Bruce Richards | Sunday, 22 March 2015
We've had a mild winter here in SW Montana. No one minds not having bone chilling cold and wind, but mild winters are also usually dry, and this one was no exception. We need more snow, hopefully it's coming. But, nice weather has everyone thinking of fishing again and Yellowstone Park is starting to open. Spring also wakes up the wildlife and with more people afield there are occasional conflicts, especially in the park where there are lots of animals and they are not afraid of people......
We like to fish the Lamar River and Slough Creek, both famous for big cutthroat trout. They are also both in the north part of the park which is also famous for grizzly bears and big herds of bison. Bison seem docile and harmless, and are if you keep your distance. You can get quite close, but at some point they decide they don't like you and then try to turn you to jelly. They can run 35 mph, you cannot... Well, maybe Paul can...
Bison aren't hard to avoid, they stay in the open mostly and make a lot of noise. Bears are different. They are quiet, and mostly stay near cover, and like trout streams... Here we have both black bears and grizzly bears. Both are dangerous. They are usually pretty tolerant, but like bison, are very upredictable if you get too close. Here is how bad things happen...
Here's a fairly common sight along park streams....
But these encounters add a bit of spice to a day on the water! Knowledge is the key, know what you're doing and don't do stupid stuff and odds are you'll never have a serious problem with the locals! There is more trouble in the bars, just ask Paul!