Big Sky Country 2.0 - Day 2

Our second day in found us headed toward Yellowstone National Park and more of the Madison river. After a beautiful drive from Ennis up to West Yellowstone we found a hearty breakfast and some good input from the helpful guys at Blue Ribbon. 

Schultzy gettin' it done on the Madison below Yellowstone!

First stop was just outside the Park (to avoid paying for an additional fishing license). This location was unlike the Madison we'd experienced the first day - broad, fairly slow, and a bottom of sand and gravel. Super easy wading! After rigging up for streamer pitching, we headed downstream. A sudden Blue Winged Olive hatch sent us scrambling back to the truck for dry flies. Unfortunately despite some great looking water and a solid hatch, this was not to be a hot spot. Schultzy stuck a few dinks, while Reid and I got skunked. 

Time to move on downstream toward Quake Lake. If you're never visited this area, Quake Lake is pretty amazing! Formed as a result of a 1959 earthquake that actually re-routed the river after 80 million tons of rock fell into the valley, the lake is 6 miles long and 190 feet deep!

The Madison above Quake Lake; pretty, but tricky wading.

This segment of the Madison was especially beautiful. But with this beauty came some tough wading. Some seriously FAST water, combined with basketball-sized ankle-breaker boulders, and slick algae growth was the recipe for scary. Early on I made the mistake of deciding the fishing would be better on the far back. Mid-crossing I realized I was wading in a spot that was above my skill level. Unfortunately, when you find yourself in these spots, turning back is often worse than completing the crossing. After a few tense moments of slick footing, fast current, and heart-racing adrenaline, I made it across. 

Though beautiful, this stretch left us all fishless. And it helped me address an important gear issue. Rocking Simms HardBite star cleats is the only thing the kept me upright in the fast-flowing Madison. Later in the week I also found them tremendously helpful wading some of the algae-slick portions of the Big Hole river. Previously I'd only used cleats in Ohio. The issue with cleats comes into play when fishing from a boat. A good way to be unwelcome quickly is to clamber aboard in your cleated boots, scratching the crap out of your host's boat. After this trip, I've decided it's time to add a second pair of boots sans cleats for boat-based fishing. I love my Simms Riversheds, so I think a second pair will be on-order shortly. While I like the idea of Korkers interchangeable soles, I have serious doubts that they'll hold up like my Simms have.

Back at the truck, I found that not only had I gone fishless, so had Reid and Schultzy. But we did get the pleasure of meeting a true Montana bullshitter who claimed to take 90 yard bow shots on whitetails, and hunt grouse with his bow. Uh huh, sure you do. Of course. And your 11-year-old daughter will kill her first elk with a bow at 60 yards...

A quick drive over to Twin Bridges got us to The Stonefly Inn - our home base for the next few days. A fine dinner of Rooster's coffee steaks followed by a few Moscow Mules had us all happy and energized for some great fishing starting on the next day...