Henry's fork and Yellowstone ??

[Bassomatic]

Has anybody been up to Henry's Fork or Yellowstone lately? I can't seem to find anything on the Idaho or Montana boards about it. I guess that people there aren't as forthcoming as us Utah folk.

We will be fishing from shore and would love to fish Yellowstone lake. Not much of a fly fisherman, I just don't have the gene. But don't worry, I know the regs and what I can and cant use, I'm just not sure what's been working.

I'd sure appreciate any reports. We are headed out in the morning and will be up there for a week. Hopefully, I can get my wife to let me spend a couple of days fishing while we are there.

Thanks for the help.
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[fokizzle]

You should try Hebgen Lake. It is about 5 miles from the town of West Yellowstone. It is one of my favorite lakes ever. I prefer the Madison arm of this lake. The fish are huge. I went there with my buddy and my boys during the first weekend of May. We fished from kayaks and canoes until the wind started blowing too hard. Then we fished from the shore and had equal success. We did not catch any fish that were smaller than 18 inches.

Try gold spoons with spots or a hammered silver spoon. I like 1/4 oz best but the 3/8 ounce work well too. You will not be disappointed.

I also like Cliff lake that is about 30 miles further to the west. You going to Montana makes me jelly. When are you planning your trip? I stopped lurking and signed up on this forum because of your post. Good luck!!!
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[1sthound]

Ha! you took the bait! welcome to this site lots of good folk and info to be had for the asking, I moved to Utah from Montana and sure miss the fishing up there, But Utah holds its own
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[TiteLines]

I have fished Yellowstone Lake for 20 years. Great catchers from shore or boat are:

Jake's Spin-a-Lures in Brass
Panther Martins in Black, Yellow/ Silver, Black/Brass, Yellow/Orange
Spoons in different brass, fire tiger finishes

All have produced well. If you don't have the fly rod finesse, you can use a casting bubble half-filled with water and tie on a 4' piece of leader with a nymph, caddis, or other flies. You will do well, especially in the evening when they are rising.

TiteLines
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[fsh4fun05]

I was up there for five days. The Cutts were spawning which was really neat. The wife caught more than I did but every fish was beautiful! Anything gold or gold/orange worked well.
Even better it never got above 74*
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[Bassomatic]

Thanks for all of the great tips! We went last week and unfortunately, I was outvoted on much of my fishing plans.

I did get to do a little on Henry's Fork, one evening at Island Park Res. and 3 hours in Yellowstone.

Henry's fork was great for little fish, we caught fish as long as we kept fishing. They were taking everything from flies to salmon eggs and spinners. My only complaint there was some of the people who would see you catching fish and then move in on your spot. One kid actually walked right into the hole I was fishing in and when I asked him not to, he responded by stating that there were no property rights on the river and that he would go where he wanted to. What a jerk!

IP Res was great as well. We fished for about 2 hours and caught 10 fish. They were all perfect size for the fry pan, but only one made the journey home with us. All the rest went back into the lake. Spoons and Jakes seemed to be the magic ticket here.

Yellowstone fishing in the park was a little bit of a letdown for me. I didn't get to fish the lake as planned, but I did get to do a little fishing on the Lamar river and in Slough Creek. I caught fish in both places, but they were small and had almost no fight in them. As soon as they were hooked, they just gave up. One fish was decent sized, he was close to 3 pounds, everything else was small.

The best things in the park this year were the animals. We saw at least 2000 bison, 11 bears, antelope, elk and deer. If anyone is headed up that way and wants to see animals, go to the Lamar Valley. We saw very few animals anywhere else in the park, but from Tower north, they were everywhere!
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[ddmoogs]

What part of IP did you fish? I was there this weekend and didn't really have that much luck.
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[albinotrout]

Fishing in the park is difficult I find. I usually end up on the Galatin with my fly rod chasing small fish. Usually less people too.
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[Bassomatic]

I was up in the river arm just below McCrea's Bridge about a mile. It seems like IP has been harder and harder to get decent sized fish out of in recent years. Everything we caught was in the 12" size range, but they were still fun to catch and they fought very well for being smaller fish. We were fishing from shore in what I would guess was about 10' of water. It seemed like they were out as far as you can cast and then would follow the lures for quite a ways before hitting. We would cast out and let the spoons sink for a count of 10 before reeling. Caught a few while the lures were falling, but most shortly after the drop would hit. Better luck next time!
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[Bassomatic]

Sounds like our experience as well. For me, next time, I think I'll stay outside the park. I talked with a few of the guides about where they would take me if I wanted to take a trip with them, and not one recommended going inside the park. They all said that fishing was better in other places, unless I wanted to take a boat on the lake.
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[albinotrout]

Yeah the park is hit so heavy, the places outside are better. Although I wouldn't mind hitting the south end of the park. Never been there before.
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[Bassomatic]

I think you're right. Get off the roads and go where no one is willing to walk. You may find a different story.
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[Madplumber]

You did way better then I did got skunked on Henry's and only caught a few on ip res trolling both waters last week
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