Fishing the Firehole

[PYochim]

6 hours from my front door. I'm going!!!!!

[Flyman615]

Firehole is magical.

Anyone familiar with the Firehole should recognize this location along the river.



John

Muleshoe Bend

Scott

[thegubster]

A few years ago with John Simonson. Yours truly trying to hold steady... Fun trip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtIQX8hpiyI&t=32s

[nativebrownie]

Nice,Nice,Nice....

And if I may ask, the rod and the fly? Just completes that beautiful setting...

[Eric Peper]

6 hours from my front door. I'm going!!!!!

Just FYI, before you leave . . . my cabin is about 40 minutes from the Firehole, but right now there is 44" of snow in my front yard. Oh . . . just for the record, I am NOT there.

Eric

[Hellmtflies]

It's just an easy day trip for me too.

[wefishcane]

The cabin is less than an hour away. We should coordinate a day in June to fish together.

Jim

[PYochim]

6 hours from my front door. I'm going!!!!!

Just FYI, before you leave . . . my cabin is about 40 minutes from the Firehole, but right now there is 44" of snow in my front yard. Oh . . . just for the record, I am NOT there.

Eric

I think it will be a while before I get to that area. What I plan on doing is a September road trip. My daughter lives in Bozeman and ideally I would like to fish my way to there and fish my way home.

[pgwulf]

Day trip to the Firehole, out of the house by 0600 & absent too many Ohio, Utah, New York license plates stopping on the road (instead of pullouts) to photograph the ass end of a cow elk, I can be fishing downstream from Midway at 0830.

[WiFlyFisher]

Jeremy, I forgot about that vid.

A couple more photos of the Firehole, but these were from mid-Summer when I had the whole family out to YNP versus the previous photos were from various years in mid-September.





Now back to work. :-(

John

[CDCdun]

The firehole is an amazing river. Easily recognized in nearly any photo. That clearly speaks to its beautiful and unique character. I have fished it a lot and it’s always fun. Late September into October is my favorite time to fish it. Good baetis hatches and way less people. I remember reading an old fly fishing book that mentioned how the average size of the trout in the firehole was quite large. I did some research and found other sources that mentioned the trout in the firehole were some of the largest in the area. Times have changed, and now they often run on the smaller side. It would’ve been fun to cast a size 22 baetis to a 22” trout with thermal features all around me. I’m sure there are still some 22” trout in there, just few and far between.

Jake

[16pmd]

Some knowledgeable old timers who are no longer around told me that the Firehole changed dramatically after the big earthquake of 1959. They spoke of brown drakes and other hatches that no longer exist and bigger fish than are common now. Water temps have increased since that quake and were apparently the reason for the changes.

[adrien schnee]

I haven’t fished the Firehole since almost 40 years ago when I caught my first brown trout ever (a delightful fluke on an 8 weight glass rod, size 10 or so Adams with drag and 0X or heavier leader about 6 feet long).

For those who fish it regularly now, what’s the average size of the trout?

[CDCdun]

I never measure fish, but I would guess the average size is between 10” and 14”.

Jake

[adrien schnee]

Thanks Jake, I figured it was about a foot or so (in fact about the size of the brown I caught in the early 80’s), which is just fine for wild trout on such a beautiful body of water.

[snorider]

Hey guys. Shhhh!

[narcodog]

I remember reading a book or an article by Charles Brooks when I was young about fishing the Muleshoe section. Through the years I dreamed of fishing there because he talked about the big fish that were caught. I had a hard time finding that section, I asked in West and no one had heard about that section. I did find it, I didn't catch any fish but that's when I fell in love with the Firehole.

[nativebrownie]

Yes, I believe Mr. Brooks also talked of the quake and the effect on the water temp of the Firehole. Really enjoy his books...

[wefishcane]

"Fishing Yellowstone Waters" by Charles Brooks was my bible when I started fishing the Park back in the early 80's. This is from page 54, "In the early 1970s a series of earthquakes more severe than normal took place near the Firehole headwaters...These high temperatures also caused the growth and reproductive rates of the trout to drop dramatically, reducing both and size and numbers of trout in the stream...a skillfull dry fly fisher in the years 1950 to 1970 could expect to take ten to twenty trout in day, averaging over two pounds each with several of three three or more pounds."

Jim

[mlarocco]

The Firehole by Adriano Manochia