Virtually every drainage in Montana is reporting over 100% snow pack, which will equate to great water levels this coming summer. This is one of those years you won't want to miss if you are thinking of planning a Montana fishing trip!

In this newsletter we have several articles about the best fishing our Livingston area has to offer, to help you plan your trip so that you can take advantage of the kind of fly fishing you enjoy. Whether your favorite style of fishing is dry flies, nymphs or streamers, we have something for you. If you are a dry fly fisherman, read about exciting action during the caddis hatch, the famous salmonfly hatch, fishing the PMD hatch on the spring creeks and Hopper season on the Yellowstone. Nymph fishing enthusiasts will find great opportunities throughout the spring, summer and fall. If you like to fish streamers for big browns, fall is the time to come.

Let us help you plan your Montana trip.In addition to helping you book the right guide, we can make suggestions on where to stay, where to eat, and where to fish on your own based on your requirements. We’ll be happy to help you select the kind of accommodations you desire, and in many instances we can book these accommodations for you. We do this as a service for our clients at no extra charge. Just let us know how many days you’ll be here in Livingston, how many days you would like to fish, and how many days of guided fishing you would like. If you have some idea of where you want to fish, or the type of water you like, just let us know and we'll do our best to put you there. Each year we book a certain number of days on the Spring Creeks and other private water for guided trips. If you are not sure where you would like to fish, let us make some suggestions. We'll try to put you into the hottest fishing at any given time of the year. In addition to helping with lodging and accommodations, we'll give you our recommendations on the best places to eat, a fun place for an after dinner drink and some live music. We are fortunate enough to live in magical Livingston Montana, and we are eager to share it with you. Come find out for yourself!

If you've never had the chance to make it out for the Mother's Day Caddis Hatch (MDCH), this is the year to do it! If you can only get away for 3 days, try to coming out for a long weekend (Fri 4/28- Sun 4/30). This mind boggling hatch will absolutely blow you away.

Needless to say, the fish go absolutely nuts this time of year. In our opinion, the MDCH is the best dry fly fishing of the year. Since this hatch is dependant on water temperature, the tricky part is being here before the river turns muddy. Don't let the mud scare you from booking though... you have several awesome "plan B" options, including hungry trophy sized rainbows and brookies from Buckingham Lake, tons of good fighting rainbows from Burn's Lake, and reduced rod rates on the Spring Creeks.

Read on to see photos from last year's blizzard hatch and James Anderson's fishing diary for that week...

Salmon Fly Fever is exactly as the name implies... absolute fishing madness! To some, hunting down this annual hatch is an unshakable addiction. If you're lucky enough to hit the apex of the hatch, you'll be rewarded with a fishing fix high enough to satisfy an entire year. During this surreal fishing binge, both the fish and anglers go crazy, trying to gorge themselves on the meatiest hatch of the year. (Sorry, sir I can't come to work today...uh... yeah, I think it was food poisoning)!

Imagine looking at thousands of friendly orange and brown cockroach size bugs clinging to the willow branches along the river. Your guide has stopped the boat to re-rig, (the last rainbow you landed ambushed your twitching fly and ripped it to shreds like a doberman). A smile comes over you as your guide says, "alright Tiger, you're back in action" and tosses your new fly overboard. He pulls up the anchor quickly, which seems normal, but you wonder why he takes his oar out of the oar lock. He smacks the oar into the willows, knocking about 25 helpless skittering salmon flies into the Yellowstone. Almost immediately a fish smacks and snacks a bug 10 feet from the bow. Your job is to put the fly in the shark's chum line and sock it to him! Go get 'em Tiger. . .

Read on for more photos and James Anderson's 2005 Salmon Fly experience...

Here in Livingston, and across Montana we are blessed with a phenomenal hatch of a large, olive cast mayflies that everyone calls Pale Morning Duns. For trout hunters, the PMD hatch makes for some spectacular dry fly fishing. Various PMD hatches occur during the period from late June throughout July and often well into August on many of our streams.

Read on for more of George Anderson's PMD Hatch article. . .

A favorite time for most locals and guides, fall streamer fishing produces some of the biggest fish photos of the year. There are far less people around than the summer, giving you ample elbow room and a true feeling of natural serenity. No doubt, at times you'll want to bundle up with a warm at and gloves, but as long as you're warm a Fall day on the Yellowstone is quite pleasant.

Before the browns spawn (usually mid October through mid November) they begin to "beef up" and go on an aggressive feeding spree. In preparation for mating season, the males start to grow their impressive salmon like kipe. Both males and females start to bring out spawning colors, with beautiful red spots and brighter yellow and orange hues. You'll want to bring out some heavy duty weapons for this gig, like a 7 or 8 weight with heavy grained sink tips... and definitely bring your camera!

For more info on Fall streamer fishing please read on...

This winter we worked hard to bring you a totally re-vamped fly selection. Jim Adams, (Adams and Sons' fixtures) made a custom fly display for us to hold our Spring Creek flies on one side, with midges, terrestrials, and lake patterns on the other. Larger fly compartments than he normally builds will help you pick out the flies with ease. On the Spring Creek side, we've arranged the flies to give you the most popular nymphs at the bottom, followed by emergers, dun patterns and finally, spinners in the top rows. On the left side you'll find Baetis (BWO) patterns, with PMD's in the center, and Sulfurs on the right side. We're confident the new display and our fly arrangement this will make it easier for you to find the exact flies you are looking for more quickly. Within the perfectly cut hard maple bins, you'll find an equally powerful stock of Spring Creek ammunition - perfectly tied flies by famous tiers like Rene' Harrop and his family, Dave Student from Colorado, and many of our own patterns tied to our exact specs. by the best fly companies in the business. We feel especially fortunate to be able to offer you Harrop flies tied by the Harrops themselves as there are only a handful of shops in the country where you'll find their mini-masterpieces. We have the distinction of offering their flies longer than any other dealer.

With three double sided fly displays now, we have greatly expanded our selection of hoppers, attractor patterns, terrestrials, lake flies,nymphs, egg patterns, streamers, and salt water patterns. You'll find lots of great new hopper patterns, interresting and effective new attractors, many new hot bead head nymphs, and a beefed-up selection of streamers that include Double Bunnies, Tungsten Cone Ultra Yuk Bugs, many more new conehead streamers, and some of the new articulated string leeches and sculpin patterns. We think you'll be excited to fish these new patterns, so come on in whether your just buying one to use as a tying example, or stocking up a box of heavy artillery...

The new Simms RiverTek windstopper softshell is the ultimate in specialized fishing outterwear. From the large size chest zip pockets, to water tight cuffs, to the built in removeable retractors and fly patches, this jacket is like a vest. Unlike their previous micro fleece windstopers, this jacket sheds water like a champ, which is great for rain, reaching down under the water for a snagged fly, or submerging your water proof camera for underwater photography. Not only does it work well on the stream, but it also looks sharp downtown! Expect to see a lot of guides wearing this one...

Colors: Coal, Blue, Green, Red

Sizes: S-XXL

Price: $229.95

This year we are excited to offer Cloudveil's fishing specific clothing lines for both men and women. Similar to Patagonia, Cloudveil's line is full of high quality, durable, yet highly fashionable clothing. Their women's garments are some of the finest and best looking we've seen on the market. After listening to our customers, we have significantly increased our women's clothing department this year and we will have a large selection for you to choose from!

Zorro waterproof and breathable shell jacket Women's Zorro Colors: Powder Blue, Mustard Men's Zorro colors: Twighlight blue,fatigue Sizes: S, M, L, XL Price: $135.00

Ross Reel's limited edition Evolution is now available in a special limited edition Green! These reels make a beautiful match with Winston's new Boron IIx rods (both in weight and color). If you're not familiar yet with the Ross Evolution, you are bound to see one on your friend's rod soon. This extremely light, stunning reel with a silk smooth drag has become a favorite among guides and shop owners alike. These Evolution reels are definitely the best selling reel we've ever had. Once you pick one up and look at it closely, you'll be sold. This year why not treat youself and add a little "bling" to your fly fishing arsenal. Unfortunately these forest green reels won't last long so get one while our supply lasts. Available in late April.

1.5 - $310.00

2.0 - $320.00

Simms' new waterproof boat bag has gotten the attention of a lot of our guides as well as ourselves! Better and more versatile than Patagonia's "Great Divider" boat bag, it can also sit in several inches of standing water while keeping your fishing gear and camera equipment high and dry. Zip over the cover and absolutely no rain or spray can enter. Lots of handy pockets inside, outside and even on the top! With it's good shoulder strap, this bag makes a great carry-on if you are flying.

Whether you are taking this bag with you in the drift boat, in a flats skiff or on the airlines, you'll be happy with its custom Velcro dividers and easy access outside pockets.

Colors: Orange, Coal

Dimensions: 10" L x 12.5" W x 18" H

Price: $169.00

We expect Simms' new L2 wader to be our best selling wader this year. This is a high quality GORE-TEX breathable wader, with built in gravel guards, a two tone color design, anatomically correct left and right stocking feet, plus a pouch for your fishing essentials. At $229.00, these waders are a dream come true; they should sell for well over $300.00!

Gore-Tex is the finest breathable material on the market, and these L2's are the least expensive Gore-Tex waders that Simms has ever offered. We think these waders are a terrific value, and at a price closer to $200 than $400 for the popular G-3's. You'll stay and cool and comfortable in the summer months wearing a pair of Silkweight or Lightweigh Waderwick bottoms underneath. For the spring, fall and winter, Simms Waderwick heavy weight fleece pants are the ticket to keep you toasty warm.

Fabric: 3-Layer GORE-TEX

Color: 2 tone Sterling

Sizes: S, M, MS, ML, MK, L, LK, XL, XLS, XLK, XXL)

Price: $229.00 ($249 for XLS, XLK, XXL sizes)