High Ground

It's still roasting, and gonna stay that way since it's mid-July after all.  Needing some "better" fish, the next coolest place I can think of off hand is back in the Yellowstone region.  Just a few degrees cooler than the surrounding lower valleys, with a couple options I know well for some good fish on the dry.  Neither fish well, but at least I check, and don't need to run the A/C for a couple days. 

From clear air on the Idaho side of the Bitterroots to the smokey skies of the Island Park caldera.  

Covered in caddis in the Fork, but only an occasional one-timer eating. Not happening.

A favorite side channel for the evening

On the parachute rusty

Three Dollar morning

The fly for the rare rising fish

I covered some ground up from Three Buck

This is the first bank I ever fished on the Madison in 1984.  Wow, 40 years and I remember it like yesterday. Big fires. I waded up the bank and just mowed 'em down every morning with an elk hair caddis.  Me and "Oregone Don" Freeman, who I would go fish the Deschutes with for steelhead that fall. 

Evening fish from that bank.

I still remember some old timer (I'm in my early 20's then) telling me about all the big fish that came into this side channel to feed around sunset.  I've since seen it many times thanks to him, but not on this visit.  

Not much here at sunset either, where I've seen it boil with fish on spent eporeus in mid-July 

No morning life up here across from that iconic boulder either.

Me and a fish went a few rounds just inches from the bank here.  He missed a couple of my flies.  I missed a couple more of his takes.  He won.