Weekend in Yellowstone

I am just getting in late Sunday night after spending a couple of great days in Yellowstone with Rachael and Charlotte. We decided last minute to head up to the park to fish and look at wildlife and foliage. It was a great weekend! We left early Saturday morning at headed straight north, over Dunraven Pass and down to the Tower area. The weather was gorgeous...very warm and sunny. We put Charlotte in the kiddie backpack and hiked about a mile and a half of distance, and down about 1000 feet to the Yellowstone River, just north of Tower. The fishing was phenomenal. There were Yellowstone cutties looking up for hoppers all over the place. It was nice to see, since trying to find any native Yellowstone Cutthroats has been proving very difficult above the Canyon, due to the lake trout situation. We spent the night at Mammoth Hot Springs, and set out for the Lamar River early this morning. We found a nice pullout, and walked about 5 minutes to the river, and found very good hopper fishing as well. The Lamar fished about as well as I've ever seen it fish...the larger fish were pretty tough, but there were many of them around to fish to. Early fall in Yellowstone is great...the colors are incredible, and the cutties are eating very aggressively. I've received a few emails this week from anglers wondering about the fishing on Lewis Lake and in the channels. I've heard nothing yet...my suspicion is that it is a little early still to find any Browns moving. The weather has just been too nice. Over the next few weeks, however, that should change and fishing should really pop there. One more note...starting tomorrow, and through the entire week, the Bureau of Reclamation will start drawing down the Snake River below the Jackson Lake Dam to winter flows. By Friday, the releases from the dam will be around 450 cfs. This will certainly have an impact on fishing this week. The side channels will disappear, and the main river will drop significantly, causing the fish to find new homes in their winter holes. By next week, we should be back to some great fishing.