Lancer09

Dammit Billet!!!!!!!!! I'm already low on vacation for this year and you keep putting this stuff up!

Man, I'm super Jelly of those Grayling. I tried in the park and had a few hits but couldn't get anything to stick. I've got my notebook handy.

You got into some good fish!

More?

That Heddon will be a blast to learn on me thinks. Being an old glass rod you'll have to properly learn the mechanics of a cast, focus on slowing your stroke down and letting the rod do the work. Those old Glass rods are awful resilient and as long as you don't do something like crush it in a door or ceiling fan I don't think you'll have any problems using it. I just think the older glass stuff is a better quality rod, and more responsive, even if slower than most of the low end graphite stuff. If you do decide to go graphite look at something like an echo Ion for $120, you'll have to get a reel and line but that will suit you so much better off than a bass pro branded rod. Also, buy yourself the nicest line you can afford, the hardness adn slickness will truly make your life easier learning to cast. I know the BP combos with a reel and line are tempting but for just a little more you can get yourself SOOOOO much more rod, reel, and line for the money. I'm a big fan of RIO lines, and I'm pretty sure SA just introduced a very affordable series of lines as well. Let us know how it goes!

The bears out there are no joke, unfortunately too many people don't take them seriously enough..

Creek crawlers, streamers, and and anything buggy will catch a smallie. However with it being summer time, throw poppers and wiggle minnows and get them looking up.

I upload most of my pictures from my phone... just use the photobucket app and copy and paste the img codes.

Man a lot of that looks familiar! We went in to Cody as well to buy a sleeping bag one day, drove right past the Shoshone, and that statue out in the middle of the field too! There was some good water in the park and I hit some but I think you could have done better outside of the park, just my opinion. Seemed to be a LOT of people fishing in the park while we were there, including ourselves. We drove through Pinedale on our way up there.. It looks like it would actually be a pretty fun place to stay for a few days in the summer when the crowds are there. I'd say there is a decent chance we crossed paths or nearly did and didn't even know it! I'm glad you had a great time out there. Like you i've started planning already based more around the fishing, and what I know I'll like. I know camping for 8 days isn't in the cards for me next time. I'm getting one of those cabins next year.

Thats my little buddy. 8.5 pounds of nothing but cute. He may not be the manliest dog... but he thinks he can whip anyones butt.

Chiefs*

Mine loves swimming so he is tough to wade with + he thinks he is bigger and tougher than everything.. He has small dog syndrome. Can't cast a fly near him because he wants to chase it. Doesn't really care about the fish when you have it in hand but throwing it back, or fighting it he will go in after it if he gets a chance.

It does in fact work. I've got a little tweaking I want to do to it now that I've really put it to the test, but It caught fish on the snake and had rises on another creek up there. The foam over wing needs to be a bit wider to envelop the poly wing, and a dubbed body added should pull the bottom of the fly down more often. It usually landed right but would sometimes go sideways and not want to right itself.

Not quite the same thing, but should work. http://www.flysandguides.com/how-to-tie-eric-schmueckers-wool-frog

That creek really was incredible. However we actually did encounter another group, and a lone angler in the second meadow alone. On the hike in we saw probably fifteen people hiking back and every one of them had a rod tube or two on them. When we were there we saw probably that many people headed to the third meadow and they all had rod tubes sticking up as well. I wanted to fish streamers on this trip and took my 7 out there and thought about giving it a shot with some bigger stuff, or trying to mouse one up, but never got around too it. The tent we stayed in was actually in West Yellowstone on the last night right on the South Fork of the Madison and there were some STUD fish right in camp that just looked like they would have liked a nice mouse after dark. Our guide said that the hoppers have been late up there this year and weren't in full mode yet there in Jackson like usual about now.. Which is predominantly what I tied. They were all over anything with a little sparkle, and that small stimulator was the ticket. I bet I missed 2-3 times as many fish as I actually hooked, and even fewer to hand. I definitely out kicked my coverage. The beer was delicious. We had a bit of wind that day too. Without anything there to block it it got tough to cast a few times. I actually had one of the little water spout, miniature tornadoes start right over top of me and actually pulled my hat off.

My Fiancee and I just got back from our trip out west. I have communicated with a few fellow forum members trying to get some advice, details, and anything that might help catch a few fish out there. This was NOT a fishing vacation but I was still able to get quite a bit of river time, and this is a documentation of some of that. Two Saturdays ago we had a concert we were going to. It was an all day deal... We left at 10:30 pm with three bands left. We wanted to cover some ground that night and crash in the car so that when we arrived in Jackson WY the next day we might still have a shot at a campsite (the one we wanted based on location did not take reservations). We pulled into town around 8:30 pm... The camp filled about 7:30, and we spent another night crashing in the car. We were up bright and early, rolled through town and up to the Gros Ventre campground and ended up getting a spot, cooked some breakfast and made a plan for the day. Turns out that sausage made out of bacon is actually very good. You see, we had a full day guided trip booked on the Snake River on Tuesday and I wanted to get a little fishing in before hand. The Gros Ventre River actually was right next to our campsite, which was only 6 miles North of Jackson. It was a beautiful day! 75, light breeze and no humidity.. Compared to the 98, and stifling humidity that we had on Saturday out at Sporting Park for our show this was quite the welcome respite. We bought our licenses for the next two days, a few flies, and did some site seeing in town. We stopped by the National Fish Hatchery and checked out their fishing pond. About the time we started heading back to make a couple of toasted sammiches for lunch the weather took a big turn, dropping to 45 and raining.... I'm quite blessed in what my fiancee will do to feed this fishing habit of mine. We geared up and hit the river outside of camp. When I called up to confirm my reservation with the fly shop they said it would be warm enough to wet wade, and no one brought waders this time of year... So I didn't... It was a bit cold. Unbeknownst to me, if we had started fishing before that system moved in, that ended up dumping a few inches of snow above 9,000 feet, every body of water int he area was just on fire and anything you threw was hammered... I caught no fish this day. That storm hung in all night and it got sunny as we broke camp to head to the shop for our trip, after we got back we would be driving up to Yellowstone to camp for the next five nights. When we got to the shop the guide asked if I had any flies, and showed him the Cliff Boat Box worth of stuff I had tied up, he said some would work and filled a shop jar full of flies to take. Dry Flies were going to be the name of the game, but it was still only 45 degrees or so when we got to the put in. As we begin to rig up Ed (our guide) asks for the jar of flies and is confused when I say I don't have them. Ed thinks he handed them to me, I think I handed them back to Ed. Ed Grabs a stash of his own personal flies and I rig up with one of mine that he says will work. Chernobyls were the name of the game for the day. The Snake is so unlike anything we have here it was incredible. From the color of the water to the volume of the flow, just insane. Fishing started off a bit slow as Ed worked with my Fiancee in the front of the boat with her casting, and as we were close to the access. Along a nice current seam from the middle of the river I nailed my first Cuttie of the day, which was also my biggest. I was picking up fish fairly regularly and finished the 12.5 mile float somewhere between 12-15 fish. About half way through Ashleigh finally connected with her first trout on a dry fly. We caught fish on Chernobyl's, hoppers, and my best fly of the day was a tiny Stimulator,, like an 18. Within site of the take out she connected with her biggest fish of the day. Ed turned out to be a fantastic guide, and we had a great day after we got past forgetting the shop flies! On to Yellowstone we go! On Wednesday we didn't do any fishing. We bought our licenses, and did the touristy stuff. Thursday we hiked up to Mystic Falls. I really wish I had brought a rod. That was a brook trout looking creek if I've ever seen one. That day I also fished the Gibbon River trying to catch a Grayling... I did not.... Friday I fished the Gibbon River again trying to catch a Grayling.... Again, I did not... I will have to go back for this. I was told they are rare, but it was something I wanted. Ashleigh Fished a little bit but mostly just hung out on the river bank. Upon the advice of a forum member, and a few other people I decided to cash in all of my fishing chips for a trip up to a creek that meanders through a few meadows. I was told number one has fish, but move on. Number two is good, and meadow three is the best for fishing. Meadow number 2 was a 4.5 mile hike up. I as fine with this but I knew I wouldn't get her to hike another few miles to number three. What we didn't know that was in meadow number 2 the trail never cuts down near the creek, and we ended walking the length of it looking for somewhere to drop in. Our 9 mile round trip hike turned into 13.1. In wading boots. My feet Hurt. It was more than worth it. We found a small feeder creek that cut through down to the main creek and followed it through chest high grass down to where we wanted to fish. There were fish. Pure Yellowstone Cutts. This slow creek was going to take good drifts to get them to come up. They were rising to cripples and emergers, but not taking any real dry flies. I had refusals on Adams, Purple Haze, Chernobyls, Ants, Green Drakes, and Hoppers. I wanted those fish on a dry fly but it didn't seem it would happen. I dropped a number 18 red Copper John off the back of my hopper on about 2 feet of 7x. First cast. Game On. What you cannot see is how fat that fish was. He was the king of his pool. He measured from the crease in my elbow to the tip of my index finger, which is how I measure fish. It was right on 19 inches. when I slid that barbless hook out of his mouth I noticed something. Someone's small BWO was lodged on the inside of his mouth. I took that out too. I like to think whoever hooked him before me did well with a dry, but I was the one who was able to land him on 7 x, and a 4 wt. A 5 would have been more appropriate but the Girl had that in her hand down the creek. Here are a few more pictures of him. Ashleigh was getting refusals on everything on top as well, so For her I dropped a number 18 Dally's Softhackle off the back. 2 olive wire wraps to 1 chartreuse, and it was game on for her, and that was the hot fly of the day. She hasn't had to fight any fish on real light line up to this point so this was quite the test, and with barbless hooks nonetheless. She caught the fattie of the day, and hooked probably 6 more fish, and brought one more to hand. This one broke the fly right after this picture was taken, and she had another one straighten the hook. We went through all of that exact fly I had in my box. The would look at a 16 but hit it much less often, or any other color combo was not quite as loved. I ended up only landing the one fish, and her the two, but I'd have given mine up if it meant she could have landed the one that straightened her hook. We headed on back to camp. About a mile from the trail head we encountered a bison on our trail, which prevented us from getting back to the car for another half hour as he moseyed along the trail. Those three fish are truly the highlight of my trip. The work it took to get to them, the strength of them, beauty, and catching a native fish in the stream it was born in, the stream it will die in was an exhilarating experience. I won't hesitate to go back there again, and am already looking to hike all my stuff up there and camp and fish the creek for a few days instead of a few hours. We also had some pretty good eats on the trip. On Sunday night we had some pretty sweet digs so we didn't have to take camp down before we headed home on Monday morning. Like usual, towards the end of the trip I started kicking myself because I felt like I didn't get enough good pictures to really remember the trip.. And the more I thought about it, I became more glad that I didn't. Instead of worrying about how the trip would look or how I would remember it, I was able to enjoy it, live in the moment and really take in the sheer magnitude out there. Thanks for reading, and here is to dry boots and socks on a cold morning.

Gray scuds. I don't throw much else in the fall during the day unless you can get in a boat and hit the banks with some streamers, but that's not the most effective way to fish taney. It just isn't the same as the white.

Thank you Sir! I hope to put something together when we get back. Phones are staying away while there unless we are taking pictures. Will be good to use that as a chance to get away. This is a 6. I've got a few tied through 10's as well. Really any smaller than that though and they get tough with as much stuff is on there.

People who haven't spent real time, or really interacted with individuals on the spectrum don't truly understand the patience it takes. Hang tough, and just know that you are doing more for them than many others would. They are yours and you are theirs whether they know how to communicate that to you or not. It's hard not to be a little cynical about life in general, throw in what you have at home and I don't think anyone here will fault you for that. back when I was working with Adaptive phys ed classes at MSU we would pair up with individuals, all that has to be done is find that one trigger for them, it may be as simple as them being able to make eye contact with you (pretty much impossible for people with autism), or being able to look at you and listen at the same time (also pretty much impossible). Just keep working with your children, things may not ever be any different but the best thing you can do is try to teach them, and try to learn from them at the same time. I had an Aunt who had a cognitive disability, albeit not austism. However she taught me more about unconditional love, hard work and being a good person maybe more than anyone else. She kept my grandpa alive until he was 90 years old. She woke him up every day, made him shave every day. Made sure that he drove them to breakfast at Hardees a couple times a week and fixed him dinner every night. She never learned how to read, never learned how to drive, or work any sort of job. But she did what my grandma taught her, how to cook, keep a clean house and love her family. Her Christmas presents were always easy too. All she ever wanted to was dvd's that she would watch endlessly. We lost my grandpa a few years back, and she inherited the house, but we all knew she wouldn't last long. She died within 2 weeks of him. My grandpa lived for her, and she for him. You will never have the traditional parenting experience but that doesn't mean that you cannot get as much out of it either, it just may be different.

In 2 days I head out west. Like any other trip I've been tying feverishly only to probably use four or five total flies. It's hopper time out there and I've been prepping for that. I've been looking for a hopper that would float like a cork, and could support a heavy nymph under it. Between the time to tie them, or not having the proper materials I wasn't really finding anything that I liked or felt confident in. I wanted something with a synthetic wing to hold floatant to keep it up. I like hair wings on hoppers for how they look but how they float as well. I put together something of my own creation. All hoppers are essentially the same with mixed components in different portions, I'm not huge on naming flies but this thing might as well be the golden corral with as much stuff as it has on it, so that's what it will affectionately be referred to now as.. the Golden Corral. Foam Body Pearl Crystal Flash Synthetic wing Foam overwing Stacked elk hair wing yellow barred rubber legs and the foam body folded back over for the head. even if it doesn't fish well, at least I have a good looking indicator in a few days.

Mostly 8-12 leeches. Or stepped up to the articulated stuff.

Any chance you could pm me what youve got?

I threw some during the flood back in 11. I moved a few fish that would make your knees shake. They are in there.

My point was this. A guy catches a few 15-16 inch bass and keeps them and the entire TR forum is up in arms. This guy catches and keeps a 20 pound brown and no one batted an eye here. Sure they stock trout there yet the legal limits are STILL lower in numbers than bass and the size minimum is still LARGER. Lets not forget the 38 pound brown that was caught and kept out of the white back in february. Outside of a few trout guys no one really cares. Just because someone keeps a few bass out of TR doesnt mean the fishing is going to be ruined like it is made out to be by a lot of members.