May 27 and 28th, 2023
Memorial Day and camping go hand in hand. It is also an important weekend in fly fishing as it signals the opening weekend for many of our western watersheds, including the opening of the Yellowstone National Park fishing season.
I spent Saturday and Sunday camping and fishing at Hebgen Lake near the fishy town of West Yellowstone. This area is a fly fisher’s paradise. With so many legendary fisheries, fly shops, and historic figures in the industry, it is truly one of the greatest trout towns in the world.
Many of the rivers in the Greater Yellowstone region are still running high, dirty, and behind normal hatch cycles. This has limited anglers to a few river fisheries or lakes. I have had many good days on Hebgen this time of year so I decided to try my luck once more on the lake known for its gulpers.
This camping trip was different than many as I had my dog along for the adventure. Kenai, a seven-year-old Siberian Husky was a birthday present of mine when I turned 16. I love him to death, but if you know me you know I try to keep my life as free as possible. Historically, Kenai has been a hard dog to take along fishing. He has been known to run away when not on a leash, biting the fish while trying to land them and getting into trouble in many other ways. Again, I love him so much and am so grateful to have him in my life, but he has held me back from a few fishing trips over the last few years. This weekend opened my eyes to the possibility of bringing him fishing more often.
This Memorial Day was special to me. Not because of the fishing, but because it was the first trip I was able to bring Kenai along and it not be a problem. We had a great time together. He stayed in the general area while I fished the lake and was always rooting for me to catch a fish. When I did catch a fish, he for the most part held back from chomping down on the fish. He loves camping and spending time running around the woods, so I was very happy to have him along on this trip and let him be a dog. I thought I’d never say this, but I look forward to having him along on more fishing trips in the future.
The fishing ended up being decent, but not as good as I may have expected with the conditions. Overcast skies with a few small rainstorms. The wind was light to moderate which made a great chop for my indicator rig to have a jigging action. In two days of fishing, I caught about 14 fish. Most of the fish I caught were colored up browns, which is uncommon when comparing this to my previous trips to Hebgen.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though. I had my fair share of tangles, slow periods, and trees hooked while on this adventure. It is all part of the challenge and I appreciate the experience for what it is. Just a great reminder to get quick with your knots. I don’t want you to see my content or read my blog posts thinking everything goes perfectly. I have my fair share of failures and frustrations just like all fishermen. It’s part of the game.
Other than a good experience with the dog, the highlight of the weekend was the town of West Yellowstone. Now that the season is in full swing, the town has come alive with people enjoying the area and the outdoors. You could tell it was getting fishy in the area with the many fishing rigs driving around town and the fly shops opening early. I stopped into Blue Ribbon Flies for the first time since moving to Montana. It’s been a fly shop that has been on my bucket list for a while now as Craig Mathews has been one of my heroes in this sport. Many of the flies in my boxes were created or inspired by Craig, so it was awesome to go in and buy some sparkle dun hair from this historic shop.
Overall, an amazing weekend on the lake. With amazing views, solid fishing, peaceful camping, and a well-behaved dog to share it with, I couldn’t have asked for a better Memorial Day weekend.
May 29th, 2023
With Monday off for the holiday and someone to watch the pup, I decided to take my pontoon boat out for its first trip in 2023. I usually fish lakes out of an 8-foot pontoon boat that I use oars and flippers to maneuver the shorelines. I have also used it to get down a few rivers. It has been the perfect little boat that was relatively inexpensive and opened up my fishing options.
I took the boat up to the ponds for the day, and after a quick invasive species inspection, I was on the water around 9:00 am. The conditions were perfect. Rolling clouds and a slight wind made for a solid chop on the pond’s surface and a beautiful day.
I didn’t have to wait long to watch my bobber go down. My second cast. Though I actually didn’t see it go down. I was messing around getting the boat configured and putting sunscreen on. I have always been bad about sunscreen and usually come home with a burned face. While trying to prevent this, I looked up to find my bobber nowhere.
This happens more often than I would like, and it is always a few seconds of panic as I scan the water for my indicator. Sure enough, my rod bent and the fish took off while my fly rod was in my left hand. I scrambled to get control of the rod and line while this fish pulled drag, but I couldn’t get it together before I pinched the line and broke the fish off. Not a good start to the day.
As it goes, it took me a few more hours to get another shot at a fish. The karma of hooking fish on your first or second cast is real.
These ponds are relatively shallow, allowing for weed growth and lots of food for the fish. The trout in these ponds grow to extraordinary proportions but are not the easiest to land on a fly rod. Even the small guys have plump bellies and give you a run for your money. It’s mainly a rainbow trout fishery though reports show brown and westslope cutthroat are present.
After some uneventful bobber staring, I hooked into my second fish. This fish spun me around the pond as I tried to get momentum in the fight. He was one of only a few trout I’ve had pull drag. When I say pull drag, I mean watch my line zip out of my reel for a good ten seconds while he zooms into the depths. I felt lucky to eventually land him, and he was a pig. Barely fitting into my net. It amazes me the proportions some stillwater fish can get under the right conditions.
This was the first of six fish I landed this day floating around the ponds. Two big ones and a few small to medium-sized rainbows. Turned out to be the best day I’ve had on this fishery, which means I’m either lucky or learning. Probably a little of both. The weather was beautiful all day with calm winds and a partly cloudy sky. It is hard to stay focused on the bobber with the great scenery of Montana in the background.
The most memorable part of the day was witnessing the immense bug life. No wonder these fish grow so big. All in one day I witnessed a heavy chironomid hatch, callibaetis, and damsel fly hatch. The damsel nymphs were crawling on my boat and at one point I had at least 50 adults flying over the water directly in from of me. I couldn’t believe it. This doesn’t count the number of scuds and leeches present in the weed beds. These fish are obviously not starved.
So there it is, another fishy weekend here in Montana. Blessed to live in an area that has many diverse fishing options within a few hours’ drive. I hope you experienced some good fishing, camping, or just family time on this long weekend. We are diving into summer mode here with bugs hatching and rivers clearing. It’s fishin’ time here in Big Sky Country.
My Setup
An Echo E3 10-foot 6 weight is my go-to lake rod. A Scientific Anglers Infinity taper fly line with a level leader of 3x tippet. This is behind a few feet of 20lb Maxima Chameleon for a butt section. After about nine feet of 3x tippet, I use a micro swivel to tie two tags where I tie my flies off of. One longer than the other.
The top flies for the trip included a variety of balanced leeches, mainly in black shades. I tie these leeches in size 8’s and 10’s. I had a few fish in Hebgen eat a size 16 red with white bead chironomid. For the ponds, all my fish were caught on a size 12 bubba gump shrimp. This is a new pattern to me this year and it is supposed to work well when targeting fish that have a heavy scud diet. I wouldn’t be surprised if the fish were taking it as a damsel fly with the olive and orange body. It’s a special feeling to tie up a dozen of a new pattern and have them be the fly of the day. Check out the photos below.
What Did I Learn?
This weekend I learned that bringing the dog along is not so bad after all. Kenai was a great fishing dog this weekend as I fished Hebgen from shore and I had a blast having him along. The lake was easy as I stayed in the same area most of the time and there was plenty of national forest land for him to explore. I will have to experiment with a few rivers in the coming weeks and see how that goes. I worry he will get ahead of me and spook fish off the bank or try to follow me out into the fast current.
It was relieving to learn there are situations where I can fish comfortably with him by my side. I know it is common to fish with your dog, so I’d be interested to hear any tips you have when you bring your dog along. He is only seven years old, so I’m assuming he will be around for another few years. I will need to bring him along on more trips in the future if I want to continue fishing as much as I do. Any advice would be much appreciated.
What Left Me Curious?
Why weren’t there more anglers out this weekend fishing the lakes? Maybe a better question would be why do anglers shy away from fishing stillwaters? I was surprised to come across very few anglers on what is a very busy weekend in the outdoors. There were less than 5 anglers I saw fishing from shore on Hebgen (all conventional fishing), and maybe eight boats fishing the ponds. The pond’s parking lot was far from full.
I understand they may be daunting when trying to locate fish. Maybe people think you must have a boat to fish them effectively. Whatever it is, I was still surprised to have very little competition this weekend fishing in the areas I wanted to. I love lake fishing for this reason. As our rivers get busier, it is easy to escape to the lake to find solitude. You can often find just as good fishing and bigger fish, so I recommend giving them a go sometime this summer.
