June 26th, 2020 Fishing Report
The rivers in our area have really shaped up and have been fishing great. We are past the run off season, with the exception of the Yellowstone river still being a bit high. The salmon flys are starting to show up around the state, and the Big Sky area is no exception. It’s nice to be able to put the nymph rods away and start throwing some dry flys around. We are just past the summer solstice, so enjoy the beautiful days with sunlight still around at 9pm. Great time of year to be able to get out fishing after work for a few hours.
Favorite places to fish right now
Right now we are primarily running our guide trips on our home water of the Gallatin and a lot of full days on the Upper Madison. The Yellowstone is still a little bit high and muddy, so we will be waiting to get over there for at least a few weeks. Hebgen lake is starting to see great chironomid activity. We offer a Hebgen Lake Family Fun and Fish trip on our brand new pontoon boat. So if you are looking to do some fishing while the family enjoys the scenery, water skiing, and a grilled lunch, this is a great option! Shoot us a line if you’re interested in checking out the pontoon. Many of the alpine lakes are starting to warm up as well. These lakes make for a fun full day hiking/fishing adventure with some beautiful scenery in Big Sky country.
Our Fly Shop and Guide Service remain fully open. If you are coming from out of state, we can take you out fishing! We have sanitation and social distance protocols in place that our guides must abide by to keep us all safe during these times. Give us a call and we can help make your Montana Dream a reality!
Wild Trout Outfitters
406-995-2975
GALLATIN RIVER FISHING REPORT
Dries: Flutter Bug #6-8, Cat Puke (salmonfly & golden stonefly) #6-10), Water Walker #8 (Royal, salmonfly), 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, Dirty Trixie Worm #10, 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.
Gallatin River near Gallatin Gateway MT
Salmon Flys are out and about! Gallatin has settled in around 2400 CFS. Currently, we have a nice Gallatin green color in the river. We do have a bit of a mud plug that has dirtied up the river, but should return to the usual green color this evening or tomorrow.
We are just starting to see the beginnings of the salmon fly hatch here on the Gallatin. There is a good amount of golden stoneflys out and about right now too. Overcast weather with a bit of rain this morning, and now sunshine this afternoon. The bugs should be out there today. Little bit of mud this morning on the Gallatin likely from warmer temperatures and rain. The river should clear up this evening or tomorrow at some time. We will see how that effects the big bugs!
Salmon Flys
It’s that time of year again. Starting to see the big bugs flying around and a few willing trout coming up for a nice meal. Salmon fly patterns have been picking up fish, but we still like to throw a dry dropper. For a dry fly, we recommend water walkers (both salmon fly colored and royal colored), chubby chernobyls, bullet heads, and salmon fly stimulators. The water walker has been the most productive so far. Use about a size 8. For the dropper, rubber legs. Rubber legs with a little bit of orange or any other large stonefly pattern should pick up fish for you. Smaller baetis emergers and prince nymphs have also been good dropper flys for us.
Fish these rigs close to the banks. Look for lots of bushy vegetation. You should see quite a few shucks from the nymphs on these bushes. Ideally, you want to find that slower, slightly deeper, cut bank or a nice slow straight run for fishing these bugs. Until the fish really start to key into the salmon flys, a majority of your fish are going to take your dropper. You still should pick up a few fish on the dry right now, and it will get better each day.
Nymphs
Nymph fishing under an indicator is still a productive way to pick up a lot of fish. Still want to look for off speed water where the fish can catch a break from the current. Look for a nice glassy surface on the water with some depth, you’ll find the fish hanging out here if you get your fly down to them. You will primarily want to use your rubber legs and worms until the mud plug moves through. Once the water clears back up, keep your rubber legs or favorite stone fly on, and drop a small caddis emerger or baetis emerger behind it.
June 26th, 2020 Fishing Report
UPPER MADISON FISHING REPORT
Nymphs: Pats’ Rubber Legs #8, Dirty Trixie #10, 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: Water Walker #6, Chubby Chernobyl #8, Cat Puke #8, Bullet Head Salmon Fly #10, 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.
Madison River at Kirby Ranch near Cameron MT
The Upper Madison has dropped and is around 1050 CFS currently. Some fish interested in the salmon fly, but its still a little early. Nymphing is still the most productive.
The Madisom River drainage is currently holding about 22% of median snowpack for this time of year. Water clarity has been great and dry fly fishing has been working well. Starting to see a few signs of the salmon flys being around, but no big hatch yet. Quite a few caddis have been fluttering around and migrating upstream during the day time. Fish have been more interested in the caddis than the salmon fly for the time being. Nymph fishing remains productive and will likely produce the most fish.
Salmon flys and other dries
For dry fly fishing, caddis have been the most consistent. Larger tan caddis around a size 12 or 14 have been migrating upstream during the day time. Seeing quite a few small black caddis mixed in. If you only want throw dry flys, I would start with one of each for a double dry fly rig. If you are seeing salmon flys around, swap out one of the caddis for a nice large foam fly. Salmon flys should start popping pretty good in the next few days, the fish still haven’t seen many this time of year so it’s early to be throwing them. You will likely have a few interested fish if you throw a salmon fly out there.
Droppers and Nymphs
The good old dry dropper rig is a great way to get the best of both worlds right now. We usually have a large foam salmon fly for the dry fly and drop a pats rubber legs underneath the dry fly about 3 feet. If the pat’s rubber legs isn’t working for you, our best nymph right now has been our brown dip here at the shop. Smaller prince nymphs and smaller stonefly patterns will work great for you too.
June 26th, 2020 Fishing Report
YELLOWSTONE RIVER FISHING REPORT
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. Be sure to have an array of colors represented in your streamer box including: white, yellow, olive, natural/tan, and black.
Yellowstone River near Livingston MT
The Yellowstone has started to drop and clear up a bit. Visibility is improving slowly. Until the salmon flys start to show up, nymph fishing or dead drifting streamers will produce some fish for you.
The Yellowstone river is starting to drop and is currently at 12,000 CFS in livingston. Water clarity isn’t great, but it’s not bad. Still the not the greatest river to fish in the area, but it is fishable. It will be a few weeks before the salmon flys start to pop over there. For the time being nymph fishing and streamers are your best bet.
Just like every other river, stoneflys are a great starting point for nymphs. Try dead drifting those with some smaller streamers. Nothing too big, but large enough to catch the fish’s attention. Stonefly up front and a bow river bugger behind that all under an indicator is a good setup for higher, off color water on the Yellowstone.
June 26th, 2020 Fishing Report
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK FISHING REPORT
The park continues to fish well. The Firehole, Gibbon, Yellowstone Lake, Madison, and Gallatin are the go to spots for the park.
The salmon flys have come and gone on the Firehole and Madison river inside the park boundary. However, both rivers continue to fish well. We have received reports of good sized fish being caught on the Gallatin just inside the park boundary. Yellowstone lake has been producing some great sized cutthroat right from the shoreline. The Gibbon is fishing, but it’s not our favorite option right now.
We’ve been seeing small PMDs on the Firehole in the last week. Look for these guys in the meadow stretches. If the dry flys aren’t working for you, try swinging some soft hackles. For the dry fly fisherman, this is our favorite option right now.
For Yellowstone lake, grab your favorite leech patterns and start stripping. Balance leeches, black wholly buggers, and chocolate leeches are some of our favorites. If they don’t seem to like the leech that day, try some black quill pigs or other larger, meatier streamers. Small nymphs under an indicator can be a great way to pick up fish as well.
Give us a call (800-423-4742) to discuss planning your own trip, or an up to the minute fishing report!
June 26th, 2020 Fishing Report
Dries: Adams #18-20, Sparkle Dun (olive) #18-20, Purple Haze #18-20, Flutter Bug #6-8, Cat Puke (salmon fly) #6-10), Rogue Stone (salmon fly) #6-10, Chubby Chernobyl (Golden, Purple Salmon Fly) #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,
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, Baetis Emerger #16-20
