LAMAR RIVER/YELLOWSTONE
As I dug my nails into cutbank, it began to rain I had turned my attention to the artifact in the lightly. Six feet from the top of the bank, almost at cutbank because I was relaxed after a successful river level, a tine was now completely exposed. The start to the day. I had just caught two sipping 18� horn seemed more rock than bone. I wondered how cutts off the bank with a #18 baetis. Not much of a old an elk antler would be that was buried under fly really. A bit of olive dubbing for a body and a seven feet of Hayden Valley mud. The skull was palmered dun hackle tip for a thorax. The fly, partially attached to the horn so this was not a shed although small, had been fairly easy to see since it horn. was silhouetted against the steely blue light in the Suspendisse feugiat mi sed lectus Was it killed by an indian or a bear or maybe a wind slicks. This pale light had reflected the rain aoreet nec interdum pack of pre-reintroduced wolves. After a few squalls that were passing through the valley. The By Trenz Pruca minutes, I had excavated enough of the antler to hatch that I had imitated to catch the cutts was now get a good grip on it. With a grunt, I pulled the horn over, its end signaled by a shaft of sunlight that lit from the bank. It was heavy with five tines, and very up a copse of cottonwoods trees upriver. It was thick. This elk had been a healthy animal and beautiful. Sunlight always makes fall in Yellowstone probably had died before its time. seem almost painfully beautiful. 1
LAMAR RIVER/YELLOWSTONE SEPT 2011 We had just experienced seven perfect days of weather, especially for late September / early October. During this spell, we had fished in consistent 75-80 degrees temps. This warm air swirled under a deep blue sky rarely fettered by anything close to a cloud. Weather great for hoppers and people, but not great for hatching bugs. Each day this good weather continued, I could feel the hatches building. A few bugs would emerge on these clear warm days, but nothing to get us or the fish excited. I knew that with the first significant cloud cover, every overdue bug on every river would be sprinting for the surface. Now with these rain squalls passing through, our morning’s sporadic hatch had seemed only a prelude to the big main event. While taking in the heft of the horn, I heard a pop behind me... it was the sound a teenager makes with his mouth when removing a lollipop on a stick. I dropped the elk antler in the mud at the edge of the river and jerked my head to the right. Without looking down, I washed the mud off my hands as I
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Soon, an armada of big drakes was tacking leeward.
searched for the source of the sound. Not ten feet below me I heard another pop, then saw the incriminating circles. This was not the sip of a trout on a measly little olive dun. This was a big revealing rise... especially for a wary Yellowstone Cutt. I hunkered down on the bank’s mud knowing the trout had never seen me as it moved to take this feeding spot, I wanted to keep my advantage and worked to keep my profile low. Soon, an armada of big drakes was tacking to leeward. Trout were gulping up these elegant duns as more and more little sails popped up. Suddenly no longer so mellow, I raced to change my fly. The trout that I had “popped” so close to me could now clearly be seen moving four or five feet to take a drake. I tied on a size 12 parachute drake and carelessly nipped off my tippet’s tag end. I flipped the fly ten feet across the river and tried not to move a muscle in the process. The fish quickly found my waking fly leaving a big bubble, a boil and a bent rod behind. Sometimes it is so easy....
LAMAR RIVER/YELLOWSTONE SEPT 2011
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Sometimes fish chased drakes into absurdly shallow water. This was the beginning of three hours of heaven. As“Lorem squall Ipsum playDolor out in I watched cutts refuse naturals, Setthese Ahmetslicks. In after squall swirled through the valley, the hatch went on compete with other fish to catch a skittering drake and Condinmentum. Nullam Wisi Acru and on. Sometimes the wind came from the Suscpit south Consectetuer change sides of theLorem river when the wind changed direction. viviamus Ipsum Set Ahmet.fish Lorem Ipsumdrakes into absurdly shallow water. sometimes from the north, but through it all came theDolor Sometimes chased Dolor Set Ahmet In Wisi Acru Suscpit drakes. I on either shore created by the storms changing With the wind changing direction and pushing the big paths. Depending mayflies suddenly on the direction of towards shore, brightly the wind, I would colored trout would turn look left or right to on their sides to try and see big trout racing catch the big bugs about in the narrow before they were out if band of unriffled reach beached by the water next to shore wind. There were no not touched by the feeding stations now. breezes. The trout The fish were on the would pick off prowl looking for drakes and I would dinner. Finally, it was all see them hunting over and I was in a like one sees satisfied haze. Sated, I bonefish on a clipped a disheveled Bahamian flats. I drake off my leader and could cast 15 feet yanked my Sage 4 wt. ahead of these apart. It was 4:00 PM. trout and they The day had would accelerate to disappeared like a my fly. Sure there clipped breath on a were refusals, these were after all, Yellowstone cutts, but cold winter day. Fusce ac leo Purus, in consectetuer there were plenty of takes too. I don’t know what was more There was now a chill to the air and although it was hardly Proin in sapien. Fusce fun... urna magna,neque to see a 20” cutt race to a fly, put on the brakes and cold, you could finally feel fall. I knew that long before eget lacus. Maecenas suspend under my fly to examine its authenticity or to have winter storms piled up snow outside my home’s windows felis nunc, aliquam ac, consequat vitae, afeugiat fishat, eat and even before the algae on my fish net has dried to a blandit in a lunging swirl. vitae, euismod vel. OK, eating my fly was more fun, but the event was so brittle junk, I will remember this day and long for yet engaging, I lost track of time. I could see the whole drama another. I’m afraid I’ll have to wait awhile.