Fall in Yellowstone means big fish on the move - ask any dedicated Yellowstone fly fisherman and they’ll tell you they’re thinking of big browns on the Madison, Gardner, Yellowstone, and Lewis to name a few. 

I cut my fly fishing teeth hanging out with guys who loved to fish dry flies and nymph - they were good at both, and I learned those first few years to shut up, watch them, and learn.  They were not great streamer fishermen (I suppose they thought they didn’t have to be), and interestingly they most often put their gear away in late September (not too bright).

The concept of streamers didn’t really sink in for me until a late September trip on the Missouri, we had just launched the boats early one morning and were waiting for our shuttle drivers to return. 

One of my buddies (BC) pulled his gear out and starting dinking around right there at the ramp below Holter; he was literally standing on the ramp and fishing a #18 or 20 Griffith’s Gnat, and sure enough on his 3rd or 4th cast hooked a 4 inch rainbow. 

He looked over at us as we issued the requisite round of comments about his skills targeting tiny fish when a gigantic splash erupted - I assumed one of the teens we were transporting that day threw a big rock at BC’s tiny trout.

You know the story - his fish had been savagely attacked by what turned out to be a brown running a tad over 7 pounds right at the foot of the ramp.  BC was fishing a 5 weight, and struggled a bit to land the fish, but it was over in under 10 minutes, a quick picture and the fish was gone in a flash.

I became a streamer believer that day….

More to come.

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