Summertime and the living's easy
Warm summertime days and great fishing on the Bozeman area's water. Got some big Salmonflies showing up on the water with the fish taking notice as well. The dry dropper method seems to be the most productive.
YELLOWSTONE RIVER: 11,900cfs
The stone is just starting to fish but it is still rolling fast so the bird float will take about 4 hours at this level. Please float with extra caution and experience on the oars is a must. You have about 1ft. of visibility as of today. The warm weather may lessen that tomorrow but the forecast calls for temps back down in the low 70s the rest of the week.
flies: silveys sculpin, white zonkers, sparkle minnow, Bow river bugger, dream catcher, rubberlegs, rock n roller stone, double bead stone, iron sally, tung yellow sally, olive soft hackle, blue spanker, terranasty, rogue river salmon, purple caddis, mudfoot, fast water caddis
GALLATIN RIVER: 2,230cfs
Still a little high but fishable and a little bit of visibilty. The Taylor's Fork is dumping it's usual amount of color into the river with increased clarity above the confluence. Lot's of fish eating the salmon fly nymphs with a few up top. Dead drifted streamers in a brighter color have been productive as well in the off color spots. Use caution while wading the fast water.
flies: rubberlegs, big prince nymphs, san juans, hotwire caddis-green, lime copper john, iron sally, natural zonkers, sparkle minnows, black buggers, tan elk hair caddis, fast water caddis, terranasty, rogue river salmon, orange stimulator, yellow stimulator, PMD sparkledun, tilt wing PMD
UPPER MADISON: 1,720cfs
The Upper madison has been pretty awesome with hit or miss days of fishing the big orange foamy stonefly patterns. Go with the dry dropper setup for best results. THe goldenstones are a good option as well and there are plenty of good caddis fishing throughout the day. The nymphing is great all day and some decent streamer stripping windows early in the day.
dries: PMD tilt-wing, PMD film critic, PMD squeezer, chubby chernobyl, low rider yellow sally, yellow stimulator, para Adams, purple Adams, royal wulff, Purple wulff, never sink trude, terranasty, rogue salmon
nymphs: Rubberlegs, stoners, rock n roller stone, tungsten yellow sally, iron sally, gold lightning bug, bubble back BWO, red copper john, olive soft hackle, sex fly, blue + PT spankers
streamers: screamers, dream catchers, zonkers, bow river buggers, yellow yummy, JJ's Special, sculpzilla, deer hair bugger, silveys sculpin leech
LOWER MADISON: 2,350cfs
The lower has been decent the last few days not fishing as good as it did last week but still pretty good. Really healthy caddis hatches in the afternoons and great nymphing the rest of the day with mayfly and caddis beadheads. A few good fish have been moved on streamers as well. They don't seem to like to chase very well in the heat so maybe when the sun is getting low in the sky is a good option. A few yellow sallies popping as well with fish taking them subsurface and up top.
dries: never sink trude-black, royal wulff, JC's special, film critic BWO + PMD, Para Adams, purple adams, tilt-wing baetis, Comparadun PMD, PMD squeezer, chubby chernobyl, purple caddis, loop wing caddis, blooms para caddis
nymphs: sex fly, PT spanker, lightning bug, bloom's soft hackle-brown, red headed stepchild, copper john, tungsten yellow sally, silveys primetime pupa, mangy caddis, good n plenty, twisted wire ginger, iron sally
streamers: JJ's Special, white zonkers, bow river buggers, double badger screamer, silveys sculpin, sex dungeon, crispy critter, big gulp sculpin, sparkle minnow, snapping craw, turkey back crayfish
MISSOURI RIVER: 6,670cfs
Some fantastic dry fly action and some not so dry fly action on the MO right now. The pods of fish going after PMD adults and emergers are in full swing and it's a blast. Plenty of caddis flies and some yellow sallies as well. Clear cool water and a great option to fish.
flies: Sparkle dun, sulphur dun, Para Adams, film critic PMD, Para PMD, tilt wing PMD, bloom's caddis, elk hair caddis, purple caddis, micro may, red headed stepchild, bloom's soft hackle brown, lil spanker PT, lightning bug, zebra midge, ray charles, primetime pupa, copper john, hunch back scud, sow bug, sculpzilla, mini-loop, zonkers, sparkle minnow, crayfish
THE BIG HOLE: 1,820cfs
Still a bit of Salmonfly mania going on but it's tapering off quickly. The goldenstones are coming good and often times a better option for big bugs. Great streamer fishing early on the day. Nymphing with a rubberlegs and caddis nymph are a great bet for getting into numbers. The water is at a great level and still pretty cool temperature wise making the BH a great option.
flies: Chubby chernobyl, Royal PMX, Terranasty, rogue river salmonfly, orange stimulator, orange chubby chernobyl, silveys sculpin, sex dungeon, screamers, dream catcher, zonker, bow river bugger, JJ's special, yellow yummy, rubberlegs, rock n roller stone, muskrat goldenstone, tung yellow sally, hare's ear, pheasant tail, stalcup's baetis, tung ready baetis, para adams