Black Sand Creek

Saturday, June 29, I had a great day. I hiked in to one of my favorite fishing spots (I was just hiking; no fishing this time) on Black Sand Creek, near West Yellowstone. It's about a 3/4 mile walk from Black Sand spring along an old access road that only we old farts know about.

The road's been closed by the Forest Service for many years but it was still an actual, drive-able road 50 years ago (50 years?!) when I was riding my bicycle out there to go fishing. It was a spooky ride back then and it's worse today.  Now the the "road" is just a faint pair of ruts through heavy timber. I have to admit that I wimped out and had my phone playing music while I walked. I might have seen elk, deer or moose if I had been quietly walking but I might as easily have come across a Griz so I let my phone clear the way. Funny, though, as I did spook a deer from the brush just in front of me at one point. If a DEER didn't hear me coming, the music wasn't chasing away any bears. Might as well have walked quietly.

Anyway, this picture is of an undercut bank on the creek. Very seldom, over the years, have I

drifted a fly along this bank and NOT caught a fish. Sometimes a pretty good sized one. There's about 1/4 mile of creek from here down to the intersection with the South Fork of the Madison and it's all pretty good for flyfishing.

Upstream of here, Black Sand creek is wider and shallower and the fishing has never been quite as good, except for those years (50 years ago?!) when there was a pretty good beaver dam just upstream from this spot with lots of big brown trout in it. Apparently, either the Forest Service or Fish and Game didn't like it so they blew the dam out a long time ago so where the beaver pond was is just a big, shallow flat now.

I have every intention of going back in here with my fly rod this summer. I'll hope for good pictures for y'all then, too.

Just a trail today

Tree growing in what was the road