No Shortage of Water This Year!

Long gone are the early season concerns of whether or not we'd have enough water to last us the season. It's been seemingly non-stop rain and high country snow since mid-April and at this point we have more water than we know what to do with. It's a good problem to have and the fish love it. And while it finds us scrambling to find fishable conditions, there are always a number of good options in spite of what most folks think. Though high and off-color, the Lower Madison is fishable and just today we had fantastic action with olive buggers, SJ Worms and some crayfish patterns. The Missouri, though enormous with flows @ 16,000 cfs, is clear and as long as flows remain somewhat consistent, the nymphing is excellent. With the caddis brewing in and Craig, the fishing is just going to get better though, after a few days with the Wire Worm earlier this week, I'm not sure if it really could improve. We have seen more big browns up there this year than I can remember. Of course, the spring creeks remain an option as well and PMDs have started - this is one of the best dry fly opportunities on the creeks of the season.
Though it's impossible to predict, I suspect it will be somewhere in early to mid July before we're on the Yellowstone again. For more currrent info feel free to contact us at any time. Tight lines!

May Fishing

Though it shouldn't come as a surprise, it's been a wild spring in Montana this year. We've had it all from snow and rain to wind and sun and often all within the course of the day. Still, despite the elements the fishing this spring has been outstanding. March Brown hatches were steady and as prolific as I can remember. We encountered them on the Gallatin, Upper and Lower Madison, Yellowstone and the Missouri.

Of course the presence of March Browns has been recently overshadowed by the arrival of the infamous Mother's Day caddis hatch which, this year, was appropriately named. For the past week, we've had perfect conditions for fishing the hatch - temps have been slightly cooler than average and instead of the explosive emergence that often takes place, the hatch has been a bit more sparse but has drawn out over a longer period of time. As a result, because there haven't been the overwhelming carpets of bugs on the water, our caddis imitations have stood out and become an easy target for the fish. Trudes and the X-Caddis have been the tickets and for the past several days we've been able to fish dries from ramp to ramp. With warmer weather predicted to arrive by the weekend my guess is that we'll have a few more days of great dry fly fishing and by the end of the weekend or early in the week the Yellowstone will be blown out by runoff.

Of course the Madison is also fishing well and this river along with the Missouri will probably be our most reliable options for the next month or so. Of course the spring creeks will continue to offer an excellent option, particularly when the PMD hatch arrives later this month or in early June, as will some of the tributaries that will be open to fishing soon. Good luck and keep in touch.

Great April Fishing

Montana's spring weather is something to behold - snow, rain, wind, clouds, sun... sometimes all in one day. We've been all over the place with the weather lately but in spite of it all the fishing has remained suprisingly consistent and resiliant to the seemingly constant changes. We've spent most of our time on the Madison as of late as winds have been far more gentle there than down in Livingston.

Fishing on the Madison has been excellent with the most consistent action with nymphs rigs fished in the deeper holes. The river is quite low and clear and while there plenty of fish in the shallow stuff they've been tricky get close to.

The best dry fly fishing we've run into as of late has been on the Yellowstone - lots of baetis and midges which will be the likely principle hatches in the next week or two.

We've had a bunch of snow in the past two weeks, over a foot in the mountains yesterday, and while I can't be sure how much it has truly affected the snowpack I have to think that our hopes of good river flows for the summer are improving by the minute. If the moisture keeps up it would appear that we'll be in pretty good shape.

Spring Fishing

Though it felt a bit more like winter today with constant snow and temps hovering around thirty all day, there is no question that the fish have entered into the spring routine. From the upper Madison to the Yellowstone, Gallatin and Spring Creeks in Paradise Valley, we have experienced some phenomenal fishing both with nymphs and dries. Midge hatches have been as good as I can remember and in the past few day the baetis have started to make their presence. Though the weather has been all over the map in the past week or so, the fishing has stayed consistent.

Reports from the Missouri over the weekend were also outstanding. Without a doubt, if you can handle the some adversity with the weather, April is one of Montana's finest months to fish.

New Season is Upon Us

It's hard to believe that the holidays are over and it's already time to start thinking about fishing again. But then again, I guess there's never truly a time to stop thinking about fishing. The year started with a bang at Nelson's Spring Creek. Given a picture perfect winter day, Lee Smith (holding the rainbow) and her mother Lela took a day off from skiing and were treated to some spectacular fish. They weren't easy to come by that day due to bright sun and little midge activity but those we caught, on scuds, sowbugs and midge larva, were real specimens.

In the days since, I've hit the Madison and found some good midge fishing. The Gallatin has also produced well with the old golden stone/prince nymph combo but then again, it seems that river fishes more consistently in the winter than at any other time of year. If wind stays down, we should experience a bunch of surface activity with midges in the month ahead.

As we approach the season, we all wonder what lies in store in terms of snowpack and water levels, weather, hatches and all the rest. Though snowpack percentages were slightly below average last time I checked, it's snowed a few times since which keeps me optimistic. Seems the pattern in the last few years is for good snow early, not much in January and early February and then the heavy stuff starts coming. We'll see how it shakes out this year but as of now, I think it's looking good.

Well, it's back to tying Epeorus Emergers and Longhorn Beetles, I will be fishing over the next few days and will report back soon.

Prime Fall Fishing

After a pleasant but unusually summerlike September, fall weather has arrived. 75 degrees yesterday up on the Missouri, 38 degrees and snowing today on the Yellowstone. Fishing has been good and will likely get great as the cooler, overcast days settle in. Baetis and midges are prolific on the Yellowstone right now - today the baetis emerged right at 2pm and gave us some good dry fly fishing for the remainder of the afternoon. Prior to that, Black zebra midges, soft hackle PTs, lightning bugs and shop vacs were all good fished just 3 feet under an indicator. The lower Madison is low right now but fishing has been good - small flies and light leaders have been the ticket. Should be some good baetis fishing out there with the overcast skies. Have spent a lot of time on the Missouri lately - though the floating weeds have been a nuisance, the action has been good - though surface activity has been spotty. Crayfish patterns, black zebra midges, flashback hare's ears and the purple lightning bug all seemed to do the trick. Might try throwing some streamers in the weeks ahead as well - it's getting to be that time.

August 18, 2009

Cool weather and somewhat consistent rainfall have created some of the most ideal river conditions we've seen in recent history. As a result, we're often finding ourselves in places we typically avoid during the month of August. Ther lower Madison, the Jefferson, the Boulder are are still fishing well and as long as the weather pattern remains the same they'll likely stay that way right into September. The hopper fishing on the Yellowstone has been second to none - though better on the warmer days, we've had many ramp to ramp outings using just a single fly on 3X. Color choice seems to be the challenge of the day - pink, purple, red, yellow and good old tan have all done the trick. The Chaos hopper from Blue Ribbon Flies has been my top bug though the Chubby Chernobyl and the Chernobyl Hopper have certainly earned their keep. Have also heard good reports from the Upper Madison, Gallatin, Big Hole and Stillwater - the only problem right now is deciding where to go!