It’s about time to put the skis up and get the rods out. The Yellowstone has started to pick up lately. Water temps are still cold however, so if you are streamer fishing be sure to slow down your retrieve. Often times no action at all has been the ticket. Since the water clarity has been off try black or brighter colors to help the fish see your streamer. The dry fly fishing has actually been better than the streamer fishing. Midges have been the main staple, but we’ve also seen some Baetis and March Browns out. When the conditions are right the fish have been rising, (mostly in the slower side water or foam eddies). Stop in for some bugs and ideas on where to go.
Now is also a great time to book a trip on the Yellowstone, Spring Creeks, or Madison. With less people around there is also a lot less pressure to be had and the fish are finally starting to pay attention. From now until Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch, the Yellowstone will be a solid choice, especially for those looking to catch one or two solid browns. If it is muddy, our go to back up has been the Madison, which is really fishing just as good if not better than the Yellowstone.
The Spring Creeks can also be a great place to fish this time of year as fish are keying in on beatis and by the end of April will be looking for caddis as well. Winter rates ($40 per rod) last until 4/14 (this Friday), so take advantage of this and get out there before rates increase to $80 per rod on 4/15.
We have a solid amount of snow pack this year (118% snow-water equivalent and 142% total precipitation) for the Upper Yellowstone River Basin. This is great as it means we will have more water in August than last year. It is always hard to predict when the Yellowstone will clear from runoff but so far the first week of July seems like a safe guess. If you don’t mind fishing in flows of 10,000 CFS or higher, then the last week in June might even be fishable, it all depends on if we get more rain and snow in the mountains and how quickly it melts when the weather does get warmer…
In addition to the larger rivers some of the smaller rivers in our area are starting to fish well. These will continue to be in an out according to the weather and snow melt so give us a call and we’ll get you the latest scoop we have…
