Fall Yellowstone National Park trip
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My wife and I are planning to visit Yellowstone early-mid September of this year. My experience so far is mostly still water, and we are hoping to arrange casting lessons for her before the trip. What suggestions do you have for general locations or book/video resources for us? I would be leaning toward streamers or hoppers type of (my perception) not highly technical fly fishing. Ideally visiting semi remote lakes/drainages like Zach did in one of his early podcast streamside essay sounds good.
I took my first trip to Yellowstone a few years back. It was mid-late September.
I don’t know if you’ve been there or how much you know about the area.
The place is really very big. So depending on how much time you spend there, will determine how many places you can fish. I spent a couple weeks there and mainly concentrated on the section in the northeast. I made some day trips to fish some famous rivers on the western side and the ones near Old Faithful.
You will likely get a mix of weather, so be prepared for warm, cold, and wet.
It sounds like you are going just after Labor Day. That will thin out the people a little bit, but there is still going to be a lot of people fishing. Being that, you will have to walk a ways to get away from the crowds. The farther you get away from the roads and parking places, the fewer anglers you will see and usually the fishing is better.
In Sept, they fish will definitely still be looking up. I was using large terrestrials in late Sept, especially when the days warmed up nicely.
Do you know where you want to stay?
If you haven’t decided on a place to stay, I would really be looking into that quickly. Staying in the park is “do-able”, but reservations fill up for campsites as well as the modern facilities. I stayed in Cooke City/Silver Gate, MT. Just outside of the northeast entrance to the park. It was a short drive to a lot of fishing…Soda Butte, Pebble Creek, Trout Lake, the Lamar, and Slough Creek.
When the fishing is on, it’s really not that technical. When they’re smashing hoppers, just keep a good drift and hang on!
I’m sure there are a lot of people on here that will be of help. And if you can provide any more specifics, that will help narrow things down. Like, how long will you be there? Where do you want to stay? What type of place to you want to stay at? etc.
You will have a great time. I had a hoot.
Brian
Here is some info you might be interested in while in the area.
MikeJWSEPTEMBER
SEP 24-28, 48th annual Federation of Fly Fishers International Fly Fishing Fair, West Yellowstone, MT. Tue-Wed: workshops only. Thu-Sat, exposition: 8:30am-5:00pm. Programs, fly tying demos, exhibitors, workshops, youth and womens activities. FFF Casting Certification.Jon,
If you are serious about hiking, you should check out hiking up Slough Creek. There are three meadows. The first meadow is not a bad hike, but the second and third are quite a bit longer.
Going in Sept, you will have fewer hours of daylight that you will have to consider. Get a very early start. You’re pretty much tied to day hiking, unless you get a back country permit. See here:
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/backcountryhiking.htmJust getting from Jackson to the grand loop in Yellowstone will take close to two hours. Once to the grand loop, things slow down and it takes a while to get just about anywhere.
Tim’s recommendation about staying closer to the park or keeping a lookout for cancellations in the park is a good one. Read up on the area(s) you want to focus on and see if there’s a better alternative for lodging.
Yellowstone is just too big to try to do things everywhere in 7 days. I went for a couple weeks, but would have liked to have taken a month. I did set aside a couple days just to drive, see some sights and do some opportunistic fishing. While driving, if I saw a good looking stretch of stream or river, I’d stop and check it out. I found some good fishing that way.
But no matter what, I’m sure you’ll have a great time. It’s one of the greatest places on earth. Some people describe it as Disneyland….for adults.
Brian
I would echo everything that Brian says. I’ve fished YSNP at least 15 times in the past 20 years and it is truly a magical place. More recently I’ve become obsessed with the Firehole (not a lace to take your wife except to sightsee), but the northeast corner is best for beginners. There are cabins at The Canyon area that are OK and closer to that area.
As Brian says, it’s a couple hours from Jackson just to the loop and then you could be 2-3 more hours from fishing. Stay in park if you can. The hotels are expensive but far nicer than anything you will find outside the park (unless you want to pay $400 a night in Jackson). At least try to find lodging in West Yellowstone or Cooke City. I would definitely avoid the FFF convention week!!!
And don’t neglect the Jackson Hole fishing. Flat Creek and Snake are great fisheries. Even the little tribs to the Snake hold lots of fine spotted cutthroats.
We did a little traipsing about Custer State park in South Dakota a few years back about the same time of year.
Jon,
There’s no bad advice here, but everyone has different experiences in Yellowstone the first time they come to the park, especially to fish.
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