Those of you planning an early July trip might just be in luck this year. The
Yellowstone River is dropping fast and starting to show signs of clearing up. The bottom appears to have dropped out of the
Lamar River which is currently running at 2,750 cfs and is one of the major sources of mud for the Yellowstone. The river in Livingston is running at 11,500 cfs, and the water is just starting to change from a dirty brown to a green hugh with about 4-6 inches of visibility. If this trend continues it has the makings for some good clear water
salmon fly action! Keep you fingers crossed and we’ll keep you updated.
Pat Green Concert
Yellowstone Valley Lodge, Paradise Valley Grill and Montana Fly Fishing Guides are happy to announce that Pat Green will be playing at Yellowstone Valley Lodge Saturday, July 31st. Did we mention he’ll be playing for FREE !
Gates will open at 6:00 PM and music will start around 7:00 PM
To hear some of Pat Green’s music stop by his website at www.PatGreen.com.
We will get you more details in the next couple weeks so stay tuned!
We just found a great new wind speed map that might be useful to those of you who spend most of your summer days outside.
Current wind speeds for Montana
A few years ago I remember driving with one of our core guides, Russel Elwell. We were mid conversation while I was parking the truck, then without a hesitation in our dialog I spun the truck around to park facing into the gale force wind. Russell looked at me and said, “Do you realize how much time we (referring to Livingston locals) spend thinking about the wind.” I didn’t even mention why I was re-parking the truck, but he already knew that I didn’t want my doors ripped off by the gusts.
He was right about how much we think of the wind around here. While this map won’t deter us from being in Montana fly fishing, hunting, skiing, hiking or any of the other 100 great things to do – it might just give us a heads up.
River around Livingston, Montana
“What’s your favorite river to fish?” – probably the question we hear the most when guiding. You wanna know? Here you go:
- Yellowstone River – obviously, it’s our home river. We guide 120 miles of the longest freestone (un-dammed) river in the lower 48 States, how could you not love fishing that?
- Boulder River – this small rafting stream is a half raft trip half fishing adventure.
- Soda Butte Creek – this small little gem in Yellowstone National Park has huge Cutthroat that eat dry flies.
- Armstrong Spring Creek – one of the best sight fishing for big trout spring creek anywhere in the world!
- Smith River – walk/wading through the upper stretches of this small stream can produce some big brown trout.
- Lower Madison – OK we know it can be a bit weird to fish and it’s mostly nymphing or streamers, but this is the river where you’ve truly got a chance to catch a Montana trophy.
- Stillwater River – it’s a bit of a drive, but it’s a bigger version of the Boulder River and stays floatable through out the season.
- DePuy Spring Creek – with over 3 miles of spring creek and predictable hatches it’s another Paradise Valley gem.
- East Gallatin – we might get in trouble for this one with some of the locals, but it’s true. This tiny stream right by the Gallatin Airfield holds some huge trout which might be eating Trico’s in the morning and Hoppers in the afternoon.
- Missouri River – Alright it’s not really that close to Livingston, but we head up there every June for about a month and it’s one of our favorites because it doesn’t experience the major run-off like the majority of the rivers in our area. Oh yeah did we mention the huge trout.
What are your favorite Montana Rivers?
Summary:
Armstrong spring creek fished very well yesterday as midges and PMDs were hatching. It’s pretty rare to have the entire creek to yourself, but that’s exactly what we had – bonus! Fortunately the weather and fish were both in a cooperative mood.
Hatches:
There was a solid midge hatch in the morning and then PMDs around 10 am, which have just started to trickle off. Look for those PMDs to really start going by this coming weekend.
Best Technique:
Nymphing with small emergers and nymphs was most productive, but they did see a few trout sipping Pale Morning Duns in the flats. Their nymph rig was about 2.5 to 3 feet long with a small Palsa Pinch-on for a strike indicator.
Weather & Water Conditions:
Weather was one of the prettiest days of the year so far – 60 degrees, sunny and light winds from the West. As always with the spring creeks the water was in pristine condition.
Best Bugs:
The Zebra midge in a size 18-20 was most productive, unweighted Pheasant Tails and PMD Splitcase Nymphs in size 14-16, and PMD CDC emergers size 12-14.
Eric Adams teaching a novice angler to read water
This time of the year we are flooded with people making reservations for their Montana fly fishing trips. Part of helping people make their plans is listening and answering their questions. One of the most common questions is related to lesser experienced anglers. We get excited to guide beginners, adolescents, and casual anglers. Our guide staff loves the sport and wants to teach those eager to learn. Having said that here are a few things that will make your Montana fly fishing trip better if you are fishing with a novice or if you are the novice.
Let us preface this by saying that you’ve already made the best decision to improve your angling skills by hiring a guide. They are on the water daily, have great local knowledge, and are passionate about sharing this information with beginner and experienced anglers alike.
6 Tips for Beginner Anglers:
- Make sure to TELL YOUR OUTFITTER that you are a novice when you first book your trip or that you have a novice angler fishing with you. Then the outfitter can get you the best possible guide and make the best plan for learning and catching fish during your stay.
- ASK QUESTIONS, ask before you come out, while you’re fishing and afterwards. There aren’t any dumb questions about fishing if you don’t know and you’ll never learn if you don’t ask.
- COMMUNICATE throughout the day with your guide. If your guide explains something and you still don’t get it ask him to explain it again or show you – don’t just nod your head in agreement. Personally, we love it when people are passionately trying to understand the sport we love.
- Ask your outfitter about the EQUIPMENT YOU NEED. Don’t spend a lot of $ on equipment that you might only use a few times, likewise don’t use poor quality gear either. Have the outfitter provide quality gear or rent it from a fly shop. Borrowing your ‘uncle’s’ old fiberglass rod from the 1960’s won’t help you enjoy your time on the water.
- Tell you outfitter your EXPECTATIONS. Do you want to just try and catch a bunch of fish or do you want to learn the when/where/how/why of fishing? Any guide worth their salt will be happy to teach you while also catching fish.
- LISTEN to your guide. We know it seems simple, but honestly it’s the most important part of learning. If the person you’ve hired as the expert suggest something or makes a point to explain something it’s probably important.
Do you have any tips for novice anglers going on a guided trip that you’ve found helpful? Be sure to comment if you do.
