There definitely a lot of smoke in the valley, (now much more hazy). We fished Carter's to 9 on Monday (which seemed more Smoky than Tuesday or Wednesday), and once we started concentrating on the fishing, the smoke really wasn't that bad. I would do it again without worry...

CFS at Corwin | CFS at Carter's Bridge | CFS at The Lamar

So long as the sun is shining, the fish have been eating hoppers in the afternoon hard. Sometimes you'll get a hour or so break in the action, but when it turns on, it turns on big time! For deadly droppers that sink, try a rubber legs, George's brownstone, mega prince, Copper John, Pheasant Tail, sparkle pupa, multi-colored bugger, mini san juan, DK CDC prince, or one of your own top secret weapons.

Starting around 1:00, don't be afraid to try a dry dropper to bring up the big guys. Use a highly visible (size #4-6) hopper for your first fly with a smaller hopper, ant, or beetle behind it. Some of our favorite dry droppers include the royal or tan PMX, Whit Hopper, Dave's hopper, Carnage Hopper, Kicking Hopper, Cinnamon Flying Ant, Sam's Beetle, Deer Hair Beetle, Goucho, and the small Grand Hoppers. Use 2 or 3X to your first fly and 3 or 4X to the dropper, (that way if you throw one in the bushes hopefully you'll just loose one fly instead of your entire rig). You can catch fish on your nymph droppers even if you flies are swinging or dragging, but with hoppers and other dries, a perfect dead drift is essential. Last week we saw a 24 inch brown tracking down one of our hoppers with jaws open, but we got just a little bit of drag at the end and the fish bolted to the bottom as if we threw a rock at him.

Photographer Eric Figge holds a killer rainbow netted by Outfitter Hank Bechard. The monster was caught on a nymph somewhere above Emigrant.

So what's the best game plan? Go early and fish 89 down? Rip on fish with hoppers after two in the valley or through town? Nymph the riffles through town and rack up some serious numbers? Rock some cutties above Yankee Jim on hoppers all day long? You have a lot of great options. Give us a call if you like, and we can help brainstorm on what float best suits your needs for any given day.

"Where have you been?!" Outfitter Eric Paulson holds a nice vibrant colored brown caught on the Yellowstone by the photographer, Sam Jampolis.

What section should we fish?

This is a question we hear a lot. If you give us a call, we'll suggest a few floats that match what you're looking for. For now, here are a few of our favorite floats and how they've been fishing in general this summer...

McConnell to Joe Brown

If you are after more numbers than size, try floating above Yankee Jim or from Carbella to Emigrant. Up here a Turk's or BLT hopper has been deadly. No need to nymph up here (although go for it if you want to - there are not as many whitefish above Yankee Jim and those cutthroats are a real sucker for attractor beadhead patterns). Since there are a few wave trains in this section, it is best to have at least one experienced rower in the group.

Carbella to Emigrant

If you don't feel like rowing above the canyon and want to primarily or entirely with dries, than this section is a good pick. The fish tend to pod up in this section, so if you find a group of rising fish it would be a good idea to drop anchor. This section of the river does have a lot of whitefish, so putting on a beadhead dropper is just asking for a rubber lips. For more trout, stick with a hopper and a small dry dropper, preferably something visible like a hi-vis ant, trude, humpy, H & L variant, hi-vis parachute adams, hot wing elk hair, ect.

Grey Owl to Mallard's

The "Bird Float" as the locals call it, has been fishing quite solid this week. To begin with, it has a good fish count, plus the added bonus of a few big browns as well. On bright days, a white zonker has been known to wreak havoc on big fish. Hoppers would be a good way to get them as well - but be sure to throw in a couple stack mends to get a longer dead drift. The down side to getting too much slack in your line is missing the strike, so try to find that happy medium of a perfect drift and a tight line.

Mallard's to Carter's

This section has been relatively slow this year, (unless you happen to be one of the first boats down the bank). The guys who have been doing well in the afternoon are stopping the boat, getting out, and fishing the many riffles by foot. While this technique takes more effort, it is far more effective fishing, as an angler gets 10-12 good casts in the faster oxygenated water rather than just one quick cast as the boat floats by. Midnight stones are around still, so try a brown or golden stone nymph off of your hopper.

Carter's to 89

Check out this sucker fry for a tying reference! We netted 3 of these suckers from under the same rock...

This section fished fair to good for us on Monday. Surprisingly no hits on the hopper, despite seeing several huge, rust belly hoppers on the banks. Rubber legs and bead head nymphs did the trick. We caught one really nice fish that took us up stream into the backing. We got out of the boat and ran up, only to find that the big one dove into the rocks below. I couldn't pull him back by the tippet since he went through a tunnel. In the end I went for the tail grab and tried to sweep him into the net, but he busted us off like 4X. (Wish we were running 2X though those faster runs now)...

Since down low still has the 2:00 closure, I expect this section will continue to get pounded.