After flying up to Idaho Falls, and spending the night in Gardiner, Montana, I drove north for seventeen miles to the Lodge to meet them. Although the last 3 miles were on a gravel road, it is well maintained and I had no difficulty getting to the lodge in my rental car.

Arriving at around 10AM, I was helped to my room in the main lodge, and immediately began assembling my fly rods. Within the hour, I headed for the lake, and Chris, who would be my guide the next day, helped me get one of the 18 foot Hyde drift boats into the Lodge’s 85 acre private water, Merrill Lake.

As I rowed out, I saw two float tubers and another drift boat with two fly fishers. Thinking Jane and Dennis were in the boat, I rowed toward it. As I neared the boat, I yelled, "Would you mind if I tied up to your boat?". The two in the boat kept fishing and ignored me. Hmm… I began thinking, are Dennis and Jane mad at me? As I recalled, I behaved at their house the last time I was invited for dinner.

Then I realized that these two were not Dennis and Jane, but two other Lodge guests! Within a few minutes, I recognized Dennis out there in one of the float tubes, and rowed out to him to let him know I had made it.

He told me that the fishing wasn’t anything like his previous visit, and that the fish were down deep. I was advised to use nothing less than a 3X tippet, full sinking line, and a black Wooly Bugger. Then, he pointed me to the spot to fish. Due to my stubbornness and ignorance, I kept the 4X tippet that I all ready had on and tied on an olive Wooly Bugger. These fish couldn’t be that big, I thought. Well, after a few casts, a fish took my fly and promptly me broke off!

After a brief moment, I concluded that Dennis was right, so I quickly attached a 3X fluorocarbon tippet and a small #10 Wooly Bugger I had purchased at a West Yellowstone fly shop. Within 15 minutes, I had another large fish take my fly, but soon he was off!

How could this happen? To my chagrin, I looked at the end of my line. The improved clinch knot held, but all that was left on the end of my tippet was the eye of the hook! These were large fish, but not that large! I was not pleased...

After a delicious box lunch provided by the Lodge, and despite my earlier failures, Dennis, Jane, and I caught many 16 – 20" rainbow and brown trout that day! Just as Dennis and Jane had said, the takes were hard and these fish really put a bend in your rod! It was very exciting fishing!

The flies I was most successful with were #6 Bitch Creek flies with the orange thorax, and #6 olive and black Wooly Buggers. Dennis and Jane favorites were #6 olive and cinnamon Beadhead Flashabuggers.

Dinner was served at 6:30PM in the main lodge, where we enjoyed pureed carrot soup, a fresh Caesar salad, roasted duck with raspberry sauce, asparagus, and tiramisu for dessert. It was delicious, and the service was excellent. It was a great ending to a wonderful day!

The next day, while Dennis and Jane fished Merrill Lake, I drifted the Yellowstone River with Lodge guide, Chris Gerano.

We put our Hyde drift boat in at McConnell Access, and I began casting along the banks, eddies, and undercuts. It wasn’t long before I was catching nice rainbows and Yellowstone cutthroats! Chris, my guide, knew the river well, as he had been guiding with Hubbard’s Lodge for over three years.

I had a great day catching these beautiful rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroat trout, the largest measuring 14". But, I missed just as many fish as I caught, as although I could see the fish take my fly… I would frequently set the hook too late. These Yellowstone River fish don’t make a splashy take, and many times, they’ll just do a quick "up and down"! If you are thinking about what’s for lunch, you won’t be boating many fish.

Chris’ technique was to use a nine foot 3X leader, and a 5X fluorocarbon tippet. He would tie on two dry flies, such as a #12 Turk’s Tarantula as the front fly, and a #14 Yellow Sally tied on the bend of the first fly. The Yellow Sally was the hot fly that day, and I caught most of my fish on this one pattern. We, also, used the gray bodied Elk Hair Caddis, Orange Stimulator, Royal Stimulator, and olive X Caddis. I liked the X Caddis, as it would bring the fish up, but it was difficult to see on the water!

Our day ended around 5PM at Yankee Jim Access, after drifting over ten miles of this beautiful river.