Armstrong’s Spring Creek Fishing Report – 06/13/10

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.

Armstrong Spring Creek Report 04/23/10

Summary:
On Friday we guided on Armstrong’s spring creek.  The predicted overcast and rainy was typical Montana weather, by that we mean completely opposite.  It was a bit tough, as the hatch never got really going, but we managed to catch several nice rainbows on the nymphs.

Best Technique:
Our only real option was to nymph based on the conditions.  We concentrated on deeper holes and the tailouts of pools with very small indicators and baetis and midge patterns dropped about 2.5 – 3 feet below.

Weather & Water Conditions:
Fifty-five degrees, bright sun & a 10-15 mph west wind.  The water was gin clear, as always and low as the weed growth hasn’t started too strongly yet.

Hatches:
Light midge hatch throughout the day and light baetis hatch around 2pm.

Best Bugs:
Our best nymph was a Micro-Mayfly Baetis sz 20 and Brown-Olive Surface Emerger size 20-22.  The best midges were BH Zebra Midge & Miracle Midge both in sz 20.