June 27th

Finally,!!!!!!!!!!!!!! get your fishing gear in order, it won't be much longer! After this weekends forecast of record high temps,the rivers will start to drop like a stone. The fishing opportunity's should start opening up for us. So get the lawn mowed, garden weeded and the rest of the honey do list done. In the next week Montana trout fishing will be back in full swing. So get ready and check your waders for leaks, as you will need them this year!!!!! Have fun and wade safe.
PS.
The Hylite Road is open. The lake is fishing slow but wade out along the stream mouths in the evening and throw a prince nymph trailed with an orange egg under an indicator. The big fish are up in the creeks spawning but drop down into the lake at dusk in big numbers. This should get you a fly fishing fix.

Chub Fest 2008

Yes you heard me right. It was chub fest at Ennis Lake Montana. The chubs where cruising the shore in large schools of up to hundred in each school. Local boys Gavin and Brandon got on to them and had a blast catching one after another. It was Brandon's first time fishing with a fly rod and after Pam helped him out with his cast and retrieve, he got into them heavy. The chubs ran up too 13" in length and fought like, well chubs.

June 16th

Finally the warm weather has arrived and we can all finish getting our gardens in and then get ready for a great fishing season in Montana. With the warmer temps. the river levels have all jumped up some. They should rise for a few days then start to drop and start to green up in a few weeks. There have been some reports of Salmon Flies on the Lower Madison. And there has been enough visibility to fish them if they pop.

Our beginning fly fishing class was full and was enjoyed by all. Many thanks to Brant Oswald and Ty Webb for their instruction. The next class will be held on July 12th and we still have 6 spaces left as of today(max 10).

Get out there and enjoy life in Montana or where ever you live.

Thanks

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all you fathers out there, this is the day that you can fish all day and your family will greet you with open arms and a great meal on your return. No work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rivers are still high but dropping some with enough visibility to have them see it if you hit them in the head with it. Try big rubber leg stones trailed with a prince or copper john, even a lightning bug. But get out there and enjoy your day Fathers of the world.

Yesterday we still pressured the still waters and got some real toads. The fish took some olive leeches early in the day but not as well as they have been. The best action came on midge pupa cast to cruising fish and also blind fished under an indicator. Then with the wind pushing the warm water to one side of the lake the callibaetis action picked up and we took a dozen or so fish on dries.

Many thanks to the Dr. Wilson and his sons Brent and Rolf for a fun day. Here are a few pictures of Brent Wilson with a few of his monsters. Brent is a father of two and enjoyed his holiday with his brother and Dad.

Slabs June 9th

Steve Lombard and Brit Dubois got some big slabs on a local stillwater. The fish where huge and really on the feed. We threw black and brown leech patterns and they did not refuse them. Today it is walk wade day, so I'm off I'll keep you posted on today's success.

June 8th Snow Pack Report

Due to snow pack, along with many rainy days in May and so far in June Southwest Montana rivers have more water than in many years.

As of June 1st statewide snow packs are at 148% of average and 374% of last year this according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The river drainages in and around Bozeman are
Madison River basin 118 to 126 % of average
Gallitin River basin 120 to 131% of average
Upper Yellowstone River basin 112 to 126% of average
Lower Yellowstone River basin 132 to 153 % of average

What this all adds up to for fly fishermen thinking about coming to Montana is that this year is shaping up to be one of the best years in the last ten. If you have been thinking about a trip out west this is the time to come. Our bookings at The Bozeman Angler are on the rise in spite of highier gas prices, airline prices and the economy.

To check on a guide booking or for further information call the emergency trout line 800-886-9111. Hope to see you this summer.
Rod

USA Fly Fishing Team June 7th

Mike, John and Joe from Las Vegas the future USA fly fishing team at first day of practise. They will be ready to compete in the near future. Lets say 2050 or so. Just kidding they did great and everyone got fish.

The river conditions are still in full run off, near flood stage and very muddy. This flush of water will last sometime but will help the river systems clear the sediment that has accumulated in the last 7 years of low water. This equates to better and more spawning areas and increase in habitat for insect life.

Good fishing.

May 31st Spey clinic

Our first spey clinic was fun and we had great weather. In attendance were Mark Stevens, Francis Noel, Curt Reynolds and Fred McCollom with instructors Lawrence Stuemke and TFO rep Troy Robinson. Everyone had a wonderful time learning how to spey cast and set up spey rods and the many line choices.

We are already talking about next years spey clave and making it bigger and better.

Many thanks to Lawrence and Troy for there expert advise and instruction.

Ponds and Reservoir Fishing

With most of our rivers in run off this is the time of year that many Montanans turn to fishing stillwaters like lakes and reservoirs. If you mention fishing a pond to many anglers their minds conger up visions of Lilly pads and small stock fish, skinny and white. Here in Montana nothing could be further from the truth. The fertile waters of our reservoirs full of scuds, leeches and bug life grow some monster trout and fast.

Last week Bill Flick and I did our spring tour of some of the reservoirs we fish just to check things out and see how the trout wintered over. It is rough duty, but someone has to do it! Here are a few pictures of some of the fish. We are working on getting up the contact info in our reservoir section of our site and should have it up in a few days, so stay tuned.

June 1st

Great day to get out there and chase trout. The Lower Madison is fishable with 1 to two foot of visibility. Fish big sculpins, crayfish and look for yellow sallies and caddis on top. Be careful wading as the river is moving fast.

The road to Hylite is closed due to Mud slide. The up date phone number to call is 522-2520 they will tell you when it should be open.

Good luck and tight lines.

May 18th

With the big rivers all near flood stage we headed to a local small tailwater to teach my friend Ralph alittle about fly fishing. After a quick casting lession Ralph took his first Montana trout on a fly. There was little dry fly action but the fish were on nymphs and streamers in a big way. The rubber legs in black and orange/brown in size 6, copper johns in size 14 and small black wool buggers size 8 did the trick.
We had friends both over head and under foot. Great day!

Smith River May 11th thru May15th

The Smith River is one of Montana's little jewels I would classify it as one of my eight wonders of the world. It is a place where you can escape the outer world for a week and forget whats going on out there and focus on fishing, camping, good friends, family and the most beautiful scenery in Montana. The sixty mile float can be heaven or hell depending on what mother nature throws at you. We hit the water levels dead on this year with good visibility(one to two feet) and float levels (300 cfs). The fishing was good but not on fire due to the low water temps(40-50'), fishing in the AM was slow picking up during the day as the temperatures rose above 45. The fish mostly browns were in good shape in the 12"to 16" class, with a few larger but all under 18". We had our best luck on copper zonkers,san jaun worms red and brown, black rubber legs and a variety of bead heads with the pheasant tail being the best due to the great March Brown hatches in the riff areas. Caught our most fish on the day we relaxed and walk waded and worked the water around cow coulee.

Monday was the toughest day with wet snow all day but Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the weather warmed each day and we had a blast. Thanks to the Montana FWP for doing such a great job protecting such a wonderful asset for the public.

May 9th

Snow and cold, again. Well, if I was looking for some trout today, either North,South,East or West, here would be my best shots for today and the week end. With the big rivers blown from run off I hear the tailwaters are fishing well.

North: I would head to the Missouri River near Wolf Creek to Craig where the baetis should be good today with this cold and snow and the fish are really on scuds both olive and grey size 18, midge pupa red and black, copper johns size 18 in copper and red.

South: I'd go above Taylor's Fork on the Gallatin and throw eggs and small bead heads or hit the Madison between the lakes.

East: I'd look at the Big Horn. The rumors are that it's on fire.

West: I would try the Ruby. Sorry, I can't be more specific but the cable guy is here and wants to cut me off. I'll be on the Smith for the next five days a report to follow.
Later,
Rod

Last Weekend

Clarks Fork River fish caught by Lauren Pershern showing his dad Andy how it’s done. Andy says there are a few skwalas left and the fish are on them. Thanks AP for the report, and good going Lauren.

Clark Fork River May 3rd

Andy Pershern took his son Lauren for a float on the Clarks Fork River and Andy helped get Lauren into some nice bows and cuts. The skwalas are still out and the fish were looking up, Andy said. Good going Lauren!

May 6th

Yellowstone doubled in size over night, you should be able to pick off some trout in the elbows and buckets but water clarity will be poor. Watch for caddis on the Lower Madison

Sunday, May 4

The Mother’s Day caddis hatch is on! Monday is likely going to be the truly epic day, but yesterday afternoon the bugs started popping in the afternoon, and like flipping a switch, the fish began to feed. The bugs came off when the sun was out, and die down when it went behind the clouds, but during the warm moments it could be excellent. The water visibility was plenty good, though that will be a race before things start getting murky again – now’s the time to get out there!

Tuesday, April 29

We headed out to the Yellowstone in search of the caddis hatch, and it started off promising on a float from Carter’s to 89. Some decent action on caddis pupae, and spotty streamer action, and cloudy but warm conditions. Then as a front moved in, the wind kicked up to almost unfishable levels, and the caddis were just never brave enough to show up. It was so windy it was even hard to position the boat well. Still a fun day, but not superb fishing, and from what we heard from others’ reports, it was pretty tough for everyone.