We can't believe the Yellowstone Hosted Adventure is already halfway over. This hard-working group of anglers have already fished the Gallatin, Madison, Gardner, and some small brook trout streams, but it has all been warm-up for what is to come.
We started our trip on the Gallatin River where we set up camp within feet of banks. From our campsite, we fished the sections of the river that lie within Yellowstone National Park. With all the snow we received out west the rivers are still higher than normal this summer, but that didn't stop our crew. Everyone in the group was able to catch multiple fish and hook into some really nice ones. The high water made landing these fish difficult, and more often than not they were able to outmaneuver our group that is all relatively new to fly fishing. After some practice on and off the water, we did manage to land some absolute studs and are feeling confident that the big fish we encounter over the last few days don't stand a chance.
Today we moved over to small brook trout fishing. Again, this gave us plenty of opportunities to work on hooking/fighting fish as we saw pretty much nonstop action. Everyone had dozens of eats, and landed lots of fish, with the high man for the day landing 22 brook trout.
Our original plan was to head into the backcountry tomorrow, but we have adjusted things slightly to take advantage of the best possible weather during our backcountry section. So instead we will be floating the Madison River tomorrow with our guides from Montana Troutfitters. This is sure to be one of the highlights of an already amazing trip, but nothing will top our final two days on Slough Creek.
After our float, we will get prepped for our backcountry on the morning of the 11th. An approximately 5-mile hike will bring us to the second meadow of Slough Creek. It is hard to relay just how magical Slough Creek is to someone who has never been, let's just say it is safe to assume it will be a memory they cherish the rest of their lives.
We will exit the backcountry on the 12th and head back to Bozeman for our banquet dinner before we depart the next day. We will send another update when we make it back to Bozeman on the 12th.
Tight lines,
Will, Tee, and Crew
