OK, all you Yellowstoners (those who have fished Yellowstone and the nearby areas):

My staycation in October to do lots of fishing just got better. I'm taking the family to meet my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces in Jackson Oct. 8-10. I've never been, and I'm pretty excited. I love tetons, and I heard there are some grand ones in the area.

There will be fishing going on. I'm not sure what rivers yet, but I imagine the trout will be eating similar fare throughout the area (if I am wrong about that, please correct me). With that, what bugs should I bring with me? What weight rod? What color ascot?

And, because I hate tying small flies, I will likely be paying a local fly shop some patronage, so I need some recommendations on shops out that way.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

SF Snake probably downstream of Palisades (1 hr drive from Jackson) will probably be best. Oct.? Have a few EH Caddis, BWO, and Tricos - they be small.

The usual 5 wt is good, but anything will do.

Purple & gold ascot, of course.

Wow. Sounds like the range of opportunities is pretty crappy.

We will only have a couple of days, so as I feared, it is looking like this will require some research to figure out what options will allow us the most fishing time (with consideration for relative quality of opportunity, of course). This will be further complicated somewhat by the fact that this trip is a surprise birthday gift for my brother-in-law, so I won't be able to conspire with him until we get there. This would seem to leave the burden of deciding which famous fisheries to leave for another time squarely on my shoulders. That's OK, though; I can think of much worse things to be tasked with than researching fishing prospects.

I'll do some preliminary research (mostly finding out when we will, in fact, be able to go fishing, and for how long) and follow up afterwards.

Just got back from Jackson/Yellowstone. The bigger cutts are moving into the Snake, or so I was told. It's a damn big river that looke best fished from a boat. I fished the Gros Ventre and got into a few.

The shops were recommending flies in the 10-12 range.

Apparently, if you like really tough fishing try Flat Creek; Jackson's answer to a spring creek.

Well, folks, it looks like the trip is off. The reality of driving four full days in the space of only six days hit me pretty hard today. I could pull it off alone, but with a wife and kids....

Thanks for the information you guys sent along. I hope to put it to use next year, when I can plan a week off, save some money, and do it right.

Game Boy for the kids works too.

Actually, I think chloroform may do less brain damage than 30 hours on a personal gaming system.

Anybody know where I can find some?

I used to live in Driggs, and my go to spot,once the Teton started it's long slow death, was the S.F. just below Palisades. The Grey's river(Alpine) can also be awsome. If you want to be tormented by some of the spookiest/smartest trout in the world.....Flat Creek in the elk refuge(5 minutes from Jackson) would do. I've fished it maybe 5 times, and never hooked a fish. It's only 10-20ft wide, and crystal clear. Large fish that come up eventually, and nose your fly, and go back down.....You could take the family out there for a "walk"...It's worth it just to see the large fish in their habitat, and maybe some elk will be down in the valley.

KK's suggestions were "spot on", and if you've never been to the Henry's Fork, then, what are you waiting for? Probably would take you 2hrs to get there from Jackson in October. While I've never been to the Lamar, I've dreamed about it...and once had a trip planned to go, but didn't materialize. I've also had a yearly discussion (20yrs) with my ID friend about doing the Bechler River(out of Ashton)....some of the most untouched wilderness in the country. I always avoided Yellowstone because of the crowds, but they will be gone in October, so there's endless possibilities there. Whatever you do, have fun....I'm jealous....Tom