Springtime Fly Fishing
More awesome weather and beautiful scenery. The fishing ain't bad either. Cool nights and sunny days has been pulsing out our snowpack at a very nice and steady flow. Some rivers are muddy and nasty (the Yellowstone) and the others are fishing great (the Madison and Missouri). With the small streams and tributaries opening up this Saturday May 19th and most are running fresh and clear. Remember those fish have not seen fly imitations since last November so they are very receptive.
YELLOWSTONE RIVER: 13,900cfs
High, muddy, fast, and nasty. Not a good fishing option at the moment. Should be back in shape and fishing great in a couple of weeks.
GALLATIN RIVER: 3,010cfs
Above two thousand cfs is the flow that my whitewater buddies tell me they start looking at the Gallatin to float which usually means bad news for the trout fisherman. Now i have had some decent days fishing in high water on the Gallatin but usually that's when it's on the way down. So i would look some place else for a first choice but as with anywaterway in high water if you are going to fish look for soft slow water and get some flashy imitations down deep.
UPPER MADISON: 1,670cfs
Fishing great right now get out there. The walk wade section up high from Raynold's down by 3$ bridge opens on Saturday. Are we excited about that? absolutely! Also check out Wade and Hebgen lake for cruisers munching chironomids and callibaetis. The Upper Madison has been fishing awesome with Stonefly, caddis, and baetis. the upper is pretty clear yet cold water. Mostly subsurface but there are top water oppertunities to be had. Between the lakes is a sure bet and fishing great with cool clear water. If your gonna float pay attention to the softer inside elbows and if you can get out and wade the holes with thorough drifts, sometimes they don't eat it until the fifth time through.
flies: Hares ear, black stoner, tungsten yellow sally, muskrat golden stone, olive rubberlegs, white zonker, olive zonkers, mega prince, lil spanker PT, lil spanker silver, copper john, lightning bug, sparkle worm, ray charles, zebra midge, WD-40, firebead sow bug, para Adams, Q's midge cluster, Griffith's gnat, para baetis The Lower had a bit of a spike in flows from the Dam this morning and that always slows the fishing down a bit for half a day untill the trout get acclimated to the change. Has been fishing awesome lately and i imagine should be good by this evening when the bugs have been hatching the most heavily. Of course the subsurface action has been stellar all day long with Caddis and mayflies in their underwater life stage imitations. Bang the banks with a deer hair sculpin if your gonna throw streamers!
LOWER MADISON RIVER: 2,330cfs
MISSOURI RIVER: 4,730cfs
These bright and sunny days give you mostly nymphing during the day. Even with thousands of bugs up top the trout do not like to show themselves when the sun is bright and high in the sky, unless there are hoppers. For now the best dry fly has been late in the day almost to dark. Streamer bite is hit or miss. PLenty of great insect life making the metamorphasis on the MO lately though ie: caddis, march browns, midges, baetis!
flies: Para March Brown, tilt wing baetis, BWO film critic, para baetis, Bloom's para Caddis, Elk Hair Caddis peacock, Q's cluster midge, griffith's gnat, Para Adams, BWO squeezer, Zebra midge, stalcup's baetis, tungsten ready baetis, CDC baetis emerger, ray charles-tan, pink, or grey, Sparkle minnow, Sculpzilla, Flesh Eating Sculpin, Copper Zonker, small royal wulff, stillborn midge
THE BIG HOLE: 3,450cfs
In the past two days the big hole has come up almost 1,000 cfs in flow which may slow things a bit. However the Big Hole is one of those rivers that can still maintain good clarity and good fishing through high water. It can also be a real mean beast when it runs high and fast so experience on the oars is a must. Just be careful and use your head. I came very close to sinking a drift boat there last year in high water and know a few others who have and it's never a good thing. Anyhow commit to the streamer all day over there and you can get graciously rewarded or keep the action going with a good stonefly nymph rig. The Salmon flies are so close, wonder if the water levels will give up the epic fishing during that particular hatch?
flies: bloom's caddis, fast water caddis, elk hair peacock, olive hares ear, drake nymph, king prince, knuckle dragger baetis, shop vac, sex fly, lightning bug, tungsten yellow sally, muskrat golden stone, rubberlegs, white zonkers, JJ's special, yellow yummy, Silveys sculpin, dream catcher sculpin, sculpzilla, elk hair caddis, para Adams