Day 71-74 - Yellowstone National Park

Large and awesome is the only way to describe Yellowstone. We had a few days to burn before my next consulting appointment so we headed down to West Yellowstone, Montana for a little R&R and FF. What's FF you ask? Fly fishing, of course. Top of my bucket list was to catch a trout, on a fly, on a river in Montana. CHECK! It was much more awesome than that so let me explain.

Father's Day was spent on the road so access to gifts from the family was basically souvenir tee shirts or rubber dog poop from the tourist trap (oh yes, my daughter bought some) SO, my lovely wife decided I would get to check another item on my bucket list and fish the Madison River. If you aren't familiar with the Madison, it is miles and miles of trout infested river flowing through Yellowstone. It is barely 4 feet deep at the deepest part and is filled with ripples from end to end. Combine that river with a seasoned guide from Waco, Texas (yes us Texans are everywhere) and you have the perfect float trip for this Texas boy. Only I would understand when he said to cast on the riiiihhht side of the boat he was referring to what non Texans call the right side. Nuff said, we two Texas boys understood one another. Travis Phillips put me on some great trout holes, I just had trouble catching them! If mother nature had cooperated, and the wind not blown at gale force all day, we would have landed many more. As I told Travis "it ain't about the catchin, it's about the fishin". He understood. I have to give him a gold medal, with the 30 mph winds at our back, he spent the entire time paddling to slow the boat so I could have the best possible chance to land a big one. I landed some Rainbows and one really nice Brownie and I was fine with that. Travis, thank you for hooking me on fly fishing again, it has been too long.

Travis guides for Bud Lilly's Trout Shop in West West Yellowstone. If you haven't heard of Bud, he is world famous in the trout fishing circles and this shop is true to his reputation, top notch. Bud Lilly, pioneer sportsman and director of Montana River Action, is renowned as a river, stream and trout conservationist and widely known as trout’s best friend. Bud started the “catch and release” philosophy in the Northern Rockies in order to preserve one of the region’s most precious resources. Catch and release started over 30 years ago and thus began quiet revolution that changed fishing to a sport and spawned an industry. He has since become a passionate and persuasive spokesman for the wise use of cold water resources.

The remainder of our time in Yellowstone was spent searching for wildlife and taking in the awesome scenery. Yellowstone is unparalleled in the world for it's geysers and landscapes. In fact, it has more geysers than the entire remainder of the world. Time to leave and get back to work!

PS: Nothing in Yellowstone compares to that day on the Madison for me, yet!