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Last Updated: 7/11/2010 by James Anderson

The Stone | Spring Creeks | Yellowstone Park | Guide Services

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

Yellowstone River

7.14 The upper Yellowstone continues to fish on fire with dries. Lots of traffic through the middle of the Valley, but also lots of fish and bent rods. Through town has still been difficult, even dredging with nymphs. Probably another week and town will be rocking...

Will Whims with his first yellowstone trout on the Bird Float

Bugs are already in Gardiner now, but dry fly fishing behind the hatch has been solid close to the willows. Got to get those flies in tight! If you are floating above Yankee Jim bring some smaller dries too, (those 12" cutthroat have a hard time getting those size 2 sofa pillows in their mouths. Smaller stimulators (size 12, 14) are the perfect dry dropper for either caddis or yellow sallies.

The Bird Float fished well in the morning until the afternoon storm rolled in. Beadhead nymphs were racking up the numbers (with a fair share of whitefish) while the rubber legs were getting the trout. Saw a nice hatch of evening caddis. Plenty of yellow sally nymphs under the rocks too - you might use a yellow lightning bug or iron sally for a beadhead to try and concentrate on the trout...

Fly Tying Reference

7.9 The Salmonflies are thick this year! Point of Rocks and south bound, it looks like we're going to get another week of salmonfly fishing over here. The Stone is dropping like a rock and the upper river should be on fire this weekend. If you are out here and have a day to fish, don't miss your chance on experiencing this incredible hatch! Give Doug a call at the shop to book a guide.

Nice and Green. 9,100 CFS @ Carters, 7,830 @ Corwin More pics

Not having the time to head up to Point of Rocks, we floated through town after work today. Only saw one other raft. We started off with streamers and pounded the shady banks. The vis was more than 2 feet, plenty of caddis but only a few risers. In the end it was tough luck, we had a couple fatty browns give us the shake and moved a couple toads! You had to row hard to work the banks but it was certainly "doable." We switched to a nymph rig half way down and caught a couple on Pat's rubber leg. While it would have been nice to see some big bugs, having the river to ourselves was cool.

After Work Float brown. The hot window for us was between

5:30 and 7:00. Lots of bites on white streamers.

7.7 The salmonflies continue to build up thick in the Valley. 26 is where the belly of the hatch is, although plenty of bugs have made their journey even higher. Bring some green drakes with you if you are floating the Bird or higher. It doesn't seem like the fish have keyed in on these yet, but they certainly could today or tomorrow.

Green IS good! Photo: James Anderson

CFS flows in town is 10,300 and dropping. Despite afternoon showers, the river continues to look better and better. Plenty of caddis to be had in town, and although you won't see any big bugs, fish are definitely eating streamers off the banks. "Squirrely" wouldn't even begin to describe how tricky the rowing is through town and below. DO NOT attempt floating below Pine Creek unless you have an experienced rower in the boat. If you do go, plan on being sore the next day from rowing hard and chucking streamers!

Up high CFS rowing is tough but much more manageable. At 8,670 CFS you're going to be fishing tight to the willows, looking for slower water and foam pockets. Fish thick tippet for salmonflies and goldens, we've been getting away with 0X no problem. You'll probably want to back it off for the yellow sallies or caddis. 3X seems about right for your droppers - that way if you hook up in the willows hopefully you'll only loose one fly.

Hello! Rick Cockrum with 21 inch brown caught on a salmonfly dry yesterday on the upper Stone. Photo: Bob Bergquist

7.6 Big bugs, big fish, big flows. CFS at Corwin is just under 9,000 CFS - which is still dangerous but the color is nice and green. The secret is out - prepare to see some boats...

Left behind - we found this lonesome dove straggling behind the hatch at Pine Creek. The bulk of the bugs are at Loch Leven.

7.2 Just a friendly reminder to all floaters. The Yellowstone is still very high (13,200 CFS) and not suitable for anyone except expert oarsman. Even if you are floating a smooth section like the Bird, the currents are still strong enough to get you in trouble quickly. You don't want to loose your boat this early in the season!

7.1 While the big bugs are dripping off the bushes between Loch and Paradise, the visibility isn't quite enough for the killer fishing we're looking for. The guides have been fishing the upper Madison instead, which offers the same amount of bugs but clearer water and fish up eating dries.

Still, if you are looking to get away from the crowds and enjoy the hatch the Yellowstone is definitely fishable. There is about 8-12 inches of vis, depending on if you are a glass is half full guy or not. We saw a few rises out there, but it looked like they were eating size 12 chocolate caddis instead of the salmonflies. Didn't see much for goldens but the Yellow Sallies were out.

Bring some big Elk Hairs for a Chocolate Caddis dropper...

In all honesty the Upper Madison has the upper hand right now. Give the Stone about a week, see what the rain does, and look to fish the Stone up high near Carbella around 7/10-7/15. If you don't mind throwing big nymphs under and indicator, we've heard good reports already, even above Yankee Jim.

6.30 Just enough visibility for a bank hog to crush your dry... We checked the bushes Mill Creek, The Yellowstone Edge RV park, Emigrant West, and 26 for big bugs. The willow hotels up there were vacant but should become fully occupied next week.

Madison River

Ron Phillip with his back to back browns on Salmonflies!

Photos: Outfitter Hank Bechard

The Upper Madison had a great batch of salmonflies this year. They've pretty much already made their way through $3 bridge, so you'll be better off going back to the standard nymphs and dries...

Livingston Spring Creeks

PMD's are in full swing, starting on average around 9:00, but getting thicker around 11:00. In the mornings we've been fishing PMD nymphs, scuds, midge larva, and PMD emergers. Once you start to see some surface activity switch to a dry with an emerger dropper. 6X is a must but no need for 7X yet. Good indicator flies include PMD sparkle duns, compara duns, a mix of CDC PMD duns and cripples, a PMD No Hackle... For emergers the darker color Rene Harrop short wing emerger has been hot. If there is no wind you could get a nice spinner fall as well, typically around 8:00PM. Usually anglers will take an early dinner and come back out for the late evening.

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Armstrong's Spring Creek

DePuy's Spring Creek

Nelson's Spring Creek

Read George's news on Nelson's Spring Creek

"Paradise Valley PMD Hatch" by George Anderson

Recommended Spring Creek

Fly Patterns

Olive Drake PMD nymphs #16-18

Copper Drake PMD nymphs #16-18

House of Harrop PMD sparkle dun 18-20

House of Harrop PMD compara dun 18 20

Zebra and Olive Juju midge emergers #18-22
Harrop Gray CDC Biot Midge emerger #20-24

Harrop LTV. Gray and Duke. Gray CDC midge emergers #18-22

Gray WD 40 midge emergers #18-22
Harrop CDC Transitional midge with trailing shuck #20-22
Silver or Black Bead Head Zebra midges #20-22
Olive midge larva #18-20
Tan (grey) Sparkle scuds #16-18
Olive Sparkle scuds #16-18
Gray sow bugs #18-20

Sawyer PT nymphs #18-20

Bead Head Thorax PMD nymph #18
Black wooly buggers #8-10

Pine Squirrel mini-leech #12

Barr Bouface leech black #8

Barr's Slump Buster Black or Olive #8-10
Rag Sculpins #4-6

Yellowstone National Park

A short day hike will get you into some truly spectacular fishing!

The North East section of the Park is finally coming into good shape. Waters are high but clear. Bead head nymphs have been working very well, but also a few fish have been coming up for large attractor dries. Slough Creek, Soda Butte, and the Lamar should have some Green Drakes on them soon. The Gardner will soon have salmonflies, as will the Yellowstone river in the park. Cha-ching!

Slough Creek has been fishing hot. Goldenstones, Yellow Sallies, PMD's, hoppers.... you'll see bugs galore up there. Lots of anglers fishing the 1st and 2nd meadows, but there are plenty of fish for all. Sight fishing off the tall grassy banks is about as fun as it gets while fishing to some of the most beautiful native cutthroats in the park.

Local and Private Lakes

Hello!

Early July is a great time to fish private lakes in South Western Montana. The fish are enormous, the hatches are thick, the site fishing feels like saltwater flats fishing, and the solitude is relaxing.

We have access to many different private lakes that charge access fees of $75-$100 a day but access is usually limited to just your party so you'll have the lake to yourselves. Browns and rainbows right up to 7 and 8 pounds are not uncommon.