Report Date April 24
Summary:
This weekend spring finally showed up in Montana and it is glorious! Today was almost 60 degrees with no wind, a remarkable
Bo looking for the next good spot
thing for this season so far. While we could have done with a few clouds we won’t complain. Our guides and fellow anglers have been giving us great reports from the Yellowstone, spring creeks, Madison and the Missouri Rivers. There are good hatches of midges and baetis on most of these rivers, and even a few March Browns are starting to show up on the lower Yellowstone River.
Today Eric Adams from Montana Fly Fishing Guides, Jeff Pavlovich from Angler’s West, and our favorite bartender from Montana Rib & Chop House Bo fished the Yellowstone River. As expected with the bright sun, the fishing was a bit slow, but we got them to eat in the right spots – foam holes are about the only consistent places right now. We didn’t put forth a huge effort, but small shallow beads worked best.
PREDICTION:
This week assuming the weather forecast is correct we should see some good to very good fishing so stay tuned!
Hatches:
Midges, baetis on the cloudy days and we are starting to see a few March Browns. The lighter the wind the better the hatches will be and the more risers you’ll start seeing. As the water temperature starts to rise the March Browns and Mother’s Day Caddis will be starting in earnest – at the earliest look for steady hatches by next weekend.
Weather & Water Conditions:
The water has that usual green color for this time of the year with a couple feet of visibility. Partly cloudy and nice temperatures in the middle fifties with variable SW winds.
Best Technique:
Shallow water nymphing with small baetis and midge nymphs – concentrate on the foam holes along the rip/rap. We preferred pinch on indicators 2.5 – 3 feet above the flies. If you’re looking for risers check the tail-outs of the long runs or the inside corners of the riffles.
Best Bugs:
Midge Hatch: Olive & Copper Brassies, Zebra Midges, Miracle Midges sizes 16 – 20
Baetis Hatch: B.H. Pheasant Tail Nymphs, Olive & Black Copper John’s Micro May size 16 – 18.
March Browns: CDC Bead Head Pheasant Tails size 14 – no dries yet.
Montana Fly Fishing in the Spring
Mayra & a Yellowstone River Brown
Spring is trying to emerge, but winter has a tight grasp and won’t let go. We’ve managed to sneak a few days of spring-like weather in so far, but we are starting to get twitchy. As the fishing report below indicates we’ve had some good fishing when the weather’s been nice enough to cooperate. We are looking forward to some good baetis, midge and March Brown fishing. Oh yeah, almost forgot that little bug called the Mother’s Day Caddis should be getting ready to pop in the next couple weeks. We’ll keep you posted.
In the mean time fellow guide Zach Pleshar and Sweetwater Fly Shop’er Marya had a great afternoon of fishing yesterday. Here’s the grab & grin to prove it.
Wanna learn more about Spring Fishing in Montana?
Wow nice Brown Trout
Wow, there are some big Brown trout in Depuy’s Spring Creek right now. This big boy was caught a few days ago by angler Bob K. and the photo was sent to us by Stream Keeper Daryl Smith. Bob caught this remarkable fish above the house pond (just below the first culvert) where there has been significant stream restoration over the past several years. Looks like it’s working!
Remember if you’re in town this winter the DePuy’s offers a winter season pass. Contact them for more details at DePuy Spring Creek for more information.
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!
USDA 2010 Hopper Prediction
We thought we’d re-post this article again as it’s gotten a lot of attention from all those anglers looking forward to their late July and August fishing trips. So here it is again…
Original Post from May:
Great news for those planning your Montana fly fishing trip for late July and August. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just reported that this summer is in for a severe grasshopper infestation. Charles Brown of the USDA stated that based on recent federal surveys many western states, including Montana, may see the most severe hopper outbreaks in the last 30 years. See image.
The Yellowstone River runs through some of the prime ranch land in Montana near Paradise Valley and toward the eastern plains. The ranch land bordering the river are mostly hay fields where hoppers can grow prolifically in both size and numbers. A perfect August hopper fishing day would include temperatures in the 80′s, a 10 to 15 mph downstream breeze and a sunny day. The heat gets those hoppers moving and the breeze knocks them into the water, where trout eagerly wait for their afternoon meal. Some of the best hopper fishing on the Yellowstone River occurs east of Livingston where the bigger Rainbow and Brown trout reside.
So while ranchers and farmers prepare for the massive infestation, fly fishers should rejoice and make sure to tie up some Chaos Hoppers and Chubby Chernobyl’s. There’s only one catch you have to be in Montana this summer to fully appreciate it!
Happy Mother’s Day Caddis hatch! We hope you can get out and fish it today, because some nasty weather is rolling our way. Highs over the next few days will continue to drop while the chance of rain will increase through Friday.
Not to worry the fishing will still be very good as we have a great March Brown and Baetis hatch that will be prolific with the cloud cover.
In the video fishing report you’ll see that the caddis hatch really just started yesterday. While the number of bugs on the water are not epic they are starting. Farther downstream near the 89 bridge the hatch was much heavier and we expect to see more of that today.
Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted!
