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Call us for a caddis report! 406-222-7130 The Stone | Spring Creeks | Snow Pack | Guide Services Local & Private Lakes | CFS @ Corwin Springs | CFS @ Carter's Yellowstone River
3 browns over 20 - not bad for mud buggin! Photos: James D. 5.20 We've had a little drop in CFS over the past day or two, and clarity has improved to at least a few inches. Below the Shield's there is no vis. With this change in weather the Yellowstone is festering, so streamer fisherman may have one last chance before the river explodes into full runoff. Keep a close eye on the CFS at Carters and the CFS at Corwin. If it keeps dropping you might consider little afterwork wade fishing. Last but not least, check out the webcam above Yankee Jim.
This time of year can be dangerous on the oars, even for the experts. If you do chose to float please do so with extreme caution. You'll find fish wherever you find slower pockets and calmer spots, eddies, wherever you see water pillow off a faster current towards slower water, preferably with structure. I think for the most part the fish are hiding out so you have to really read the water and put in on their head. The streamers splashing in the water seemed to help, especially for the bank eaters.
I feel somewhat guilty posting these photos as usually I don't catch squat in the mud. Must have been all those days "paying dues" last year. Pay day was pretty sweet. Anyway, like I said, you can still catch some nice fish in the mud, but from our experience, it's usually not worth the effort. Here are a few other options for now: Spring Creeks (still $75 until 6/15) - with all the overcast days coming up the baetis should really be popping! Get out there! Local and Private Lakes - this is our favorite option this time of year, with plenty of callibaetis hatches starting already! Tailwaters - The MO has been really high but some big fish to be had. The Bighorn has blown out lately by high waters and flooding! The Lower Madison will be good on the rainy days ahead - look for March Browns, Beatis, and caddis but brings some streamers too. Small streams Now open, but high (opened Saturday the 21st). Yellowstone National Park opens the next weekend (Saturday the 28th). Should be some PMD's on the Firehole! Salt Water trip - Now is a good time of year to catch big tarpon and snook! If it is too late for this year think about next year! We know lots of good guides in FL and around the world - give us a call...
5.16 Almost 10 Grand, the Yellowstone is blown. Our guess is we'll have decent streamer clarity (10,000 CFS) around mid to late July with "green is good" right behind it (8,000 CFS). For those of you who might be out of state and don't know, "green is good" is one of the best times to catch a big brown on the Stone. Directly after runoff when the water is staring to green up, the fish turn on their receptors and much fat articulated streamers like corn oas in Cabo. The nymphing can also be very productive with big rubberlegs and size 8 standard beadheads.
5.13 CFS has been rising steadily both in town and at Corwin. We're already starting to see more sticks, logs, and debris floating down the pike - a good sign that runoff has arrived. Also starting to see some nasty hydraulics, so unless you're an expert on the oars, better play it safe and float somewhere else. Doesn't look real promising for morels this year anyway...
5.12 Floated the Yellowstone the last two days. Thousands of caddis coming off but the combination of a stiff north wind and only inches of visibility made for tough fishing conditions. Despite all the bugs, we only saw about 20-30 rises each day. To make a long story short we caught 1 fish Wed. evening and 2 fish on Thursday.
5.11 Not much for vis today in town - only about 2 inches, although the back channel around 9th looks a bit better. CFS has actually dropped a bit, but with weather close to 70 this week you can bet on a bull market of increasing flows soon. Upon contemplating if the river was fishable (and knowing this was likely the last day of any vis) I saw a 14 inch trout rise at my feet. Well - at least they won't see you coming! If you're in the mood to fish the river before the freshet starts this is it. Better plan on a short float in or around town and bring an extra six pack - you may need it! 5.10 Dark and Drizzly... not much going to happen today.
5.9 Still muddy - Will the river clear up enough for at least a day or two more of caddis fishing? Our optimistic Magic 8 ball says, "signs point to yes," but with 90% chance of rain today and 70% tomorrow this could be the beginning of the end. The silver lining to all the recent clouds is that the baetis hatches on the creeks have been superb the last couple days. 5.8 Blown out - too much mud coming down from the Park and the tribs to make fishing the Stone worth while. 5.7 Had a little spike in CFS as of last night and the river is dirty. The Valley has the best visibility which is still only about 6 inches at best. It was raining this morning with 70% chance of more rain, so caddis are likely off the menu this weekend. We did see a guy who caught an 18" brown on a caddis dry through the mud in town today on a stimulator. A few other decent reports from floaters in the Valley but nothing gangbusters. Fingers are crossed for one more opportunity to fish caddis dries. It certainly looks like runoff will be coming sooner than later...
More Pics from Friday 5.6 5.6 Billman Creek in town, (which comes in at the Lumber Yard), has made the main channel through town dirty. The East channel around 9th has a little more vis. The Shield's is making everything down low dirty as well. Streamer fisherman might try their luck but the dry fly fishing down low looks pretty dismal. Went out after work today and saw quite a few caddis at 89. No rises then but heard of some action on top and a good emergence when the sun was still out. Hoping for an explosion of bugs by the weekend but judging from the weather, it looks more like baetis and March Brown weather than caddis...
5.5 Went out twice today to look for caddis, once at lunch and once in the evening. Only counted one caddis. Zil for blue wings, midges, or march browns. Too windy...
More Pics from Monday 5.4 5.4 The caddis hunt continued after work yesterday. No signs of caddis at East End except for flipping rocks. Nothing at Springdale either. Until the "pop" I'd stick with the town section for the best chance at seeing caddis adults. Clarity is hanging in there with a solid 2-3 feet of visibility. Billman Creek (in town) and the Shield's are starting to kicking in some mud but not enough to ruin the fishing.
The new 9th street bridge project is now complete.
Dane Huzarski with a 26.5" toad down low! Photo: Greg Bricker 5.2 Received our first text today with reports of sporadic caddis. Caddis emergers were the hot flies, which means the trout should be on dries in no time. Talked to another gentleman who stopped at DePuy's Culvert and saw a couple fluttering about... Looks like we have some cold nights ahead of us which will keep the water temp close to 45° in the morning. We're guessing the major "pop" will be right on time for Mother's Day this year.
The Shield's is kicking in a little mud, and with today's heat we'll probably see more coming. Give us a buzz as this could blow out some of the good streamer water below 89. Probably smart to stay away from 89 to Sheep right now. Good reports from the Valley, all though we haven't heard of caddis there yet.
Guide Marcus McGuire with a solid 2 footer! Photo: Doug Mcknight 5.1 The streamer fishing has been solid the last few days, even though it has been bright and sunny. For guys throwing dries, midges have been the main hatch in the valley, March Browns for down low. Caddis are still clinging tight but will hatch soon enough! Stay tuned...
Livingston Spring Creeks
5.22 Even bright days have even been fishing well (see Joe's two browns over 20 inches above). Nymphing with midges pupa, midge larva, scuds, and thin mayfly nymphs has been the ticket. The baetis have been coming off 12:00 - 4:00 and have been quite small, 20's and 22's with grey bodies. 5.20 Great day to be on the creeks this week with plenty of overcast clouds and rain... should be really good baetis popping! 5.16 Been missing those clouds, but not the wind! It's been rippin all over the place lately! For hatches, midges have still been the staple with baetidae for desert. Mornings have been fishing well with scuds, midge larva in all colors, and thin mayfly nymphs. Lots of fish are there but plan on nymphing unless you get cloud cover and a slight breeze. 5.8 Fished Armstrong's today. The light rain all day made your hands cold enough that tying on 6X was a challenge. Nothing but midges until the afternoon. By 2:00 fish were taking baetis emergers and between 2:45-3:30 duns were thickly scattered on the water with fish happily feeding on them. There were actually two kinds of baetis coming off - the normal size 18-20 gray body color baetis, but also a lighter bodied blue wing olive in a size 20. The fish didn't seem too picky as to which baetis they were keying in on, a gray Harrop's Baetis Sparkle Dun was our best dry. For nymphs a gray Sparkle Scud and a Miracle Nymph were seeing a lot of action. 5.2 Lots of fish still in DePuy's right now. Nelson's has had some great dry fly fishing when the baetis come off. Armstrong's is fishing as well as usual. The baetis come off between 10:00 - 4:00, whenever the best conditions of for an emergence occur. If the clouds roll in, keep your eyes peeled for risers. The creeks are one of your best shots to land that beautiful 20 inch trout you've been needing so bad! Even better, you can catch it on a dry! Take advantage of the creeks before the rod fees go up to $100 June 15th.
Recommended Spring CreekFly PatternsHarrop Baetis short wing emerger #18-20 Harrop Baetis sparkle dun #18-20 Harrop Baetis No Hackle #18-20 Gray WD 40 midge emergers #18-22 Gray WD 50 midge emerger #18-20
Sawyer PT nymphs #18-20 Bead Head Thorax PMD nymph #18 Barr's Slump Buster Black or Olive #8-10 Olive and Grizzly Invader #6
Local and Private Lakes
Guide Marcus McGuire with a rather large Sitz rainbow! Our lake fishing clients will be happy to know that we have picked up two new properties to fish this year. One of these lakes is stacked with big browns, the other with big rainbows. Both are only about an hour's drive from the shop. One of them you must book exclusively through the shop, the other is not well known by other outfitters yet. Rod Fees $100 and worth their weight in pounds! As far as hatches go, you can expect to see mostly midges. We had some big fish come up and look at our indicator though, so you never know! Leeches, scuds, snails, callibaetis nymphs, damsel nymphs, and buggers have been working well. Marcus caught the hog above on an olive and tan pig pen leech. While many folks imagine their Montana vacation spent on a river, those who have fished lakes with us know how incredible the fishing can be. Sight fishing to 6-7 pound rainbows and browns with callibaetis dries can be some of the most stimulating fishing we'll see all year. The best time to come out and fish lakes is during late June / early July when the river is still in Spring Runoff. We'll catch some real toads even in August, but these fish are typically caught in deeper water on leeches, lake scuds, and damsel nymphs. |
Related Links: Archived Fishing Reports
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