Mother's Day Caddis Hatch 2006 Live Report
Yellowstone River 4/24/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 3,740 < 1 foot
Livingston: 3,380 > 2 feet
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 48
Oooops... A Cutbow gets the short end of a drift just above Pine Creek bridge. This little guy came out of a nice foam eddy on the East side of the river as you walk up from the bridge, a good spot for wade fisherman to try their luck. Despite being on the fringe of the caddis hatch, fish were still rising to midges and the occasional baetis.
The Caddis count was definitely low, with a few sporadic caddis fluttering about the bank. I saw perhaps 50 caddis at the "Livingston Ditch" which is where DePuy's Spring Creek pours into a side channel of the Yellowstone. It was slow action there too. I talked to a local bait fisherman who was working a new worm onto his hook. He said the only thing he was catching was rocks.
 Try a tungsten bead caddis larva (shown right) to get your fly deep quickly, followed by your favorite caddis emerger or pupa. Some of our favorites are Harrop's brown CDC emerger, Harrop's "bubble butt" emergers, Stalcup's Olive Caddis Pupa (shown right), or LaFontaine's Caddis Sparkle Pupa. 4X is a nice happy medium for now, but you can bump this up to 2X depending on water clarity. Once fish start rising to dries, I like using either an Olive Hotwing Elkhair (size #12) for an indicator fly, or a big Goddard Caddis followed by any of the various droppers mentioned above.
Yellowstone River 4/25/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 2,400 1-2 feet
Livingston: 2,970 < 1 foot
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 39
Russ Chatham style on the Yellowstone
An abrupt change from 70 degrees and shorts to snow and gloves should have been enough of a signal not to go fishing. Never-the-less I went out thinking I'd see a good Baetis hatch if nothing else. I did see a few rises, most likely to midges, but nothing was bold enough to attack my size 3/0 black pike fly. The river was
Yellowstone River 4/26/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 2,400 1-2 feet
Livingston: 2,970 < 1 foot
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 42-44
GDR (Get 'er done)! Seeing how the action was virtually nonexistent the day before, I figured it would be a good day to get all the lawns in check. I did talk to a few guys who did well with nymphs. They floated Carter's to Mayor's.
Yellowstone River 4/27/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 2,600 1-2 feet
Livingston: 2,890 2-3 feet
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 46-48
We floated East End to Springdale. We saw about 200 caddis flying around but the dry fly fishing was definitely slow. We got one ferocious bite on a size #12 hot wing olive elk hair caddis and then nothing the rest of the night. Just before the take take Kevney hooked into a nice female brown with a black streamer. As it turns out, that night his roommate was fishing in a boat in front of us and doing well with streamers tight to the bank.
You better believe it! Kevney Dugan with a big brown.
Yellowstone River 4/28/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 2,850 1-2 feet
Livingston: 3,330 < 1 foot
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 47-50
Tracy Allen and Rough work a run on the Stone (4/28)
We put in at Carter's around 5:30, with plenty of caddis flying high in the air above our heads. We fished dries and droppers through the majority of the hatch, but ended up catching more fish on streamers than caddis patterns. Even though we saw thousands of caddis in the sky, the fish really weren't on them yet. About the only consistent risers we found were in big foam eddies, but most of these fish weren't the monsters we were looking for. Still, we had now wind and a beautiful evening with bugs, suds, and just a little mud.
 Guide Chris Miller puts his clients into good position on the Stone
Yellowstone River 4/29/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 3,740 < 1 foot
Livingston: 3,380 > 2 feet
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 48-51
Guide Tracy Allen with a nice Yellowstone Brown (4/29)
About 6:00-6:30 we started seeing the meat and potatoes of the caddis hatch. Unfortunately the fish were not in a frenzy, with only a few hard to pin down risers. Once again black streamers came to the rescue. The visibility was a little over a foot. It could have been better, but we all agreed that it was a good day fishing.
Yellowstone River 4/30/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 5,180 < 1 foot
Livingston: 4,030 < 1 foot
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 43
The water through town looks like less than a foot of visibility. The caddis could be put on hold with these lower temperatures. If anyone gets any photos they would like to post on our fishing report or photo gallery please e-mail them to: jamesd@yellowstoneangler.com.
Yellowstone River 5/1/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 5,830 < 1 foot
Livingston: 5,030 < 1 foot
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 44
Although there are still caddis out and about, it looks as though Spring Run-off has started. Plenty of mud and sticks are floating down the river, which means you'll be catching lots of really long browns, some up to 96 inches! They can be a little "snaky" however...
Yellowstone River 5/1 - 5/3
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 4,820 1 - 2 feet
Livingston: 5,310 1 foot
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 42-48
Wait a second... Weekend Warriors mount up for round 2! The Yellowstone has been falling the last day or two, but the clarity hasn't improved drastically. If there is a 2nd window of opportunity, this weekend is it. Expect to be fishing in about 2 feet of visibility. Friday morning the water was 42 degrees, but rising to almost 48 by evening. With a sunny Saturday we should see a lot of caddis in the air, (and hopefully on the water).
Yellowstone River 5/4/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 4,950 1 - 2 feet
Livingston: 5,100 1 foot
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 43-49 There were a lot of caddis both on the bank and in the water, however I didn't see a single rise. I was getting discouraged to say the least. Usually when the caddis are crawling up your legs, in your glasses, and in your ears you don't mind because the fish are going nuts. It usually takes the fish about 2-3 days to key in on the caddis, so my guess is that this was day 1 of the cycle. I looks like the flow at Corwin jumped 100 CFS, so I don't think visibility is going to increase much for the next few days.
Yellowstone River 5/5/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 6,260 1 - 2 feet
Livingston: 5,100 1 - 2 feet
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 44-47 
The fish finally "keyed on" to the caddis and are eating dries tight to the bank. We caught 1/2 a dozen trout from Tom Miner Bridge to Carbella last night on elk hair caddis (size #12). The whitefish were going absolutely nuts, so we picked up a few bones of the stone as well. The visibility was about 18 inches. This was the first night we didn't have to tie on a streamer. Morning water temperatures have been around 44 in the shallows and rising to 57-58 in the evening.
Yellowstone River 5/6/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 7,240 <1 foot
Livingston: 5,840 <1 foot
Wind: Calm
Water Temp: 44-50 CFS at Corwin jumped from 4,900 to 7,200 - making the yellowstone mud bath. Yesterday a few of our guides got into fish on the bird float. Even though more mud was coming, the fishing got better in the evening. Since the water flows slowly, our theory is that the fish have more time to see the caddis on the water.
After work we floated from East End to Springdale, but only caught one fish. One boat needed a tomatoes juice bath. There were plenty of caddis out and a few rises, but a storm was rolling in and probably messed up the pressure. Either way, it was a blast and we'll be going back out tonight.
Yellowstone River 5/7/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 7,240 <1 foot
Livingston: 5,840 <1 foot
Wind: Windy/light rain
Water Temp: 44-50 
It wasn't the nicest day to be on the Yellowstone, but we did effectively get the skunk out of the boat with one nice cutthroat. I suspect the low pressure turned the fish off as we didn't see a single rise and no fish were taking caddis pupa in a honey hole that was on fire 2 days before. The river was noticeably higher than 5/5 which also may have effected the fish.
Sha-Zam! Miles fooled this nice native on a size #4 black lead head bugger.
Yellowstone River 5/11/06
River Site CFS Flow Water Clarity
Corwin Springs: 4770 2+ foot
Livingston: 4880 2+ foot
Wind: Sunny & Calm
Water Temp: 46-52
Rick Wollum with a nice bow caught on a Nelson Caddis just below Mallard's Rest!
The fish finally started looking up thursday night. Every place we thought we would find fish we did. It was non-stop surface activity from put in to take out. We could have made a simple 3 mile float last all day!
Kevney Dugan with a solid Native Cutthroat fooled by a Hot Wing Elk Hair Caddis a couple pools below the spot co-worker Rick Wollum took down his victim.
This was one of those nights not soon forgotten. Only days before we were sulking around the shop thinking the Mothers Day Caddis Hatch was simply not going to happen. In this case I loved being wrong. You have to pick through the mighty whities but let me assure you the trout are mixed in and some big fish are working the surface.
The maiden voyage for the year for "The Blue Goo" was one to remember. She may not look as good as the new Low Profiles but she gets the job done with enthusiasm and grace.
I hate to say it but tonight might be it! Its friday, leave work early and get your turn at this remarkable hatch! |
