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Last Updated: 9/30/2009 by James Anderson

The Stone | Spring Creeks | Yellowstone Park | Guide Services

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

Yellowstone River

Yes, we are moving the hats and gloves next to the register. There are a lot less guides on the water now, which means local fish bums will have the first first crack at some big browns. Time to hit up the vice and tie up some burley streamers...

Looks like the Fall is finally here - Tom Croyle holds up a nicely

colored brown for the camera. Photo: Eric Paulson

Each day is a different battle. Looks like we have some rain coming in next Tuesday and Wednesday... could be a good couple days for streamer fishing, depending on how windy it gets over here. If you have a sunny afternoon on your side, try fishing a smaller hopper, with a beetle or an ant dropper. We're almost to the point where smaller attractor dries and may flies are working better than the hopper. The fish are still checking out the hopper, but not necessarily sinking their teeth into it as often as we'd like. You might try busting out the 4X to help with a better drift. Small beadhead nymphs have been working well, but be sure to get your weight right, the fish have been holding deep.

The white fish bite is on!

The Yellowstone... where browns are big and whitefish are worried. Fish are still taking hoppers, but you better be watching your fly - a lot of the bigger fish are nosing the hopper instead of eating it. A twitch of the wrist at the crucial moment however could send you to a photo finish rather than another refusal. Nymphs have been working better than streamers, but then again it really only takes one big fish to attack your 12 inch whitefish fly.

The fishing down low has been busy boat wise, but slow for big browns. Lots of little rainbows to be had down there on beadheads, but only a few 18-22 inch browns as of lately. Now is the time to read the water and find a place that no one has bothered to fish in a while. This could mean rowing into a back eddie, getting out of the boat to fish a side channel, or fishing the soft bank. Time to get creative both on the water and on the vice!

Fall baetis are just around the corner. We've already been picking up some nice fish on parachute adams droppers...

A couple of cool locals... Photo: Eric Paulson

Last weekends high pressure made for some great dry fly fishing. The rainbows and cutbows have been eating hard. Although the weather was calling for a high of 83°F today, the bank said 66°F.

Got to play each day with the cards your dealt, but for the most part unless you see some bugs on the water stick with nymphs or a dead drifted streamer. The browns are getting territorial already, so don't be afraid to toss some big flies, especially ones that look like baby whitefish or browns.

Christian Allan at it again! Photo: Eric Paulson

With 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...

RECOMMENDED FLIES

Grand 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

PMD's and Sulphurs have been out and about. We fished yesterday but it was so windy in the morning I only saw about 3 PMD duns. The ones I saw were pretty big though - at least 18's or slightly bigger. Saw a few cripples and spent spinner too, although most the fish were not rising. Starting around 3 or 4:00 the sulphurs got going. They were small, about a size 22. Also forgot to mention the midges in the morning - quite a good cloud before the wind picked up. Once it did hoppers were about our only hope. We landed two nice big rainbows, but lost two VERY nice browns and an even larger rainbow. We had to battle the wind at every hole, but the payoff was worth while. We were using 6X on the mayflies and midges, but 4X was fine for the hoppers, especially with a strong wind on the water.

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

Look 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 FLIES

Harrop's PMD Sparkle Dun #18-20
Harrop's PMD olive short wing emerger #18-20
Harrop's PMD half and half emerger #18-20

Harrop's Last Chance Cripple #18-20

Stalcups Cellophane wing cripple #18-20
HD PMD Emerger #16-20
PMD Captive Dun#16-20
CDC PMD Transitional Dun #16-20
PMD Biot Thorax #16-20
Angle Case PMD emerger #18

Wollum's PMD nymph #18-20
Various Dave Student PMD nymphs #16-20
Black Zebra midges #18
Olive midge larva #18
Tan (grey) Sparkle scuds #18
Olive Sparkle scuds #18
Bighorn sow bugs #18
Black leadeye buggers #8
Rag Sculpins #4-6
Brown Home Invader #6

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

Mike Warnick with a 22 inch rainbow on a whit hopper! James A.

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!

Jeff Carter with a thick hen brown. Photo: James Anderson

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!

HATCHES

Midges, 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...