Day 11 of fishing has come to an end, and what a great climax for our guests. We decided to have somewhat of a later start given that it had been a long four days (10 for Nate and I) and our bodies were starting to feel it.
Although we were feeling a little sore, the fact of the matter was, this was our guests last day to fish in the park. It was time to get cracking!
We had originally planned to hike into Grebe Lake, but the daunting 3 mile hike was not encouraging us, so we chose otherwise.
With it being the last day we wanted everybody to have a good time and catch fish. We decided to head over to Soda Butte for the morning session and then split up after lunch.
We started fishing just below the Soda Butte Rock and worked our way upstream and back. The fishing started a little slow but soon heated up. Hopper’s and Caddis were the ticket for the day (go figure).
Several very nice fish were landed…many more were missed.
The last time we had been on this water it was off color and that made it tough to get strikes. With something to prove, Jeff and Spencer got into some nice fish on the lower side of our section.
Charlie landed a 12″ fish and lost one considerably bigger. Dick worked his way upstream with no avail.
Dick changed flies and the fish were soon cartwheeling after his Yellow Foam Hopper trailed by the legendary Peacock Caddis.
The first two fish he landed were Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. The first one was at least 16″, the second was a very thick 14″er.
Dick later revealed that these were his largest wild fish to date. He worked them like a pro!
At about 3:00 we decided to break for lunch and some ‘make your own salads’.
While relaxing in the shade and watching the rain coming in from the west, we were visited by about 12 Long Horn Beetles.
After recharging our batteries we decided to split up.
Jeff and Spencer went back to Soda Butte and the rest of us headed towards Lava Creek.
We decided to take a slight detour on the Grand Loop to take in some of the sights.
We passed by the Yellowstone River and went into the Hayden Valley…
We saw numerous Buffalo, Mule Deer, the Sulphur Cauldron, and several Mud Pots. The rain played tag with us for the rest of the afternoon, so we decided to head back to the cabin.
Jeff and Spencer arrived before us, confirming what we had suspected would happen…a hatch on the Soda Butte. The fish were making the river boil and several really nice fish were landed because of it.
We left the river around six to start the daunting task of packing.
Dick was nice enough to hold true on his responsibility for the beer fish, and provided a Trout Slayer Ale to all involved. We used the tasty libation to wash down pizza as we reflected on the five wonder days of fishing we had just been a part of. Because Yellowstone is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world, I am sure we will each carry fond memories and images for years to come…I know I will.