Hello all,
I am writing to you on the final day of the second session of the Yellowstone Adventure. The past two weeks have been remarkable and won’t soon be forgotten. We have traveled across the great states of Montana and Wyoming in search of many fish and amazing experiences. This trip has been life-changing in so many ways and I’m here to tell you about it.
A lot of things have happened since the last backcountry. The last few days of the trip are always my favorite. The boys put their skills to the test and see if they can’t wrangle a gigantic trout to the net. Half of the group started their final hoorah with a float down the world- famous Madison River to catch a world-famous Madison River trout. The fleet of bright yellow rafts was piloted by a trusty captain by the name of Pat Sheehy. The warm water conditions would only allow for a short window to persuade one of the trout into eating a hopper or a nymph. Floating down the river is a nice change of pace from wading. You cover much more river, and you don’t feel as if your legs are made of lead the next day. The Madison is heavily fished, and the trout have become quite selective in the flies that they eat. Fooling one of these elusive trout is a great accomplishment that any angler should be proud of. Luckily for the boys, their two weeks of practice paid off and the fish gods granted them plentiful gifts of silver, red, and bright gold.
While the first half of the group worked the banks and troughs of the Madison, the other half of the group took their talents to another famous river in the area. I will not mention the name of this river to protect the abundant population of large brown trout that call this river home. You’d have to be a true pioneer to be able to find it, wink wink. The wading group spent the day fishing streamers for these buck-nasty creatures and- thankfully- were able to coax a couple into T-boning the well-presented flies. While brown trout are not native to the United States, they are my favorite type of trout because of the true predatory fashion they eat flies. They don’t eat to satiate their hunger; they eat to destroy any threat to their livelihood. A brown trout is the definition of power. They truly do shoot to kill. The fellas spent the day fighting these golden beasts until their forearms could bear no more. The next day the groups would switch so that each of them would get to experience both rivers.
The afternoons were spent floating in tubes (with life jackets -- don’t you worry parents) down the Madison River. The cool water was a nice break from the overbearing heat of the sun. At night we played ultimate frisbee and sat around talking about the day’s events. Who knows, maybe an intense game of foosball was mixed in. The boys enjoyed the versatility of the Blackstone and basked in the glory of BBQ bacon chicken sandwiches and steak night. Each night was capped off with Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches and root beer floats.
I can’t believe the second Yellowstone Adventure has come to an end. We are extremely proud of every participant. The growth in not only fishing, but also personally has been exceptional to watch. Every boy has honed their outdoor and leadership skills. I’m excited to see what the future holds for this group!
Until next,
Sean, Hunt, Kitchel, and the boys
