Beaverhead

With the local rivers still a little ways from being fish able I took the lady to the Beaverhead over the weekend. We got em pretty good all day with the pmd's and yellow sallies coming off in good numbers. Nymphing military mays and small tungsten sallies were the most productive. Good Fishing everyone!!

Canyon Ferry

I did some carp fishing this week and the action was pretty good. Small green wolly buggers were the ticket. Leading the fish a foot or two seemed to be ok as the fish weren't too spooky. Go get em!!

June 27th

Finally,!!!!!!!!!!!!!! get your fishing gear in order, it won't be much longer! After this weekends forecast of record high temps,the rivers will start to drop like a stone. The fishing opportunity's should start opening up for us. So get the lawn mowed, garden weeded and the rest of the honey do list done. In the next week Montana trout fishing will be back in full swing. So get ready and check your waders for leaks, as you will need them this year!!!!! Have fun and wade safe.
PS.
The Hylite Road is open. The lake is fishing slow but wade out along the stream mouths in the evening and throw a prince nymph trailed with an orange egg under an indicator. The big fish are up in the creeks spawning but drop down into the lake at dusk in big numbers. This should get you a fly fishing fix.

June 24 Big Hole River

Going on a tip from Andy, yesterday we floated a stretch of the Big Hole in the Divide area in search of the famous Salmon Fly hatch. Early in the day we did run in to a few of the big bugs dropping eggs but found nothing feeding on the surface, so sub-surface it was. The winning combo was a Pat's Rubber Leg on top trailed by a San Juan or a Lightning Bug. Later in the afternoon we drifted in to a good size Caddis hatch with a good number of Yellow Sallies mixed in. Unfortunately we pulled of the river just as the fish were starting to looking up, so if you go don't be afraid to shoot for a little later in the day or just get over there for the evening hatch.

TY

Lower Madison

While I was at work sling'n flies, Sarah floated the Lower Mad with Daniel and found this pig ignoring salmon flies and munching on Caddis pupa. She's been rubbing this one in my face for a couple of days now.

TY

Chub Fest 2008

Yes you heard me right. It was chub fest at Ennis Lake Montana. The chubs where cruising the shore in large schools of up to hundred in each school. Local boys Gavin and Brandon got on to them and had a blast catching one after another. It was Brandon's first time fishing with a fly rod and after Pam helped him out with his cast and retrieve, he got into them heavy. The chubs ran up too 13" in length and fought like, well chubs.

Big Hole

Fished the Big Hole river this past week and ran into a few Salmon Flies. As of Yesterday they were heaviest around the Melrose/Brown's Bridge area. The dry fly fishing is still waiting to go off but the fish are hitting the nymphs pretty well. Try a rubberleg with a san juan trailer. I did get a few fish with crunchy bellies so they are starting to key in on the stones. Bring your big salmon dries, it may happen any day. Good Fishing!!!

6/16 Lower Madison

It looks like Daniel beat me to the first Salmon Fly report this year, so I'll just contribute with a couple of photos.

Lower Mad Salmon Flies

While fishing the lower madison yesterday I pulled out the saining net to see a quick sample of what was crawling on the river bottom... Salmon fly nymphs are absolutely everywhere along the banks and are quite active. We did several sains and I don't think I pulled it out once without there being 8 - 10 of them in the net. Expect the hatch to be prolific from the recent increased flows, which has churned the riverbed. Look for these guys to be popping in the next week or two. Even better, you don't have to wait to fish... They're eating the nymphs plenty good. The weather is warm and the fishing is picking up... there's no better time than the present! See you out there,
Daniel

June 16th

Finally the warm weather has arrived and we can all finish getting our gardens in and then get ready for a great fishing season in Montana. With the warmer temps. the river levels have all jumped up some. They should rise for a few days then start to drop and start to green up in a few weeks. There have been some reports of Salmon Flies on the Lower Madison. And there has been enough visibility to fish them if they pop.

Our beginning fly fishing class was full and was enjoyed by all. Many thanks to Brant Oswald and Ty Webb for their instruction. The next class will be held on July 12th and we still have 6 spaces left as of today(max 10).

Get out there and enjoy life in Montana or where ever you live.

Thanks

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all you fathers out there, this is the day that you can fish all day and your family will greet you with open arms and a great meal on your return. No work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rivers are still high but dropping some with enough visibility to have them see it if you hit them in the head with it. Try big rubber leg stones trailed with a prince or copper john, even a lightning bug. But get out there and enjoy your day Fathers of the world.

Yesterday we still pressured the still waters and got some real toads. The fish took some olive leeches early in the day but not as well as they have been. The best action came on midge pupa cast to cruising fish and also blind fished under an indicator. Then with the wind pushing the warm water to one side of the lake the callibaetis action picked up and we took a dozen or so fish on dries.

Many thanks to the Dr. Wilson and his sons Brent and Rolf for a fun day. Here are a few pictures of Brent Wilson with a few of his monsters. Brent is a father of two and enjoyed his holiday with his brother and Dad.

FRIDAY 13th!!!

Holy crap it's Friday the 13th!! Being fisherman, we tend to rely on a combination of knowledge and good luck to put a trout or two in the net. Just in case some of you lean heavy on the the "luck thing" you should probably keep an eye out for black cats, walk around ladders, and for goodness sakes keep the bananas out of the boat!

This week end's weather looks like it's gonna be a bit summer-ish. That means that the fresh snow that fell in the high country this week is going to come down and continue on with the longest run off season in 10 or so years. Not to sound like a broken record, but you should continue to look to the tail waters for safe water levels and active fish. As far as flies go, you should still be throwing San Juan worms, Lightning Bugs, or anything bright and flashy.

TY

June 11

Sarah and I spent the last few days showing off Montana and Yellowstone to some family on they're first trip to the Big Sky state. Earlier in the week, before the day trips into the park Sarah's dad, Dennis, and I hit a small lake and put the hurt on the fat Rainbows that call this place home. The pictures show each of us with nice fish but both were actually caught by Dennis. He insisted that I hold the first one because I'm smaller and I would make the fish look much larger. The fish caught earlier in the day were fooled by olive leech patterns on long leaders stripped slowly over the drop offs. Later in the day, and after an hour or so of rain, we saw that fish began to feed the a few Callibaetis that popped on the surface. With fish cruising back and forth at the drop offs hunting for emerging bugs, we suspended Callibaetis nymphs and soft hackles about 3' under an indicator. Sure it's a little like worm dunking in a farm pond, but it worked.

6/10 Tailwater

Fished a local tail water on thurs. 6/5 with new friends Tom, Jim and Andrew. The water was clear and the fishing was good on nyphms but no bugs coming off the water. The weatherman was wrong about rain, the day turned out to be very nice and all got alittle burned. The weather is to be cold the next couple days but lets look forward to the weekend when it is to be sunny and in the 70s. Sorry for no pictures the camera got wet on thurs.

Slabs June 9th

Steve Lombard and Brit Dubois got some big slabs on a local stillwater. The fish where huge and really on the feed. We threw black and brown leech patterns and they did not refuse them. Today it is walk wade day, so I'm off I'll keep you posted on today's success.

June 8th Snow Pack Report

Due to snow pack, along with many rainy days in May and so far in June Southwest Montana rivers have more water than in many years.

As of June 1st statewide snow packs are at 148% of average and 374% of last year this according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The river drainages in and around Bozeman are
Madison River basin 118 to 126 % of average
Gallitin River basin 120 to 131% of average
Upper Yellowstone River basin 112 to 126% of average
Lower Yellowstone River basin 132 to 153 % of average

What this all adds up to for fly fishermen thinking about coming to Montana is that this year is shaping up to be one of the best years in the last ten. If you have been thinking about a trip out west this is the time to come. Our bookings at The Bozeman Angler are on the rise in spite of highier gas prices, airline prices and the economy.

To check on a guide booking or for further information call the emergency trout line 800-886-9111. Hope to see you this summer.
Rod

USA Fly Fishing Team June 7th

Mike, John and Joe from Las Vegas the future USA fly fishing team at first day of practise. They will be ready to compete in the near future. Lets say 2050 or so. Just kidding they did great and everyone got fish.

The river conditions are still in full run off, near flood stage and very muddy. This flush of water will last sometime but will help the river systems clear the sediment that has accumulated in the last 7 years of low water. This equates to better and more spawning areas and increase in habitat for insect life.

Good fishing.

Paddlefishing June 1st, 2nd

I went to Glendive Montana this week and did some paddlefishing. I make the annual trip during runoff plus when else do you have a chance to hang with the locals and do some old fashion snagging? I even got one on a spey rod! Off to fish some ponds tomorrow then to the Madison and Willow Creek over the weekend. Good Fishing Everyone!!!

June 1st and 2nd Lower Madison

Hello All, I have been fishing the Lower Madison the last couple of days with comrade and past Bozeman Angler staffer JJ Bishop. The river is chugging along above 4,000 CFS and makes wading a bit dangerous. Floating from a drift boat makes fishing much easier and more productive. Visibility is no more than a foot or two, so bug possibilities are limited, but this river is more than fishable. Putting in at around mid day at Warm Springs and taking out at Blacks Ford gives the water a chance to warm up and makes for a nice afternoon/evening float. Sunday was a bit of a struggle with a few fish worth counting to the boat. However, yesterday proved to be more prolific. Look for fish very tight to the bank, in slower moving slack water or in back eddies. Nymphing and stripping streamers both produced fish, streamers being more effective if there is a decent cloud cover. Try an ugly crayfish pattern or a Pats Rubber Legs above a sparkly Yellow Sally nymph or a bright caddis pupa. If stripping the steamer try sculpin patterns or or bright attractors. Make sure to stay river left after Cherry Creek comes in, as its basically dumping mud and stains the river right too much to fish it. Have fun, be safe, and we'll see you out there!
- Daniel

5/30

Fished the Bear Trap Canyon on Friday with a freind. Had about 2 feet of visiblity and the water was high. The weather was warm when the sun was out but breezy as showers passed near by. We fished with large streamers tailed by bead headed princes and hairs ears. Hooked 4 fish in about 3 hours. Keep an eye on the lower I think it will be getting good again in the next few days.

June 3 Tail waters

Well it looks like we're back to run off season again. The warm weather and rain over the past few days has rivers back to "MUD" again, so this weekend we looked to the hand full of tail waters available to us with in an hour or two from Bozeman. Not only did we find clear water, but we found feeding fish. If you want to find clean water you should look to the water just below the dams on the Beaver Head, Ruby, and between the lakes on the Madison. The down side to these places is that you won't be alone, so be prepared to deal with a hand full of other fish heads lookn' to get a fix.

TY

May 31st Spey clinic

Our first spey clinic was fun and we had great weather. In attendance were Mark Stevens, Francis Noel, Curt Reynolds and Fred McCollom with instructors Lawrence Stuemke and TFO rep Troy Robinson. Everyone had a wonderful time learning how to spey cast and set up spey rods and the many line choices.

We are already talking about next years spey clave and making it bigger and better.

Many thanks to Lawrence and Troy for there expert advise and instruction.

Ponds and Reservoir Fishing

With most of our rivers in run off this is the time of year that many Montanans turn to fishing stillwaters like lakes and reservoirs. If you mention fishing a pond to many anglers their minds conger up visions of Lilly pads and small stock fish, skinny and white. Here in Montana nothing could be further from the truth. The fertile waters of our reservoirs full of scuds, leeches and bug life grow some monster trout and fast.

Last week Bill Flick and I did our spring tour of some of the reservoirs we fish just to check things out and see how the trout wintered over. It is rough duty, but someone has to do it! Here are a few pictures of some of the fish. We are working on getting up the contact info in our reservoir section of our site and should have it up in a few days, so stay tuned.

June 1st

Great day to get out there and chase trout. The Lower Madison is fishable with 1 to two foot of visibility. Fish big sculpins, crayfish and look for yellow sallies and caddis on top. Be careful wading as the river is moving fast.

The road to Hylite is closed due to Mud slide. The up date phone number to call is 522-2520 they will tell you when it should be open.

Good luck and tight lines.