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Last Updated: 5/22/2010 by George Anderson

The Stone | Spring Creeks | Yellowstone Park | Guide Services

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

Yellowstone River

Spring Runoff has started!

Our good spring fishing on the Yellowstone, as well as the caddis hatch is just a memory now as the latest warm weather has led to quickly rising river levels and muddy water. It is so late in May now that we feel that the river will keep rising in runoff and be unfishable with flies until perhaps late June. The snowpack level in the Yellowstone drainage, which was low as late as March, took a big jump with spring storms in April and now it looks like we have

about 90% of normal in terms of snowpack. Our guess is that the Yellowstone will be fishable near the end of June/early July.

Be sure to check our fishing reports and we'll have further updates. There were some big browns caught this spring on the Yellowstone and elsewhere on our web site you'll find some pics of these hogs. All of these big fish were released and with a little luck you might tie into one as the river clears up and we get the stonefly and salmonfly hatches.

Livingston Spring Creeks

A Shane Stalcup CDC #18 Baetis emerger, planted in the upper jaw of a 15 inch bow...

Clear water, no crowds and good nymph fishing

The Livingston Spring Creeks provide some excellent fishing throughout May and June since they are not affected by runoff and remain crystal clear with a steady flow when many of our other streams are high and unfishable. Armstrong's Spring Creek on O'Hair's, DePuy's, Nelson's Spring Creeks are fun fishing at this time of the year and offer a reduced rate of $75 per day until June 15th. At this time of May and in early June you will see few anglers and have some great fishing on a variety of small nymphs like scuds, sowbugs, midge larva and midge pupa as well as PMD nymph imitations. The good Baetis hatches of earlier in the spring are pretty much over now but you could still see some of these Blue Wing Olive mayflies on dark,nasty days. You may also

see some smaller brown caddis, but in general the only hatches now are midges until the Pale Morning Duns begin to show up in early to mid-June.

When you see rising fish during these midge hatches, small dark midge emergers like Craven's Zebra or Olive Juju midge emergers are deadly. Another great pattern to try is Harrop's gray CDC midge emerger in 20-22. Don't be afraid to use a small yarn indictor if you are having trouble seeing the takes. I like to keep the indicators small though so that you don't spook fish. In the flat water sections, if there is little wind, you can have some excellent dry fly fishing higher riding midge emerger patterns that are easy to see like the Harrop Gray and Dark Gray CDC emerging midges in sizes 20-22.

At this time of the year when the Yellowstone is high and muddy, good numbers of fish will move into the spring creeks and then stay throughout the summer. If you have good visibility and a sunny day, try sight nymphing to fish in the shallow water just below many of the good wide, shallow riffles. Here you can use a scud or small mayfly pattern with a midge larva or midge pupa on a dropper 18 inches behind the lead fly. Often you will see the fish make a move and inhale your nymph, set the hook and have an acrobatic rainbow explode into the air. You'll find some surprisingly big fish in the 18-20 inch class in very shallow riffles just a few inches deep. Again, it helps to use a yarn indicator even when you are sight nymphing to maximize the number of fish hooked.

It is tough to catch the larger browns during mid-day but late in the evening, don't hesitate to try some small sculpin patterns or size 8-10 wooly buggers. When the light is low these big browns will be on the prowl and you'll have a good chance to catch a twenthy inch plus brown.

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

HATCHES

Although the spring Baetis hatch are nearly over, you may still

see a few Baetis on cloudy days. Otherwise midges will comprise the bulk of the hatches until we start seeing PMD mayflies in early June. The nymph fishing can be excellent at this time of the year with scuds, midge larva and pupa patterns as well as sowbug paterns. Spring creek leeches, and smaller buggers and sculpin patterns can also be deadly on dark days or late in the day. Sight fishing can be great with nymphs on brighter days, especially on those fish up in the shallow water below the riffles.

Recommended Spring Creek

Fly Patterns

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

Harrop Lt. Gray and Dk. 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

Olive Drake PMD nymphs #18-20

Copper Drake PMD nymphs #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

Local and Private Lakes

Hot action for big fish

May and June provide some terrific fishing on the many private lakes within an easy drive of Livingston. The fish are hungry and

have seen very little fishing pressure so they are especially easy to catch at this time. Right now the best fishing is on nymphs and streamers but as we get into June we'll see hatches of both damsel flies and Callibaetis and lots of rising fish.

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. On some lakes you can catch lots of fish in the 15-22 inch class, but on others you will catch less fish but have a very good chance to catch some really big fish - and for many anglers the fish of a lifetime! Browns and rainbows right up to 7 and 8 pounds are not uncommon.

We can help you make a reservation and you can fish these lakes on your own or reserve one of our top guides and enjoy fishing from a drift boat, often fishing to cruising fish you can see in shallow water. This sight fishing is exciting, especially when you are fishing to huge trout in the five pound plus class.

Most of these lakes are full of scuds (fresh water shrimp) and a varity of olive and gray scuds in sizes #12-18 will be the ticket.

You can fish these either on a floating line with an indicator or with a sink tip or intermediate line, allowing you to strip and give the fly some action. Once the Callibaetis hatches start, it makes sense to fish a dry callibaetis on top with a callibaetis nymph on a dropper a couple of feet down.

It helps to rig two rods, one with a floating line to fish nymphs or drys close to the surface and another rod with a 10-15 foot type 3-4 sink tip for fishing streamers or scuds deeper. A nine foot #5-6 line rod works best most of the time, but for streamers, you can go up to a #7 or even 8 line rod.

Recommended Lake Fly Patterns

Olive Sparkle Scuds #12-14

Olive and Gray Tungsten Scuds #14-16

Barr Damsel nymph #10-12

Olive marabou Master Damsel nymph #12-14

Borger blue Paradamsel (dry) #12

Harrop Callibaetis Biot Parachute (dry) #14-16

Harrop Callibaetis Biot Spinner (dry) #14-16

Master Callibaetis nymph #12-14

Chironomid Bomber (midge pupa) #12-14

Jumbo Juju midge pupa #12

Olive multicolor wooly bugger #6-10

Olive Seal Bugger #8-10

Barr Black or Olive Bouface BH leech #6-8

Tungsten Thin Mint Bugger #8-10

Pine Squirrel mini-leech #12

Various colors Bead Head mini-leeches #8-10

Pig Pen Leeches #8 - colors: Wine/Brown, Tan/Burnt Orange,

Olive/Burnt Orange, Black/Purple

Chub Minnow -Olive/white #8

The Madison River

The Lower Madison, below the Beartrap has good hatches of caddis this past week and fairly good fishing on both drys and emergers. Cherry Creek is dumping in a lot of muddy water and the fishing below here is not nearly as good. Streamers and especially crayfish patterns up closer to the canyon can produce some big browns now, especially if you fish the deeper slots and drops.

The Upper Madison has also been fishing fairly well near Ennis, but reports are now coming in that the warmer weather is dramatically increasing the flow of the dirty west fork of the Madison, so below the West Fork it will probably be unfishable within a week. This dirty water will also fill Ennis Lake and then run out dirty down the Beartrap and Lower Madison also degrading the fishing there as the river get more discolored.

You can almost always find some good nymph fishing on the Upper Madison above the West Fork, all the way up to Reynolds Pass Bridge and above during late May and June. The river will be somewhat colored and not crystal clear but with visibility of 2-3 feet you can have very good nymph fishing. If we have very warm days, Cabin Creek that runs into Earthquake Lake will muddy the lake to the point that it will run out dirty enough to

make this portion of the Upper Madison more difficult fishing.

The Bighorn River

Christian Allan with a big bow taped at 24" Photo: Eric Paulson

Water Level jumps to 6500 CFS

With heavy runoff coming down the Wind River system, Bighorn Lake is close to full and there is no alternative but to release more water, some of which goes to filling the irrigation canal that runs down to Hardin.

Steve Hilbers from the Bighorn Trout shop tells me that the great

dry fly fishing they have been having is probably over until these

flows come down, but the good news is that the nymph fishing has been excellent. It usually only takes a few days for fish to re-locate into fishable spots in higher water and many of these good runs are still able to be wade fished very effectively. With the higher water remember to watch out for sweepers if you are floating close to some of the banks.

There are still a few Baetis on the water but there are few spots

calm enough to get the fish rising to them. The good news is that

the high water has blown out all the moss, which has been a problem earlier, and the nymph fishing is outstanding. The best action has been on sow bug patterns, but don't forget about San Juan Worms too, as these are often deadly in high water. A highly visible "worm" with a sow bug dopper is always a great way top prospect. Other good nymph patterns are small Baetis nymphs as well as midge pupa.

You'll find lots of good fish stacked into certain pieces of water, especially the drop offs below riffle corners. Try to fish along the edges of the faster current, not in it. Other runs are just the righ speed and depth and when you get into one of these you'll catch

fish after fish.

The best time to go is on the week days as on the weekends you'l see more Billings and local anglers. Fishing pressure is up with all the good reports and the fishing pressure can be a problem, but with these higher water levels there are more spots to fish and this will spread anglers out. Fish will move into new side channels that were previously dry, so don't forget about doing some exploring.

Soap creek is high and running a lot of muddy water as is usual at this time of the year. Even with the higher water flows, the river below soap creek will be much more discolored. The best bet now is to fish the upper 12 miles until soap creek and other creeks like Rotten Grass drop and clear. In the upper 12 miles, you can float the full 12 miles from the Afterbay to Bighorn Access, or just do the upper 3 miles, pulling out at 3-mile. Another good plan is to do 3-mile to Bighorn Access, a good all day float if you take your time and do a lot of wade fishing.

RECOMMENDED FLIES

Various sow bug patterns #18-22

Red San Juan Worms,# 6-10

Orange/brown Big Horn worms #14-16

Gray or tan Ray Charles #14-20

Various midge pupa patterns #18-22

Big Horn pink soft hackle #18-20

Grey Sparkle Scuds #18

Rick's Olive larva lace midge larva #18-20

Harrop baetis sparkle dun #18-20

Harrop Hanging midge #20-22

The Missouri River

Water levels dropped a little, to 4300 CFS this week. The Baetis hatches are still strong providing good dry fly fishing especially on calmer days. There are still a few March Browns on the water as well as a few caddis on warmer days to tempt the dry fly fishermen.

Some of the best fishing lately has been on nymphs. The best patterns seem to be Baetis nymphs, and a variety of sowbug patterns. Mini San Juan worms work well as do midge larva and pupa patterns