Yellowstone 2014 - Great Fishing, Questionable Food Choices

In October of 2014 Aaron, Erin, Eric and Jason spent 2 1/2 days fishing five rivers in Yellowstone National Park. We based in West Yellowstone where the food was... gamey. I have uploaded a few of the many pictures I took. The pictures look a lot better than the fish I caught. Everyone else hauled in some large browns, rainbows, cutthroats and the occasional mountain whitefish.

October 9, 2014

The Madison

Erin prepares for combat fishing at Barnes Hole #1

Sun up at Barnes Hole

Aaron in The Madison

October 9, 2014

The Gibbon

No fish but still worth the drive!

October 9, 2014

The Firehole

This is the most beautiful stretch of river that I have seen. Big holes and small fish.

Erin with his "Squatchy" gate was first to the hole

Eric teaching me to fish the small deep holes

What a great day...

October 10

Slough Creek

(I swear I saw a bear!)

Long hike followed by a helicopter landing, I wish we were on it

Eric landing a nice cutthroat on a streamer with a weird name.

Cutty on Slough Creek

Aaron on Slough Creek

Eric practicing the art of Ninja Fly Fishing...

Erin and his new friend

Hiking out

October 10, 2014

The Lamar

Aaron on The Lamar

Eric in the boulders

On this cast Erin had a large fish take his fly... just about.

Johnson's Creek Aug. 22nd, 2014

August 22nd I departed from SLC and flew with my Dad to Johnson's Creek, ID Airstrip for some back country flying and fishing.  The fishing was no good that day, but I did see the biggest Brown Trout actually float by on the river.  When I first spotted it, I thought it was a piece of driftwood until I saw it's dorsal fin which was sticking out of the water because it was so big.  This lead to a river hunt, which paid off at the end of the trip, as you will see.

Below is the SPOT map, the GoPro video, and some pics.  Enjoy!

GoPro Fly in Fishing on Johnson's Creek

SPOT Map:

Pictures:

West Fork of the Duchesne Fly Fishing

Opening weekend of the West Fork of the Duchesne on July 12, 2014 was immensely successful for Mortensen and Gourley.  The Colorado River Cutthroats were hungry for hoppers, including a 14" Eric landed and multiple 12" Mortensen caught.  The GoPro video and some pics are below.

GoPro Fly Fishing on the West Fork of the Duchesne


Pics:

Blacksmith Fork Fly Fishing Trip

July 5th found Mortensen & Gourley making the fishing pilgrimage to the Blacksmith Fork River for some scenic Cutthroat fishing.  Eric landed a nice 12".  Mortensen had two on the line, but they got lost in the algae.  The highlight of the trip was the Squatch nest Mortensen discovered on the way out. The video and some HD pics are below.  Enjoy.

GoPro Blacksmith Fork Fishing

Pics:

Johnson's Creek Fishing Day 3

June 22nd was our third day staying at Johnson's Creek, ID.  We left early and flew into Moose Creek Airstrip so I could fish the confluence of the Selway and Moose Creek Rivers.  They were amazing!  Big, deep, clear rives with lots of uneducated Cutthroats.  It was fun!  We ran into a problem while there.  As I was getting ready to fish, Dad noticed oil dripping from the airplane motor.  That's always bad when you are in the middle of the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho.  The good news is that an attendant was stationed at the Moose Creek Rangers Station next to the airstrip.  Dad called a mechanic in Hamilton, MT on a satellite phone, and spent the day figuring out how to get us out of there.  I fished.  It was great fishing.  That evening we flew across the snow-capped Continental Divide with the engine leaking oil as we went.  We flew to Hamilton and spent the night there, though all of our gear was back at Johnson's Creek.  The next morning the mechanics fixed the oil leak while I visited all four fly shops.  We left about noon, flew to Johnson's Creek, packed up, and then headed to McCall, ID.  After getting fuel there, we flew back to Salt Lake City.  What an amazing trip!  The link has the GoPro video with some images of the trip below.


GoPro Flying and Fishing at Johnson's Creek, Idaho Day 3


Images: