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Last Updated: 3/31/2008 The Yellowstone | The Spring Creeks | The Bighorn | Burn's Lake
Yellowstone River
Marcus McGuire holds up a nice Easter Sunday brown...
Doug floated the Stone on Saturday (3/22). The fishing was relatively slow, perhaps due to the brightness of the day. They stripped big streamers almost all day, but actually did better with nymphs. Derek caught a handful of nice browns out of the same deep bucket on a variety of nymphs. Doug thought that it really didn't matter what kind of nymphs you had on - once you got into the fish, they were eating just fine. Doug's big fish of the day was a monster sucker - hooked right in the grille with a big streamer. I'm not sure how long it was, but the sucker's head was so big it almost looked deformed. I don't know why Doug didn't want a picture with it... Derek, Doug, and I floated Carter's to 9th street last night (3/25). The best action we had was the first hour of the float - most likely related to water temperature. We got 3 nice browns to the boat, and a few other chases on big streamers. The fish were going nuts rising to midges that night. We must have seen over a hundred fish in the foam eddies, buckets, and seams. No one felt like rigging up their 5 weight and floating line, so we "pardoned" them and kept fishing for the lunkers. Looking back, it would have been smarter to switch, since didn't have another bite after 7:00.
Where to 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. For more information give us a ring at the shop and we'll tell you what we know... 406-222-7130. The only spot that seems to have some on and off ice, has been near Grey Owl. The water flow 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 is constantly changing so be sure ask your shuttle driver what the put in and pull outs are like. Unless you have a pretty long tow rope, I would avoid putting in at Springdale or below for now. Also the river is low so plan on banging a few rocks along the way.
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) Shortwing Baetis Emerger (sizes 18, 20) 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 Reportby George Anderson
If you have a case of cabin fever after our long winter, the best way to eliminate this is a quick trip to the Bighorn. March and April fishing on the 'Horn is always a lot of fun an as a bonus you don't see the crowds that will appear later in the summer. I just went down for a three day weekend with a couple of friends, Bill Hart from Whitefish and Randy Brown from Sacramento. We were looking for some nice spring days with temps in the 50's and 60's but what we got was temps from 18 degrees to 42 degrees and one day with a sustained wind of about 30 mph, gusting to 50 mph! To say it was brutal weather would be an understatement. The fishing though, was superb. At this time of the year, the fish are feeding mostly on midges, sowbugs and scuds. The Baetis hatches are just now starting at the end of March, and these will build now thru April and May. When the spring Baetis hatches hit hard, you can have some spectacular dry fly fishing, especially on calmer days. We just hit a storm front moving through and normally it is never as windy on the Bighorn as it is here in Livingston. We stayed at the Bighorn Trout Shop, in their new motel rooms, which were perhaps the most comfortable fishing accommodations I've had in some time. Large, spacious rooms with wonderful queen sized beds that were super comfortable. Steve Hilbers and Hale Harris and the crew made our visit a real pleasure as always. These guys run a first class operation in every way. Ditto for their fly shop. My favorite stretch to fish at this time of the year is 3 mile to Bighorn Access. With the water flow at only around 1500 CFS, this is a good all day float in perhaps the best water on the river. The water temps running out of the afterbay were in the 33-35 degree range in the mornings so the fishing got noticeably better as it warmed up 3-5 degrees during the day. The afternoons were super fishing, right up until 7-8 PM.
I pumped the stomach of several nice big browns and as you can see they are working on a smorgasbord of aquatic life. Mostly sub-surface stuff since that wind was blowing so hard. My best nymph combo was running a sow bug pattern on top ( a tan Ray Charles in size 18) on 5x, followed with a small red midge larva (one with a clear bead head, a size 20-22) on a dropper of a foot and a half of 6X. I like to use the new Seaguar Grand Max FX, which is the strongest tippet material we have found. Landing those hot 18-20 inch browns was no problem even with 6X. What little dry fly fishing we had on midges, I go with 7X. Once the Baetis hatches get rolling, you can get away with 6X fishing dry, no problem. I do use a light rod though, and even in the 35 mph wind my 9 foot #3 Sage Z-Axis was a rocket launcher for the nymph rigs. I use this rod with a WF-4-F Trout Taper as the 3 is too light for this rod. At this time of the year with low water temps, you'll find most of the fish in shallower, slower water. Surprisingly shallow water that is only knee deep or less and on the softer side of the runs. Most guys are out there fishing deeper, heavier water, but this is a big mistake until the water temp comes up into the 40's. In some runs I would hook as many as twenty fish and they hit both the sow bug and midge larva about 50-50. Late in the day it seemed like they took the sow bug imitations about 75 % of the time.
If the sun is out, the sight fishing with nymphs is my favorite way to catch a bunch of fish. Without using any indicator. But when the wind was blowing and it was cloudy, then a small Thill indicator, the #1 or #2 size is the way to go. I put the indicator about 4 feet above the split shot, one B size Water Gremlin either lead or tin, depending on the speed and depth. Less weight is better in this slow, shallow water. Most of the time I was using the tin B sized shot. It is important to get a perfect dead drift with your nymph rig, so much of the time I like to fish this across and down and across stream, using a reach cast and then using feeding mends to put just the right amount of slack into the whole system. I'd rather fish dry flies but this early springtime nymph fishing on the Bighorn can be unbelievable. A good angler can expect to catch 30-50 fish in a day, maybe more.
BURN'S LAKE
I once read a bumper sticker that said, a day spent fishing doesn't count against ones life. Certainly a day at Burn's Lake, (outside of Big Timber) supports this way of thinking - especially in the early spring, after ice off. Our day was nothing short of an epic fishing experience, with big Brookies, rainbows, and cutthroat trout. This wonderful and well needed buzz was just what the doctor ordered - when we finally pulled the boat out of the lake, I definitely had the feeling that the anglers had won. I smiled as James flipped over the tie down, "No sir... not a good day to be a trout!"
When we arrived the sun was out and the lake was glass. We saw a rise or two in the distance as we were gearing up. I noticed right away that the water clarity had a bit of a green tint to it - perfect for streamers. For my 7 weight nymph rod, I rigged a white zonker followed by a damsel nymph, about 10 feet under my indicator. The zonker got crushed by a brook trout on the far side, but all of our nymphs were getting slower action. Once things heat up a little more, the damsels and callibaetis will be going strong but for us, streamers were doing the best. Which ones? Anything with a hook. Butch discovered the flies without hooks were the only ones not working as well. By the end of the day we were all fishing the same fly, betting full swigs of PBR for the next pig in the net.
We had two doubles that day and at one point even had on a triple, (hey it's hard to man the oars and fish at the same time). If that wasn't slam dunk action, I don't know what is. It got to the point where you could even call your shot like Babe Ruth, "Man, wouldn't that be cool to catch one right next to the boat here?" WHAM - nice Brookie! "Oh... we're going to get one here boys..." WHAM! Hello senior Hook Jaw! All the fish were in great shape, and while we never taped anything, I don't think we caught a fish under 16'. As the weather rolled in, the fishing was slow at moments, but fast and furious the next. I caught one fish while taking a photo of the mountains, and another at lunch while I was eating a pickle barrel sandwich. I remember that one clearly. The fellahs alarmed me with a "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" as my rod tip was bending over the boat. I tossed my half eaten Bobcat on the rower's seat and grabbed my rod with two hands, giving it a major league yank. "Oh yeah! Now that's the way fishing aught to be! You boys need another PBR?"
Truth is Burn's is a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for. If you're looking for a great day of fishing, I would highly recommend booking a day on Burns. Although it's pay to play, ($100 per rod) you'll definitely get your money's worth of big fish, exciting hits, and great scenery. Let's face it, life gets busy and unfortunately our days off aren't always spent on the water fishing to hogs. It's great to work hard, but it is also important to treat yourself every now and then. Give Mr. Burn's a call and he'll set you up. 406 - 220 - 6090. If you've never been to Burn's and are thinking it might be good to get a guide, now is the perfect time to go! With our $75 OFF spring guide discounts, it's almost a wash, so you might as well get it on the books and start planning for some incredible fishing!
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Related Links: Archived Fishing Reports
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