Salmonfly fever is upon us! The hatch is in full swing on the Gallatin, Madison, and Yellowstone and all of the rivers have great water conditions for this year’s hatch. In typical fashion the epicenter of the hatch is making its way upstream on each river day by day. Knowing just where to be on the river at any particular point in time is tricky. Nymph ahead of the hatch? Trail the main hatch by a couple of days, or aim for the heart of it? It’s hard to say what the right choice is… experience certainly helps, as does fishy intuition and a bit of luck. But regardless of whether or not the fish are gorged on the giant insects or are greedily devouring fluttering stonefly dries there’s a thrill to the chase.
Maybe you’ll hit it just right, or maybe you won’t. Covering a lot of water helps… over the course of a long float you’re likely to get into ’em at some point during the day – just remain focused on putting your fly where it needs to be. Once you find feeding fish, slow down and cover the water thoroughly… many anglers make the mistake of leaving fish to find fish.
Hitting the salmonfly hatch just right is an incredible experience, but it can take years of chasing the hatch to experience a truly epic day. You can put the odds in your favor by spending as much time as possible chasing the hatch, or if you only have a day or two to fish you’ll benefit from hiring an experienced guide. It’s not too late to reserve a day with one of our guides for this year’s salmonfly hatch, give us a call at 800-423-4742.
GALLATIN RIVER FISHING REPORT
The Gallatin is in great shape and is fishing well. Salmonflies and golden stoneflies are hatching and the fish are on them!
There’s really only one thing to talk about right now and that’s the salmonfly hatch. The big bugs have been out in force for a few days now and can be found throughout Gallatin Canyon and south of Big Sky.
The river is dropping and clearing, but still has some color to it… the Gallatin is flowing fat and sassy with that nice green hue that so many anglers have learned to appreciate. The trout are treating anglers to some explosive dry fly eats and a reliable nymph bite.
If the fish aren’t responding to your dry-dropper rig (and you are fishing a dry-dropper rig, right?) move along to another stretch of river. At times the fish can become gorged on salmonflies to the point that the fishing will slow down noticeably on a particular stretch of river. One of the great things about the Gallatin is the ease with which anglers can move to various public access points along the river. Keep moving until you find fish that want to eat your fly, they’re out there… there’s no sense trying to force the issue with fish that already have full bellies.
If you’re interested in having one of our guides show you the best of what the Gallatin has to offer, drop us a line or give us a call (800-423-4742) to book your dream trip and let us do what we do best… put people on fish!
Dries: Flutter Bug #6-8, Cat Puke (salmonfly & golden stonefly) #6-10), Rogue Stone (salmonfly and golden stonefly) #6-10, Chubby Chernobyl (Golden) #8-10, Stimulator (Yellow) #10-14, Elk Hair Caddis (Yellow/Tan/Olive) #14-16, X-Caddis (Olive) #14-16, Lime Trude #14-16, Sparkle Dun (PMD) #16-18, Purple Haze #14-18
Nymphs: Pats’ Rubber Legs #8, Mega Prince #8, San Juan Worm (Red) #12, CDC Pheasant Tail #16-18, Pheasant Tail #16-18, Lightning Bug #16-18, Copper John #14-16, Beadhead Yellow Sally #14, CDC Emerger #14-18, Shop Vac #16
Streamers: Sparkle Minnow #4-6, Bow River Bugger #4-6, Home Invader #2-6, McCune’s Sculpin#4, Gonga #4. Be sure to have an array of colors represented in your streamer box including: white, yellow, olive, natural/tan, and black.
UPPER MADISON FISHING REPORT
The upper Madison is about as good as it gets right now. Water conditions are ideal and the dry fly bite is on.
The hatch is here. Madison River browns and rainbows have been crushing salmonflies for a few days now. The main hatch is progressing upriver and will likely be hitting the walk/wade stretch by the weekend. That doesn’t mean that the action is over in the float stretch, not by any means – there will still be naturals out and about down lower and the fish haven’t forgotten what they look like.
While the big bugs deservedly take center stage, their smaller cousin – the golden stonefly – is not to be overlooked by anglers… the fish certainly take notice of them. Many anglers get tunnel vision during the salmonfly hatch, which is understandable – it’s easy to focus on the big bugs. But as any experienced guide will tell you, there’s more going on out there… PMD’s are emerging, Yellow Sallies are out, and drakes are setting sail. Just something to keep in mind when you spot a big riser in the shallows…
Nymphs: Pats’ Rubber Legs #8, Mega Prince #8, Pheasant Tail #12 & #18, Soft-Hackle Lightning Bug #16-18, Lightning Bug #18, RS-2 #18-20, WD-40 #18, Shop Vac #16, $3 Dip #16-18, San Juan Worm #12
Dries: Flutter Bug #6-8, Cat Puke (salmonfly & golden stonefly) #6-10, Rogue Stone (salmonfly and golden stonefly) #6-10, Chubby Chernobyl (Golden) #8-10, Stimulator (Yellow) #10-14, Elk Hair Caddis (Yellow/Tan/Olive) #14-16, X-Caddis (Olive) #14-16, Lime Trude #14-16, Sparkle Dun (PMD) #16-18, Purple Haze #14-18
Streamers: Sex Dungeon #4, Circus Peanut #4, Barely Legal, Sparkle Minnow #4-6, Bow River Bugger #4-6, Home Invader #2-6, McCune’s Sculpin#4, Gonga #4. Be sure to have an array of colors represented in your streamer box including: white, yellow, olive, natural/tan, and black.
YELLOWSTONE RIVER FISHING REPORT
Runoff is over and the Yellowstone is in solid shape for this year’s salmonfly hatch, which is in full swing throughout the upper valley.
A fishable salmonfly hatch on the Yellowstone River is not a given, but this year anglers have been fortunate to find excellent conditions for the hatch. The river is still big and pushy, particularly below Livingston – but the valley stretch has leveled out nicely. Clarity is 3+ feet… perfect for fishing big dries and streamers tight to banks in search of big browns and rainbows.
The hatch has progressed to the upper end of Paradise Valley and will move through Yankee Jim Canyon and into Yellowstone National Park over the next few days. If you haven’t experienced the slow, methodical rise of a native Yellowstone cutthroat trout to a giant dry fly, you owe it to yourself to get to Montana in the coming week to chase the hatch on the Yellowstone River… it’s an awful lot of fun.
Dries: Flutter Bug #6-8, Cat Puke (salmonfly & golden stonefly) #6-10), Rogue Stone (salmonfly and golden stonefly) #6-10, Chubby Chernobyl (Golden) #8-10, Stimulator (Yellow) #10-14, Elk Hair Caddis (Yellow/Tan/Olive) #14-16, X-Caddis (Olive) #14-16, Lime Trude #14-16, Sparkle Dun (PMD) #16-18, Purple Haze #14-18
Nymphs: Pats’ Rubber Legs #8, Mega Prince #8, San Juan Worm (Red) #12, CDC Pheasant Tail #16-18, Pheasant Tail #16-18, Lightning Bug #16-18, Copper John #14-16, Beadhead Yellow Sally #14, CDC Emerger #14-18, Shop Vac #16
Streamers: Sex Dungeon #4, Circus Peanut #4, Barely Legal, Sparkle Minnow #4-6, Bow River Bugger #4-6, Home Invader #2-6, McCune’s Sculpin#4, Gonga #4. Be sure to have an array of colors represented in your streamer box including: white, yellow, olive, natural/tan, and black.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK FISHING REPORT
Rivers and streams throughout Yellowstone National Park are emerging from runoff providing anglers with countless options.
The Firehole and Madison in the park are warming – signaling the end of the spring fishing season on these rivers. The Firehole has been approaching the 80 degree mark over the past couple of days and it has topped out at over 75 degrees everyday over the past week. It’s time to look elsewhere until fall. Fortunately there are plenty of options.
On the west side of the park the Gibbon continues to fish well, as are some of the smaller tributaries of the Firehole. The Yellowstone drainage is quickly coming into shape with the Lamar and its tributaries (namely Slough and Soda Butte Creeks) very close to being in top shape. The Yellowstone itself is still high and a bit off color, but the fishing is good on nymphs and streamers, and the salmonfly hatch will be making its way into Black Canyon within the next week or so.
Give us a call (800-423-4742) to discuss planning a trip to fish Yellowstone National Park.
Dries: Adams #18-20, Sparkle Dun – Olive (baetis), Yellow (PMD) #18-20, Purple Haze #18-20, Light Cahill #16-18
Nymphs: Pats’ Rubber Legs #8, Mega Prince #8, San Juan Worm (Red) #12, CDC Pheasant Tail #16-18, Pheasant Tail #16-18, Lightning Bug #16-18, Copper John #14-16, Beadhead Yellow Sally #14, CDC Emerger #14-18, Shop Vac #16
