Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Part 1

What an adventure! I've slacked off the past several weeks, so this story is coming to you a little late. This is a hike that my brother planned years ago, and it didn't disappoint once we finally did it. Even the drive there was spectacular! We met my brother Jason and Robert in Idaho Falls, and from there we went through Yellowstone National Park. The Beartooth range is just north of the park in Montana.. We camped near Cooke City on our first night. Interestingly, once we arrived to where we were going to camp, we found out that you couldn't camp in tents, only hard-shell campers because of how many grizzly bears were in the area. We ended up finding a spot a few miles away, but we were all a little on edge that night.

 

The Crew, from right: Robert, Shawn, Braden, Jason, and myself.

Some of the views while driving to the trail head.

Stopping for one last normal meal.

The next day we made our way over to the East Rosebud Trail head to begin our hike. We did seven miles the first day and camped at Rainbow Lake. Along the trail, we found countless wild raspberry patches, along with thimble berries, huckleberries, and elderberries. The berries made for a tasty snack while we hiked. the trail was mostly uphill on the first day, and the scenery was breathe taking.

My guess to how the Beartooth Wilderness got it's name.

Wild thimble berries are my new favorite.

Working our way to camp.

The first steep climb.

The first lake we came to was a huge glacial lake.

 

On the second day, we started fishing. The first lake we hit was Lake at Falls. It was crystal clear and full of cutthroat trout. Robert was the first to hook into one as he soon landed the first fish of the trip. Everyone else soon followed, as the cutts seemed to  love anything that hit the water. We used a variety of dry flies, and watching these fish rise from the depths and explode on your fly was a special experience.

It's tough to beat this scenery.

Robert with the first fish of the trip.

Braden got in on the action catching his first fish on a fly.

Robert with a beautiful cutthroat.

The next lake we came to was Dewey lake with it's magnificent waterfall. A lot of guide books have say this is the sight to see on this hike. The cutthroat were less aggressive here, but we still caught plenty. To get deeper under the falls, I switched to using a Gold Jakes lure. My second cast to the falls, I hooked into something that felt big! unfortunately, on it's second hard run, it broke me off. I ended up catching several in this spot, but nothing that gave me the fight of that first fish. On to part two...

What a backdrop for fishing!

Robert working the waterfall.

A view as we make our way up the trail to the top of the falls.

The One That Got Away, And The One That Didn't

I realize it's been a lot of cat fishing on the blog lately, but the Jordan is producing quality fish, and it's hard to step away when the catching is this good. Don't worry though, I'll get back to the trout tails soon enough with the cool fall weather approaching. We've been night fishing twice since my last post, so I'll cover both outings. The first trip was the regular crew I fish with, and the results were typical for what we've been doing lately. Several channel cats were landed in the 24-26 inch range, and fairly consistently. The only difference now is that it's starting to cool off at night so the hoodies have come out.

 

The second trip was last night. I took one of the neighbor kids (Jared) with me. I was really hoping he could get a big cat, since he told me he's mostly caught only little bullheads when he's gone in the past. early on he had a decent one get off, but on his second cat of the night, he went beast mode! He had a lighter setup, so he had a really good fight on his hands. the cat made several runs down river, and a few up river as well. Once he got it close, I got it in the net, and the high five's commenced. His catfish measured 29 inches, and 9 pounds! He told me that was the biggest fish he has ever caught! I snapped a few pictures, and then released the fish back into the muddy water to grow bigger. Great catch Jared! It was great watching the fight!

 

My night ended fighting what felt like a giant, only 20 seconds into the fight, the fish got the upper hand. That is because the top portion of my rod snapped! At first I thought that my two-piece rod had come apart. However, I soon realized I was going to have to fight this fish with only the bottom part of my rod. I got him close enough to get a glimpse, and it was a good sized kitty! That's the only time I saw him though, because on his next run he got off. The fish got the better of me and my equipment this time. I took the rod back to Cabela's today and exchanged it for a new one without any hassle, which is one of the reasons I'm a fan of their products. I assume it was a defect in the rod, because I've never had one break that high up before. We will see if the new one holds out any better.

several cats this size were caught on the first trip.

26 inch channel cat.

Jared with his 29 inch channel cat; his biggest fish ever landed!

 

My biggest landed of the night measured 24 inches long.

The cat won this battle. Good thing Cabelas has awesome customer service.

The Bait Paid Off

Licking my wounds from my failed casting lesson, Francisco and I hit the Jordan river for a few hours last night. We set up, and shortly we both had hits. While most of the night all I had were hits, Francisco was putting on a cat fishing clinic! He was consistently reeling in fish, and I got better with my netting skills. He landed several quality fish (20-25 inches), and even a bullhead catfish, which we haven't seen much of since we started using white bass.

 

As the night went on, I stopped even getting bites on my poles. By this time I had gone a little complacent with the lack of action. I was checking my other rod when my new cat fishing setup shot out of the pole holder,  and into the water. I managed to grab the end of the rod when most of it was in the water and set the hook. My pole double over as my reel started singing soprano with how fast line was ripping off it. I just held on for several seconds, until the fish turned. I fought him in only to have him run again. After several minutes, I finally got him within net shot, only to have him dart for a root system on the side on the bank. Luckily, I was able to pull him out, and Francisco got the net on it. We were both amazed at how thick this channel cat was. I pulled out the tape, and the cat measured 29.5 inches! This ended up being my only fish of the night, but with a new personal best, I'd take nights like this all the time!

 

About 20 minutes later, Francisco had a giant of his own on. he fought it all the way in, and just like my big one, his also darted to the roots. Unfortunately, Once he made it in, the catfish broke the line! As many can attest, It's a gut-wrenching feeling to lose a fish so close to the net. We called it a night on that note, to end another great fishing adventure.

One of the few bullheads caught lately.

A few unwanted guests came to see how we were doing.

My only fish of the night. Just a half inch shy of 30 inches! A new personal best!

 

Francisco's keepers. His biggest was 25 inches.

Catching Bait and Breaking Windows

We've been hitting the Jordan hard lately, and my bait supply can attest to that. I realized I was completely out of white bass for bait, so I headed out today for a few hours to see if I could restock. I first went and checked a spot I received in tel on, and although the new spot looked promising, it didn't produce any fish. I'll have to give this place another chance when I have more time. On the way back to my truck there was a retainer pond that I could see fish swimming around in. One cast later, and I had the first fish of the day landed. It turned out to be a little green sunfish.

 

I only had a little time left, so I headed to my go-to white bass hole to see if I could coax any of them to bite. It took me about 10 minutes to locate the school, and once I did, it was fast fishing. They took a liking to a beaded yellow woolly bugger today. I also caught several with a size 1 silver Mepps spinner on my ultra light spinning rod. I landed 29 and kept 23. It's good to have bait again!

 

I finished filleting the fish about the time my wife got home from work. I recently bought her a closed face reel setup in the hopes I could get her to come fishing with me more. I started showing her how to cast, and things seemed to be going well. I handed her the rod, and she made her first cast... right into the window! Yes, in broke. The funny part of this is that she was casting south, and the window was directly to her right. I can't, for the life of me, see how she pulled off that cast. I guess I need to do better job at teaching casting lessons, and start looking for a good window company.

  

A green sunfish seemed to love the brown leech I used.

My bait supply us full again! they ranged six to nine inches long.

Casting teacher fail! We needed new windows anyway...