Reports
3/1/04 to 11/22/04
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11/22/04. Monday: We've had our first taste of winter
the past week reminding us of last minute winterizing of homes and vehicles.
This is also the last week of big game season in Montana so fishing has
taken a back seat for awhile. the question is whether to try for and elk
now...or wait 'til next year. Warmer weather forecast for later in the week
so could try some midging or streamer/nymph fishing.
11/16, Tuesday evening: the wind stopped blowing about
4:00. I couldn't resist so I tried my luck on the Yellowstone the last hour
before dark. the first 15 minute I caught a rainbow, lost another and caught
a whitefish on a size 18 midge. Looking for something bigger, I tried an
egg fly as a dropper off a bead head hares ear below a spawning area. Caught
nothing. Should have stayed with midges.
11/13/04, Saturday: Nice weather with highs in the
fifties is forecast to continue for a few days. Amazingly there has been
little wind. I looked at the Yellowstone at Livingston today and observed
a good midge hatch and fish rising. I will get out the next day or so. A
bit of dry fly fishing on a nice November day tends to shorten winter.
Note: I think I just fixed the movie,
Hookup, below. Hopefully it will play now.
10/22/04, Friday: I'm remembering warmer weather on
September 6th with this movie excerpt from that evening: HOOKUP
Tonight, the wind is blowing about 40 MPH and snow
showers are forecast for tomorrow night. Still, streamer fishing should
continue to be good on the Yellowstone. For those who enjoy lighter tackle,
keep an eye out for baetis/BWO hatches, midges and terretrials. We haven't
had a hard freeze yet. There's plenty of fishing to be had every month of
the year. One of the reason's we call our home "Paradise Valley".
10/18/04, Monday: The weather has turned. Its cool
and rainy (and a bit breezy) with highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's
and 30's. It snowed in Bozemen last night with about 3" on the ground.
I managed to come down with my biannual cold so I haven't been out. I expect
the fishing is good. Streamer fishing should be peaking. I'm going to go
out,cover the tomatoes and wait to see what tomorrow brings.
10/13/04, Wednesday: Tried another short evening wade
trip with my labs, Teal and Daisy. Started later. Although conditions were
good,.........cloudy and calm there were few flies and very few fish rising.
I put on a small mayfly sinking "cripple" as a dropper behind
an 18 parachute Adams. I caught 4 cutthroat, 2 rainbow. one brown and one
whitefish in about an hour. All but the whitefish and one cutthroat were
caught on the dropper cripple.
10/11/04, Monday: Now we are enjoying some very nice
Fall weather with air temperatures in the seventies last week, approaching
Eighty degrees Fahrenheit. Precipitation has been just slightly above normal
for several months now and the Yellowstone river is flowing above normal.
Dry fly fishing has been good even on bright days with
fish being taken on attractor patterns, like the royal Wulff, starting around
lunch time. Terrestrials like beetles and ants also work in the afternoons
with some interest in hoppers. The key seems to be temperture, both air
and water, to get the action started. Terrestrials are moving slow until
things warm up and the trout also become more active as the water temp.
rises. Streamers might net you a nice brown in the morning but morning fishing
has been slow. If you don't mind a little work and really want to catch
some nice browns, fish with shooting head gear in the morning using large
streamers. Water temperatures have been in the low fifties in the morning
and approaching 60 by evening.
Even on bright days, small mayfly patterns, like the
parachute Adams, start outperforming the attractor and terrestrial patterns
by late afternoon. I surmise this is because the baetis/BWO mayflies (and
others) have been hatching on cloudy, cooler days and a few hatch every
day. The trout remember these mayflies and seem to keep an eye out for them.
I floated daughter Kelly and friend Sam on Saturday
and have a attached a short movie of Kelly boating a brown on an 18, parachute
adams. A warm but very windy day made the fishing tough...but still a good
day.
Yesterday, Sunday, was cool and cloudy with rain in
the morning. I went out about 4:00 PM (cool, calm and cloudy) and found
a fairly heavy hatch of either size 20 BWOs or psuedos. Lots of fish rising.
I noted several refusals by trout on # 14 to 16 drys and did much better
when I went down to 18's or twenties. Whitefish were really easy to catch.
While unhooking a "nice" whitefish that I accidentally caught,
I destroyed the flie leaving only the body and a bump where the wing and
hackle used to be. Since I was fishing with two flies I left the mangled
flie on...as a "dropper". I caught the best trout of the evening
on the destroyed fly.
In Short we have been having very good, classic fall
fishing on the Yellowstone River.
8/24/04, Tuesday: Did an evening float Sunday 8/22/04
above Livingston. We were fishing by 5:00 and fished 'til dark. The weather
was unstable and blustery and the fishing slow until about 7:00. From 7:00
until dark Dry fly fishing was good to excellent. The wind stopped and plenty
of caddis were flying just above the water surface. Elk hair caddis, lime
trude, madam X, and royal Wulff all caught fish. The elk hair produced the
most hits. Several large fish were moved and hooked but not landed. The
most exciting hit was a large trout that hammered a skittering size ten
royal Wulff, was hooked, blew up and was gone. Gets the heart pumping. There
were numerous fat rainbow in the 12 to 15 inch range that provided plenty
of action.
More heavy rains in the Park. Currently, 8/24/04, there
is brown water making its way down the valley. The river is probably out
at Livingston by this evening and pretty much for sure tomorrow. When the
river clears will depend upon on the extent of the present "mud"
and weather/rain tonight and tomorrow. It could be clear at Gardiner tomorrow
or not. We'll have to wait and see.
8/20/04, Friday: Heavy rains in Yellowstone National Park
caused the Lamar River to muddy the waters in the Yellowstone River at Livingston
yesterday, Thursday. The river is clear today at Livingston. This is normal
fare in late summer. Generally the shots of mud, if they occur, are short
lived now compared to early summer. Its always a good Idea to keep an eye
on the weather and water conditions while planning a fishing trip.
Fishing continues in the classic summer mode on the Yellowstone.
Fishing is generally better from late morning through afternoon. Mornings
can be slow. Morning tactics might include nymphing or streamer fishing.
Terrestrials like ants, beetles and grasshoppers get active
as the day warms and when they make a mistake, become available as trout
food. You should notice that trout are more active on some banks than on
others. If there is wind blowing from the bank to the water its reasonable
to assume that more insects will take a swim on that bank than on the opposite
bank with wind blowing from the water to the bank. Also observe the thalweg
of the river (the thalweg is the deepest part of a stream with the greatest
flow) as it meanders down stream across the river channel from bank to bank.
Terrestrials that fall in at one bank are carried downstream and across
to the opposite bank so fish will be looking up there as well. Fishing the
middle of the river can also be productive during summer and fall.
I believe the best scenario for hopper/terrestrial fishing
is on warm, breezy days with an occasional freshet that blows for a few
minutes depositing insects on the water surface then stops blowing. A similar
situation occurs following a thunderstorm on a hot day. They only way to
improve on this is if a farmer is cutting hay along the bank you are fishing.
I've seen this a few times...amazing! Regardless, on any given day, the
trout decide how good the fishing is.
8/13/04, Friday the 13th! The only thing unlucky about
this day is if you didn't fish. The weather is as it should be, just right.
The Yellowstone River is beautiful, the countryside is stunning. Now is
the classic time to fly fish here. The terrestrials are out with grasshoppers,
ants, beetles and the rest. The fish are just sort of interested in the
morning, taking a look at your fly and maybe bumping it like a shopper testing
cantaloupe but not buying. When noon rolls around, lunch is eminent. Smaller
trout start taking the dry with conviction. As time rolls on, a few and
then more larger fish begin to suck the fly in like they mean it....much
easier to get a hookup when they do that. Around 5:00 or so, things quiet
down for awhile. If Your schedule allows, the past hour or two of twilight
might find trout enjoying an evening snack of caddis flies. If you fished
today, all day, you'll not need any sleep aids to enjoy a satisfying night
of slumber...looking forward to tomorrow.
8/6/04, Friday: Went out with my dogs to fish for an hour
on the Yellowstone. There were two fishermen taking off their wading shoes
when I arrived about 8:00 PM. They seemed to be arguing. I asked them why
they were quitting when the fish were just starting to bite. We exchanged
good nature quips and I learned one guy was Italian and the other Norwegian...which
explained the initial apparent arguing. They suggested using a bead head
nymph as nothing was coming up. I had a bar blowfly on with tippet broken
off to 0X from last Sundays float. Since it was already on, I tried it.
About my fourth cast I hooked a fat 16" rainbow that blew out of the
water and shortly released himself. A few more casts from the same spot
and I landed robust 13" rainbow. Hiked upstream and back down with
one refusal. Moved downstream and toward the car and had several hits from
small fish and went home.
8/5/04, Thursday:
I floated last Sunday, August 1, with an old friend and
fellow Fisheries Biologist. A MFW&P Fisheries Aid made it a threesome.
Both are accomplished fly fishermen. We were interested in fishing a little
known stone fly hatch that occurs on our area streams, including the Yellowstone
River. You've probably never seen one of these stones unless you know when
and where to look. The male has short vestigial wings and cannot fly. The
female is larger and can fly, barely. They apparently mate and fly (female
only) at night or at dawn during summer. These flies spend daylight hours
under shoreline cobbles. They are about an 1 to 1 1/2 inches long and gray/brown
to yellowish underneath. To learn if they are hatching, turn over cobbles
and look for them as they scurry under the next rock. Our idea, its worked
before, was to fish drys in the early morning assuming the stones were hatching
the previous night and the fish would be looking up. Didn't work this time.
the fishing was slow in the morning. We started picking up fish around noon,
mostly dinks, on hopper patterns attractors and caddis. The fishing picked
up between noon and 2;30 when we landed and took out. We landed three fish,
18 inches or so plus. One brown and two rainbows. The brown jumped five
times. Neither rainbow jumped, too fat I guess. We caught fish on Dave's
Hopper, Fred's hopper, royal Wulff, elkhair caddis and blow barfly-yellow.
All in all we had a good day. Avoided the crowds and heat of the day by
floating early.
The Yellowstone is in good shape. We have had some sessions
of "muddy" water when thunderstorms hit in the wrong places in
Yellowstone Park. This chasing mud is generally an early summer phenomenon
but Its best to check for conditions before picking a time and a section
of the river to float.
August 4, 2004, Wednesday: I wrote a 1,000 word report
and lost it somewhere in the outer inet-mosphere. I'll write again tomorrow.
5/17/04, Monday: The weather has been
cool. The Yellowstone has dropped from about 9,000 cubic feet/second to
about 4,000 cfs in the past 8 days and has cleared. A very unusual spring
with early summer like weather and subsequent premature runoff. There is
much anticipation for an early salmonfly hatch on our rivers this year.
There is also concern for expected low flows as summer progresses. Due to
low flows, Fish Wildlife and Parks has already closed reaches of the upper
Big Hole and Red Rock Rivers. Fortunately we have had cool weather and some
rain the past few days, 0.5" or so. For May, normal is 2.00 +".
We'd like to see some good soaking rains in May and June. As usual, in Montana
there is no such thing as normal. When it comes to weather, abnormal is
typical. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
5/5/04, Wednesday: the Yellowstone is
rolling and not what most flyfishermen would consider fishable. Fishing
with a visible "nymph" along the edges will catch fish. I've observed
this during much higher flows than todays flow. Small black wooly worm!
5/3/04, Monday: Warm today and the river
is coming up sharply. The caddisfly hatch might or might not be winding
down but for the flyfisherman it may be over. Its very likely that the spring
runoff has started on the Yellowstone and the river probably will not be
fishable until about the first of July. What then? The salmonfly hatch.
In the meantime there are clear tributaries that will be fishable with the
fly. The spring creeks are coming into there fastest fishing of the season.
Lakes and ponds also fish well early in the season. So get out and explore.
It'll be winter before you know it!
5/2/04, Sunday: I just came back from looking at the Yellowstone.
Water conditions are good with plenty of clarity to fish the caddis hatch....if
the fish are hungry. Recent cool weather including a couple of frosty nights
have allowed the river to "clear". Forecasts in the upper seventies
and 80's today and next week will likely blowout the Yellowstone and this
years caddis hatch. Typically, you could even say without fail, the Yellowstone
River spring runoff takes off by the end of the first week in May. If you
want to experience this hatch....and it can be amazing....you should get
out today or tomorrow. Tuesday might be too late. Today and tomorrow should
be good. Its a bit breezy today but then...this is the Yellowstone's Paradise
Valley. Partly cloudy conditions should help with fishing success. I might
do some wading this afternoon.
I floated last Friday and Last Sunday. Conditions were
bright and breezy. Fishing was best when we stopped and waded in wind sheltered
areas (and below these areas). Why? Caddis fly in these areas until a gust
of wind blows them onto the water, much to the delight of trout and flyfishermen.
Ever feel sorry for a caddis fly? You should. They are the trout and fisherman's
best friends, being probably the most plentiful source of protein for fish
in most flowing trout waters. The other neat thing about caddis is they
are not ephemeral (short lived in terrestrial form) like mayflies. Caddis
drink and live much longer than mayflies in their adult form. Caddisflies
provide fly fishing well into September and later until cold weather takes
over.
3/20/04: The first day of spring! And
its a beauty.Temperatures have been in the fifties and sixties the past
few days. I'm watching very small mayflys drift past my second story window.
This is the time of year when the water starts warming,
stream flows begin a slow rise and the photoperiod (hours of daylight) increase
each day. After a long period of relative dormancy, these factors stimulate
cold blooded animals into activity. As aquatic insects get more active so
does the hunger of their predators. This translates to some of the fastest
fishing of the season between now and spring runoff. Not the least of which
is the pending caddis/Mothers's day hatch.
As flows ebb and the water starts clearing, usually about
the end of June, the salmonfly hatch occurs. Along with salmonflies, are
other hatches of stoneflies, mayflies, the continuing caddis fly hatch and
terrestrials come into play. By mid-August, fat trout often become complacent
to the flyfishman's efforts. This is when the tradition of skill comes into
play. Trout no longer take the fly with reckless abandon. Its now up to
the fisherman to decide what to offer the fat trout and to present the offering
in a convincing manner.
For now, nymphing and midging is what's happening. Midge
cluster patterns or dry imitators and attractors will catch fish. Cluster
patterns allow the novice more success than will sizes of 18 or smaller
patterns to match the hatch. Also, keep an eye out for mayflies and caddis.
What About Spawners?
The fisherman can also search out spawning areas for rainbow
trout. Site fishing for spawners is great fun and fishermen will fish in
spawning areas. Discretion is advised. Please keep in mind that on some
waters, like the springs creeks, spawners are vulnerable to being caught.
This combined with many fisherman could be damaging to spawning success.
Fishing below spawning areas can produce nice action from non spawning trout
species like brown trout (and whitefish) that are picking up stray eggs
from above. Hatchery Rainbow trout cruising lake and pond shorelines looking
for a place to spawn is an enjoyable and challenging alternative to site
fishing on streams. Generally , because trout require running water to spawn,
these fish are often hatchery fish and not able to successfully spawn.
It can be frustrating to watch as spawning fish often
ignore your flie. When that happens keep changing patterns and hope you
catch their interest. From a conservationist's point-of-view, don't get
greedy. Once you find the right formula it can be like shooting fish in
a barrel. When this happens, don't harass these spawners. They are insuring
future fishing for you. Take a break or move on to another area. The real
satisfaction is the success of a hookup. Its also desirable to take care
not to disturb redds (fish nests) by wading on top of them. Redds can be
recognized by relatively clean gravel that's been churned up as the spawners
deposit edges below the gravel surface. These areas can be a depressed elongated
area of stream bottom, often with gravel elevated at the downstream edge
of the redd. I some areas multiple redds can spawn a whole riffle from bank
to bank. wade above or below these areas or fish from the bank.
So, another fishing season is at our doorstep. It happens
every year. We have good snowpack that should mean average streamflows and
a good season. Its time to shake off the cabin fever and get out and enjoy.
4/9/04, Friday: Flows have dropped somewhat
from record highs. With cool weather forecast through Monday, the river
should continue to drop and clear. For Now the Yellowtone is off for the
dryfly fisherman. For those who need to get out, check out some of the tributaries
to the Yellowstone. spring offers some great fishing on lakes, ponds and
reservoirs so you might get the float tube out and check it for leaks.
4/8/04, Thursday: March and April have
been very warm and pleasant with temperatures some days in the 70 's. currently
the Yellowstone Riverflows are record high levels . Last evening there was
about two feet of clarity. Historically, the Yellowstone River flows come
up to stay for the duration of spring runnoff by the second week of May.
We'll have to wait and see what this means to the flyfisherman and in particular
to the well known caddisfly hatch. With rain , snow and much cooler temperatures
forecast well into next week, water conditions will change. Depending on
how accurate the weatherman is, the river could be very fishable or it could
be out this coming week. I doubt that we will see the real runnoff for awhile
but it could happen. On the plus side, a portion, if not most of the lowland
runnoff has taken place. This could mean more modrate flows during the runoff
season and a fiahable salmonfly hatch later. In short, I dont know what's
going to happen (why fishing is so fascinating) Will have to keep and eye
on it.
4/5/04, Monday: The Yellowstone was a
bit colored and flows up some from warm weather and precipitation the past
few days, breezy. Still fishable but I opted to try a local public Lake
Sunday afternoon, yesterday. It was windy 80 % of the time and calm 5% of
the time. A cold driving rain and a leach pattern in my face that drew blood
finally sent me home. I caught three fat perch. Observed and filmed two
groups of elk. Also, filmed a pair of sandhill cranes. Big birds with up
to a seven foot wingspread.
4/1/04: Floated Tuesday, 3/30. A bright
calm day with temperatures around 70 F. There was a sparse hatch of baetis
and fish were taking them in the afternoon. A cold bitter day today but
I received a report from one hearty soul who had some success on dry baetis.
4/19/04, Monday, the Yellowstone is fishing great. A variety
of dry flies are working.
4/18/04, Sunday: Cloudy and calm this
morning. Looked at the Yellowstone. It has cleared the past couple of days,
with cool weather. I observed rising fish. Will probably give it a try later
today.
This nice brown was caught
and released Tuesday, 3/30/04. I didn't catch it but was happy to hold it
up so Tom Bell could take this photo of of his catch. No, it wasn't caught
on baetis.
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