Call us for a wind report! 406-222-7130

Last Updated: 6/29/2010 by James Anderson

The Stone | Spring Creeks | Yellowstone Park | Guide Services

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

Yellowstone River

6.29 So the big question is when are the salmonflies going to pop? Answer: They already have!

The belly of the hatch is at Loch Leven right now, with salmonflies dripping off the bushes and willows. Visibility is only about a foot however, but each day the clarity is getting a bit better. If you want to be in the middle of the bugs, try floating from Grey Owl to Loch Leven.

6.28

Flows are slowly smoothing out over here. NOAA's forecasted flows should interest streamer fisherman. It never hurts to be the first out there when things clear. We'll let you know when "green is good..."

6.27 The Yellowstone has been fluctuating daily, right now flows have increased a bit (and the visibility has decreased to just under a foot). Keep an eye on the CFS at Carter's, once we hit the magic 8 there will be a lot more traffic over here.

Side note for today - the upper Madison took on some more mud flow as well. With temperatures in the 90's this week we may have one more round of rising flows before the rivers start dropping for good. Hit the vice and get those salmonflies done!

6.26

The Yellowstone is definitely fishable, however your arm will be so sore from hucking junk all day, you won't be able to lift your evening beverage of choice. Solution? Buy some long straws or do what we are doing and fish the Missouri or Upper Madison. The MO has been on fire, and although the flow is running really high right now, deep nymphing has gotten a lot of clients into big fish. The Upper Maddy has Salmonflies on it now and about 2 feet of visibility. This would be a great time to catch the salmonfly hatch if you have never experienced it before. Call or e-mail Doug to book a trip: 406-222-7130.

6.22

Finally back into the 10 year median, the Yellowstone is starting to shape up. Not much more than a foot of visibility, but certainly enough to catch a mud brown's attention with a flashy streamer. One thing's for sure, they'll never see you coming! If the Yellowstone keeps on track with the 10 year average, we should have a decent shot at some salmonflies up high. We'll keep you posted if things are happening...

6.13

Despite all the healthy rain, the river is dropping quickly, already down to around 11,700. You'd have to be fishing something seriously big and ugly, but there is a few inches of visibility. Best wait (and save gas) 'till things hit 8,000 CFS...

6.12

Matt Wilhelm lead the fly casting instruction as almost 20 eager students learn how to cast. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped again this year!

6.11

Spring rain storms have increased snow pack averages on the Upper Yellowstone up to 98%. We should have a great hopper year out here, especially do to 1. The hopper infestation and 2. a good amount of water to keep fish strong and happy.

6.8

Below 89

6.7

The river dropped significantly today, down from about 25,000 CFS to 18,000. While that's a big sigh of relief for property owners along the river, anglers are on spring creeks and lakes in our area.

Fingers are crossed for salmonflies up high during the end of June, early July.

6.6

The river is supposed to peak today, somewhere around 24,000 CFS. Some pretty nice waves in town if you want to start your own Jackass Fly Fishing Movie. Maybe you could start at Mallard's and launch you boat off the top of the hill for style points. Boogie boarders, (as well as all river recreationists) should wear a type I-II coast guard approved floatation device at all times. Kowabunga dudes! Please remember the take out is on the left once you reach Sioux City Iowa. Also if you catch any Sturgeon / Cutthroat hybrids down there you got to toss 'em back... 'Course, you catch an release any way, right? Right?!

6.2

The Yellowstone is too dangerous to float right now with more big cottonwood logs to come. The side eddies are starting to collect sticks, making it nearly impossible to fish anyway. Give her a month, hopefully runoff will have dropped enough that the fish can see the salmonflies up high...

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The Madison River

6.28

Clarity is still in and out. Salmonflies are definitely out. That's all you need to know for now. Give us a buzz at the shop to book a day while the salmonflies are hatching on the Upper Madison. Bring your camera, this is one of your best shots at a BIG brown on a DRY FLY!

6.22

We have word that Salmonflies are already showing up at Ennis. There's probably about 2 feet of visibility near Ennis, which we all know is enough for a big fish to clobber your dry. Pick a channel, any channel and see what you can turn up! If nothing seems to be popping you can always sweep the willows with streamers.

6.15

Despite the mud, folks have been pulling some pretty good fish out of the lower lately. Flows are dropping currently, but this time of year you never know what they are going to do to control flows. Lots of guides scratching heads on why fishing in the mud has been so productive, but no one's complaining...

Last updated: 6/1/2010 by Josh Stanish

Caddis & streamers should keep your net wet... Photo: Biggie

I was on the water several days this last week and on Saturday as well. There is a sporadic hatch of caddis coming off with a few fish feeding on top. Weather determined the hatch activity. Sunny weather brought out bugs, once the clouds or rain showed up they were gone. Streamer fishing has been pretty good with a brown bugger trailed with a big rubberleg. The fish were eating the rubberleg stripped on a slow to medium speed strip. My buddies did fine with it but the clients struggled to get it down. Nymphing has been very good for the small and medium sized fish. I am not sure if the salmonfly nymphs are starting to move around but a # 4 rubberleg trailed with a small caddis larvae has been the ticket. San Juan worms have also been working pretty well. The caddis larvae has been the hot bug and I have had good luck on the rubberleg once we get to Cherry Creek and below. Cherry Creek is pretty dirty but it is mixing in pretty well once you get below Blacks Ford.

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Photos: Brian Sienkowski

"Been fishing the lower Madison and it's been pretty good. Getting a few good browns each day and a handful of nice rainbows too"...

Livingston Spring Creeks

Baetis are over and PMD's are starting. Flip some rocks and you'll see a lot of PMD nymphs to match for color and size. Dave Student's PMD drake nymphs and sawyer style pheasant tails are old favorites. Only dries we saw today were huge caddis. Saw a couple rises, but nothing worth re-rigging. A beetle would have been interesting... As far as nymphs go they liked scuds, midge larva, stone fly nymphs (shhh) and different PMD nymphs. Stomach pump reveled the same, with no generous portions of any certain insect yet. We got a couple fish on a black leadeye despite the bright day. No evening hatch but we left around 5:00.

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

Mill Creek - still high but ready to fish with big bugs or buggers...

A side note on Paradise Valley mountain creeks - Still running very high but reasonably clear. They should be pretty much ready to fish this weekend...

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 patterns. 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 LTV. Gray and Duke. 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

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Local and Private Lakes

More Pics

Hot action for big fish! June provides 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.

Burn's Lake rainbow - quite the jumper

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.

Hello!

Most of these lakes are full of scuds (fresh water shrimp) and a variety 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.