Another shot of cold, snowy weather just made its way through southwest Montana. It provided us with a welcome boost to our mountain snowpack. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve had everything from sunny, seventy-degree weather to blizzard-like conditions… pretty standard for May in Montana. Our area rivers have been up and down, right along with the weather. River conditions are day to day, and any windows of improved water clarity tend to be short lived at this time of year.
We anticipate a fairly average runoff event this year, with most rivers dropping and clearing by mid-June. Our snowpack is in pretty good shape and that bodes well for a summer of quality trout fishing on the Gallatin, Madison, and Yellowstone rivers.
Give us a call or drop us a line for the summer fishing forecast. Whether you’re planning a summer vacation or deciding where to fish next weekend, let us do what we do best – put people on fish!
GALLATIN RIVER FISHING REPORT
Gallatin River near Gallatin Gateway MT
Flows on the Gallatin River (aka: The Big Muddy) have dropped significantly over the past few days. The extended forecast is calling for moderate temperatures, which should stabilize flows for a few days.
The Gallatin River water level dropped considerably over the past few days as a cold front moved in and dropped considerable snow at higher elevations. The storm added to our snowpack and will help ensure that we have happy, healthy trout come August.
Below Taylor Fork the river is currently sporting about 6″ of visibility along the banks and is fishing well with large nymphs, worms, and streamers tight to the banks. Between the Taylor Fork confluence and the Yellowstone National Park boundary anglers will find good conditions with a solid 18″ of visibility.
The forecast is calling for highs in the 40’s and 50’s for the next week, which should be cool enough to stabilize flows for a few days.
Currently: Large nymphs or dead-drifted streamers in the #4-6 size range such as the Pat’s Rubber Leg, Bitch Creek, Yuk Bug, Mega Prince, San Juan Worm, Bow River Bugger or Sparkle Minnow.
Patterns to stock up on for post-runoff:
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
Madison River at Kirby Ranch near Cameron MT
The upper Madison remains fishable and productive with about 18″ of visibility up high and 6″ closer to Ennis. The Madison above Lyons Bridge is currently a great option for the walk/wade angler.
The upper Madison continues to fish well with about 18″ of visibility up high and about 6″ below the West Fork. The upper Madison is dam controlled and tends to hold up much better during runoff than our area freestones. That said, there are a number of tributaries that dump mud into the upper Madison. Most notably, the West Fork of the Madison contributes a significant sediment load to the river during spring snowmelt. Above the West Fork anglers will typically find the river off color, but fishable with large nymphs and streamers worked along the banks. Below the West Fork the river’s visibility is often reduced – as is the case currently.
The float section is a bit of a gamble right now, with the best conditions found on river right for about a mile below Lyons Bridge, at which point the West Fork’s mud plume fully mixes with the river.
Stick with the standard runoff fare: stonefly nymphs, worms, eggs, and larger mayfly nymphs representing March browns. Sporadic reports of productive dry fly fishing are surfacing from the upper river, with fish taking midges and baetis.
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, Shop Vac #16, $3 Dip #16-18, San Juan Worm #12
Dries: Parachute Adams #18, Purple Haze #14-18, Sparkle Dun (olive) #18 and #12 (brown), X-Caddis #14-16, Elk Hair Caddis #14-16
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 RIVER FISHING REPORT
Yellowstone River near Livingston MT
The Yellowstone River is muddy, but it has dropped significantly over the past few days… it just might offer one more shot before runoff shuts it down for a few weeks.
The river has entered full runoff. But it’s also been dropping like a rock over the past few days. It probably won’t fish anytime soon, or then again maybe it will. Who knows. With the cool weather in the forecast over the next few days, we may see the Yellowstone stabilize enough to offer an outside chance at some productive fishing. If it does clear up a bit we’ll probably be looking at about a foot of visibility at best… maybe enough to justify spending a day pounding the banks with big streamers.
Currently: Large nymphs or dead-drifted streamers in the #4-6 size range such as the Pat’s Rubber Leg, Bitch Creek, Yuk Bug, Mega Prince, San Juan Worm, Bow River Bugger or Sparkle Minnow.
Patterns to stock up on for post-runoff:
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
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK’S FISHING SEASON IS CLOSED AND WILL REOPEN ON THE SATURDAY OF MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND ( MAY 28, 2016).
Twenty-three days and counting, that’s all that remains until the fabled waters of Yellowstone National Park reopen to anglers for a new season of fishing. The Saturday of Memorial Day is opening day and will greet anglers with opportunities for quality fishing. Opening weekend typically finds most of the park’s streams and rivers swollen with snowmelt. Many river systems such as the Yellowstone and its tributaries (the Lamar, Slough Creek, etc.) are virtually unfishable during the early portion of the park’s fishing season. The portion of the Gallatin River within the park is typically fishable from a clarity standpoint, but the river and its tributaries will be flowing high and water temperatures will be cold.
Some of the best early season fishing opportunities in the park can be found along the Madison River and its two primary tributaries: the Firehole River and the Gibbon River. These fisheries are located near the park’s west entrance and are go-to destinations for most of our guide trips in the park. The Firehole is a popular opening weekend destination for anglers, and for good reason – flows are typically moderate and it’s a fairly safe bet that trout will be found rising to hatches of both caddis and baetis in the classic meadow water above the falls. Below the falls on the Firehole anglers may still find a few large, holdover fish that migrated up from Hebgen Lake during the fall spawning run. These fish can be taken on large stonefly nymphs imitating the giant salmonfly, a hatch that occurs in early June on the lower Firehole due to its thermal influence. Should opening weekend find the Firehole flowing high and turbid, anglers can still find success, but may need to shift gears and trying swinging soft hackles or nymphing.
The Gibbon River is a very diverse fishery that provides less reliable fishing for opening weekend – some years it fishes very well on the opener, and during other years it is too high and off color to be productive. If conditions allow, anglers will do well nymphing below the falls with stonefly patterns, or with baetis imitations along the river’s upper meadow reaches.
Opening weekend in Yellowstone is a tradition for many anglers, give us a call (800-423-4742) to discuss planning your own trip.
Patterns to have on hand for the opener:
Dries: Adams #18-20, Sparkle Dun (olive) #18-20, Purple Haze #18-20
Nymphs: Pheasant Tail #18-20, Soft-Hackle Pheasant Tail #18-20, CDC Emerger #18-20, Partridge & Olive Soft Hackle #18-20, Lightning Bug #18-20, WD-40 #18-20, RS-2 #18-20, Pat’s Rubber Leg #8
