Northwest Reel Life July 2024 Volume 3 Issue 9 - Flipbook - Page 21
and making new friends
and acquaintances.
“Shoulder Season” is the
term Ed had shared with
me about the lodge’s
seasons. Spring and fall
anchored a full and busy
summer of guests coming
through Ennis to fish the
famous Madison and use
Ennis as a base camp
for the 70-mile drive to
Yellowstone National Park.
Ennis is the last major town
on the road to the north
Yellowstone entrance. As
such, come the end of
the school year it rapidly
fills up with tourists and
summertime adventurers
streaming to visit America’s
most iconic national park.
Anglers stream in as well,
as the Madison River shares
its impressive fishing with
fishermen from near and
far.
While the summer is a busy
time for the lodge, spring
and fall are another matter,
and visitors can experience
a slower and more relaxed
pace if they’re willing
to take a few chances.
For us, the weather was
outstanding with a day in
the upper seventies and
sunny. The recent warm-up
had increased river flows
to over 2,500 cfs (cubic feet
per second), which had us
drifting at a solid pace, but
not too fast to catch fish.
And as we found out as the
day progressed, the visibility
at about 18 inches was just
fine for fish catching.
Soon after Matt’s nice start
to the day, I watched as
my strike indicator ducked
under the water. I gave a
quick tug and felt the heavy
pressure of a nice fish.
Unlike Matt’s fish which
had treated us to a fun
aerial display, my fish was a
bulldog, the sign of a nice
brown trout. Headshakes
and hard runs kept me
focused and I worked
the fish back to Hunter’s
waiting net. He skillfully
scooped up the brownspeckled fish and after a
quick measurement, we