Yellowstone - Part 2 (Avalanche Peak)

We did a lot of hiking on our trip out west, and my favorite hike was a climb to the summit of Avalanche Peak, near the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park.  Only 2 miles from the trailhead to the summit, this is one of the easier mountains to conquer, but there are 2,000 vertical feet in those 2 miles, making it more strenuous than you might think.

The hike began in a somewhat haunting forest around 8,500 ft above sea level.  The trail was steep from the very beginning and remained so throughout the entire climb.  We crossed a small but beautiful meadow, and from there the vegetation gradually thinned leaving sick looking pine trees and grasses. 

 Eventually it opened up onto bare rocks and scree, where we saw a marmot scurrying around, apparently not too concerned about our presence.

 

 

A false summit loomed ahead with scraggly looking trees holding on for dear life.  The trail wound around the edge of the mountain, the steep drop on our left making my partner quite uneasy.  After reaching what we thought was the summit, we discovered that we still had a long way to go.  From there it was all rocks; the trail was simply a long trench carved out of the scree.  Each step was treacherous as the stones have a habit of shifting.

The final stretch was a 5 ft wide ridge leading to a small peak inhabited by a ground squirrel(!) and covered with sharp rocks.  The view from the top was glorious.  There was actually another peak 50 yards further down another narrow ridge.  I couldn't tell if it was higher or shorter than the first peak, but I decided to go check it out anyway.  Mrs. Michissippi stayed glued to the first spot, satisfied that she had completed the climb, and not wanting to move until she absolutely had to.

On the way down we saw a pika, which I was actually quite excited to see.  I remember seeing one in Rocky Mountain National Park as a kid, and I thought it was a very cool animal.

I highly recommend this trail for its views, challenge, and nice length.

No One Has Ever Been Here Before

I launched the kayak and started across the bay
The mist shrouded the other side
No one has ever been here before
Then I saw the boats
Except for the fishermen

I paddled farther until the boats were behind me
A secluded bayou awaited me
No one has ever been here before
Then I saw the crab traps
Except for the crabbers

I paddled farther until no crab traps were visible
The bayou split up into a maze of channels
No one has ever been here before
Then I saw the bridge over the marsh
Except for the workers who built that bridge

I paddled farther until the bridge was out of sight
The bayou opened up into a huge marsh pond
Finally, I saw what I was looking for
A deep red slice of a tail poking through the surface of the water
And then I knew for certain, no one has ever been here before

Yellowstone - Part 1

Well, I'm back.  I made it through a wedding in Michigan and a week in Wyoming and still managed to bring my new bride (shall we call her Mrs. Michissippi?) back to Mississippi with me.  This being an outdoors blog and all, I'd like to talk about our trip out west.  We spent half of the week in Grand Teton National Park and the other half in and around Yellowstone National Park.  The hiking was great.  The views were fantastic.  The animals were abundant.

Okay, I'll 'fess up.  I did a little bit of fishing too.  I brought my lightly used Cabela's Custom Glass 4 WT all the way from Mississippi and was very excited to use it on some wild trout.  Also, I had potentially my very own personal photographer with me if I could keep her from getting bored.

I convinced Mrs. Michissippi to go on a hiking/fishing expedition one of the days we were staying near Yellowstone.  We drove a few hours (it would have taken about 30 minutes if not for wildlife jams) to the Lamar Valley in the northeastern portion of the park.  There we hiked 2 miles to a certain creek based on the recommendation of a park ranger.  I hadn't heard of this place, but apparently it is fairly well known, because, while it wasn't crowded, most of the people we saw hiking had long tubes strapped to their packs.

And for good reason.  The place was amazing.  A cutthroat trout aquarium.  The creek meandered slowly through an endless meadow, and large trout could be seen, not holding a position as expected, but cruising up and down the river.  Even better, they were very eager to rise.  There wasn't a visible hatch, but every few minutes, a large nose would poke its way through the surface and suck something down.

We had only just arrived and I was struggling with my decision making.  Part of me wanted to throw my stuff down, set up my rod, and start fishing right where the trail met the river.  Another part of me wanted to walk a good distance to find less pressured trout.  Another part of me wanted to eat lunch.  I ended up doing all three.  I set up, walked down the river bank until I just couldn't handle it anymore, made a few casts, and then decided to sit down and eat lunch.  The trout would be there when I was done.

With all things now made ready, I finally began fishing in earnest.  This was ninja fishing.  Crouched in the tall grass on the bank, I would wait for a big cutt to cruise by and then make a very short cast, landing my grasshopper pattern in front of the fish.  If it was a good cast, the fish would usually make a subtle change in its course, heading toward the fly, rising in the water column, increasing my heart rate, only to pause two inches below the fly and return to its previous course.  Agonizing.  It was almost too easy, but then it wasn't.  I couldn't decide if the trout didn't like the pattern, or if they could see the line, or if it wasn't realistic enough, or what.  But the pattern I had was about as realistic as I've got, and I was already using 6x tippet, so I didn't bother changing anything. 

Trout checking out my grasshopper

On a sidenote, you can get surprisingly close to a fish without spooking it if you are not moving.  If I crouched completely still on the very edge of the river, trout would swim just 2 ft away without a care in the world.

Eventually everything came together.  I had wandered onto a small island, and Mrs. Michissippi was on the opposite bank.  She spotted a fish for me, I found it, and I made a cast.  We watched as the trout meandered over like normal, paused under the fly, and sucked it down!  I was so surprised I think I strip set the poor guy!  He brought the fiberglass to life, and after a decent battle, I pulled in a beautiful Yellowstone Cutthroat trout, my very first, about 13 inches long.

Stylish, I know...

Oops

 From there the action increased.  I had two fish eat an unweighted pheasant tail nymph only to somehow avoid being hooked.  I felt weight on the hookset but the hook pulled right out of their mouths.  Perhaps I need to start sharpening my hooks...

The highlight of the day occurred in the late afternoon.  I had been chasing a particularly large cutt up and down a long, deep bend in the river.  I was back with a grasshopper pattern and had been denied by him several times already.  I wasn't leaving because he was a big one.  Somehow I just knew that he would eat if I got enough good drifts by him.  I was right.  He slurped my fly down and my rod bent severely on the hookset. This guy slowly went deep and started a series of mighty headshakes.  Partly due to the large fish, and partly due to the small, medium action rod, I've never felt headshakes like this.  The force was frightening.  I was scared for my 6x tippet and my barbless hook.  I was relieved when the fish started swimming upriver.  Now I started regretting every time I've told people that good reels aren't important for trout fishing.  This guy just kept going.  I've never had a trout take out line like him.  He didn't make it to my backing, but I could see it through the 3 or 4 wraps of fly line I had left.

Attracting a crowd

 After a few moments of tug-o-war, I started pulling him in.  I think it was at this moment, I thought, OMG, I'm going to land this guy.  In his tired state, he started some desperate thrashing.  I made it through a nervy two rounds of thrashing and started pulling him into the shallows.  I reached out to grab the leader.  He made one more thrash, and the hook popped out.

Proof

This guy was in the 20 inch range.  Really too good of a trout for a casual trout angler like me to catch on a short day trip to a river I've never fished.  But boy it was sweet while it lasted.

I haven't been this disappointed about losing a fish since a certain redfish, and that loss was quickly avenged with many other redfish caught.  Unfortunately, this loss will not be avenged for a loooooong time.

I had said at the very beginning of the trip, I would be happy if I could catch just one cutthroat.  And I am happy.  But that big cutt continues to haunt me...

Overall, the trip was fantastic.  Fishing was just a small part of it.  I'll be posting more on the trip here in a few days.

Tying the Knot

Michissippi is tying the knot this weekend!  And no, I'm not talking about fishing knots.  I've been pretty busy preparing for this, hence the lack of recent posts.  One week from now my bride and I will be in staying in a cabin near Yellowstone National Park.  You're probably wondering how I convinced her to go to fly fishing mecca for our honeymoon.  Pretty brilliant, I know.  But in all seriousness, this is not a fishing expedition.  While I will be bringing a fly rod (or two), and I do hope to catch my first cutthroat trout, we will be spending most of our time hiking and sight seeing.  Wish me luck, and I'll be back in a few weeks!  Peace.

One Year

Hard to believe, but I have now been blogging for over a year.  At almost 50 posts, I've made it farther and posted more often than I ever imagined.  It has been fun, and I really like having a record of my fishing expeditions from the year.  But I think what I've enjoyed most of all is being exposed to the many other fishing blogs that are out there.  I love reading about other people's fishing adventures and seeing just how many different fishing experiences are out there, waiting for me to give them a try.  If you're a fellow blogger, I hope you've enjoyed reading my posts for the past year - I've enjoyed reading yours!

In case you've just started following recently, here's a few of my favorite posts from my first year of blogging.

Trade Off

Tearin' It Up

Fly Fishing Horn Island

January Kayak Fishing

Drum Beat

Fly Fishing Pensacola - Day 2

Fly Fishing in Mississippi: Two Weekends on the Barrier Islands

Epic Sightfishing - Sunday

Saturday night found my buddy and me anxiously preparing flies for a highly anticipated trip to the "new spot" the next morning.  My buddy tied up some shrimp and crab patterns.  I attempted to recreate the gurglers I had seen in topwater redfish videos.  To that end, I went to Walmart and found some sheets of craft foam that looked like just the ticket.  The lady at the checkout asked what I was doing with the foam, and I replied, "making fishing lures."  She laughed and said, "Get down with your bad self." 

We got down with our bad selfs bright and early Sunday morning.  We booked it from the launch as the place is a multi-mile paddle.  I couldn't wait to show off the new spot and see if the magic would repeat itself.  Long story short, it did.

Within minutes of arriving, I saw several tailing redfish.  I got the attention of one of them and was rewarded with a huge explosion.  I proceeded to break off on the hookset.  ASlkdfjiwoefj!  Not only was I angry about losing the fish, but also about already losing one of the gurglers I had tied the night before.  Crazily, a few minutes later I spotted something small and red floating on the surface of the water.  It looked like a piece of foam.  It looked like a gurgler.  It was my gurgler!  

Meanwhile, my buddy spotted a fish with its back out of the water.  HIs new shrimp pattern was just the ticket.  Redfish on!

The redfish in this bayou are extremely dark compared to all other redfish I've seen.  I absolutely love how their appearance varies based on habitat.  The redfish I've caught out at the barrier islands and near the coast tend to be more pale and silvery in color.  Fish caught in other sections of the marsh tend to have a beautiful gold color.  These ones are more of a dark bronze.  It must have something to do with the clear water and dark, weedy bottom, but I can't say for sure.

The day continued with lots of action.  We saw tails, backs, and wakes galore.  I must have had 5 hits and no hook ups.  Setting the hook while popper or gurgler fishing can be tough.  With a Clouser, I often just strip once to twitch the fly and then watch the fish to suck it down before strip setting.  However, with a popper, the fish will often hit and miss and you have to keep the fly in the strike zone as well as keep stripping to continue the action.  This can make timing the strip set very awkward.  With the first fish of the day, I felt the take on one strip and tried to set it with another one.  This was too late as he was already bolting with fly in his mouth - an easy way to snap your tippet.  Another time I got too excited and lifted the rod like I was trout fishing.  This pulled the fly out of the strike zone and didn't give the fish a second chance.  Even when I didn't screw up, the fish still missed.  But I knew it was only a matter of time.  

Unfortunately, time was against me.  I had arranged to watch the Wimbledon final with a friend in the afternoon.  With less than 30 minutes before I had to start paddling back, I spotted a wake.  It was headed diagonally toward me.  My cast wasn't perfect - it landed several feet in front of him - but I knew right away he was on to it.  Strip, strip, strip, strip, WHAM!  Fish on!

It was another big one.  He took me on a journey, weaving in and out of patches of grass.  Several times he propelled my kayak into the grass at the edge of the marsh.  But eventually, I brought him in.  Sweet victory. 

This one was 27" - my 3rd largest of the year.

Epic Sightfishing - Saturday

I tied on the popper and started paddling around looking for tails.  I spotted one and approached.  The popper landed directly in front of it - no change in behavior.  The redfish slowly meandered across my field of vision.  I put the popper in front of him again.  Nothing.  The tail changed in direction and I could tell that it was now headed away from me.  Against my better judgment, I cast the popper all the way over the fish and popped it right back over his head.  This time I watched as the fish rose up to the surface, slowly turned around, and started following the fly.  In slow motion, his giant head bulged the surface of the water like a submarine, and in one mighty explosion, he attacked the fly.  He missed, but in a matter of seconds, my fishing life was changed forever.  Never have I experienced such a rush.

Saturday morning produced several moments like this.  In the end, I only managed to hook one fish.  But it was a big one.  I remember saying in a previous post that a 24" redfish is probably the biggest you'll find in the marsh this time of year.  Haha what a joke.  This guy was 29".

Let me just take a moment to complain about the size of fish I've been catching recently.  Its become increasingly difficult to take quality pictures of these fish.  Simply holding the camera in front of my face like normal doesn't allow me to fit the whole fish in the picture.

I have to either hold the camera over my head...

or off to the side of my head.

I know, life is rough...

I literally stopped fishing at this point and just soaked up the moment.  The fish were still there, but I didn't care.  I got out some water and snacks, and it wasn't till a tail popped up 10 ft to my left that I couldn't resist and scrambled to get my rod out again.  That one got away, and I paddled back to the launch after the activity cooled off.

The cause of this epic topwater sightfishing is that I finally made the decision to give the "secret spot" a rest and try another place that I'd been scoping out via google earth.  It turns out this new spot is even better.  I hadn't seen a tailing fish since last November, but this weekend I saw many, many tailing redfish.  I guess there is just something about this spot that encourages it.  The new spot is unlike anywhere I've paddled on the coast.   Deep, deep, into the marsh, the water is clear, and the bottom is covered in weeds.  All of the marshy places I've fished before in Mississippi have had fairly mirky water with bare mud bottoms.  The weeds are what prompted a switch from my trusty old Clouser minnow to a small popper - the only thing high enough to not get tangled.

I've watched videos of redfish taking topwater flies (like this one from R.A. Beattie) but up to this point I'd never experienced it myself.  I even recall a local fly fisherman telling me that redfish don't feed on the top as their mouths are designed to feed on the bottom.  Now that I've experienced it myself, I can truly say that fishing for redfish on the surface is the most exciting fishing I've ever done.  It might not be the most effective method - they seem to miss a lot - but I'll gladly trade a few redfish brought to hand for the adrenaline rush of a big red chasing a topwater fly.

I could go on and on about this spot, but I'm going to save that for another post.  After all, I went there on Sunday too!