Download or read book Firehole River Yellowstone National Park written by Gary David Blount and published by [email protected]. This book was released on 2016-08-31 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction The Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park flows through some of the most breath taking scenery in the World. The Firehole River originates high in the Rocky Mountains on the east side of the Continental Divide from its source, Madison Lake. The Firehole River flows northwesterly through the Yellowstone Caldera that encompasses Yellowstone National Park. The entire length of the Firehole River is Fly Fishing only, Catch and Release for Rainbow Trout. The Firehole River passes through a valley that contains 90% of all the visible thermal features within Yellowstone National Park, the most widely know is Old Faithful Geyser. There are other notable Geysers, Fumaroles and Hot Pools to see while your fishing the Firehole River Valley: Lone Star Geyser, Castle Geyser, Grotto Geyser, Emerald Pool, Morning Glory Pool, Sapphire Pool, Excelsior Geyser Crater, Great Fountain Geyser, White Dome Geyser, Hot Lake, Fountain Paint Pots and Imperial Geyser. These scenic sites are located in four distinct areas along the Firehole River; Lower Geyser Basin, Midway Geyser, Black Sand Basin and Upper Geyser Basin. The Firehole River cascades off the Rocky Mountains to a beautiful waterfalls called Kepler Cascades located southeast of Old Faithful off the Grand Loop Highway. Below Kepler Cascades the Firehole River’s gradient declines significantly to a slow meandering stream with shallow riffles spread randomly downstream to the next waterfall, Cascades of the Firehole River, fifteen-miles downstream. A short distance downstream from Cascades of the Firehole are Firehole Falls, which is impassable for upstream migrating fish, however the “Upper” Firehole River trout fishery can migrate downstream over the waterfalls and survive the waterfall plunge. The Firehole Falls segregates the Firehole River into two-distinct Trout fisheries that I shall refer to as the “Upper” Firehole River and secondly the “Lower” Firehole River. The “Upper” Firehole River trout fishery above Firehole Falls consists of a self-sustaining population’s of Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout and Cutthroat Trout. The trout fishery in the short section of the “Lower” Firehole River below the Firehole Falls to its confluence with the Gibbon River, which creates the Madison River; consists of Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout and Mountain Whitefish which migrate into the “Lower” Firehole River to spawn from the lake below, Hebgen Lake. The “Upper” Firehole River is lined with hundreds of thermal features; Geysers, Mud Pots, Fumaroles and Mineral Pools pouring their hot mineral rich waters into the Firehole River. This hot mineral rich water warms the Firehole River and creates early spring prolific hatches of May Flies: Early Blue-Winged Olive (Baetis tricaudatus), Pale Morning Dun (Ephemerella inermis and Ephemerella infrequens), Small Western Green Drake (Ephemerella flavilinea), Western Green Drake (Drunella grandis), Midges (Diptera / Chironomous) and Caddis Flies: Grannom (Brachycentrus occidentalis), Green Sedge (Ryacophila sp.) and Spotted Sedge (Hydropsyche sp.). The Firehole River has produced some of the best Dry Fly Fishing I have ever experienced. At times I have seen May Fly and Caddis Fly emergence so heavy that there was an insect on every square-foot of the river. In the springtime there are Bison, Elk, Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Moose, Mule Deer, Coyotes, Wolves, River Otters, Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, Ospreys, Great Blue Herons, Trumpeter Swans and Canadian Geese along the grassy and wooded areas of the Firehole River Valley. In the fall there are mature Bull Elk with their harems, Bull Bison with their cows, Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Moose, Mule Deer, Coyotes, Wolves, River Otters, Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, Ospreys, Great Blue Herons, Trumpeter Swans and Canadian Geese throughout the “Upper” Firehole River Basin. It is an incredible thrill to be fishing to rising trout in the Firehole River, just a few feet away a Geyser will be shooting super heated water high into the sky or Fumaroles will be making gurgling sounds from deep within the earth. The trout fishery in the “Upper” Firehole River consists of Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout 6 to 20-inches in length with the average being 10 to 14- inches in length. There are some fishermen and the National Park Service personnel who say there are Brook Trout and Cutthroat Trout in the Firehole River but from the thousands of trout I have landed from the Firehole River I have yet to catch one. In the springtime the trout fishery is clearly distributed throughout its entire length but when summer comes the Firehole River gets extremely warm, often over 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the trout fishery will migrate towards the numerous cold-water tributary streams entering the Firehole River. During the summer month’s fishermen can find the majority of the trout fishery centralized at the confluences of these cold-water tributaries with the Firehole River or in the cold-water tributaries themselves. Each year the fishing season opens the fourth Saturday in May to allow Rainbow Trout to conclude their spawning quest. In the fall when the water temperature cools from the cold nights the trout fishery again disperses throughout the Firehole River system and May Flies: Late Blue-Winged Olive (Baetis parvus), Little Western Blue-Winged Olive (Ephemerella margarita), Tiny Western Olive (Pseudocloeon edmundsi), Midges (Diptera / Chironomous) and Caddis Flies: Grannom (Brachycentrus occidentalis), Green Sedge (Ryacophila sp.), Spotted Sedge (Hydropsyche sp.) and Little Tan Short Horn Sedge (Glossosoma sp.) hatches intensify as well. The best fishing on the “Upper” Firehole River occurs when there are overcast skies, rainstorms or snowstorms and when the Swallows are flying over the rivers surface feeding on emerging insects. The “Lower” Firehole River flows through a carved out Rhyolite Lava Canyon with canyon walls towering hundreds of feet above the river. The gradient of the river increases and the river is strewn with large Rhyolite Lava boulders and ledges. This section consists of mostly pocket water with deep pools and small runs. In springtime there is a hatch of Salmon Flies (Pteronarcys californica) and Golden Stone Flies: Western Big Golden Stone (Calineuria californica) and Western Medium Golden Brown Stone (Isoperla sp.) that were transplanted into the Firehole River by the National Park Service some twenty-years ago. There are May Fly: Early Blue-Winged Olive (Baetis tricaudatus), Pale Morning Dun (Ephemerella inermis and Ephemerella infrequens), Small Western Green Drake (Ephemerella flavilinea), Western Green Drake (Drunella grandis), Midges (Diptera / Chironomous) and Caddis Flies: Grannom (Brachycentrus occidentalis), Spotted Sedge (Hydropsyche sp.) and Green Sedge (Ryacophila sp.) emergences in the canyon but they are not as prolific as in the “Upper” Firehole River. The “Lower” Firehole River during the fall months is a heavily used spawning area for Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout and Mountain Whitefish that have migrated upstream through the Madison River from Hebgen Lake. These Hebgen Lake Spawning Trout are large in size, Rainbow Trout 14 to 24-inches in length and weighing 2 to 8-pounds and Brown Trout 14 to over 30-inches in length and weighing 2 to 20-pounds. Fall is the time of the year I look forward to fishing the “Lower” Firehole River.
