Native Cutthroat

One of my favorite outings on a day off (or as a guide), is to spend the day on Yellowstone Lake looking for Native Yellowstone Cutthroat trout. They are a strong, beautiful strain that takes streamers easily this time of year. Casting sink-tip lines with small black buggers is a sure ticket to success on the lake right now. When I first moved to the valley and discovered the lake, two anglers netting 40 or 50 fish a day in the 14-16" range was not uncommon. The illegal introduction of Lake Trout in the early 90's has changed this, though. Fish numbers are down drastically; a couple of good anglers may net 8 or 10 fish on a good day right now, with sizes now averaging a healthy 18-21". Fortunately, the park service is in the process of adopting new policies on how to deal with the non-native Lake Trout, and are now taking more aggressive measures to get them out of the lake.


I spent the day yesterday with my good buddy Charlie Howarth on the Lake. He had never fished it before, and was pleasantly surprised. With most rivers in the area still high and muddy, don't miss the lake right now!
The South Fork is now back down to 15,000 cfs, and slowly clearing. The riffles in the Canyon section are starting to nymph well with rubber-leg Stoneflies. The Firehole also continues to fish OK...it's still high in volume, but quite clear. Look for small Stoneflies in the afternoon. Don't be afraid to throw a streamer either. The tributaries in the valley really took a jump this week with much warmer weather and thunderstorms. Pacific Creek, the Buffalo Fork, the Gros Ventre and Spread Creek all spiked to much higher, muddier levels. We're gettin' there!

I want to thank my good friend Scott Smith for organizing the Rafter J kids fishing day that will be taking place tomorrow. Rafter J is the subdivision south of Jackson that we live in. Scott took charge with the homeowners association to come up with a plan to stock more Cutthroat Trout in our ponds for the many Rafter J kids to enjoy. You gotta turn them on young! More soon...