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Last Updated: 1/23/2008 Bighorn River | Spring Creeks | Yellowstone River | Dailey Lake Yellowstone River
Checking for ice? Check out the Upper Yellowstone Webcam! Lasts week's cold spell has finally pushed the Yellowstone into it's Winter fishing cycle. We say cycle because the fishing on the Stone this time of year is completely dependant on the weather, most importantly how cold and windy it gets. We can have some extremely good midge fishing (with dries) on the Yellowstone, even on days as cold as 25° fahrenheit. I've had some very pleasant winter fishing days when the temp was in the high 20's as long as the wind isn't blowing hard. Once temperatures drop below 10° fishing the Yellowstone is nearly impossible due to floating slush ice. Then you are better off heading for the spring creeks, where you can catch fish in ANY weather. Here are some general temperature guidelines as to what you can expect when fishing the Yellowstone during the Winter months: 50° Call the boss, you're sick! Grab your rod 40° Pleasant fishing unless the wind is a gale 35° When the ice isn't freezing in your guides, it's more fun 25° Guides are freezing up but fishing can still be good 20° Anchor ice and slush ice make fishing difficult 15° Head for the Spring Creeks if you must fish 10° Head for Big Sky or Bridger Bowl Ski area 0° (See above) -10° Think bonefish in the Caribbean, Argentina, NZ -20° Give it up, your car won't start
Where should I go?The best places to fish on the Yellowstone during the winter are where warmer water flows in. Here you'll find the fish stack together like cordwood and you can often catch 10 or more nice fish out of a bucket if you are careful. Start at the bottom of the bucket or run and work up, picking them off one by one, being sure to rip them out of there as soon as you get tight so they don't stir up the pod. You probably already have some good ideas as to where some warmer water flows into the Stone. If not, stop by the shop and we'll draw you up a few of our favorite spots. Most of these places are small and can only support one or two anglers for about an hour. After that you'll want to drive (or float) to the next spot. If you're not finding fish, just keep trying new spots until you get a bite. Once your rod gets bent, fish that spot thoroughly as you are likely to have found a good sized pod.
What should I tie on?Midges are the main hatch during the winter. If the wind is calm you might see a rise or two, but for the most part you'll be ticking the bottom with nymphs. Midge larva, (specifically red) is one of my favorite winter time flies. A burgundy zebra midge will help get you down, otherwise just bring your split shot. A dead drifted sculpin this time of year can also be especially deadly. Again the key here is getting your depth right. You want these flies to be floating naturally right in front of their face. Here's a quick list of some tried and true winter patterns for the Stone: 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) 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) Red Mini SJW (size 14) Otter's soft milk egg (size 16)
Paradise Valley Spring Creeks
If ski slopes don't appeal to you and the River is frozen you can always find decent Winter fishing on the creeks. We've even fished them in temperatures well below zero. Your expect to catch anywhere from 5 - 10 fish a day. The nice thing is you can often get away with 4 or 5X tippet this time of year as fewer anglers are on the creek and the fish have seen less flies. If you're fishing larger flies, you can even land fish on 2x G-max!
Steve Wilson (with the nice brown above) sent in some photos and reported a good time on the creeks. He writes, "I am super stoked for my buddy, Brian Rhodes who caught probably one of his largest fish on a fly rod. That bow was scary looking. I managed a nice brown out of the tree hole below the big spring. Joe Barret caught his nice brown below the beaver dam. I was amazed at all of the red spots on the browns. Such color." 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). On colder days, you can pretty much have any of the creeks all to yourself. You may have stick your guides in the creek every now and then to keep the ice off of them, but that's part of the price of admission...
What flies should I bring?Scuds, sowbugs, and midges are the main staple through the winter. You can see baetis hatches all the way through December however. A dead drifted sculpin is sneaky way to offer larger fish a meal too generous to pass up this time of year. Strangely enough, some rainbows will spawn in January and February on the creeks so it is a good idea to watch out for redds. 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) 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) Red Mini SJW (size 14) Otter's soft milk egg (size 16)
Bighorn River
The Bighorn fished well this weekend. We only saw two other drift boats all day. There were definitely some foot soldiers out and about, but finding some elbow room to fish was not an issue. It was still frustrating to have guys cut right in front of you when they have an entire river of fish to target, but all you can do is shake your head and smile. The weeds weren't a problem yet, and the weather was cold but cooperative enough. There wasn't any ice, although early in the morning our guides did ice up for a while. There were still some redds around, as well as some spawning fish, so be careful to avoid stepping on them.
Some of the best fishing we had was in the side channels, especially those well away from the redds. The fish we found away from the redds were mostly big, fat rainbows that seemed hungry and in full on feeding mode. Most guys on the river this time of year are not targeting these fish, which leaves a nice niche. Pink soft hackles, black midge larva, midge emergers, egg patterns, and streamers will all produce. Here and there we even saw some fish rising to a small size 20 baetis which were on the water about 3:00. The hot ticket would to bring down at least one 4 weight rod rigged up with a baetis dry since once you have your indicator, weight and nymphs rigged up the way you want them it is kind of a pain to switch back and forth to dries. We also saw some midge activity in the morning and a few fish were chasing down emergers.
I was getting away with some pretty thick tippet down there. In the early morning before the midges were up and at 'em, I was getting away with Gmax 02x to my first fly and 2x for my dropper. Once sun came up, I switched to 2x for both and stuck with it all day for my soft hackles and nymphs. The fish didn't seem tippet shy, and it was nice not to have to re-tie on a rig with cold fingers. I don't think you'll need to bring anything less than 3x for nymphing, (for dries and emergers you may have to scale it down to get the tippet through the eye of your fly).
Dailey Lake Ice Fishing
Ice fishing is definitely not for everyone, but almost everyone has fun each time we head south to Dailey Lake. Bucket full of rods? Check. Ice auger or spud bar? Check. Ice scooper? Check. Jigs and blood maggots? Check. Plenty of warm gear and beer? Let's go get 'em! There are a ton of perch in Dailey Lake. You'll want to take the time to walk out towards the middle of the lake for these guys. The last time we fished, they were hanging around 14 -17 feet deep - about 1 foot off the bottom. A chartreuse color jig baited with a maggot did the trick. It seemed like the schools would move because you'd be red hot for a minute, and then nothing for 10 minutes. We had a couple fish finders too, which helped locate the fish. We saw a big rainbow on the radar, who was cruising about 9 feet deep, but she managed to resist our offerings.
While you'll definitely catch more Perch than anything, you can also catch walleyes near the west side rocks. If walleyes are really what you are after however, there are better options including Canyon Ferry, Fort Peck, Fresno Reservoir, Hauser Lake, Lake Helena, Tiber Reservoir, or Bighorn Lake. Always use your best judgment when it comes to getting on the ice out at Dailey. 50-70 m.p.h. winds are not uncommon to Paradise Valley, which can begin to melt the ice and start new cracks. A safe rule of thumb is that you need at least 4 inches of ice. You'll want to take particular care in the north western corner of the Lake, as it tends to open up first. Feel free to stop by along the way for a hand drawn map of the hot spots, or don't hesitate to give us a call! 406-222-7130.
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Related Links: Archived Fishing Reports
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