Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Denver to Dillon

Hey everyone,

Here's my first update from the road. As is typical for me, I had way too much to do and no where near enough time to do it before I left. So instead of leaving Thursday afternoon I left early Friday morning. I got on the road just as the sun was coming up and hauled straight up to Jackson. I fished Flat creek for a few hours then went to meet up with my friends Matt and Eric at their camp site on a small cutthroat stream. We made some dinner, drank some single malt and tied some flies by the campfire before finally calling it a night. In the morning we gathered up our fishing gear and hiked over the hill into the stream's meadows to fish.

We got to the water a couple hours before the Green Drakes started hatching so we started with some dry dropper rigs and picked up a few fish here and there. But once the Drakes started hatching the fishing was on!

The Rods


The Stream



The Fish

After fishing Saturday the 3 of us cruised into town to get a good meal. Then Matt and Eric got back on the road for Steamboat. I camped out again and Sunday morning headed up a small creek on the north side of Grand Teton National Park. There were no Drakes around, but the fish responded just fine to some big Stimulators and Hoppers.



That evening it was up to Island Park, ID. I decided to head through Yellowstone and take a look at some of the sites.


Storm clouds over the Fire Hole
Monday morning was cold in the tent, so I slept in a bit. I finally got up a little after 8 and headed down the road to the Henry's Fork Angler. I picked up my Idaho License and a few flies then headed to Harriman State Park to fish "The Ranch" on the Henry's Fork.

When I got to the water, not much was going on, but I ran into another bamboo fisherman. We sat on the bank and chatted for a while and finally got back to fishing. As we were walking out we spotted a few nice fish rising and in succession he caught a beautiful Henry's Fork Rainbow then I got one.
Then it was back to the car for a little lunch. While I was eating lunch, I got a painful bug bite. Thinking nothing of it I went back to the river. Once I got to the water I spotted several risers in the Millionaires Pool. I slowly worked my way down to the water and ended up landing a few more nice fish.

Afternoon on the Henry's Fork

After fishing on Monday I hooked up with a friend of a friend. JD Miller is a guide for Henry's Fork Anglers and one hell of a cool guy. We had an awesome dinner and talked steelhead until I passed out on his couch.

Yesterday I left Island park and cruised through Twin Bridges Montana and stopped in at the Sweetgrass shop. Glen and Jerry were out for the day, but I got to meet Mike, Sam and Dan and had a great time talking rods with them and checking out the new building they're constructing to house the Sweetgrass rod company.

After leaving there I cruised over the to Beaverhead below Clark Canyon Dam. I fished until dark and managed only a couple of the smaller fish from the river, which is known for some massive trout.

After getting off the water I noticed my entire forearm had swollen up from the bug bite on the Henry's Fork so I rolled into town and got a hotel room. Now I'm stuck in Dillon Montana waiting to get in to see a doctor to figure out what the hell that bug did to me.

2 comments:

  1. Mark,

    The last time I saw you, I may have neglected to tell you how much you suck. I'd like to remedy that right now by letting you know that you suck. Quite a lot, actually.

    Hope the bug bite goes away, and hope the fishing stays good.

    Keep sucking,

    Nick Laeder

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  2. Mark,

    Son Paul and I enjoyed meeting you on the Henry's Fork this Monday. Seems like we brought each other some luck with that near double header.

    Have a safe trip,

    Dan Barr

    ReplyDelete