Fly Fishing Yellowstone Country
Yellowstone National Park &
Southwestern Montana Offer Abundant World-Class Fly Fishing Opportunities In A
Concentrated Area That Is Unrivaled By Anywhere Else In The World.
OUTSIDE Yellowstone
National Park Waterways
SNAKE RIVER
The Snake River is an old and venerable river. It's
ancestral forms drained most of Western North
America into what is now San Francisco Bay (and
various other points along the west coast of North
America.). For 70,000,000 years (or more,) it has
been the migration route into the interior of
Western North America, and the drainage route out,
as well.
It has survived in one form or another through the
uplifting of the Rocky Mountains, The Sierra Nevada
Mountains, The Pacific Coast Ranges of California,
and The Cascade Mountains of Washington & Oregon. As
the mountains of the west were uplifted, and the
western volcanoes spread their lava fields it has
changed it's course many times. It has swept over
Nevada, Idaho, California, Oregon, and parts of
southern Washington, (perhaps - at one time very
long ago - it even touched the margins of the
Colorado River drainage and fed the Gulf of
California).
It's constant head-cutting, (as various mountain
ranges were born,) has stolen the waters of many
rivers and streams. This process of "stream piracy"
continues today as it is head-cutting into the
Madison River drainage at Reynolds Pass, and into
the Gallatin River Drainage in the Northwest corner
of Yellowstone National Park. It is also making
inroads into the headwaters region of the
Yellowstone River in the Thoroughfare region, (at
two oceans plateau,) of southeastern Yellowstone
Park. Perhaps in the distant geological future it
will capture the Madison River and The Yellowstone
River (and Lake,) turning north-central North
America into a giant waterless desert.
IS IT ANY WONDER THAT THERE IS SUCH DIVERSITY IN
FISH AND FISHING IN THE WEST YELLOWSTONE AREA?
Currently, the Snake River is one of the master
streams of the western and southern portions of
Yellowstone National Park. It is also the master
stream for all of Southern Idaho. It's origins lie
in two distinct areas: 1), along the flanks of the
Continental Divide in the West Yellowstone, MT /
Island Park, ID region, and 2), along the flanks of
the Continental Divide in the Jackson, WY region.
This drainage of the southwestern Yellowstone
Plateau has given the visiting fisherman two
fantastic fishing streams: The Henry's (North,)
Fork, & The South Fork of the Snake River.
HENRY'S (NORTH) FORK, OF THE SNAKE RIVER
Born in the seep springs and snowmelt above Henry's
Lake adjacent to the origins of the West Fork of the
Madison River, The Henry's Fork tumbles quickly to
the valley floor of the Island Park uplift and
caldera. This volcanic basin is rich in nutrients
from the soils, and the discharge of many small
tributaries, (and the discharge from inside
Yellowstone Park through Big Spring & the seeps at
Malfunction Junction.) It flows into Henry's Lake as
a simple mountain stream and fills this ancient
glacial basin with the cold clear waters that has
made the lake famous.
With the discharge waters from the lake and the
confluence, at Mack's Inn, of Moose Creek, and then
the Buffalo River at Pond's Lodge the Henry's Fork
becomes a gentle, (though large,) river that holds
the potential for great fishing. The impoundment of
waters in the Island Park Reservoir has limited the
discharge to gentle runoff, and contributed to the
silting of this river that was, because of it's age
and topographic setting a mature stream, already
depositing a heavy bed-load, (and also drowned many
excellent trout waters of the Trude [yes, that Trude,]
Ranch.
As the river enters its mature and meandering
sections it flows through Railroad Ranch and under
the Osborn bridge. This is the section that draws
fishermen from the world over to the hatches and the
Fish. It then wanders through sagebrush flats, joins
the waters of the Warm River and out of the caldera
to Ashton, Id. Continuing to gather tributary
streams, (such as the Tetons,) it grows in size and
speed as the lava bedrock controlls more and more of
it. It finally joins the South Fork to the east of
Pocatello and Idaho Falls.
SOUTH FORK, OF THE SNAKE RIVER
The glaciated margins of the southwestern mountains
in Yellowstone Park have many high mountain meadows
and intertwined drainages that are the remnants of
the retreat of the mountain glaciers. Two Oceans
Plateau is one of these areas. It is in this region
that both the Yellowsotne River, (a tributary to the
Missouri River,) and the Snake River, (a tributary
to the Columbia River,) arise and flow to each of
the great oceans that border the North American
Continent.
The water from Two Oceans Plateau join with the
waters debauching from Lewis Lake, (the Lewis
River,) to form the South Fork of the Snake River
near the south entrance to Yellowstone Park, (near
Moose Falls). It travels a course through Grand
Teton National Park and the Lakes of that beautiful
region. Whereas the North Fork drains the west side
of the Tetons, the South Fork drains the east side,
providing fisherfolk a chance to admire these
distinctive mountains from both sides in a single
day.
The south fork continues to Palisades Reservoir, and
then via a magnificent tailwater fishery to join the
North Fork at their confluence. The waters above the
reservoir provide typical, (though large,) riffle
and run sections along with meandering meadow
sections with deep pools. The waters below the
reservoir are large and filled with deep pools and
long stretches that are bed rock controlled. Very
much like the Madison River these lower sections are
best explored by drift boat, and best experienced
and appreciated from the bank.
It is still possible to catch "Fine Spotted Snake
River Cutthroat Trout" in this section of the river.
The population is slowly being eradicated by other
introduced species, just as has happened in the
waters of the Henry's Fork. |
Click here to start planning you
|
