August 10, Yellowstone River

It was great to fish with my old friends Mike and his son Shane. I decided to take us to the upper Yellowstone for dry fly fishing and it did not disappoint. We did not catch any huge fish, but we caught a lot of them. Shane sat up front for the day and we started calling him Hoover. If there was a fish who wanted to eat a dry, Hoover stuck him. He had caught a Brown, Rainbow and Cutthroat within sight of the truck. Easy Slam!

For Shane the bug of the day was a black stimulator. He fished it from ramp to ramp. Mike had a good day. But compared to Shane, Mike's meager 20 fish was a paltry hull. Mike was very quick on his hook set, and with the bright sun and the big cutthroat he was a bit too fast. Fishing the Yellowstone will make you a better hook setter. You become a rise analyst. As the fish comes up, you assess if it is a cutthroat or not. If you deem it a cutthroat you make yourself wait a full one-Mississippi before you set the hook. Mike missed some big fish , but caught some nice ones, and the comradely was great.