Mike Cline
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Go find this niche! N 32 57′ 8″ W 86 10′ 7″ (Socapatoy Creek) or deliverance country as some of my Slapout friends called it.
And the Native is a great looking boat. The the disadvantages, relative to a sit-on-top would be that it’s not self-bailing (only really a major concern on rivers with larger rapids or fishing in open water on large lakes/ocean) and you don’t have the built-in hatch to store gear (yes, you can get some dry bags and tie them down in an open cockpit, but I’ve enjoyed being able to quickly tuck gear under my deck for rougher water and then pull it out once I’m through).
Indeed the Native is not self-bailing and will accumulate a bit of water from entering and leaving the boat. Small conseqence and is easily dealt with by carrying a small hand pump (I’ve never had to pump out water while in the boat). However, rough water can be mitigated with a bow cover as seen in this video. http://s527.photobucket.com/albums/cc354/Bozeman_Mike/Yellowstone%20River%202012/?action=view¤t=GOPR0027.mp4. This was on the Yellowstone near Point of Rocks this Spring before runoff. The wide angle video doesn’t convey the real size of these waves. Very little water came in the boat. I carry of couple of small dry bags for fly boxes, leaders, extra reels etc. but they are secured in the back of the boat. For day trips, I carry a 15″ Plastic Latched Box (Walmart) that is effectively waterprook to store drinks, raingear and other stuff dry under the bow. Nothing important has ever gotten wet yet.
Zach,
The Yellowstone Cutts were consistently in the 17-18” range. No little ones to be found. I was using my 7 wgt XP with a 250 grain 30ft DC tip and #4 Black Bunny leeches tied clouser style. The location is the break between a shallow sandy flat and deeper rocky water. I would guess the depth at the break was about 20’. Put the fly on the bottom, slow retrieve and drag up a cutt. Yes, I was in my Native Ultimate 12.The Lower Gardner – some say it begins at Boiling River, but my Lower Gardner is the last 1 mile + of river from the Rescue Creek trailhead down to the confluence at the Yellowstone.
Mike –
When you say the lower Gardner, … but I wouldn’t have thought of it as offering great fishing. I’ve only fished it because it is right down by Mammoth Hot Springs campsite so it’s an easy evening walk.
ZachMost anglers underestimate this section of the river. In July (actually late June-early July) this is a reliable stretch of Salmon fly water (yesterday, there were adults in the willows and Junipers along the entire stretch). In the Fall, big Browns come up from the Yellowstone. It is high and difficult pocket water this time of year, but the proximity to the Yellowstone ensures a lot of fish inhabit the river and yesterday there were loads of Rainbows, Cutts, CuttBows, Browns,. and Whitefish in the river. The 12” Rainbows and Cutt Bows are the most difficult to land in the fast water because they immediately head downstream for the Yellowstone (especially when fishing with a 3wgt glass rod as I did yesterday). I typically park at the Rescue Creek trailhead, cross the river and walk across the bench to the confluence at dawn. Takes about 15-20 minutes. It takes, as it did yesterday about 5 hours to fish the 1 mile back to the footbridge.
This time of year, you can’t wade across the river, so you are stuck on one side. In the Fall you can fish both sides. This is workout fishing, especially in the early Summer. The banks are steep and rocky or lined with Willows, Roses, Currents or Junipers. You either have to fight through the pocket water or scramble up steep gravely banks sometimes though cactus and other pointy stuff. But the reward is fish in just about every pocket or eddy you can find. This is easy nymphing water with large stonefly nymphs, but the real fun are dries—attractors, hoppers, or as yesterday, big stonefly imitations. Because the river is really clear, it can be buck fever water when you see a 12-14” fish come after your fly out of a deep pocket. The Cutts are the worst because they rise slow and sure. Yesterday, I landed at least 4 Cutts over 14”, a Brown at 15” but missed just as many because I set the fly too soon or too late. Fish in the 8-12” range are common and easy, but the river holds a lot of decent fish.
There is one secret to success on the Lower Gardner, especially when the Salmon flies are abundant as they were yesterday or hoppers as they will be soon. Fish the shady side of the River, the shady runs and pockets carefully. Once the sun hits the water, fish are more reluctant to hit big flies (I was using #4 2” long Stoneflies yesterday). However, in the shade, they charge with abandon.
A lot of causal tourists try and fish the Gardner without much success because they won’t do the work. The stretch in the Canyon above the Rescue Creek bridge is just as good, but the proximity to the road makes it less appealing. Above Boiling River, the fishing is good, but ease of access makes it a crowded place at times. Yesterday, starting a dawn and finishing up at the footbridge about 11:30 AM I didn’t see another angler until I got within a few hundred yards of the bridge. They were all tourists flogging the water in the sun from easy access points with no success that I saw. Yet within the last 100 ft of river with the steep gravelly banks, a couple of dead fall but five great pockets in a row, I caught five fish while the tourists gawked with envy. The Lower Gardner, as I said above is a workout river. When I get back from this road trip to the East coast, I’ll put together a little photo post with Gardner images over the years.
Unfortunately the lower mainstem of the Gallatin does get hit hard by irrigation demands. Whereas the East does not get much water pulled out and alot of irrigation water from other sources is returned to the east along with the plentiful spring creeks in the valley. Here’s hoping for a normal summer and fall.
Eric, I got my GoPro2 a couple of months ago from REI. I fish alone so much, that I thought it would be nice to get some video of my experiences. Have had it several times out on the rivers and when I was volunteering for Warriors and Quiet Waters. I am extremely pleased with the quality of the video. I’ve only used it with the head mount so far, but have picked up the Scotty mount adapted for it for the kayak. Will be using that in a week or so when Yellowstone Lake opens up. I bought the extra battery pack which really extends the time you can use the camera. On the head, it takes a bit of getting used to, especially the angle of the camera. (One day I shot sky all day instead of the fishing). I have taken the time to do any video editing yet, just taking a lot of raw shots occasionally. I’ve attached a couple of raw videos I’ve taken so far this year. Quality isn’t near as good online as they are at full HD resolution.
http://s527.photobucket.com/albums/cc354/Bozeman_Mike/?action=view¤t=GOPR0085.mp4
Can you guess where? Last Sunday with the Scott 3wgt.
Lots of Browns like this one on the bugger
My first Brookie from the mainstem of the Fireholehttp://s527.photobucket.com/albums/cc354/Bozeman_Mike/Yellowstone%20River%202012/?action=view¤t=GOPR0027.mp4
This was from the 1st trip with the GoPro on the Yellowstone in March.Monday morning on the Firehole went well. The unsettled weather apparently kept everyone home and even by mid-day there were minimal numbers of anglers out on the river. Had several sections of the river to myself most of the morning. Of course, all the easy access spots were filled. Even the park attendance seemed light. The Scott 703/3 fished well in the morning until the wind picked up.
Rainbows and Browns were obliging but between 6:30AM and 1PM, not a rising fish was to be found.
The river was in great shape, clear and well inside the banks. Not like last year.
2011 Opening Weekend on the Firehole. Much better this year.A great start to the Yellowstone season. Back in the park tomorrow to take advantage of nice weather. Oh, what rod to use?
That puts the dollars generated as close as possible to the dollars spent, which helps oversight immensely and lets the people being taxed feel like their taxes are being used to benefit them.
Zach
There is an economic benefit to these taxes – http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/nfhs/rainbowtrout.htm
You need a vacation from your permanent vacation…
Zach
No worries, will be in the marshes in Jacksonville, FL over T-giving.
If you are not using compression bags you should be. A complete change of quickdry clothing, including socks, can be compressed down to the size of a small loaf of bread.
people tend to not mess with a registered boat. Or I have been lucky so far.
Well, years ago in Alabama I traded in my registered 15′ bassboat for a larger 18′ Tracker at a dealer in Birmingham. Six weeks later I was being visited by Tennessee police saying they found my 15′ boat abandoned on the Cumberland river. The dealer sold it the day after I traded it in, it was subsequently stolen, and then apparently the thief abandoned it.
I don’t fish from Prams because they leak and there’s no room for gear.First, I don’t give much credance to anything that’s blamed on climate change, since the climate has been changing for eons.
Second, June is a tough month in the Rockies.
