Two Summers in Yellowstone!

That smile says it all A few years ago, I needed an adventure. I wanted less cement, and more rivers; something that took me a...

That smile says it all

A few years ago, I needed an adventure. I wanted less cement, and more rivers; something that took me away from my repetitive life in the city. I have done the ski-bum thing before. It was time to give trout-bumming a shot. I applied for seasonal jobs at a handful of lodges and shops in well-known trout destinations like Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska; hoping to surround myself with fly fishing. I had a few phone interviews, one of which went very well. Before I knew it, I had accepted a cooking job in Montana at Hubbard's Yellowstone Lodge, a mere 20-minute drive to Yellowstone: America's first National Park.

I packed what I could into my Red Toyota Pickup, and hit the highway. Portland to Bozeman, about 12 hours with a heavy foot. *Don't speed in the Idaho Panhandle. It felt really great to be driving out of the Columbia River Gorge, knowing I was getting out of the city, even if just for the summer.

Hubbards’s was a great fit for me: Every day was fly fishing. I talked about fly fishing all day while cooking for clients, chatting about their planned float while preparing an omelet, then circling back at the end of the day to hear about their successes. I could watch people fish the lake from the kitchen! Or better yet, I could fish the lake myself after dinner. Tugging a mouse on the edges of the lake at dusk was incredibly fun! Just imagine clocking off at work, and then catching a monster rainbow on a mouse five minutes later.

Yellowstone has nearly endless streams!

The lodge sat on a private lake in Tom Miner Basin, overlooking the Yellowstone River, and Paradise Valley. As the season progressed, so did my fly fishing skills. Although I was in the kitchen more than I wished, I was still able to get plenty of time on the water. I am a self-taught fly fisherman, and I love to learn through others. The guides were great about getting the staff into fish too. I loved to pick their brains, especially the night before my sacred one day off each week.

To avoid being too direct, I liked to casually ask our guides where they fished, while closely examining the flies on their hat. From all the banter around the lodge, I could piece together the best place to fish on my day off. It was usually somewhere in the Park, or if I was lucky, my day off would align with a guide that was willing to take me on a float.

A fine example of a Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout

Our boats floated the Yellowstone River, in the stretch between the towns of Gardiner and Livingston, Montana. This is a stretch with some incredible fishing for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. These bonus float days also provided a great chance to learn and practice rowing. I was usually thrown on the sticks pretty quickly, you'd better believe that those guides wanted to wet some line on their days off too! But honestly it’s those days I spent exploring and wading in the park, just me and my bear spray, that stand out the most in my memory. Yellowstone is a special place. It’s also very busy. People come from all over the world to see Yellowstone. But, if you hike for 45 seconds, you’re away from 95% of the crowds. Just bring bear spray!

I was working more than I had hoped. But whenever I possibly could, I would fish. I would get to the water on my two-hour break between lunch and dinner. On that rare day off I would fish from dawn till dusk, taking full advantage of the long days and hungry trout. Never had my 5-weight seen so much bend. It was refreshing to be fly fishing so much, and seeing myself improve.

Not a bad way to spend a summer

With my room and board covered at the lodge, and no major bills to pay, I was happy to discover that I was able to save some money. On my day off, $30 bucks was more than enough to get me gas, lunch, and a few flies from the lodge. Beyond that, the only other expense I had was the occasional bar tab.

This gig was such a great fit for me, I came back for a second summer. I wanted to work at the lodge again, but more importantly, I had some fishing to do.

After working two seasons in Montana, I can better understand WHY it's hard to find seasonal workers. I thought these jobs would be harder to land. But "Lodge Life", as we called it, was a nomadic, desolate, and uprooted lifestyle. It got old moving every six months. But was very rewarding. In my case, I made some great friends, caught some trout that I'll never forget, and left with a genuine love for the greater Yellowstone area.

If you’re in the market for adventure, and you don’t have much tying you down, it's worth a thought. There are plenty of resources on the internet to help seasonal workers find jobs. www.flyfishingjobs.com is a great resource to find a job in the fly fishing industry, seasonal or not. So if you can't stand your job, or hate the weather, or need to pay off some debt, chasing seasonal work could be for you.