(some) signs of spring

point of rocks

When Wendie told me that that afternoon, I was going to have to give back the 8wt rod I had borrowed because its owner was headed down to the Snake River in Jackson, I decided to go fishing despite the snow and wind.

Heading out past Yankee Jim Canyon and into the Valley, the snow stopped and the wind lessened as well. Not having time to head to Livingston or even past Emigrant, I pulled off at Point of Rocks, a boat launch 21 miles from Gardiner. The rocks of Point of Rocks are actually remnants of ancient mud that was created by the Absaroka Volcanic Field, which formed 5 million years ago.

Since, the volcanic rocks right near the boat ramp where jagged and slippery, I decided to wade in about 200 yards upstream of the boat launch. Though my backcast kept hitting the four-foot ice shelf behind me, the fishing was good as I got this brown on one of my first casts.

He was about 17-inches but had a big fat head on him that made him a good fighter. I fished that same run upstream for about 300 yards and pulled out two more browns, including this guy:

After hooking up with two more fish, both of which broke me off before I could land them, the river became too shallow and fast-moving to be fishable with the streamers so I decided to walk further down the river. After about a half mile, I found a nice canyon (which you can see at the top of this photo)


with a deep pool on the other side of the river. There were some small fish rising to midges right by the shore but figuring the big guys were in the deep water, I waded out as far as I could to try to hit the pool on the other side of the river. Even though I couldn't make it all the way, I was able to get out far enough out to find this 16-inch rainbow.

He fought harder than all the browns combined, even giving a nice aerial show as he jumped clear out of the river three times. The picture doesn't do his size or beauty justice.

Since I had to give the rod back, I decided to head back toward the car. This is when I realized that not only were my waders leaking but that one of the soles of my wading shoes was coming off as well.
Still, when I made it back to the first pool I fished I decided to give it one more go to try to get those fish that I hadn't been able to land. Though my shoe kept threatening to send me ass-over-tea-kettle into the 40-degree water, I was able to snag one more brown before calling it a day. I left the rod in its owners doorway with a six, cold friends to keep it company.

brown out

Despite the snow and cold, I have been fishing a bit the last couple weeks, but in our next of the woods have been catching mostly whitefish. As I always check the Yellowstone Angler's fishing report online, I have been very envious of the guys up near Livingston floating the river and catching huge browns on streamers and heavy rods, so I borrowed an 8wt rod from Wendie's boss and headed up there on Monday.

Despite some good info. from the local fly shops about where to go, the Yellowstone is a huge river (300 feet across in some spots) and it took me a while to figure how and where to fish it. Finally, upstream of Carter's Bridge I waded in and started fishing. I had to go up to my chest in the 40-degree water but after about 100 casts, I got a nice 17-inch brown. Not as big as the ones the guys in the boats have been catching, but better than a whitefish no doubt. I proceeded to throw about another 500 casts but that was the only fish I got.

As it was getting dark, I drove the East River Road back from Livingston. It is a little more remote than the highway through the valley and I saw more deer than I have seen in my life. They were crowded along the road like New York City pedestrians hanging at the street corner waiting for the "WALK" light to come on.

Thankfully, after one more stop to check out some rising fish, I made it back without hitting a deer, which was probably a bigger achievement than catching the fish.

lamar

While Steve was out fishing, I was taking a course at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch.

The course was about Coyotes & Ravens, but early morning field trips into the Valley turned up a lot of animals. Our first morning's stop was at Round Prairie, where there was a winter-killed bison. There had been a grizzly feeding here for the past few days (the first one spotted this spring on the Northern Range), but there was nothing on the bison when we pulled up. And then...the Lamar Canyon pack (wolves) showed up and we were able to watch them for several minutes as they fed.





And then, from the trees, they started to howl.


Coyotes,



bighorn sheep,



and bison.


It was a beautiful weekend in the Valley.

first trout of 2011

Got my first trout of 2011 today. Actually got three, this decent rainbow and then two smaller guys - another rainbow and a cutt-bow.

This is my third time out on the Yellowstone River, but the first time I have lasted more than an hour and half, because it has been too cold or too windy. I got my first fish - a whitefish - of the year last week and caught a bunch of whitefish on Saturday, but on both days the wind was gusting to 20- to 30-mph which made fishing a bit of a pain.

Today's temps got into the 40s and the wind was under control so even though the water is still cold and the fish weren't rising, I was still able to get in a good 3 hours of fishing. It won't last, as we are supposed to get snow for the next 3 day, but it was good to break the ice so to speak.

spring, for now

Today was our second straight day of sun and 40 degree weather. It won't last, but for now, we all have spring fever. Today I went on my first hike of year on the Rescue Creek trail.

Elk lounging in the sun.


The Gardner River is muddy with the start of the spring run-off.


The trail looked good,


but it was MUDDY.


It wasn't long before we came across a group of bighorns,


and bison in the distance.


It won't last, but we'll enjoy it...until the next snowfall.

mesa: the rest

Aside from baseball (Kerry Wood!), we were also looking forward to getting some sun. This is what we left,

and this is what we went to. Sun and 80 degree weather!


We were also looking forward to getting some good food. I was ecstatic to discover that there was In n Out in Mesa


and it was our first stop, mmm Animal Style. Just don't ask us how many times were ate there...


Before we left, Mandi asked me what else we were going to do besides watch baseball. "Hmm, Starbucks, eat Thai food...oh and go to a mall!" was my reply. Which we did...because those are things we don't get to do here. But, shamed by Mandi, we also decided to do some sight-seeing that didn't involve baseball or food.

After Sunday's game, we headed out to Lost Dutchman State Park, on the famed Apache Trail.


The Superstition Mountains.


We went on a short hike in the park to walk off some of those stadium hot dogs.








On Monday, before we left, we drove around downtown Phoenix. One last Starbucks, and we checked out Chase Field, home of the D'backs.


Then it was back to the snow...