Western Swing 2025

Just got back from an adventurous week in South Dakota and 3 weeks in Yellowstone.  We are going to call this one "the year of the bears".  

Black Hills (SD & WY)

Started the trip with a bad battery in the truck I was able to swap out on the road thanks to a quick stop and some helpful staff at Advance Auto in Hermitage, PA.  After a brief delay and 2-day drive, I made it to Rapid City and the Black Hills.  A quick stop at Dakota Angler & Outfitter, where the owner Hans Stephenson was beyond helpful with tweaking some of the prior scouting and research I had done, I was on the water.  Spent most of the week camped in the Black Hills/Spearfish Canyon and exploring several small streams in both SD and WY.  While the majority of fish are on the smaller side, I really enjoyed the technical casting the majority of the water provided.  I apologize for the amount of cellphone photos, but being by oneself does not usually justify carrying all the normal camera gear.  I did manage to capture a few images of some mountain goats on the way in and out of camp.  Had a few nights in the upper 20s that slowed the fishing a bit in the mornings, but by afternoon if you could make the cast without spooking them, the fishing was great.  

Yellowstone (MT & WY)

This year's trip to Yellowstone was definitely adventurous.  Spent several days with the Yellowstone Volunteer Fly Fishing Program in addition to the normal fishing excursions.  If you are unfamiliar with the Program, volunteers are used to collect data on streams in the park to primarily help in the efforts to restore the Yellowstone Cutthroat.  In addition to a couple days on the Yellowstone, this year involved a trip into Pelican Creek to assess the aftereffects of whirling disease that hit the stream hard several years ago.  This stream is located in a Bear Management Area because of the high grizzly activity.  We took a group of 9 people in out of necessity for both what we were doing and because it is a BMA.  

Unfortunately, the next day someone solo hiking was attacked in the exact area we were (Story Here).  This was definitely the year of the bear.  We saw bear every day with the exception of the last couple days.  Some days we saw as many as 6-7 with an average of about 4 a day.  We even had a pretty close encounter when one sauntered into our group on the Yellowstone (Thanks to @grobeanglers for the video to edit).  Keep your head on a swivel and the bear spray handy! 

If you are interested in reading more and possibly donating DIRECTLY to the work being done to preserve the Yellowstone Cutthroat, donations can be submitted here.  More information about the program can be found here.

On a side note, also had some (insert expletive description here) guys remove the valve stem from my truck tire because I guess we were where they wanted to be fishing when they arrived......little did they know they were captured on video by my truck security cameras.  A quick trip to the service station remedied the situation in about 20 mins.  One of them did fall in and got drenched, but I'm sure more bad karma will come their way.  It was certainly a funny side story on an incredible day of fishing which included the bear encounter, several 20 inch plus cutthroat, and just an overall good time.  

Back in Action

Pelican Crew

Pelican Crew

If you catch a tagged fish:

1. Record the tag number (photo or written) and release the fish unharmed.
2. Note the location the fish was caught.
3. Call or text 406-404-4877 and report the tag number and location of catch.
4. If the fish accidentally died, please include that detail in your report.