Call us for a wind report! 406-222-7130

Last Updated: 5/30/2009 by James Anderson

The Yellowstone | Spring Creeks | Waters we fish | Guide Services

Local & Private Lakes | CFS @ Corwin Springs | CFS @ Carter's

Yellowstone River

Flows have dropped to 20,200 CFS but still too high and muddy

Hot temperatures have brought a freshet of fast flowing mud on the Yellowstone. Snow pack has dropped a whopping 36% (124 to 88%) in just a couple weeks! Even if you are island hopping and not fishing, be careful out there and always watch your back for cottonwood logs. 8.5 feet is considered flood stage, as you can see we have barely broken the line. Hopefully things don't get out of hand, the last thing we need is to help sandbag, but the good side is that lots of water is getting pushed through. Salmonfly hatch is looking a little better, but fingers are still crossed.

I wouldn't recommend fishing in the mud to anyone unless they are a glutton for punishment. Still, it can be done with large black or white streamers from the bank. The good thing is the trout can't see you coming, so you can jig streamers right in front of your feet. Look for currents and seems that push one or more current into a single feeding line and get deep! You can also surprise fish tucked into the riprap or other spots where the current is less powerful.

RECOMMENDED FLIES

Black Home Invader

Black Sex Dungeon #2

Black leadeye buggers #2-4

Bow River Buggers #4-6

Black Woolhead sculpin #2

Black Sculpzilla #4

Black Circus Peanut #2

Black and Silver Double Bunnies #2-4

White Home Invader #2

White Zonkers #2-4

White Conrad Sculpin #2-4

Bow river Mud pup #2

Silver Kantellya #2-4

Gold Kantellya #2-4

Spring Creeks

Doug McKnight casts a line on one of the Valley's Spring Creeks

The middle of May through the middle of June is a time period often forgotten about on the Spring Creeks. Most anglers are waiting for the famous PMD's hatches that begin by mid June and take off strong through early July. Since right now is often overlooked, you can have some great action subsurface on nymphs or streamers. With less fishing pressure than the summer, now is a good time to sight fish to larger trout. For small may fly nymphs you can get away with 5X fluorocarbon or 6X mono right now. For streamers, leeches, and buggers you better go with something heavier, I wouldn't use less than 4X as many of these fish still have sharp teeth!

The biggest factor is seeing the fish before they see you and planning your attack. Don't fish blind if you don't have to - taking 15 minutes to watch the creek before you tie on a fly can make a big difference. The fish are less weary now than the summer, but these are no "dummy fish." You'll need to get perfect drifts for them to bite, and always pay attention to how many split shot you have on when you get to a new hole. Above all, just take your time and don't rush your approach.

Photo shared by Photography On The Fly

Read George's news on Nelson's Spring Creek

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Armstrong's Spring Creek

DePuy's Spring Creek

Nelson's Spring Creek

HATCHES

The baetis are pretty much over (we might have a few more rain days ahead of us) and the PMD's are yet to come. For dries right now it's back to midges in the evening. We've been seeing quite a few rises during sunset. You'll still find a lot of may fly nymphs if you flip over a few rocks. Stoneflies, midges larva, leeches, and sculpin as well. Find some underwater vegetation and you're going to see a scud factory - olive/gray is the color you'll want in your box. There are lots of good scuds out there, but Dave Student's sparkle scud is pretty hard to beat.

RECOMMENDED FLIES

Black Zebra midges #18

Olive midge larva #18

Dave Student's thin olive baetis #18-20

PMD Drake nymphs #18-20

Tan (grey) Sparkle scuds #18

Olive Sparkle scuds #18

Red Mini San Juan Worm #16-18

Bighorn sow bugs #18

Black leadeye buggers #8

Bow River Buggers #6-8

Rag Sculpins #4-6

Pig Pen Leeches #8

*Brown Home Invader #6

Local & Private Lakes

Robert with a nice bow from a Paradise private lake. Photo: Doug

Looking to hook a hog? Let us hook you up with one of the local or private lakes we fish. The spring is one of the best times to target BIG fish. This time of year can be outstanding sight fishing, as many of these fish haven't seen flies in a while. Once the summer roles around, the same big fish will hang out in deeper, cooler water - so now is one of your best chances to catch them!

We realize that lake fishing isn't for everyone. It really isn't, but our combination of great guides and exclusive lakes usually makes for a phenomenal day on the water. Learning different stillwater techniques could prove useful back home too! A lot of our clients will pass at first on the notion of coming out to Montana to fish lakes, but those who give it a shot almost always come back for more. After getting hog or two under their belts, a few of our clients have even made the switch to only fish lakes, forgetting about our blue ribbon rivers altogether!

A big, fat brook trout from one of Paradise Valley's private lakes.

Give us a call for more info:406-222-7130. Photo: Doug Mcknight

HATCHES

Midges, Callibaetis, Damsels, leeches, dragon fly nymphs, scuds, and snails should cover you. Since most Montana lakes will get similar hatches, it makes sense to buy a selection of lakes flies for your lake box. In the early season (Mid May - Early June) you'll see more midges and Callibaetis than anything. Chironomids and zebra midges work well for droppers. For Callibaetis, make sure you have some flies that represent every stage of the hatch including nymphs, emergers, duns, and spent spinners. Harrop ties the most impressive spinners that we carry, but we have several other good patterns that are hard to find. Once things get a little hotter damsel nymphs will be more important than the midges or callibaetis. We've caught a lot of big browns on damsel nymphs. John Barr's damsel has been one of our favorites, also damsels with a tiny petitjean cone. The Leeches, scuds, and snails will work well for you year round.