In typical mid-August fashion, the Yellowstone has been on and off. When it’s on, the fishing has been good to great. When the switch is off however, it can be a little challenging to say the least. We’ve had quite a bit of rain this August, (which has been good for lower water temps) but also a bit of a pain to work around the mud plugs. The best thing about the Yellowstone right now is that the fish have been looking up and eating dries. Some of the bigger, more educated browns (that have probably been caught before) are a little more cautious and have been “bumping” hoppers and chubbies instead of fully committing and sucking them in. If you see a larger fish tracking your fly but not eating it, try giving your fly a little twitch to induce an eat. Twitching your fly all the time is a mistake but throwing one in once every 10 feet of drift or so can help. For nymphys, rubber legs has been popular, as have some of the tungsten new jigged soft hackle type flies.
