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Last Updated: 11/15/2010 by James Anderson

The Stone | Spring Creeks | Yellowstone Park | Guide Services

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

Yellowstone River

11.15.2010

Streamer fishing is still productive despite colder temps!

Guide Marcus McGuire spent a day with clients stripping streamers and the payoff was.......

Photo: Marcus McGuire

11.8.2010

My first week living in Montana - by Justin Bolduc

It took me 3 days driving a run down Budget moving truck but I’m here in Montana living in Bozeman with my wife and working in Livingston at the Yellowstone Angler with George, James and Robert.

What a fantastic first week of fishing I’ve had here in Montana thanks to unseasonably warm weather and great advise from my coworkers here at the Yellowstone Angler.

I arrived in Bozeman on Saturday October 29th and got the truck unpacked and snuck off to fish the East Gallatin below the Milesnick Ranch and had excellent success fishing small nymphs, a size 18 shop vac with a size 20 zebra dropper seemed to be the most productive rig. I had a few nice swipes on streamers although no hook-ups.

Sunday the 31st I fished Armstrong Spring Creek with James, it’s a nice feeling to have your new boss offer to take you fishing the day before you start work and I’d gander to say James is happy we went. The fishing was excellent once we threw in the towel on the Baetis hatch and started throwing streamers. We both landed multiple fish and it was an invaluable opportunity for me to learn the water from someone like James who’s been fishing it his entire life.

I started work on Monday the 1st and had a great day of work and even better lunch hour when I was able to stick a nice brown on a home invader only a couple miles from the shop. The home invader has quickly become on of my favorite streamers. I think it’s the combination of weight from the lead eyes and it’s long thin profile when wet that makes this fly so enticing.

Wednesday was my 1st day off and James and Robert suggested I fish one of many nice private lakes we have access to. The lake was pristine and the view over the meadows to the Crazy Mountains was incredible. The fishing was good. I had a crowd of hundreds of spectators watching me most of the day, a herd of cattle that were intent on watching every cast. I mostly sight fished the shallow flats of the lake throwing woolly buggers and leaches out in front of cruising rainbows and big brook trout. It reminded me of sight fishing to cruising bonefish in Mexico, a good cast out in front of the cruiser gets you fish, bad cast gets what you deserve, spooked fish. Around 1 pm a few fish started tailing and feeding on emergers and I took a few on a Callibaetis sparkle dun and a few on a Callibaetis nymph trailed behind the dun.

Thursday was back to work but I found time again at lunch to do some quick wade fishing at Mallard Rest on the Yellowstone I managed a few rainbows and couple whitefish on a Pat’s Rubber Legs with a smaller PT dropper.

Friday was a no fishing day but I did manage to slip out into the lawn with Robert and cast a few different 7 weights. It’s windy here and throwing home invaders with my 5wt Z-Axis wasn't’t quite cutting it. I need a new 7wt as all of my 7wt and 8 wt rods are 9’6” or 10’ for steelheading. I decide on the Sage Xi3, for me it had by far the most power and accuracy plus it’s a smooth looking rod. It’s marketed as a saltwater/bonefish rod, but I think it will make the perfect streamer rod and next time I get the chance to bonefish I’ll have the right rod. If you haven’t cast the Xi3 do yourself a favor and cast it - It’s one heck of a powerful rod!

It’s been a great first week In Montana and while I’ve had a few moments of “oh crap I really left my job and life in Ohio and moved to Montana” on the rides home from work, I couldn't be happier I actually did it!

I look forward to seeing all of you in the shop and if I can be off assistance in any way don’t hesitate to give me a call….

Justin

406-222-7130

11.3 A lot of the browns are either up tributaries or on their redds right now. Best to leave the browns that are spawning in the river alone for a couple weeks and let them do their thing. Mid to late November should be a little more consistent for streamer fishing as the browns will head back down, find their favorite hole and be ready to start snacking before winter hits. That being said, Justin caught an 18 inch brown on a white Home Invader at lunch yesterday. Not bad for his second day at work!

There's actually been some decent dry fly fishing lately for healthy rainbows and cutthroat. With an attentive eye you should be able to see rising trout in places you'd expect to see them - foam eddies, slower pockets on the inside of a riffle, long slow flats 3-4 feet deep. Midges have still been the main course for risers so it definitely doesn't hurt to bring along another rod besides your streamer outfit. For streamers we've been hearing a variety of colors working out there but white has been good for us...

Midges have been coming off the past few evenings, depending on the wind we've had some pretty good dry fly fishing.

11.1 The weather has been teasing us a little lately, but pick the right day and the fishing has been on. Bring some baetis but also be prepared to throw midges - especially for the slack water and foam-freckled eddies. Harrop's Hanging midge is one of the best ones since the white puff rides up high and is very visible, but the body and hook hang in the surface film. Once the fish start feeding on these tiny dries it is hard to force feed them anything else, especially a streamer. Be sure to bring a couple rods with you so you can take full advantage of fishing some dries.

Fall Streamer Fishing in Montana

Paulson's monster, caught on a zonker!!! Photo: Quae Hoffer

The Yellowstone is a great river, but this time of year the guides travel all over Montana looking for the biggest, meanest browns in the state. Give us a call if you are interested in setting up a trip to fish one of the secret stash spots the guides like to keep to themselves.

Brian Sienkowski with a big fall brown. Photo: Mike Dubis

There's only a couple times of year that I really miss being out on the water and Fall comes number one. Nothing is better than a day of fishing for big, surly, vibrant browns in Late September/early October. Many anglers are off bird hunting or bow hunting which leaves lot of open water for the taking. Less crowded, cooler weather, cooler looking fish, gorgeous fall colors - it's a puzzle why guide bookings go down this time of year. I guess it is a blessing in disguise since there are more big browns for the rest of us.

Outfitter Eric Paulson with 26 inches of gold. Photo: Jeff O'brien

The real trick to catching monster browns in the Fall is putting in the work. "Paying your dues" is something all good anglers do. While catching up couple smaller fish, or even getting skunked is a possibility this time of year, there's also the chance of catching one of the biggest browns of your life. While many of these brutes are caught on streamers, nymphs are another way to get after these intelligent fish...

Man on fire! Sienkowski with another stout one on the Missouri.

The Yellowstone is a great spot to catch a monster brown in the Fall, but there are a lot of equally good spots. This time of year the guides and outfitters we work with guide over the entire state, in secret "stash" river that they won't even tell us about it. Give James a call at the shop and he will set you up for an epic day this Fall. 406-222-7130.

Bobby Hottensen with a nice Madison River brown caught on one of Galloup's Olive Butt Monkey streamers. Photo: Teddy Hendricks

Livingston Spring Creeks

11.11 By: Justin Bolduc. Spring creek fishing is hot right now - between aggressive fish willing to take streamers and the afternoon baetis hatch, the creeks are the place to be. The most productive flies for the baetis hatch have been Harrop Baetis No Hackles. I fished Nelsons Spring Creek yesterday and also had success dead drifting a small size 12 Mohair Leech and stripping a small black bugger. The afternoon baetis hatch never really happened but that was fine as the streamer fishing was good. I broke off a nice brown nymph fishing and was able to fool him about an hour later on a streamer and get my fly back! Here he is...

This brown took a small brown leech (dead drifted).

I fished a shop rod yesterday, a Winston WT 4 weight and was impressed by it's ability to throw small streamers and nymph rigs, even though it's true forte was meant to be small dries. More Pics

Justin Bolduc with a nice Armstrong's brown. More pics...

Armstrong's, Nelson's, & DePuy's

all $40 now till Mid April...

11.3 Midges and Baetis are still the two main courses. Throw some scuds, mini san juans, and small streamers in for sides. Mornings have been slow for dry fly fishing so instead, concentrate on fishing baetis nymphs, scuds, and midge larva. By 11:00 you may start to see some rises and hatch activity. Try a few baetis duns, but be sure to offer a baetis emerger as your dropper, I think you'll find a lot less refusals. I had a small size #20 sparkle dun for a point fly and had several bumps, pushes, and refusals. The dry they seemed to prefer was a tiny size 22 Baetis No Hackle.

Baetis have been hatching thick on cloudy days. Photo: James A

Pick your day - Last sunday we put up with some rain, but we had

a thick hatch of small baetis emerging before the storm. The naturals were probably a size 22 - 23. The segments had a tiny bit of yellow on them - something I hadn't seen before. If you are tying up your own batch of weapons to bring you might try yellow thread or a yellow goose biot.

The flats below the diagonal riffle on Armstrong's were absolutely stacked with fish. Head hunters would definitely enjoy an afternoon sight fishing to the larger fish with tiny dry flies. There was a good amount of moss below the riffle, but most of it was sectioned in weed islands with trout lining up on the sides. At one point you could literally cast in every direction, it was hard to pick which fish to cast to! Try to pick out the biggest head and focus on that one fish - it might take 20 or more casts to get your timing and drift perfect.

At $40 a rod, this is the time see what these creeks are all about.

Some nice browns have moved up the creek, so be sure to watch out for the redds... no need to tread on next year's "youdths."

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

Recommended Spring Creek

Fly Patterns

Harrop Baetis short wing emerger #18-20

Harrop Baetis sparkle dun #18-20

Harrop Baetis No Hackle #18-20

Gray WD 40 midge emergers #18-22

Gray WD 50 midge emerger #18-20
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

Sawyer PT nymphs #18-20

Bead Head Thorax PMD nymph #18
Black wooly buggers #8-10

Barr's Slump Buster Black or Olive #8-10
Rag Sculpins #4-6

Olive and Grizzly Invader #6

Local and Private Lakes

Mmm... tasty! This hog couldn't resist a pig pen! more pics...

October is a relatively late time to fish local and private lakes, but due to very little angling pressure you can catch some true hogs! Some of the toad browns and brookies that you normally never see will be cruising the edges this time of year. Don't even think about fishing less than 2X with the teeth out there. With less callibaetis and damsels hatching, small streamers and leeches are the go to set up. Give us a call if you are looking to book a day on one of these lakes. We work with some of the best stillwater guides in the business...