large and sweeping with a couple of smaller eddies and pools along the edge. It seemed perfect.
It was then that we realized that Bill Peterjohn somehow entices bison to SWIM across the river directly toward us, or rather, him, wherever he was standing! Seriously, this happened several times during the morning and early PM hours. Each time, you were forced to reel in the line and wade quickly up or down stream to get out of the behemoth's pathway! Fortunately, they were not much interested in us once they got to our side, and they meandered off into the meadows behind us, grazing. But we were forced to keep a wary eye all around all the time!
On the opposite side of the river, there was a whole herd of bison rolling around in the dust, stomping the ground, and snorting. Flyfishing next to this spectacle, punctuated by steam rising from vents on land AND underwater, produced a truly surreal fishing experience!
Sadly, no trout were to be caught by us that day. I did see the adjacent fisherman pull in a 25" cutthroat, and I offered to take his picture. He was happy I offered, and the fish really did live up to the hype described in the books. However, it was clear most fishermen were not getting anything. After a late lunch we decided to move on.
We found another spot down the river with less bison (this one wasn't called 'Bison Ford'! We learned our lesson there!). Eventually some fish started rising there, but they always seemed just out of reach of our flies. After a couple hours of fruitless casting, we were forced to flee from a huge bull bison that decided, perversely, to swim straight across the river at you-know-who, so we left to get dinner at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel. It was a bit fancy for three tired sweaty trout fishermen, but the food was good and the atmosphere nice.
After dinner fishing at a suboptimal spot led to no more action. So, here is a picture or two of the Yellowstone river in all its glory, taken later...
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