The 2001 Trip

The First Trip of the New Millennium to the Wilds of Idaho and Yellowstone: A tale of man’s triumph over adversity

Expeditioners:

Andy Batcho (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)

Greg Koenig (2000, 2001)

Al Miller (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)

John Richardson (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)

Mike Shaunessy (1998, 2000, 2001)

Itinerary for the 2001 Expedition

 

            Fri.      7/13  Travel Day and S

            Sat.     7/14  South Fork Boise River 

            Sun     7/15 Big Wood River, No Name Creek

            Mon   7/16 Silver Cr., Big Lost River, Big Wood River

            Tues   7/17 Henry's For

            Wed   7/18 Henry's For

            Thur  7/19 Madison Arm by Hebgen Lake, Madison River between Quake and Hebgen Lakes,

                                   Madison River by Raynold's Pass 

            Fri      7/20 South Fork Boise River

            Sat     7/21 Travel Day for Home (Bummer!!)

The Adventure Begins.......................................................

             

Friday July 13, 2001

Modern vacations take many forms depending upon the needs of the vacationers including rest, relaxation, excitement, achievement, and so forth. Our trip this year included two near death automobile events, a potential drowning, loss of financial funds, and disappointing chicken fried steak. We were noticeably short on rest and relaxation but we did have multiple humorous events from which future stories are sure to evolve (and grow beyond belief).

Someone once said that events (good or bad) come in threes. This trip was no exception, at least in the first 45 minutes (3 sets of 15 minutes?).

Meeting at JR’s at 5:45, we assembled the full deal team of Andy, John, Greg, Mike, and Al into the two vehicles, which were to go over to the fabled fishing lands in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. An extended cab pickup with a full bed comprised the workhorse carrying capability while a Chrysler Town & Country mini-van was more the genteel people mover. Now lest one become concerned over the participants in the rugged truck, please note the use of the same leather seats found in Cadillacs, surround sound stereo systems, air conditioning, etc. The caravan headed down the hill to the local Albertson’s to pickup ice, agree on community funds, last minute items. AM was selected to be treasurer as well as note taker this year with everyone chipping in $200 to get the treasury going. After loading up coolers with ice, picking up miscellaneous items, trying to hookup the CB’s for intra-vehicle communication, we head out to the freeway entrance onto I-90! Anticipation runs high as we plan to reach Boise in time for an evening fish on our first destination at the South Fork of the Boise River.

Rolling eastward in the overcast early morning light, AM tries to locate the trip notebook to record some mileages. Searching the vehicle while cruising forward at 70 mph, neither JR nor Mike can locate the notebook. Nor can anyone find the leather cash envelope containing the community treasury! Anxiety begins to overcome anticipation (at least for AM who is responsible for the community funds). The CB seems to have good effectiveness when the vehicles are close but the clarity rapidly diminishes with separation; this is different than the checkout test ran a few weeks earlier which showed about a 3 mile range for the CB’s. The decision in the mini-van is to go back and retrace out steps to try to locate the book and or monies. The Chevy rig (AB & GK) agrees to continue on; we’ll try to catch up.

In a very quiet and very fast return from Issaquah to Eastgate we return to the scene of the "crime" to reconstruct all of our steps. We even go back through the store to try to fully see where things may have ended up. No luck. Slowly pulling out of the parking lot, we creep onto the freeway entrance in a somewhat gloomy mood (matching the skies) when JR sees a black notebook with white pages flapping on the right hand side of the entrance; MS sees a dark envelope shape on the triangular shoulder on the left hand side of the entrance adjacent to the freeway. We dramatically and quickly stop with people emerging from all doors of the vehicle. The money envelope is found; the money is still in it! The black notebook is found but the attached pen is crushed with black ink Rosarch spots on the pages along with unidentified tire tracks! The mood turns sunny; the skies remain overcast but no one really notices! We are saved (at least AM is saved a big financial hit!)

Back on the road heading eastward with lots of chatter in the mini-van. The CB seems to be unable to raise AB and GK in the truck ahead. Repeated calling does not raise them. JR notices that the antenna fitting is not screwed into the base CB unit. We decide the impedance of several inches of air may be too much for the specific CB unit we are using. After plugging it in, we have multiple mile range again and quickly connect with AB and GK who have pulled off the road just a couple of miles in front of us. The group is re-united and cruising down I-90.

Just before we reach North Bend, there is a section of highway where 4 lanes go to three and the grade becomes a somewhat steeper climb. An eighteen wheeler with a fully canvassed apparently heavy flatbed load is grinding up the hill and moving from the closing far right lane to the adjacent lane. As we are cruising in the next but one leftmost lane, this has little concern for us except that for a small white car who decides to separate himself even from farther from the merging truck by changing lanes right in front of us without warning! Since AM tends to try to be aware of these possibilities we move easily over and slowed to avoid any nasty outcomes although without a rapid response we may have a rougher start to this trip!

So in the first 30 minutes of this adventure, we have lost (and found!) $1000, rediscovered the electromagnetic laws of electrical conductivity, and avoided a collision with a sleepy somewhat idiotic driver of another vehicle. All this excitement and we have not bought a fishing license or wet a line!

Our route takes on I-90 over to I-82, down to Yakima and to the Tri-cities. We take the Kennewick exit so one of us can deposit a check (this is a full service adventure trip!). The mini-van team (JR, MS, & AM) tend to think of themselves as a little more genteel so we found a Starbucks for some good java and picked up a great little CD with reggae tunes on it – they made great road tunes! Onward we traveled on I-84 over the Blue Mountains and finally into Idaho (speed limit now 75 not 70) and cruised onward toward Boise.

Reaching Boise, we got separated on freeway interchanges but through the CB’s we reconnected and met again by the airport and trundled on to Mountain Home where we were staying at the Super 8 motel. The hotel furnishings were fine; the weather was in the 90’s. Across the freeway were a Walmart and Kmart – we got our fishing licenses at the Wal-Mart; gassed up, and headed out to find the Anderson Ranch Dam and the tail water fishery on the S. Fork of the Boise River. The sun is still up pretty high even though it is about 6 pm when we head out the twenty miles or so to the river. We note that Mountain Home is very desert-like, with black rocks, no trees, flat, and in general not at all looking like its name would lead you to believe. Cruising out a two-lane blacktop road, JR is reading the map to locate the turnoff, which will be onto a dusty access road. We go by several historic markers including something about a Mirkle’s Cut-off from the Oregon Trail and a sign that mentioned something about Rattlesnake.

After almost 40 minutes of cruising we are starting to see signs for Sun Valley Idaho, which means we have gone too far eastward! Re-tracing our steps we see a sign to the Anderson Ranch Dam and decide that it is the way to go. Turning onto the dusty but well maintained road we forge back into the hills and after peaking over a hill, we suddenly look down on the dam and the tail water river below it. The water in the dam is dramatically low; we hear it is being drawn down for irrigation due to the multiple year droughts in this part of Idaho. Plunging down the hillside toward the dam, we cross the top of it and descend steeply down to the river below. Pulling into the first stop below the dam, we pile out to see what it is like. A smallish river with good current but imminently fishable. Bank access tends to be overgrown limiting easy back casting there. AB starts to fish with GK and MS; JR and AM elect to explore down river to see what it is like.

AB hooked up with a 16 inch trout on a stimulator with legs on an early cast! Continuing to flog the water until dark that was the only trout in that section which elected to play.

GK & MS worked the waters around that section without much success. AM/JR headed downstream. We didn’t see many trout rising but did find significant numbers of very large and aggressive mosquitoes! While the water in the reservoir seemed very low, the river flows were pretty manageable for wading; water temperatures seemed reasonably cool. As the light became low, AM fished a little section by a bridge; JR while helping to spot the fish noted a 30 inch rattlesnake resting on the rocks below the bridge. This was a little unsettling to AM who was fishing in shorts and sandals. Exiting the stream was performed in a very careful dance of foot placement. As the sun went off the water, we did not see any particular set of rises.

Heading back across the dam, we checked in back at the hotel and then went to dinner in the restaurant next door (AJ’s). The waitresses all seemed about 15-16 but all of them appear to be married which surprised us given their young ages!! The service was what I get at home from a teenager but the food was even worse. JR has their chicken fried steak – not good – maybe a ½ beak rating – this could be the all-time low score over the last couple of years!! We decided to try again at breakfast since it could not be repeatedly at the level we experienced and yet have the restaurant remain financially viable (and we had some coupons from the motel)!

Saturday 7/14/01

We all trudged over to AJ’s breakfast hoping for the best; we apparently got much less than that however. My vegie omlette ended up with so-so eggs and grit in the broccoli. This seemed to be a harbinger for my morning fishing. After breakfast we headed back to the Anderson Dam to fish likely looking sets of water. Despite really fine looking water, we merely refined our casting techniques. Dredging a really heavy wooly bugger, AM hooks a huge sucker – really an ugly fish – the lips reminded me of Drew Barrymore but that’s another story from when you are on the road too long.

About noon with the sun firmly entrenched overhead, we elect to run into Boise to talk to the fly shops. It is almost an hour into Boise to find the shops – we should have stopped at them on Friday but we were unaware of the lack on any such shops in Mountain Home. We first visited the Idaho Angler on Vista Street ( http://www.idahoangler.com ) This was a pretty nice shop with lots of flies and some insightful advice which we could have used earlier!! The biggest hatches on the S. Fork of the Boise come off between 11 am and 5pm with the pink alberts (dry and emergers) as the dominant mayfly hatch. There will also be some activity on a stonefly nymph if one wants. Additional advice on the Big Wood and Silver Creek were proferred; Silver Creek were experiencing good trico hatches between 6am to 10 am and PMD’s from about 9am to 11 am. The recipe for success includes long leaders and light tippets of 6X and 7X. Sight fishing nymphs in the Nature Conservancy sloughs; also some damsel nymphs may look like a tasty treat to a fish or two. For the Big Wood, there is nymphing throughout the day. Above Hailey for the catch-and-release area, they recommended staying in the water (for access purposes) using nymphs such as Prince, Pheasant Tails, and Hares ears in sizes #14-16; there will be some opportunities for PMD, caddis, and pink alberts. The water is low so fish are easily stressed and easily spooked. A good access is to be heading north on the road to Ketchum above Hailey, turn right at the light by the hospital, go to a sharp curve in the road, park by the side, good access trail to and along the river bank. A good morning plan would be to be on Silver Creek between 5:30-6:00 am and fish until about 10:00 am and then head to the Big Wood River.

After stocking on "needed" fly supplies, we head further into the heart of Boise to the Mountain Stone Flies shop (also on Vista St.) where we get some more advice of essentially the same info and pick up a few more essential flies. Before heading back to the desolate desert of Mountain Home, we discover a Starbuck’s!! Thank goodness for civilization!! Really fine coffee when you need it! Even though it is 90+ F outside, it is pleasantly cool in the mini-van and makes for a nice civilized break.

Heading back to Mountain Home, we stop by Kmart to pick up some goods. Next to the store is a visitor’s center where we stop and inquire about the local history. The good folks there tell us that the town was originally planning on having the railroad go though it and have a station there. Unfortunately the town was about 10-15 miles east of where it now is. The town was then named Rattlesnake; the town fathers decided that they needed a better name to help attract the railroad so they renamed themselves to Mountain Home. Unfortunately, the railroad decided that it didn’t want to go that way due to the rocky hills and the extra distance of track that would need to be installed. Since the railroad would not come to the town, the town decided to move to the railroad which it did. Although, the previous area in the rocky hills didn’t strike us as very mountainous, the current location of the town in a flat desert area makes the name Mountain Home even more incongruous. It does, however, make for a great place for an airbase which the Air Force has used for quite some time.

After this informative history lesson, we proceed directly to the river for the evening fish. Now this is the first long trip of the mini-van for AM so there is a certain lack of familiarity with vehicle idiosyncrasies. However, the gas gauge shows 1/8 of a tank after reaching the river so we should be able to fish and get back to the hotel in fine fashion. However, after 7 miles along the river road, the gas gauges (both analog and digital) read Empty!! Now a quandary has appeared as to whether or not they are correct, and if they are not correct, to what extent are they incorrect? Seniority of experience makes one somewhat more conservative so after much discussion, AM decides to make the run into town for gas in the light rather than wait until dark to discover there is inadequate fuel. JR elects to ride shotgun for moral support (and the cool reggae CD). Coasting down hills and driving very carefully to conserve fuel, we make it to town for gas. The fuel volume would indicate we had less than a gallon of fuel in the rated tank capacity so we were starting to cut it pretty fine (fuel intakes are usually not at the very bottom of the fuel tanks!) We hustle back to the river to fish until dark with the hope for late night action!

Touching base with AB, GK, and MS, we learn that MS has found a new way to break off the rod tip (using a local bush seemed to work fine), fishing has been very slow, but the rattlesnakes are in abundance. AB/GK/MS discover a "cooperative" snake in a bush alongside the access trail to where they were fishing. After playing with it (via the tip of a 9 foot long flyrod – oh how careful we are!), the snake retreats deeply inside a bush. No one wants to reach in for it……..

JR & AM cruise up river along the road looking for fishing action. JR notices a rod/reel combo lying in the road! Pick it up. Nice outfit but no one around or looking for it! We pick it up; JR calls the manufacturer later (it has a serial number) to report it but as of this time, no one has reported such a loss that can be run down to return the outfit to the original owner.

We continue to fish a nice run of water but without success. As the suns dips below the horizon, darkness falls like a curtain. For a variety of reasons, everyone was out of the water and rigging up when a serious dark brown caddis hatch starts. AM hits a fish on a stimulator and everyone looks over and ooohs and aaahs. Then they start rigging faster. Another hit (and the traditional documentary yell –"Fish On!") from AM, this time no one looks up, just faster re-rigging. AM hits 4 fish in quick succession, all those able to get in the water quickly also start get fish on. After 30 minutes (at about 10 pm) the fish stopped rising, no more strikes, it was as if the fish had all left. Left the river finally at 11 pm. Not much open in Mountain Home, so our haute cuisine provencal was provided by our late night provider at Jaque-in-the-Baux.

             

Sunday July 15, 2001

Up in the early morning, we pack our gear and say good-bye to the Super 8 motel which has been a good base but which is still 20+ miles from the fishing waters. We gas up at Pilot’s across the street from the motel and head into town searching for good coffee and breakfast. AM had earlier performed a scouting expedition to locate a Moxie Java on American Legion Blvd; really good French roast (a little light but better than the other choices) – they have a River Runner blend which is also good but a little light for my palate. We elect not to re-inflict AJ’s on ourselves again (coupons not withstanding) and try a little roadside inn called the Desert Inn. A real throw-back to the 50’s with linoleum counter tops, low ceilings, wood walls, etc. Felt like they should have a jukebox….The fool was pretty good although JR’s chicken fried steak only rated 1 ½ beaks – definitely better than AJ’s but not upscale. Over breakfast we discuss such momentous items as "how to sink Trophy boats while salmon fishing", how to pull salmon from an overhead wave into the boat, and 3D fishing with scuba gear! On the way out of town, we passed the Rattlesnake Station and Steakhouse – now they could have an interesting menu of chicken fried snake!

Heading out of town on Highway 20 to the Sun Valley area, we cruise on towards the next adventures. We arrive at Silver Creek about 1:00 pm and swing into the area. This is our first visit for any of us so it is all new. We stop by the Kilpatrick Bridge where there are several folks in float tubes and a couple by the bridge. While they are flogging the water, we look down to see some very large and relaxed trout slowly moving about the bridge doing what fish do. They do not respond easily to the proffered casts – looks like very technical fishing! We decide to head to town to get info and flies since we really unsure of the best way to tackle such a technical fishery. We head north to Ketchum and the Silver Creek Outfitters (http://www.silver-creek.com). We received lots of good advice, a healthy cross-section of flies, really cool maps of the Silver Creek, and generally enjoyed the shop. We lunched at the Pizza and Pasta House (I had the butter & mizythra cheese on sphaghetti) – very nice. We returned to Bellevue to our cabins – they are rustic and pretty nice. No A/C but it wasn’t needed at this time.

We headed out for the Big Wood River following advice to turn by the hospital onto Broadway Run; pulled over by turn in the road and found excellent access trails along the river. We flogged the water pretty good but it is low and we failed to turn the big one. Lots of little ones but could not interest the bigger fellows. 

We worked the waters until about 10:30 pm (it is very dark by then but we have headlamps to allow re-rigging in the dark!). Running back toward Bellevue, we stop at the Red Elephant Saloon Food & Spirits at 107 Main Street in Hailey. Good basic bar chow only but that is what we needed at this time of night. Back to the cabins by about midnight.

Sunday July 16, 2001

Up early the next morning by 0645, AM finds spectacularly good Zimbabwe coffee at the Java on Main, 310 Main Street in Hailey; also super pastries for the early morning wakeup. Lots of locals stopping by on the way to work. By the time we have coffee and pastries and everyone is up and about, we are already close to 0900 but decide to head to Silver Creek – better than late than never. Arriving at Silver Creek, we head up to the entrance cabin, register, and donate our $5. We elect to streamfish rather than float tube for our first adventure. Heading down the road, we rise up a small hill overlooking the stream below (very braided, very brushy on side banks, and very appealing!) By the time we rig up and trudge down toward the river and split up to cover different sections of the water, it is almost 10 am – past the trico’s but the PMD’s are starting. Now some of us are in chest waders and some in hip boots. JR led the way for our group in his hip boots so I knew where the deep water was by the volume of expletives. Fortunately I was in chest waders and could silently approach the stream. I fished a #20 light tan/gray colored mayfly on 14 foot leader with a 6X tippet. Hooked 5 smaller fish but could not get the monsters to rise for me. The fish are very shy and lining or shadowing them will put them down very quickly. I did the experiment and they did respond as noted above. After about 15 minutes, they will also move back and be ready for fishing. The water was unbelievably clear with an extraordinary amount of classical bug life and hatches. It was like a working text book on insect hatches. We were very impressed. The colors and textures of the underwater plants was like large sections of thick pile carpets with coarse weaves. You felt as if this stream section was like it had been before the settlers arrived; or perhaps in the same pristine conditions as before man himself arrived. This place had a holy feel about it in terms of something precious to enjoy but preserve.

Our other team members were having similar experiences and successes (or lack thereof) each in his own section. When you are fishing, the stream etiquette makes everyone want to be quiet and in their own world. AB has the opportunity to discuss this with a local deer. We decide to quietly withdraw back to the trucks about 1:30 – thank goodness for the portable radios, which allowed us to work widely separate areas but still remain coordinated in our activities. Heading back to the truck across a field still in farming use, we note that the farm hands moving the irrigation pipes all wore hip boots. Not clear if due to water or to snakes!

Some key impressions of Silver Creek:

MS: Lots of fish; unbelievable amount of bug life; cold, clear water; unique, lush water plants (not weeds); spooky fish; spinners and emerger patterns; thick mayfly hatch

AB: Technical fishery; if you can catch fish here, you can catch them anywhere

GK: Beautiful stream of water; beautiful conditions; lot of fish

AM: Relatively dramatic setting; lush vegetation; serious, quiet fisherman

JR: prime example of good ecosystem

After internal consultations, we elect to head over the Big Lost River by McKay, Idaho and visit the Bent Rod flyshop ( http://www.thebentrod.com email: thebentrod@atcnet.net) where we chat with Greg the shop owner. Two good flies for the area at this time are the MacKay Special (crane fly pattern – horsehair – a waking pattern which may also work for steelhead), and a Yellow Sally for golden stoneflies (also stimulators). Greg gives us a couple of places to go fish for the late afternoon although the river is not in prime shape. The river comes out of the Magic Reservoir a couple miles upstream and the water is running somewhat silty and off-color due to the extreme down draw of the water. We grab a bite of Mexican chow (from the Rodrigues, a local Mexican heritage family) at the Bear Bottom Inn (Tel: 208-588-2483) which also has rooms in a small attached motel. The Mexican food is quite good and lives up to its billing.

Heading out of town to the west, we follow Greg’s instructions to an old gravel pit except there is not gravel, only a red, silty sand. Looks OK when dry but if it were to rain, it might be a quagmire. We saw a couple of guys flyfishing the river which is probably a 100 feet elevation below us. We elect to explore further downstream by following old trails – not clear how many are people originated and how many are animal originated. Crossing over and under barbed wire fences, we cross desert terrain with cacti and other arid vegetation. Seems like we might be in a Clint Eastwood Spaghetti western! Turns out that some of the vegetation when grabbed for a hand-hold have a significant number of small spikes which willingly come in your hand (AM). Small but persistently painful they become a real irritant whenever one tries to use the affected hand.

Finding an concrete weir and irrigation channel diversion structure, AB leads us over the structure. We do not walk on the questionable boards but tippy toe across on the top surface of the narrow concrete wall; we are about 10 feet above the water, a pool on one side which feeds to a rapid rushing channel of irrigation water on the other side! As we cross the concrete wall, we note 5 large (18"?) fish which upon seeing us, quietly drop down into the depths just past the weir. Several of us fish this water (without success) while others move on downstream as the river turns corners and creates holding waters near woody debris in the water. The skies have been turning very dark in the distance and the wind picks up as dark, ominous clouds drift our general direction from the mountains to the north. We share the river-side with grazing cattle although we leave each other alone. The concept of keeping cattle from pounding down the banks and crossing the river does not appear to have reached MacKay. Several of us elect to move back to the vehicles since the fishing is not hot and the clouds are moving our way. Thinking back to the fine, dusty soil in which we had parked, I have this image of a sudden rain downpour turning the bowl into a slippery muddy slush for which neither Chrysler nor my wife intended for the mini-van (even though it is all wheel drive). After a suitable interlude the rest of our team rejoins us at the vehicles although the threatening clouds seem to have slowed and now seem not to be rushing toward us.

Now usually we are fairly quiet bunch given only to occasional "fish on!" yell, but today we take a slightly different turn as MS introduces JR to the joys of small pistol shooting. After several sets of shots by each at a "target" (a frying pan was found in the trash at the site and place onto a large piece of dirt from my distant perspective), JR hits 3 of 5 shots while MS makes a generous act by missing his one shot, both claim victory and joy – MS hands out NRA applications. Yes, we now have a war wagon.

We elect to move upstream to the area below Magic Reservoir which is being drained to furnish downstream irrigation waters. As we reach the base of the earthen dam, we see a stream of jetting water being drawn from the lowest waters in the reservoir, because it is so low, it carries a high silt load and the river appears to have the color of the Hoh River in the summer- an opaque milky texture. We make a few, half-hearted casts (the fish would have to implant themselves on the hooks!) and as the wind continues to rise with cloudy overcast skies we elect to return to our base in Bellevue, Idaho.

As we returned on the highways outside of MacKay, we note that the downstream waters continue to decrease in river size until finally the Big Lost River becomes just a dry rock bed. They take all of the water out of the river!! Amazing, apparently the belief is that either there are only rock cutthroat which survive the dewatering or that the fish go dormant and magically re-emerge when the water is restored! We are amazed; yet water is quite plentiful in the irrigation channels. We also developed some new concepts for flies including: a) a Barbie doll with llama fur – the Dolly Llama b) pig tail hair and lion mane making a Pork TenderLion, c) the Robert Downey Jr. memorial fly – the High Fly. All offered in bad taste.

Interesting this area had the largest earthquake (by Richter intensity) in the 25 years in continental US in 1983 at Mt. Borah (about 25 miles away).  The earthquake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and did significant damage to the area. You can see some of the articles from that time at:  http://eqinfo.seis.utah.edu/NEHRP_HTM/1983bo3.htm#erisiciy  

Returning to the Bellevue/Hailey base area, we hit the Big Wood again from 9:30 pm to 10:30 pm using stimulators, yellow sallys, pink alberts, and Chernobyl hopper with a prince nymph (most of my hits were on the latter). Max sized fish was about 12" plus with lots of little ones. The action was not too bad upstream where AB and GK started; the use of the headlamps was essential given the darkness. After pulling out of the river, we picked up MS from the cabins and headed back to the Red Elephant for some late-night grub at the end to a wild and crazy day.

Monday July 17, 2001

Up early, AM makes another coffee and pastry run to the Java on Main in Hailey – still great coffee!! Packing up and then heading out of town, we turn left off the highway to the Hayspur Fish Hatchery (roughly opposite Silver Creek on the other side of the road). We chat with Bob Esselman (208-788-2847), the hatchery manager about their work. This is the first hatchery in the state of Idaho and was established originally in 1907. They produce about 12 million trout of which 95+% are triploid (ie will not reproduce) for the state. They use photoperiod control to get the eggs from the broodestock when they need them as the broodstock are kept in special round buildings with aerated water and controlled lighting periods. We peeked into the buildings and saw lots of huge and beautiful and really big and really massive and really cool trout. JR offers $50 for 15 minutes in the building if left unsupervised.

Bob tells us that they have seen evidence of whirling disease in Silver Creek and Big Wood River since 1987 although at very low levels of spores. The hatchery uses pathogen free spring water for their operations. He has never seen wild or hatchery trout with whirling disease in this area. Very interesting observations. When asked where he fishes, he said he and some buddies were going to the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and kick back for serious fly fishing along with their favorite adult beverages. Sounded like fun!!

Heading eastward from the hatchery, we pick up some local wildlife include a mom deer and 2 fawns and 2 young coyotes in a field just outside of Picabo. Leaving the lushness of the greater Sun Valley region behind we encounter wide-open, barren terrain which goes for miles in the areas around the Idaho Energy and Environmental Laboratories. No wonder they chose this area for the early nuclear reactors. Who would know if one blew up other than the increased light at night? We arrive in Idaho Falls at 12:30pm. Finding the local Wal-Mart on 17th Street we are able to pick up some hip boots for AM whose other brand new Hodgmans who suddenly delaminated the felt from the boot. Flies are only 96 cents each but you do get what you pay for. Again dining on the areas finest restaurants, we grab lunch at a sit down table at Wendy’s. Full of food and anxious now to reach the fabled Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, we cruise out of town on Highway 20.

Now in what was truly the most frightening event of the trip, AM in the large, very white, very visible minivan was cruising eastward in the left-most lane of the divided 2 lane highway. The highway goes to 3 lanes as an entrance ramp creates the additional lane on the right-hand side. A semi tractor hauling an empty flatbed enters the highway slightly behind the mini-van in the right most lane. Behind us, AB is cruising comfortably along in the Chevy a couple of hundred yards back. As the flatbed enters, the driver keeps increasing his speed to pull up roughly along side of the mini-van and moves over into the lane on our right as the far right entrance lane closes ahead. Continuing to increase speed, the flat bed pulls ahead of us by about a half length of his vehicle and then continues to merge into our lane! Since we were in the lane, this created a quick problem as the truck is pulling into us! We brake carefully and rapidly to avoid locking up the tires and drives to the left-most edge of the pavement trying not to hit the soft dirt on the shoulder which could roll our mini-van. As the rear tire goes by us, we can see the top of the spinning tread at about the middle of the passenger side window only a few inches from our mini-van. Silence in the vehicle as everyone sees the events unfold. The truck is past us and we continue to slow. AB asks is we are OK via the CB; I assure him we are physically OK but mentally shocked. Voices arise about catching up with the "blankety-blank", we have volunteers for physical retribution. As driver, however, we are on vacation, the guy did not actually hit us (although not apparently for lack of trying!), and we want to move past this event. As we cruise by the truck (we are substantially faster than he is I suspect), the driver sits way back in the seat to avoid having to make eye contact with my gesturing and angry passengers. We put some distance between us and the truck; he pulls off at an early exit. I am sure the event took less than a couple of seconds, but we can all see the events clearly and as if they were in slow motion. As is so often in life, there can only be a few inches between life changing paths we might follow. We are blessed.

We reach Last Chance, Idaho in the mid-afternoon although we run into massive road works by Harriman State Park main entrance. We stop at Lawson’s Henry’s Fork Anglers ( http://www.henrysforkanglers.com )where we had the infamous teal shirt duel a couple years earlier. No teal shirts this time. Picked up the obligatory T-shirt and flies. Now it is very dark to the east, very unstable weather patters, high winds blowing downstream with huge gusts that put riffles across the water. The advice is to use 12 to 15 foot leaders with 20-22 size flies on the Ranch section. Right. We elect to go look at the Box Canyon section all the way up to the dam. Nymphing is supposed to be good here but the walls are steep and access is limited. By the dam outlet, we note the wind is lower probably due the protection of the dam itself. 

Headed back to Trout Hunter ( http://www.trouthunt.com )in Last Chance for some more advice; they told us about nymph rigs with multiple nymphs. Back at the dam, we tried some flies though casting is somewhat limited and the water is fairly big. GK gets a very nice 19 incher on a spinner cast way out to the middle of the river.

We head on towards at our hotel; lots of flaggers and road construction make going even a few miles quite slow and tedious. The Aspen Lodge did not have our reservations and had no rooms at all!! This is the first time a reservation on one of our trips has not held up. They feel bad (apparently they had some hired help difficulties in May when I made the reservations). We try the Village Motel and RV (PO Box 17, Macks Inn, Idaho 83433 208-558-9366) and score two rooms! We are curious about the wilds across the highway back toward where the Henry’s Fork originates from underground springs. It looks like isolated areas according to the map so maybe we can get some large stupid trout to give us some fun! (At least this is the theory.)

Traversing through the dirt roads and various turnoffs, we follow a winter cross-country ski trail in our rigs, to an endpoint. We know roughly where the river is, and hope to cross the forested but open country to intercept it. We take along some rags to mark the trail since we would be returning in the absolute pitch dark and don’t want to be lost. When we run out of rags to hang on trees, we construct large arrows on the ground from downed limbs to point the direction of our return. I am not so confident about our ability to find these in the pitch dark but, hey!, this is supposed to be an adventure. MS and GK forge on ahead and keep us abreast of their progress via the Motorola FRS radios. Now we are thinking we should find really great fishing this far from any good access. As they approach the river, the find picnic tables, 3 houses, kids playing all around, motorboats traversing the river and a good access road. So much for the wilderness experience here! Back to the rigs (the trail finders work although it is not dark so the test is kind of weak), and then to a local establishment for dinner - the Island Park Lodge and Restaurant (US Highway 20, Island Park, ID 83429). Good food and great shirts. I had the Fettucine and Garlic Bread – great tastes which can stay with you all night. It is here we learn that Island Park is the second largest incorporated city in the US west of the Mississippi behind only New York City. This is because they are measuring area and not population! The Lodge itself was built in 1947 by the fellow who ended starting the Cactus Pete chain of gambling parlors across Montana and Idaho.

Back at the hotel we reattach a couple of wayward tiptops on the rods and crash for the evening.

Tuesday July 18, 2001

Up at 0630, we note the highway construction has continued unabated through the night. The road now is open and paved just by the motel where it was all torn up the night before. At the hotel office, we convince the local clerk to let us use the coffee maker to brew some Starbucks French Roast. Since he got some, he was more than willing to replace the swill they usually make. We were also able to fill our thermoses up with great coffee for the day. We contact Becky at the One Horse in West Yellowstone and add an extra night to the front of our itinerary with her. Heading back to the Henry’s Fork section by Last Chance and the Railroad Ranch section, we grab breakfast at The Angler’s Lodge at Henry’s Fork (Last Chance, Idaho 208-558-9555 www.anglerslodge.net Dave & Dede Eby). Wow! What a cool place! Great restaurant and bar location which has wonderful views across the river from all of the tables. There is a small outdoor dining area but it seemed a little cool and windy for that in the morning. The lodge and restaurant seemed sort of like an upscale Ernest Hemingway themed place with dead heads of fauna on the walls but without an oppressive dark feeling. The service and chow were both up to our demanding standards. We watched a group of fellows pleasantly flog the water without much success but did watch another single fisher who was consistently hooking trout. That motivated us to leave the pleasant surroundings and head to the river!!

We went into the section by Last Chance where there is good parking and great access all along the river. Trails on both sides of the wide expanse of river which is wadeable if one is careful. Although the sun is brightly shining in a light blue cloudless sky, the wind is still blowing in hard gusts and on so undersurface nymphs are selected by most of us. The water is extraordinarily clear but the colors are stretched out by the flows to a stunning set of greens, turquoise, yellows, golds, and browns all under your feet. The area subwater vegetation is rich in bugs, the steam affords small boulders and depressions for holding areas, it has to be a fish paradise (except for those pesky fisherman). Several of us choose to fish near the access area and several spread on down stream where the access path runs unabated for as far as any of us wanted to go. Our group hits several fish with some smaller ones. AM hooks a beautiful 19+ inch trout on a prince nymph and pheasant tail nymph combo (the hook-up was on the PT); JR does a masterful job of netting the fish while MS uses his new wide angle APS format camera to capture the event. More hookups by the team but none as nice as the one above at this time. We regroup after an afternoon and early evening of fishing in high wind conditions to head back to the dam area to fish there a little bit out of the breezes (gales?). Fishing there AM is unsuccessful with flies but JR and GK get some action on spinners (the metal kind) including a large 19 incher by GK. With the wind starting to die down, we elect to head back for an early dinner and then return to the Railroad Ranch section for the late evening fish (of course when it is supposed to be even hotter!).

Impressions of the Henry’s Fork included:

            Beautiful body of water

            Disappointing in my ability to cast in high wind

            Colors! Greens, reds, browns, oranges – all brilliant like an abstract oil painting

            Current faster than Silver Creek – different expectations

            Some big fish in this river

            Easy wading considering the amounts of plants and rocks

            Easy to wade across

            Better fishing experience to sight fish with dry flies

            Would like a line weight up on the rod

            Tougher to read specific locations; favored systematic casting pattern

            Hard to read water

            Happy to catch fish in the Harriman St Pk and Railroad Section

            Few Fisherman!! High wind – dry fly fisherman were discouraged

We arrive for dinner at The Angler’s Lodge at Henry’s Fork for a pleasant sojourn and meal. Menu selections included Penne ala Vodka, Chicken Avocado Sandwich & Fries, Hamburger and Fries, and Chicken Marsala (X2). Fine food and service! We will likely want to stay here for some future trip.

We return to the RR section as the wind suddenly calms at 8:30 pm. Beautiful sunset conditions! A small number of fish were surface active but no large pods of fish. Essentially the 25 fisherman in the area (everyone had the same idea we did apparently!) were enjoying a great sunset, excellent conditions for practicing the fly cast, but did not need to have a hook on the end of the line as no-one was catching fish. We stayed to the very end and came off the water at a little after 10:00 pm. Cleaning up, we headed north to West Yellowstone where we arrived at the One Horse Motel ( http://www.onehorsesmotel.com )a little after 11pm; the keys were out for us by the office. Arriving in our rooms, we again able to find for Mike the Montana All-Gun Channel ("If it moves, we can shoot it!").

             

Wednesday July 19, 2001

Coffee at the wonderful Cappy’s again this year. No Jim Danskin this morning so we head over to Arrick’s ( http://www.arricks.com )for advice and local consultation. The overcast clouds are all around us, it is cool but not cold. Suggestions from Arrick’s include fishing between the lakes on the Madison River, Hegben Lake gulpers by the Madison Arm are just getting started – usually best from 7 am for tricos and from 9:30 am for callebaetis. Also on the Madison River, one can go toward Cliff & Wade Lake access and move upstream with stimulators and a dropper. Slough Creek and Gardiner River just OK; Yellowstone Lake good for callebaetis from shore first thing in the morning then the fish move out from shore. Also could look at the Gallatin in the Park above Taylor Forks (which is putting some silt in the river).

We decide to check out the Madison Arm (although it is getting pretty late in the morning – like closer to noon?) and head to the Madison Arm Resort. MS/GK rent a motor boat for 2 hours (14 foot Lund) and head west across the Lake. AB/JR/AM fish by resort on a point unsuccessfully (although AM caught a 3inch fish on a size 14 bead head grayish hares ear nymph). The shore fishers headed back down the road to where the Madison River entered the Arm and explored fishing in the River along the bank. Water looked great and AB and JR both raised larger trout. The fish went for the PT dropper. Good water to come back to particularly when the browns are running.

MS/GK return from the boating extravaganza without fish. Guy in office was surly in separate incidents to both AB and MS. He seemed grumpy and generally unpleasant. This was not a place we would recommend to folks to visit based upon our experiences with the operators.

We headed downstream to fish the Madison between Quake Lake and Hegben Lake. Fascinating place with still signs of the flooding damage done to cabins as a result of the 1959 earthquake which killed 28 people. AB hooked the biggest (and maybe the mostest fish) with a 18 inch trout and a mess of white fish. Water looked great and we did have some company even though it was mid-week. 

Off to dinner in West Yellowstone (a 30 minute drive) at the famous Mountain Mike’s! JR had the usual keystone chicken fried steak – not as high in his estimation as the one’s last year – JR only rates this years chicken fried steak as 3 beaks out of 4. Returning to the Madison River that evening, we fished at Raynolds Pass access just below Quake Lake. Very scenic although it was very crowded by the access area. We walked in probably a mile and a half to get away from folks. Carrying the headlamps was crucial since we were not even starting our evening adventures until after 8:30 pm. In this section, the water is very fast, very riffly. One needs to break it into very small sections and fish those as if they were the only water that mattered. As the light declined to that post-sunset, dusk gray, the fishing really started to pick up for some fast action particularly for those using a size 14 Pheasant Tail dropper. Serendipities had been recommended but all I had were size 18’s which were not producing – maybe too small. A 9+ foot leader with a big black stonefly (3X at that point) about 6 ½ feet down followed by 2 ½ to 3 feet of 3X tippet leading to a size 14 PT seemed to be the recipe for success on this evening. With the bigger tippets, one had a chance to control hooked fish when they reached faster currents. Off the water sometime after 10:30, we packed up and headed back to West Yellowstone.

Thursday July 20, 2001

Headed over for breakfast at Cappy’s coffee shop in the Yellowstone Book Peddlar shop. Still had the good French Roast coffee. Met up with Jim Danskin again (oldest licensed guide in Montana!). Also chatted with a couple of his buddies including guides Doug Pope of Blue Ribbon Flies and Rick Willey of Madison River Outfitters. With glowing references from Jim D., you can be sure that these are two guides are in the top class of the whole area! Reports from these folks indicated that fishing opportunities were around the Gallatin River above Taylor Creek (afternoon fishing), South Fork of the Madison with Hoppers, Lamar River in the NE corner of the Park was just starting to clear, and the mainstem Madison was probably fishing best of all the waters in the region.

We headed out to try the South Fork of Madison just outside of town. Saw lots of moose sign in a very moosey looking region. The water head great sinuosity with holding waters in the corners due to deeper pools. Stream was very wadeable in the riffle sections. Greg was able to find a section where the water was higher than the top of the hip boots! After carefully draining the boots, he continued fishing in the blue sky conditions we found. GK and AB found some small brookies, AM found a large pod of whitefish and was able to hook a 15+ incher but overall we found no resident browns or bows. Looked like great water in the fall when the browns would come back up streams to spawn.

Since we were so "close", we took the opportunity to head over for the afternoon to Yellowstone Lake with the intention of hitting the Madison down below Quake Lake again in the evening. Boy, were we surprised to find it took us almost 2 hours to get over to the Fishing Bridge part of the lake. The wind was blowing strong so casting was very hard and all of the water close by shore was pretty whipped by the waves to be silty! The wind was blowing from northwardly this afternoon for reference. JR was able to call his office and execute some financial transactions during this time; you really don’t have to be disconnected from the rest of your life out here – you just may want to be free of it!! We headed back to West Yellowstone and using the CB radios, we evaluated our fishing trip destinations for this year. The following table summarizes our discussions that afternoon:

Water   Al        Mike    Greg     Andy   JR        Average

S. Fork Boise R            3          2          3          3          3          2.8

Big Wood R     2          2          2          2          4          2.4

Nameless Cr    4          4          4          4          5          4.2

Silver Creek     5          5          3          3          3          3.8

Big Lost R.       2          4          3          4          1          2.8

Madison Arm Resort    1          0          1          1          1          0.8

Hegben lake     2          1          3          1          1          1.6

Mad. R. just above Hegben      3          Did not Fish

(DNF)  Did not Fish     3          3          3

Madison R. between Lakes      4          3          2          2          2          2.6

Madison R. below Quake Lk   4          4          4          4          5          4.2

S. Fk Madison  2          2          2          2          2          2

Yellowstone Lk           DNF     DNF     2          2          DNF     2

Henry’s Fork of Snake (RR section)    5          4          4          4          4          4.2

Henry’s Fork of the Snake (Box Canyon below Dam)            4          4          4          4          4          4

                                                                         

Scores are based upon a scale of: 5 = Outstanding; 3 = Okay; 1 = Poor

Nearing the end of the trip, we are rating the fishing experience overall on this trip as follows:

Andy 4

JR 5

Greg 3

Mike 4

Al 4

Arriving back West Yellowstone, we tried dinner at the Old Town Café as a change of pace. While change can be good and exciting, this dinner experience was less than stellar. We don’t plan to return. Our team tried the huge T-bone steaks and chicken fried steak (2 beaks only). After dinner, AM went over to Arrick’s to chat with Matt Klara who would be an outstanding fishing guide for AM and son Peter in the second half of the 2001 expedition.

Headed out about 6:30 p.m. to fish the Madison River just below Quake Lake at Raynold’s Pass access. Hiked down river about 1 ½ miles to get clean water. MS, JR, GK all hooked a few but no real turn-on of the fish as had happened the previous night. Fished hard but hatches didn’t happen. Not sure what was different this night from the previous night but these things happen. Got back to West Yellowstone about 11 pm and then crashed for the night.

Friday July 21, 2001

Up in the early morning and over to Cappy’s for coffee. The rest of the team packed up Andy’s rig and left at about 9 am heading to Spokane to drop off MS and then to Seattle to conclude this year’s adventure! Unlike previous years, AM gets to live out a dream and stay behind in West Yellowstone this time!! Leaving about 10:00 am, AM drives to Bozeman Airport to pick-up his son Peter who will join him for the following week of additional vacation in Yellowstone! That will be subject of a future chapter of the 2001 adventures.

 ..................................................................................................................................................

Special 2001 Trip to Yellowstone with Pete and Dad (AM)

Pete flew into Bozeman to meet Dad after the Yellowstone Gang had headed for home.  Meeting Pete at the airport, we noted a statuesque fisherman and fisherdog at the airport.

Among other activities we went fishing on the Lake with a Guide (John) from Bridge Bay Marina. Pete caught about a dozen fish and I caught about 6.  Total fish trip time was about 4 hours - trolling use spinners on weighted lines with spinning reels.  We were way above fish catch per hour averages which are declining in the lake.  Many suspect the illegal Lake Trout are hurting the cutthroat population which is reflected in declining catch rates.  Pete's first cutt of the day - with Guide John from Bridge Bay Marina in the background.

Even Dad can catch one now and again!!

We also got to see the wildlife in the park - here is Pete doing his Marlin Perkins imitation with some elk! These elk by the Firehole River

More Elk but these are at the Mammoth Lodge area.

Bison here are in Hayden Valley.

Enjoying the evening at the Roosevelt Lodge in 2001!!

A huge Yellowstone River Trout caught by Pete on a dry fly - Guide John was essential for Pete's success - John was guiding from the Arrick's Fly Shop in West Yellowstone - recommend him highly!!