Fishing on the Madison is On Fire!
There are two things you need to know about what’s going on in West Yellowstone right now.
First things first, the salmonflies are on the Madison. Thick, I mean Thick.
The fishing has been absolutely ridiculous. Here’s Rachel with a big rainbow. We took this picture the day she stuck, and lost (due to no fault of her own, of course) an absolutely monster (we’re talking 20+ inches) rainbow, that managed to spit the hook at our feet.
Here’s a piggy little nineteen-incher that Brennan brought up to a razorback.
Here’s a beauty of a rainbow that Rachel stuck on a salmonfly dry.
Brennan pulled two big browns out of the same spot in two consecutive days. Who is that man in the shadows? A one man trout-o-caust, that’s who.
Second thing you need to know, is that the National Forest surrounding our town is on fire. Not on fire like the fishing, but on fire in a much less enjoyable way. A way that has forced us to become used to hearing little planes carrying smokejumpers and buckets of water and retardant into the sky to drop on the blaze two miles north of the town line.
Here’s a view from over Hebgen Lake yesterday. At this point the fire was probably around 150 acres. It has now spread to around 2,800 acres. Thankfully the wind has kept the fire from moving this way, and the teams working around the clock have probably had enough time to get us pretty well insulated from the blaze. While these things do happen naturally, all signs point to this being a man-made fire, probably an accident from a cigarette or fireworks.
So, we’ve got our camping stuff all packed and ready to go, and our marshmallows at the ready. I suppose this is yet another in a long line of welcomes to the West.