May 31 Lower Madison

Our fearless leader Rod King called the shop from Black's Ford on the Madison earlier with reports of Yellow Sally and Caddis flies coming being pursued by trout. He also said there was about a foot and a half to two feet of visibility.......So, go fish!

TY

may 28

Well, thanks to the consistently cool weather over the last 10 days or so the rivers have either dropped or leveled out, but we are far from the end of spring run off. This week is supposed to slowly warm with chances of T-showers hear n' there, so don't expect the rivers to get back to clear and safe wading any time soon.

Friday May 23rd

Back to work today on the river and in search of clean water we went. Went to the Lower Madison but that was huge and dirty, then went to the Upper but the west fork and cabin creek were muddying that up. Finally found some good water between the lakes above Cabin Creek. Took some long time clients and family friends from Maryland and Virginia. Here's Ford with a nice rainbow and Ed hooking up. Stone flies, lightning bugs and baetis nymphs won the day. Although the fishing was pretty good, man there were a lot of people. Good fishing everyone!!!

Tuesday May 20th

Looks like the Yellowstone is clearing!! Oh never mind there goes a huge tree!

5/23

Sorry gang! We had a little internet glich yesterday but we're up and running and should have the "new web site bugs" worked out.

It looks like we're going to have a wet holiday weekend and places to fish are limited. Though moste of the rivers have droped a little over the last two days, they are still high, dirty, and not too safe to wade. If you are looking to wet a line, you may look to the spring creeks or head up and float the Missouri.

I spoke to the guys at Blue Ribbon Flies today to get a feel for what Yellowstone Park is has to offer for the weekend which opens to fishing on Saterday. They told me that your best bet will be the Fire Hole and maybe the Madison, but they are both up and dirty......Big suprize, right. If you go, bring your streamer box and bright flies

May 19 Lower Madison

Like many of you, I took advantage of the warm weather this weekend and headed out to the Lower Madison in search of Mr. Trout. I took a chance and stuck the boat in at Black's Ford and floated to Gray Cliff. With Cherry Creek putt'n the screws to us by spitting chocolate milk, it didn't take long to start wishing that we had put in higher at Warm Springs. At about 1:00 we started to see good numbers of March Browns and Yellow Sallies but not a feeding fish to be seen. The weather man said that the next few days will be a little on the cool side, which could be enough to slow the run off for a few days and just maybe the river will stop rising long enough to get a day or two of happy trout.

TY

Friday May 16th, Saturday May 17th

My lady and I fished the Lower Mad the last few days along with the rest of the fishing community. Absolutely beautiful days, got a little burnt though whoops. Lots of caddis and yellow sallies out there on the river right now but with flows increasing fishing has been a little finicky. Once I was out of the boat though the fishing seemed to improve. I guess they just needed a couple of looks at the fly. Add weight and don't be afraid to go BIG! As of this morning the river was at 2,800cfs.

May 18th

With the big rivers all near flood stage we headed to a local small tailwater to teach my friend Ralph alittle about fly fishing. After a quick casting lession Ralph took his first Montana trout on a fly. There was little dry fly action but the fish were on nymphs and streamers in a big way. The rubber legs in black and orange/brown in size 6, copper johns in size 14 and small black wool buggers size 8 did the trick.
We had friends both over head and under foot. Great day!

Smith River May 11th thru May15th

The Smith River is one of Montana's little jewels I would classify it as one of my eight wonders of the world. It is a place where you can escape the outer world for a week and forget whats going on out there and focus on fishing, camping, good friends, family and the most beautiful scenery in Montana. The sixty mile float can be heaven or hell depending on what mother nature throws at you. We hit the water levels dead on this year with good visibility(one to two feet) and float levels (300 cfs). The fishing was good but not on fire due to the low water temps(40-50'), fishing in the AM was slow picking up during the day as the temperatures rose above 45. The fish mostly browns were in good shape in the 12"to 16" class, with a few larger but all under 18". We had our best luck on copper zonkers,san jaun worms red and brown, black rubber legs and a variety of bead heads with the pheasant tail being the best due to the great March Brown hatches in the riff areas. Caught our most fish on the day we relaxed and walk waded and worked the water around cow coulee.

Monday was the toughest day with wet snow all day but Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the weather warmed each day and we had a blast. Thanks to the Montana FWP for doing such a great job protecting such a wonderful asset for the public.

May 16- Yellowstone

Got this from Aaron Webb this morning

"Just checked the Yellowstone this morning at 7:45am. Caddis are coming up, fish are rising and visability looks to be 10 inches at the bridge below Mayors landing. Could be a great day!
Aaron Webb 5/16"

Thanks Aaron!

May 15

The next few days will be nice and warm and should get some bugs moving. If you get out, keep your eye on the foam in the back eddies of those swollen rivers for fish feeding on Caddis, Baetis, and maybe even some March Browns. Much of our water is quite dirty from run off so think about bright flies such as San Juan Worms and Lightning Bugs.

TY

5/13

Was on the Depuy's spring creek yesterday with clients, Mike and Vern. The day was nice and they hooked a few fish on nymphs. Late in the day we had a baetis hatch and a few fish rising between the wind gusts. All had a good time and are looking forward to the next trip.

Chad

So you don't wanna put on your sun glasses, eh.

I don't care how dark it gets! If you or someone near you is casting, keep your dang shades on! Pictured is friend and fellow Michigan guide Matt Zudweg after being tagged by his clients Hornberg. He didn't catch it in the eye....But close enough to make ya think.

Ty

Saturday May 10th

We fished the upper mad today, which started out pretty cold and windy but ended up being a great spring day with a little fresh mountain snow. The baetis came off in the afternoon and this bow bow was fooled by a stalcup baetis nymph. My dog Monty tried to help out a little. The fishing definetly picked up as the day went on and the water had a chance to warm up. Another fun one on the water!!

Friday May 9th

Winter just won’t go away but today I took two guys from the Midwest to Depuy’s Spring Creek. The wind wasn’t blowing fortunately and we were able to pick up fish on baetis nymphs and midge pupa. The Blue Wings came of in the afternoon in good numbers and were able to pick up some nice fish on dries. Back in the boat and off to the upper mad tomorrow, hopefully the crowds won’t be too bad with everything else pretty muddy.

May 9th

Snow and cold, again. Well, if I was looking for some trout today, either North,South,East or West, here would be my best shots for today and the week end. With the big rivers blown from run off I hear the tailwaters are fishing well.

North: I would head to the Missouri River near Wolf Creek to Craig where the baetis should be good today with this cold and snow and the fish are really on scuds both olive and grey size 18, midge pupa red and black, copper johns size 18 in copper and red.

South: I'd go above Taylor's Fork on the Gallatin and throw eggs and small bead heads or hit the Madison between the lakes.

East: I'd look at the Big Horn. The rumors are that it's on fire.

West: I would try the Ruby. Sorry, I can't be more specific but the cable guy is here and wants to cut me off. I'll be on the Smith for the next five days a report to follow.
Later,
Rod

May 8

I teamed up with Andy yesterday to float the lower Madison for a tough day of fishing. Even though we had Baetis, March Browns, and later in the afternoon lots of Caddis, I think I can count the rising fish we saw with one hand. The few fish we did manage to fool came on Sparkle Pupa, Lightning Bugs, and a fancy San Juan Worm that Andy tied.


TY

Last Weekend

Clarks Fork River fish caught by Lauren Pershern showing his dad Andy how it’s done. Andy says there are a few skwalas left and the fish are on them. Thanks AP for the report, and good going Lauren.

Clark Fork River May 3rd

Andy Pershern took his son Lauren for a float on the Clarks Fork River and Andy helped get Lauren into some nice bows and cuts. The skwalas are still out and the fish were looking up, Andy said. Good going Lauren!

Carpe the Diem

Fishing the Missouri a couple of weeks ago somewhere out there and this happened, can't wait for carp season!!

Wed May 7th

This week I had a chance to get out on some of the local stillwaters around the area and man did we get some nice fish. Lakes are often over looked this time of year but quite often they can be our only bet. The trick this year is finding the ones without ice. Look for Hebgen and quake lake to really pick up over the next couple of weeks as the ice finally begins to recede. We hammered the fish on mohair leeches, small olive wooly buggers and found some early callibaetis hatches. Try a large olive or grey scud if nothing else produces fish. Off to the Lower Madison tomorrow so we’ll update you then. Good Fishing!!!!

5/4, Just before the run off .

I had a couple of days away from the shop to try and fish the Mother's Day Caddis before the inevitable Yellowstone spring run off. Sunday we drifted from Pine Creek to 9th street and had bugs from start to finish, but the fish weren't as excited to see them as we were. Though we did boat a hand full of small Rainbows, the standout fish of the day was a chunky cutthroat caught by my girlfriend Sarah.

Ty

May 6th

Yellowstone doubled in size over night, you should be able to pick off some trout in the elbows and buckets but water clarity will be poor. Watch for caddis on the Lower Madison

May 5th

Happy Cinco De Mayo
Fished the Yellowstone River today with Don Lister. Today was supposed to be the day for "The Mother's Day Caddis" hatch. Everything was there except the caddis. Good river conditions, weather, and fishermen but no caddis at least in the Pine to Carters section. At four oclock the caddis did come in good numbers with some fish up. Don did manage to land 5or 6 on dries. Sorry no photo.

Sunday, May 4

The Mother’s Day caddis hatch is on! Monday is likely going to be the truly epic day, but yesterday afternoon the bugs started popping in the afternoon, and like flipping a switch, the fish began to feed. The bugs came off when the sun was out, and die down when it went behind the clouds, but during the warm moments it could be excellent. The water visibility was plenty good, though that will be a race before things start getting murky again – now’s the time to get out there!

Tuesday, April 29

We headed out to the Yellowstone in search of the caddis hatch, and it started off promising on a float from Carter’s to 89. Some decent action on caddis pupae, and spotty streamer action, and cloudy but warm conditions. Then as a front moved in, the wind kicked up to almost unfishable levels, and the caddis were just never brave enough to show up. It was so windy it was even hard to position the boat well. Still a fun day, but not superb fishing, and from what we heard from others’ reports, it was pretty tough for everyone.