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Call us for a wind report! 406-222-7130 Last Updated: 9/3/2009 by James Anderson The Stone | Spring Creeks | Yellowstone Park | Guide Services Local & Private Lakes | CFS @ Corwin Springs | CFS @ Carter's Yellowstone River8/31With water temperatures ranging between 60 and 69ºF, each day calls for a different tactic. In general, mornings have been slower than the afternoon, especially if you are trying to throw dries. On warmer days try throwing terrestrials, especially beetles and ants for droppers, since everyone has been throwing hoppers. On cloudy days plan on nymphing or throwing a small streamer. Black streamers. have been working well for us but whatever you have in the box. Don't forget to sharpen your hooks, if they stick in the back of your thumbnail, you're good - otherwise it might pay off to run it with a hook file... 8/29
Christian Allan with a vally alpha brown... Photo: Eric Paulson Today was a great day to be on the river, especially for Christian Allan, who bagged Troutzilla - Cha Ching - Nice fish dude! Taped twice at 27 and change, one could only imagine the heavy weight fight!
Ken Rohl & James Anderson with a nice brown. Photo: Tom Martin In town, the morning was hot until about 10:30 when the wind picked up. An 18 inch brown, pair of 17.5's rainbows, a few cutbows, cutties, and a handful of big whitefish for 3 boats was a good way to start the day. Every time I looked up at least one of us had a fish on. The brown above was part of a double. Though Ken caught the fish of the day on a skinny hopper, nymphs were definitely the choice meal of the day... that or a live swimming white fish as a lure. We had a 2 footer chase down a 12 inch whitie today. The big brown attacked like a shark, over and over, punishing severely, (but not stunning) the white fish. We got the net out and almost Jeremiah Johson'ed it into the boat, but had to maneuver before swiftly crashing into the cliff. You can bet that memory card was stored and played back over and over as I pushed endlessly into the wind. To say the wind picked up after lunch would be an understatement, but with Livingston I suppose that's just par for the course. Bench pressing our way into a strong North Eastern we pressed onward with guns-a-blazing. It was a miracle to land your fly on the water without tangle much less hope to catch a fish. We were hoping for a photo finish, but unfortunately the wind never gave up...
8/28
Roger Cohen with a FAT 22 inch brown! Photo: Brian Sienkowski The river is back in gear over here with plenty of visibility. The mornings have been slow, but the fish are looking up for hoppers in the afternoon. This is the time of year where throwing a different kind of hopper, beetle, or ant dropper can pay big dividends. We floated through town today with a full court press in effect. The fishing was good but not great, I was surprised how many perfect drifts in tight spots didn't bring up fish. We landed about a dozen fish, including one nice brown and the two rainbows in the 15-17 inch range. I think it could have fished better had the trout not been bombed by so many back flips and gainers... lots of "rope swingers" out there today! 8/26
We had some big eats on hoppers today! Unfortunately the big ones gave us some nasty headshakes, resulting in some headshakes of our own as well as a couple consolation pats on the shoulder. That's OK, at least we got them to eat. One was on a small hopper, the other on a black bugger. The mud consolidated the flotilla of boats - most which pulled out either at Springdale or Greybear. Tomorrow we should be able to beat the mud way down low or up high, either way it's a 50 mile drive from Livingston. Give us a call tomorrow to get the scoop... 8/25
Robert Mayben gets out to fish a riffle on the Yellowstone The Lamar spike from yesterday has taken its sweet 'ole time getting here. For a while we thought perhaps the mud had mysteriously vanished, (kind of like my anchor and someone's hundred bucks), but unfortunately that's not the case. Looking at the web cam tonight (7:15PM 8/25) there is some thick chocolate headed downstream. Now that the river is flowing at 3,400 CFS a lot of the mud should dissipate as the sediment gets caught along the rocks and banks. Give us a call tomorrow to see if you can beat the mud up high or if you need to go low... 8/23
James D. & Nick Negrini with a nice brown. Photo: Tony Negrini Today's front brought in some tough fishing. The wind was ripping, the rain was falling, and the fish were hunkered down. That didn't stop Tim Russell from landing a Yellowstone super slam (A brown, rainbow, cutthroat, and whitefish) in the first hour of the trip however! The fish stopped eating on top as the weather rolled in. We saw more spruce moths at the gas station than the river. The brown above smacked a black leadeye bugger along the riprap bank behind RY Timber. Looks like we have some more rain tonight and a 30% chance of more tomorrow, so pack your rain slicker just in case. Give us a call tomorrow for a clarity report or check the Yankee Jim web cam to see if any mud is coming... 8/20
Hank Bechard with a fatty Yellowstone brown. Photo: Brian S. The big boys are still eating hoppers over here! The river has been fishing very well the last few days. Fish are definitely in the mood to look up and sip a hopper. The bigger fish have been coming up slow, so don't forget to LET THEM EAT IT before you stick 'em! If you're out fishing and you're not on the Yellowstone this week, you're either crazy, or fishing one the private lakes we fish... 8/18
Marcos Vergara from Hareline Dubbin putting feathers to work! (Special thanks to Doug for the Home Invader). Photo: James A. The mornings have been a bit chilly the past few days, I hate to say it, but it is almost starting to feel like Fall again. Yesterday the river fished very slow, especially in the morning when air and water temperatures kept the fish sluggish. Today was a different story - we smacked two big browns the first 10 minutes of the float, both on Doug Mcknight's white Home Invader - (I like the new stinger addition there Mr. Fresh)... After landing the first hog Marcos mentioned that feeling was reminiscent of fishing the waters near his old lodge in Tierra Del Fuego. If a compliment like that doesn't make a guy feel good about his home river, I don't know what would! Soon enough the clouds burned off and we switched to hoppers, adding a pile of nice rainbows to our day. Also added to the day was an afternoon shellacking at Burn's Lake - now that's what I call a Double Dip! Despite the hurricane force winds we caught some big rainbows and some nice brookies on hoppers... 8/17
You got to check out what this fish ate for lunch... 8/16
This rainbow smoked a streamer off a mid river riffle... The Yellowstone has been fishing well despite all the local rain lately. A few feeder creeks down low have been pumping in a little mud, but nothing to worry about. No mud from up high so far, looks like we're in the clear. If you're throwing nymphs in the morning try a stonefly or rubber leg for a lead bug, followed by your favorite beadhead. Streamers have been working well too and of course hoppers in the late morning / afternoon. If you want to increase your numbers throw a nymph dropper off the hopper, otherwise stick with a couple dries and sit back while you watch some sick takes!
RECOMMENDED FLIESGrand Hopper #4-8 Frankenhopper #6-8 Chernobyl Hopper #4-8 Chernobyl Ant #4-8 Chubby Chernobyl #4-8 BLT Hopper (all colors) #4-8 Tan Fat Albert #6-8 Morish Hopper #6-8 Dave's Hopper #4-8 Whitlock Hopper #4-8 Stalcup Hopper #6-8 McKnight's Hopper #2-6 Joe's Hopper #6-8 Big Secret Cricket #4-8 Ninja Cicada #6-8 Black Magic #4-8 White Home Invader #2 Bow River Buggers #4-8 Black leadeye Bugger #4-8 Rubberlegs (all colors) #6-10 George's Brown stone #4-8 Strom's Stone #8-10 Epoxy Back Goldenstones #10-12 Copper Johns (all colors) #14-18 Beadhead Prince #14-18 Beadhead Pheasant tails #14-18
Spring Creeks
The PMD's have been coming off around 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. There's not much happening before then (maybe a few midges), but it never hurts to get out there and pick your spot early. When the hatch gets going the fish seemingly show up out of the weeds and begin munching on emergers and cripples. It takes some good casting (and some good drifts) but those who are dialed into the game have been doing really well out there. Harrop's sparkle dun and comparadun have been working well for us, as well as his emerger in both the light and darker green colors. When in doubt, go smaller than you need to. A lot of the naturals are a 17, 18, but with flies the fish have been preferring the sparsely tied 18-20's. Stalcup's PMD with the cellophane wing has been good to us as well - you can shape the wings to look like a cripple or a spinner. Bring plenty of sulphurs if you plan on staying late. The naturals are small, maybe a 20 or even 22, but you can oversize slightly. They are much more orange than the PMD's, so be sure to have at least a few in your box. Whatever you do, stock up on your favorite 6X tippet, you'll need it! Some guides have even made the switch to 7X everyday. Better leave the XP at home if you're planning on messing with that stuff!
ADDITIONAL REFERENCESRead George's news on Nelson's Spring Creek "Paradise Valley PMD Hatch" by George Anderson HATCHESLook for midges in the morning, with PMD's soon to follow. The sulphurs will start in the afternoon and the fish quickly switch gears, so be sure to have at least a few in your box. The fish have been keeping an eye out for PMD cripples and emergers more so than the duns or spend spinners. Use a Compara dun or Sparkle Dun for an indicator fly, and then pick out a sneaky cripple or emerger pattern that is harder to see. For nymphs look a scuds, sawyer pt's, spring creek leeches, and smaller buggers. Terrestrials in the afternoon is a fun way to fool some big fish as well but stick with 5X or smaller if you can... RECOMMENDED FLIESHarrop's PMD Sparkle Dun #18-20 Harrop's Last Chance Cripple #18-20 Stalcups Cellophane wing cripple #18-20 Wollum's PMD nymph #18-20 Grand Hopper #6-10 Whitlock Hopper #6-10 Foam Beetle #16-18 Harrop's peacock beetle #16-18 Harrop's black ant #16-18 Barr's Meat Whistle (brown) #4
Local & Private Lakes
We thought we spooked this fish, but really it saw Marcos V's spinner from 12 feet away and crushed it at lightning speed! 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!
Gerry Lenzen with a trip maker! Photo: Brian Sienkowski 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! HATCHESMidges, Callibaetis, Damsels, leeches, dragon fly nymphs, scuds, snails, traveling sedges, cicadas, and hoppers should cover you. A lot of times before callibaetis hatch comes on you'll see fish eating callibaetis spinners from the night before. Even during the thick of the hatch the fish will key in on the spinners. Since the spinners are hard to see, you'll want to fish them behind a hopper, damsel dry, or a callibaetis dun. Leeches have been especially deadly for us, as well as John Barr's damsel nymph. Most of the scuds are grey or olive in the lakes we've been fishing. Also be sure to bring a few lake midges or big zebra midges if the going gets tough. Also before you give it up, try a few different streamers that the fish may have never seen before, you never know sometimes the ugly stuff can create a fair amount of curiosity...
RECOMMENDED FLIESLake Chironomids #14 Copper bead black zebra midge #18 Purple or Red oversized zebra midge #14 René Harrop parachute Callibaetis #16 René Harrop Callibaetis Spinners #16 Epoxy bead Callibaetis nymphs #14-16 Grey Sparkle scuds #14-18 Olive Sparkle scuds #14-18 Pig Pen Leech #6 Beadhead Bo face leech #6 Olive multicolored wooly bugger #6-8 Olive multicolored leadeye #6-8 Barr Damsel nymph #14-16 Whitlock Dragon fly nymph #12-14
Yellowstone National Park
The Park has been fishing awesome, but prepare to see lots of people. We must have seen 30 rigs at the Slough Creek Parking lot at 9:00AM, including 4 huge horse trailers. Hoppers and crickets have been deadly with a few PMD's hovering the area. Didn't see much for drakes, but given the right cloud cover it would be smart to have a couple in your box... Forget about the Firehole now, water temperatures will be too hot over there until the Fall. Do some hiking and exploring and try fishing somewhere new to get away from the crowds...
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