Bears and World Class Cut Fishing (Slough Creek)

As we joyously walking down the trail after a great day of fishing and spectacular views, I turn around when Trevor shouts in a whisper, “Blair! Bear!” I then turn to Zach, and in the same manner whisper, Bear!

Zach and I walked back up the trail about 10 feet to Trevor and Jeff expecting to see a bear off in the distance, and much to our dismay, there was an incredibly large black bear slouched in the bushes no more than 15 yards away. With both bear spray and cameras in hand we stared at the marvelous creature for about 10 seconds before we cautiously made our way back down the trail back to the truck.

            All morning on the hike in and while fishing, we spoke to each other about how this was “bear country.” And by “bear country” I mean that I have never in my life seen habitat that looks more inviting to bears than that surrounding Slough Creek in Northeast Yellowstone. Even for Yellowstone National Park, a place revered for bear sightings, this was exceptional. So it’s fitting that we had our first bear encounter while fishing the backcountry at Slough Creek. Now on to the fishing…

            My college professors would not approve of citing Wikipedia, even for a casual blog post, but the Wikipedia page for Slough Creek says that “the cutthroat fishing is some of the best in the world,” and I would have to agree. With countless fish and opportunities to cast to them, I could not have asked for a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I completed my grand slam, if you will, for the summer by knocking a cutthroat trout off the list, Jeff caught the beautiful cut that he’s been chasing all summer, Thacia caught her first fish on a fly, Zach landed six, and we even saw a bear. Pretty awesome day if you ask me. Be sure to check out the video below.

Jeff Clemente (SLU) - The West

I'd say the best part of the work days of my HFF internship is the habitat study with Zach. I am a Conservation Biology major at St. Lawrence and I have learned so much through assisting Zach with his trout research. The best week working at HFF was the trout tagging in the beginning of the summer. My only main job for that entire week was to catch fish; no complaints there.

Nothing better than trout out of the avenue of the GIANTS

My favorite day off is a tie between the Table Rock hike in the Tetons and the Slough Creek fishing trip. In early June, Taylor and I decided to do a long hike in the Tetons, and Table Rock did not disappoint. About half way up the mountain, the beautiful summer surroundings quickly turned into a winter wonderland. We plunged further into the hike, walking through four feet of snow all the way to this view from the top. 

Grand Teton

Fishing in Yellowstone National Park at Slough Creek was nothing short of perfect. If the HFF were giving the survey at the Slough Creek trail head, I would give 10's to everything. The scenery was amazing, the creek was full of cutthroat, and the bears were there too (read Blair's blog post for bear encounter details). Cutthroat are my favorite trout because they are the native fish of the Snake River water shed and I am lucky to be able to catch these endangered, beautiful fish! Only one word could the describe the trip: the west. 

Yellowstone Cutthroat. King of Trout.