Home Sweet Stone

I returned to my home river this past weekend for a whitewater/fishing float from my hometown of Gardiner.  My good friend Zach Jerla was generous enough to offer his raft so my wife and I, along with Zach and his fiance', hit the mighty Yellowstone at about 3 p.m.  The weather was not as hot as we would have liked and the temps hovered in the high 7o's with overcast skies for the majority of the day.  The "town stretch" thru Gardiner out the McConnell fishing access is the main whitewater on the Stone.  The rapids were at prime flows and we tackled some pretty intense rapids ending with the grand finale, Sleeping Giant Rapid.  The Giant wasn't sleepy at all, wide awake with fury and power.  

By the end of the whitewater, the beers cracked open and out came the florid.  I casted streamers most of the day and was able to hook one decent brown.  I fished on top a little but was only rewarded by the enthusiasm of undersized and over eager trout.  The float was great and we pulled out right at dark.  The fishing was mediocre to say the least and as you can tell from my wife's netting skills, what we really caught the most of was a good buzz.

The next day I walked Noah down to Chapman's beach and we continued our summer quest to catch Noah his first fish on a fly rod.  He is coming so close!  He makes the cast, mends the slack and has even had a fish on, we just haven't been able to land the fish yet.  The trout were still keyed on large dries due to the recent invasion and passing of the legendary salmonfly hatch.  I was able to stick a nice yellowstone cutty on a big orange simulator.  I let Noah play the fish to hand and snapped a nice pic.

I love the Yellowstone.  It is filled with memories and makes me long for my youth again.  Noah has also fell in love with the river.  Every-time we drive into the Paradise Valley and spot the epic estuary Noah says, "There's our river Dad."  It is wear it all began for him...and I.