End of the Worlders in Yellowstone National Park

If you were in Yellowstone National Park on Thursday, you may have seen the End of the World RV. I ran into the driver of said RV in the visitor's center. His pressing questions were not about any major upcoming eruptions in Yellowstone. Instead, he inquired about which of the Yellowstone's campgrounds were open. I guess he was trying to appreciate the little things in life with the rapture coming in a couple of months and all.

Where is the nearest campground? Is it open? Will my End of the World RV have a spot there before the End of the World.

In other news, YNP was open to fishing this weekend. I left on Friday, so I wasn't able to participate in the opening weekend, but, the Unaccomplished Angler was. The UA hinted at the bad weather that was predicted for West Yellowstone this weekend. Joshua Bergan from Troutbugs confirmed it. During my time there on Thursday and Friday, it snowed. Only a couple of inches, but snow nonetheless. It made for a unique opportunity to view the park's hydrothermal features that wintery white stuff.

Upper Falls - Yellowstone River

Lower Falls - Yellowstone River

Grand Prismatic - a bit foggier than usual - cold weather to blame

Bison

Sex Dungeons - fresh and ready for the Big Hole

Boogie Men and Heifer Groomers - hopefully grooming and boogying some heif in the near future

Big Hole Browns - Eat These Please

I fished for about a half-hour this weekend. I did stop by the Slide Inn and picked up some streamers for the season. I could have gone for broke there. So many articulated streamers, so little money. But, I am making up for it with a day trip to the upper Big Hole or Beaverhead with Joe from Evolution Anglers on Tuesday. I am looking forward to it. Should be a good time.

If the Rapture Comes Tomorrrow...

I will be happy knowing that the last fish I saw was a 25" brown and the last fish I caught was a 20" brown. See you tomorrow world???

twenty five inches of "$%@! you, high water" brown trout

The Clark Fork, the Bitterroot, Rock Creek, the Blackfoot, the Big Hole, everything local is running high and muddy. Runoff is upon us. It is no where close to peaking with plenty of snow left in the mountains. The fluvial geomorph nerd in me is hoping for a whopper of a runoff. Whatevs. Back to the task at hand - fishing. Bucko and I went back to some familiar ponds and ran into some nice fish. I caught a 20 inch brown and was feeling pretty good. Bucko caught a 25 inch brown. $%@! you, high water. Watch in HD on vimeo.

Sometimes Whitefish eat Sex Dungeons

The Bitterroot is fishing well. Yes, of course, the March Browns were hatching. But, in news I care about more, streamer fishing is picking up. So well that, a tiny whitefish decided to join the party by hooking itself on an articulated sex dungeon. I have no clue how it fit the hook in it's tiny tiny mouth, but I am guessing it didn't mean to. It promptly gave up when hooked and did none of that signature whitefish head-shaking that helps an angler identify it on the other end of the line. I imagine it didn't like the sizable intruder that was the sex dungeon and nipped at it to make it go away. When the sex dungeon bit back, the poor poor whitefish just gave up. Oh yeah, some nice browns and rainbows were also caught. As always, watch this gem on vimeo in HD.

sometimes whitefish eat sex dungeons from Yukon Goes Fishing on Vimeo.

A Weekend on the Blackfoot

Two weekends ago, I camped up on the Blackfoot River with a couple friends. The river was turbid and higher than normal and fishing was tough, but I managed a handful of trout and some whities. On a positive note, my friend Laura Verhaeghe took some great photos. Here is a sampling of her work from that weekend on the Blackfoot. See more of her work here.

painted YGF in lights

Blackfoot Morning

Sunrise on the Blackfoot

Sunrise on the Blackfoot

Sunrise on the Blackfoot

Spring Frost

Spring Growth

echo carbon and the guru

Casting on the Blackfoot