Last Updated: 9/1/2008

The Yellowstone | Spring Creeks | Waters we fish | Guide Services

Yellowstone River

CFS @ Lamar River | CFS @ Corwin Springs | CFS @ Carter's

9/1

The weather is chilly with snow in the mountains today. Looks like the Lamar took a blip on the radar screen, so give us a call if you are floating the next few days for a clarity report. The spike wasn't that bad, so things should be back to normal on the Yellowstone quickly. Hopefully the same is true for the Upper Madison, since Hebgen Dam had the malfunction, making the CFS rise to over 3,500! Here's what Maria Blevins, (Madison River Recreation Manager) wrote:

Hi there everyone,

I am writing to let you know that there has been a malfunction at Hebgen Dam and the waters are rising in the Madison between the dam and Ennis lake. Due to the uncertainty of river conditions the BLM and FWP are closing all river access sites between the dam and Ennis Lake. I wanted to let you know as you are planning your floats for tomorrow. PPL is working to mitigate the problem and are hopeful to have it fixed in a few hours. As soon as it is safe we will again open the fishing access sites in that reach of the river.

I don't have much more information, but please feel free to call on my cell phone if you have any questions. 406-600-2561. I will write when I know more.

Thank you,

Maria Blevins

8/30

Joe Doren putting the hopper to work! photo: Eric Paulson

Big fish are still eating hoppers if you know where to look and can get that perfect twitching dead drift. In general the fishing has slowed down a bit, at least in terms of sheer numbers. Those 40-60 fish days in mid August have turned into 20-30 fish days. The good news is that the big ones are still on the prowl. Up high in the valley there has been some great dry fly fishing with smaller, size 10 or 12 hoppers, turk's, trudes, and general attractor patterns that the cutties love to sip. You might not get the big brown up there, but there are tons of 16, 17" fish that are thick in the shoulders and will pull some line off your reel.

8/29

Streamer fishing in the evening is starting to pick up, especially in fast, deep runs like the one above. Don't mess around with getting your fly down quickly in these spots. 300 grain sinking line, a tungsten cone head fly, 3 size 3/0 split shot - whatever you have to do to get your bug in the game. I like to strip and jig my fly once it gets deep enough, but a lot of folks will just dead drift their bugger through, holding their stick up high to feel the strike.

8/28

The River didn't fish very well the last two days. With the heavy winds, squirly weather, and drop of temperature the bite was virtually nonexistent. We managed to boat a few fish on small hoppers (a size #12 Grand Hopper) and a couple on beadheads, but that was it. Hopefully the fish will be hungry since the last two days have been brutal conditions. The Yellowstone seems to be going through patterns where it is hot fishing for 3 days, and then mediocre to poor fishing for a few days. Today is right on the fence, but the next few days should be good. Small hoppers up high, larger hoppers down low.

8/26

Gunner and Rick below Carter's Bridge

We did a short afterwork float last night with the Yellowstone Angler crew. We were expecting some really good dry fly fishing but the fish weren't really all that excited. We had a few good misses on dries, but our best action was actually on streamers. We had some ripp'en tugs deep in the fast water, where it takes everything you got to slow the boat down. We were dead drifting them in deep in and then "playing the violin" where you strip in and then let the slack back out. Doug had nice one come screaming out of the water on but he punted the streamer with an inverted back flop. Our hands touched a few fish, but in the end I would definitely give that round to the trout...

8/25

Hellllllo! D. Holiway holds up a monster brown he caught in town.

Hoppers are still doing the trick on the Yellowstone. Yesterday the morning was quite slow - we only had about 3 fish to the boat until lunch. Right about 1:00 the fishing really turned on strong and the fish were attacking our hoppers. We had the best luck on Chubby Chernobyl's, BLT Hoppers, Joe's Hopper, and any kind of size #16 beadhead dropper. Seems like the big fish went for the size #8 Golden Chubby, but the majority of the fish were snacking on a size #10 Grey / Flesh BLT. We didn't have an incredible day, but at the end of the float we all agreed that the anglers had one. We got three 16-17" fish to the boat, about 10 or so smaller fish, and of course we lost a couple bigger ones to some massive head shakes. We caught them in all styles of water: shallow and smooth, shallow yet quick riffle corners, deep fast holding water, 3-4 feet deep tailouts, riffle drop offs, and in smaller side channels that had just a trickle of water coming down them...

8/23

Brown Trout Master Paul Fingersh back at it. photo: Eric Paulson

Today, Sunday, and Monday look like great hopper days. Starting Tuesday it looks like a storm front is rolling with with 30% chance of rain, which could possibly open the door for some good streamer fishing, (depending on what happens to the barometer). The rain we had on Thursday missed the Park, so the river is going to be clear for a few days. Spruce moths have been quite the buzz word for a dry dropper, although beadheads and rubberlegs have been the most consistent fish finders...

8/21

Russ Ray with a beast from beneath. photo: Outfitter Eric Paulson

The river has just dropped below 4,000 CFS and the big browns are finally moving into the riffles to cool off and get some air. In other words, come 3:00 in the afternoon, their snouts are going to be inches within your hopper/dropper. Now that these clouds are gone, Friday and Saturday should be great hopper days. Morning anglers can get their dead drift on with a streamer and a rubber leg behind it. Any size 16 beadhead will get you into action as well, but beware of the increased chance for the mighty whitie. Whatever, we don't mind catching whitefish, the tug is the drug right? The strange word on the river right now is pink hoppers... What's up with that?

8/20

Paul Fingersh with a big hen in his hands. photo: Eric Paulson

The river has been fishing really well lately, (hence the extra numbers of boats on the water). If you hit the bird float, plan on having at least 2 or 3 other boats in your view at all times. Some folks are fishing, others are just out to enjoy the river. Above Yankee Jim has been on fire with hoppers, trudes, and Spruce Moth patterns (any size #12 elk hair or stimulator will work). Seems like the bigger fish (18-23 inchers) are taking the hopper, and the smaller fish (11-16) are going for the dry droppers. We've been hearing better streamer reports from 89 down. The big ones are starting to get really smart about eating hoppers, so leave your fly in the water until you see it get gulped. Some fish are actually coming after your fly, passing it, and coming back around down stream to eat it.

8/19

The small ones can be just as fun to catch as their older brothers.

With all the traffic on the Yellowstone lately, we've been hitting up a few of the small mountain streams in the area. You'll definitely be trading off fish size for serenity, but it is a fair trade. Both times we hit the streams we never saw another person, except for a biker who looked lost riding his Harley down a rocky dirt road.

The fish were crushing hoppers, even large ones, but we had our best luck with a size 12 high vis Elk Hair Caddis. A few fish were fooled by deer hair beetles and small beadheads as well. There were a lot of mayfly nymphs under the rocks, plenty of caddis shucks, and even a few stoneflies. The bushes were pretty tight; next time I won't forget my short rod. Never-the-less, the 9'#5 did the trick.

8/18

Mace Dog and Spencer J. wade across a small mountain stream

Spending a day in the mountains can be an extremely rewarding day when faced with hot temperatures and a crowded river. There have been lots of pleasure floaters enjoying the Yellowstone this week, especially mid valley (The bird float), so it was nice to take a break and head up high into cold mountain waters. The fish were spunky, Naïve, and hungry which is always a fun combo.

8/17

Mike Dubis and Kevin Chau with one of three doubles!

Mike and Kevin had an awesome two days with Brian Sienkowski.

They caught a 20.5 inch brown, an 18 inch brown, a 19 inch brown, plus they had three double hook-ups! The last day they caught over 40 fish; nothing under 11 inches, an average of 15 inches, and many 16 and 17 inchers. They also fished a few days in the Park and did quite well with terrestrials.

PMD's on the Spring Creeks

Sulfurs have been coming off on the creeks in the evenings

starting around 4:00. Photo: Doug McKnight

The PMD's are still going well out on the creeks, with Sulfurs in the evening. Depending on the wind and weather, sometimes you get an incredible PMD spinner fall. I've seen them start as early as 5:30, or as late as 8:00. The sulfurs are a little more consistent, starting around 4:00. There seems to be more sulfurs on Nelson's but we've seen them on all of the creeks.

The evening is a neat time to be on the creek because the fish really come alive - it is almost as though they know it's frozen margarita time at the rib and chop, hence they feel more free to snack on your imitations.

In the early morning you can always rip a few fish on midge larva patterns. Shades of Olive have been working very well on Nelson's and upper Armstrong's. Black has reportedly been the better color on DePuy's for whatever reason. Make sure to bring your 6x because these fish are getting very selective and your drift is the first indication that something with a hook in it is coming down the pipe. GrandMax FX is our favorite choice for if you like fluorocarbon, Rio Powerflex if you prefer mono...

With this colder weather rolling in, you'll have a good chance of seeing some baetis on the water. Aside from the may fly patterns, the real killers have been midge larva, especially Rick's custom larva lace midge larva patterns.

For more information check out George's PMD article.