Last Updated: 3/10/2008

Bighorn River | Spring Creeks | Yellowstone River | Dailey Lake

Yellowstone River

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We floated the Stone on Sunday and had a great day. The weather was nice, almost no wind, a cooler of ice cold beers, and a few solid brown trout along the way. We didn't catch a lot of fish, but the ones we caught were photo fish. We flipped over a few rocks at the put-in and found a pile of midges, but we only saw 3 or 4 rises all day. That definitely wasn't enough to convince three streamer fisherman to grab their 5 weights. Fishing was slow on streamers, so we tried a variety of nymphs but they weren't exactly killing them either. The water was really low and made for an expensive day - we must have lost about 40 bucks worth of flies.

Butch was the hot stick of the day. He was ripping them up from the back of the boat. Attack from the back! He smoked a couple big whitefish on streamers and then landed two really nice browns, the biggest measured 21 inches. He also had a HUGE fish bolt up from a deep ledge and attack his fly. "Whoa did you see that!" I caught a decent brown out of a side channel with a slow flowing foam line, a deep drop off, and some logs for cover. That brown pounced on my Yuk Bug as soon as it hit the water. Nothing massive, bug nice enough to get him on the reel and take a photo.

I don't think James' boat is going to talk to him for a week, we sure tanked a rock two. One of the fresh river graffiti rocks had nailed had such a thick stripe of paint on it, it looked like someone had spread frosting on it with a big cake knife. Also the boat took a bit of a beating when we had to drag it up over a 5 foot vertical snowbank at the takeout. We never should have been laughing at the guys dragging their rafts up the bank, "Ha ha, those guys must not know where the take out is..." 3 minutes later we saw the wall of snow at the take out 5 feet deep and 60 feet long, "Oh sh%^&t...." Luckily James had a long tow rope in his rig and we didn't have to float down another 10 miles to the next take out.

Where should I go?

The are plenty of spots to go on the river that don't have ice along the banks, but others still have a 5 foot ledge of ice. Floaters won't have an issue with the ice until they go to pull out. Wade fishing from these frozen ledges can be pain, especially when the overhangs break and you go down with them.

The only spot that has had some ice on the river (and therefore unfloatable) has been near Grey Owl. The water is slow enough up there that it remains frozen longer than the faster waters of the lower Valley and through town. For me, the town stretch this time of year is a no-brainer since the fish count is high, the shuttles are cheaper, plus the chance of catching a 20+ fish is pretty decent.

The River and (ice) is constantly changing so be sure ask your shuttle driver what the put in and pull outs are like. For now I would definitely avoid putting in at Springdale or below due to the ice walls. Carter's to East End is all fine for now. The river is low so plan on banging a few rocks along the way...

What should I tie on?

Midges are still the main hatch. If the wind is over 15 mph, you can probably forget about any dry fly fishing. We've been picking up some 15 inch bows after work on calmer evenings however. This is one of my favorite times of the year to rip streamers on the stone. I'm usually fishing something olive, black, brown, or white. If I'm fishing two streamers I'll put the lighter of the two on first with a dark dropper. Even though the stone is still low, I've been fishing a 300 grain sinking line. Sometimes the river gets so low I have to take a beer break, but as soon as the riffle drops into a deep pool my fly is back in the game. For this kind of fishing you have to be OK with catching 1 or 2 fish, and possibly even getting skunked. Home run or strike out...

Mercer's Rag Sculpin (size 6)

Olive Whitlock Matuka Sculpin (sizes 4, 6)

Olive/Brown Gander (size 2)

Olive Woolhead Sculpin (size 4)

McKnight's Home Invader (size 2, 4)

Black Lead Eye Bugger (size 4)

White Tungsten Ultra Yuk Bug (size 2, 4)

Brown Tungsten Ultra Yuk Bug (size 2, 4)

Olive Tungsten Ultra Yuk Bug (size 2, 4)

Red Epoxy Head Midge (sizes 18, 20)

Barr's Red Pure Midge Larva (sizes 18, 20)

Red Wire Nymph (sizes 18, 20)

Black BH Zebra Nymph (sizes 18, 20)

Burgundy BH Zebra Nymph (sizes 18, 20)

Miracle Nymph (sizes 18, 20)

Midge Cluster (sizes 16, 18)

Student's Gray CDC Midge Emerger (sizes 18, 20)

Harrop's Gray CDC Midge Adult (sizes 18, 20)

Harrop's Gray CDC Biot Midge Emg. (sizes 18, 20)

Paradise Valley Spring Creeks

The Creeks continue to be the hottest spot close to Livingston and Bozeman for solid numbers of nice fish. There's not many places that you can expect to catch a handful of 16 - 18 inch fish in a single winter afternoon, much less have a shot or two at a fish over 20. The icing on the cake is how gorgeous some of these fish get during the winter months. These fish are far more colorful and vibrant than the fish we have been catching in the Yellowstone.

If you want to get technical, you can fish midges on 5 or 6X tippet with a couple of micro split shots depending on the depth of the pools or riffles you are fishing. If you want to focus on primarily larger fish, don't be afraid to cut your leader back to 1 or 2X and tie on a small streamer, spring creek leech, or sculpin pattern.

Since some fish choose to spawn through the winter please be careful while wading across the stream. Be sure to avoid wading over any of the redds (cleared off spawning gravel) as this will increase the chance for more fish in the Yellowstone later on.

Which creek should I go to?

The Creeks all fish about the same this time of year. Perhaps on a nice sunny day there might be a little less pressure on Armstrong's and Nelson's, (since people who have purchased the DePuy's Winter Pass will most likely want to take advantage of the good weather). Nelson's is a great pick for expert anglers. The slower water makes it tougher to get a good presentation, but the pay off here is the possibility of catching 20+ inch browns! Armstrong's or Depuy's would be a better choice for less experienced anglers, as the the moving water tends to hide little mistakes better. Plus the riffles are fishing very well and you'll have more chances should you bust a fish off.

What flies should I bring?

Scuds, sowbugs, and midges are the main staple through the winter. A dead drifted sculpin is sneaky way to offer larger fish a generous meal as well. Strangely enough, some rainbows (and browns) will spawn in January and February. (So that's why those orange scuds work so well). This is one of the few times that your Yellowstone fly box will mirror your Spring Creek Box:

Mercer's Rag Sculpin (size 6)

Olive Whitlock Matuka Sculpin (sizes 4, 6)

Olive/Brown Gander (size 2)

Olive Woolhead Sculpin (size 4)

Red Epoxy Head Midge (sizes 18, 20)

Barr's Red Pure Midge Larva (sizes 18, 20)

Red Wire Nymph (sizes 18, 20)

Black BH Zebra Nymph (sizes 18, 20)

Burgundy BH Zebra Nymph (sizes 18, 20)

Miracle Nymph (sizes 18, 20)

Midge Cluster (sizes 16, 18)

Griffith's Gnat (sizes 16, 18, 20)

Student's Gray CDC Midge Emerger (sizes 18, 20)

Harrop's Gray CDC Midge Adult (sizes 18, 20)

Harrop's Gray CDC Biot Midge Emg. (sizes 18, 20)

Harrop's CDC Transitional Midge (size 18, 20)

Black Wing X midge (size 18)

Tan Larva Lace midge (size 18, 20)

Red Mini SJW (size 14)

Otter's soft milk egg (size 16)

Bighorn River

Boat-Ramp Bow! Outfitter Hank Bechard start'en the day right!

The Bighorn is fishing well. Skip (our local Bailey's Rep) was down there last weekend had some good fishing on one of the flats. He said the Baetis were just starting to show up, but that the fish hadn't really got on them and were still focusing on midges.

Hank and the Brown brothers were over at the Horn last week and mopped 'em up as usual. They caught a handful of nice doubles, a triple, and to complete the grand slam - a major league carp! The thing had a mouth big enough to suck in a baseball! Nice work guys!

Holy #$%!! Photo: Outfitter Hank Bechard

From what I can gather, the Bighorn has been fishing a little better than the Missouri right now. The wind has been the biggest issue on the MO, hence the dry fly fishing has been slow. The Horn has been on fire, and while the days of having it all to yourself are over, there's plenty of good fish for everyone. Big fish are chasing down streamers as well as nymphs, so don't be afraid to tie on a big black bugger and swing for a while. It won't be long until the Baetis are going strong, so start planning that over night trip with your fishing buddies - because the Horn is definitely worth the drive!