Salmon Fly's

Fished the Upper Madison today with John (father) and Chris (son). What a great day we had hooking fish. The Salmon fly's are on and these to fisherman hooked quite a few. They had some break the line, some were fought a little to hard and came off. In the end they fought 16 fish. The next week or so should be some of the funnest fishing of the year if you can find the hatch. Today there was not on certain salmon pattern the fish were taking, whatever pattern was on the line the fish ate.

Upper Madison Salmon Flies, Big Hole Excursions, Missouri River Giants

Hello all, being my first post of the 2009 guide season let me first just say how happy I am to be back fishing at home after a spring full of global travel. There's really nothing like Montana!
I've been all over the place this month chasing trout. I've spent a lot of time on the Big Hole which has fished great this June. Some of my better days on the Big Hole were taken this month. Last week a few buddies of mine came up from Colorado for a few days and we ventured with Ty to do an overnight on the Big Hole. We had a great first day between Divide and Melrose on streamers and dries. They're eating the golden stones pretty good through there. The second day we floated higher up from East Bank and had it a little slower. Though I was not there for it, the salmon lies on the Big Hole were great this year. This river is still fishing quite well...
I spent a few days fishing the MO before the big spike and had a sweet time throwing dries at big lips. The PMDs have been prolific and the fish are eager to go for a caddis as well. Right now the river is running hard from the recent spike and long nymph rigs is pretty much the only way to find em. As it comes down though, dry fly fishing will return for July.
This week I have been on the Upper Madison looking at plenty of salmon flies! Yes, its happening people. On Monday I saw them popping in between Varney and town. Fish were rising to them, although not in a hay day. The fish we caught had bulging bellies full of salmon fly nymphs. Fishing has continued to be good on the hatch as it moves upstream. This is a great time to fish this river. Book a guide and we can show you how awesome upper Madison salmon flies can really be! There's some real hogs eating up there.We'll see you out there,
Daniel

June 25th fishing report

Weekly fishing report, June 25, 2009

It feels a lot like summer out there…….Finally. With temperatures in the 80’s and maybe 90’s for the rest of the week, a good portion of the remaining mountain snow should come down. If that is the case, by next week we should start to see more consistent water levels.

Currently the Yellowstone River is running at 15,000cfs and is still too high to fish. We saw the river turn a little green a couple of days ago giving us a little glimpse of things soon to come, but it was short lived and is now back to brown. Don’t get your hopes up for a fishable Salmon Fly hatch. It may happen before the river will allow us to get a boat on it.

The Gallatin River is at 2900cfs, down from 4000cfs just four days ago. Though it’s still not gin clear and knee deep wading yet, you should be able to bouncing big rubber leg Salmon Fly patterns through those soft pockets and pools close to the rivers edge. Keep your eye on this river, it won’t be long.

We had great fishing on the lower Madison River last week thanks to the consistent water levels. Tuesday the river took a 600cfs jump and as usual shut the fishing down, but since then the river has dropped a little every day and is getting the fish back in to the eating mood, for now. The USGS web site shows the upper Madison is coming back up, and that means the lower will do the same in a couple of days or so. The Salmon Flies have made their way well into the Bear Trap canyon and should jump Ennis Lake next week. Below the canyon the Golden Stones are now the star of the show, so arm yourself with some dry fly patterns like the Mystery Meat Golden Stone and King’s Yellow Sally for top water action. If you go deep, a yellow and black Pat’s rubber Leg or Iron Sally will do the trick. But, don’t forget the Lower Madison’s staple fly selection, craw fish, sculpin, and San Juans.

The upper Madison is on the rise duo to the rain this past week, but should level out soon. The Salmon Flies are a few days off but guides are coming back with reports of the big stonefly nymphs crawling around the banks in large numbers. So bust out those big rubber leg patterns and beat the banks. Also, look for caddis hatches in the afternoon and evenings for some late day dry fly fishing. So be sure to have a hand full of caddis pupa and adult patterns.

Back to the Big Hole

We headed back to the big hole this past Friday to see if we could sucker some fish into eat'n a Salmon fly pattern. We fished up stream of Wise river to avoid playing bumper boats with the crowds down stream. But, I think we went a little too far up stream. Though we saw few boats, we also saw very few bugs. The fish we did manage to bring to the boat came on streamers and nymphs. Next week, the Missouri Rive for some early day PMD action.

Lower Madison

Fished the Lower with new friends Steve and his son Kellem. We did a half day float from Black to Grey Cliff starting with Rubber legs and beadheads pounding the banks. Not much was on the bite. We finally found some fish on the San Juan and a big prince nymphs.

Big Hole

I took new friend Geoff over to the Big Hole yesterday. What a fun day the fish were taking rubber legs and bead heads. Geoff put 7 fish in the boat and improved his mending and casting. For the most part the weather was nice, we did however have a few showers that dampened us and helped to keep the day a little cool. With the river still a little high the water was fast and deep so make sure to use some bigger weight to get down faster.

Weekly fishing report 6/17/2009

Weekend of June 19th, 20th, and 21st.



Last weekend’s cool weather slowed the snow melt in the high country and gave us a nice little break from the runoff. All of our rivers dropped and cleared a bit which provided some outstanding fishing for about a week. However, the current ten-day forecast shows temps in the 70’s and rain. Surely these conditions will get the remaining snow in the mountains melting again, and we expect to see the rivers once again rise and get dirty. But, the worst of the runoff is behind us. So, stick with us and we’ll give you the low down on what rivers are hot and what’s not.


The Big Hole river is on the verge of a salmon fly explosion. Over the last few days, we’ve spotted rising fish eating these flying hunks of protein. You should arm yourself with honkin’ #4 and #6 dries such as the Cat Puke Stone, BLT Salmon Fly, and the Southfork Special. For you streamer junkies, get your big, hairy stuff out and bang the banks for that Big Hole toad. I ripped streamers most of the day last Friday and found that they wanted one of two things: streamers tied with yellow and streamers tied with copper flash. So, if you tie your flies, make something big and ugly. If you buy your flies, stock up on JJ’s, copper Zonkers, and Big Gulp Sculpins.


The upper Madison is still running below its average level for this time of the year, and still fishing well. The salmon flies are still a couple of weeks away from hatching, but the nymphs are beginning to migrate towards the river’s edge for their inevitable emergence. The trout is no dummy, so if the fish food is hanging out near the banks, so are the fish. Keeping tight to the banks, try bouncing rubber-leg nymphs or sculpin patterns combined with your favorite dropper.


Though the lower Madison has been fishing well over the last week, it doesn’t take much to throw this stretch of water off. Keep your eyes on the river reports for spikes in the flows. Yesterday, the river jumped up 500 cfs around noon, which gave the fish lock jaw for the rest of the day. It only takes a day or so for the fish to get comfortable again and begin to feed, so it should pick back up soon. Reports from anglers fishing the Bear Trap Canyon say salmon flies are beginning to make their presence felt more and more every day, and the fish are taking full advantage. More reliable hatches right now are the baetis on cloudy days and PMDs in the morning. If you wander into the canyon, keep in mind that it’s snake and poison ivy season.


It’s going to be at least a couple of weeks before we see the Yellowstone river in fishing shape. Today the flows are at 16,000 cfs and rising…again. We would like to see around 8,000 cfs for safe fishing. We’ll keep you posted.




Ty Webb

Big Hole report

I floated the Big Hole this weekend with Sarah and our friend, Liz, now known as "The Grayling girl". Though we were a little early for the Salmon fly hatch, we did find the fish hanging out on the banks intercepting the giant stone fly nymphs as they made the migration to the rivers edge for their emergence. Most of our fish came on big streamers, but a few were picked up on nymphs dropped below a dry stone fly pattern. Liz's day was marked by a few firsts. First fish caught on a fly she tied, first fish on a streamer, and first Grayling. Actually, two Grayling caught back to back.

Ty

June 11

Back to the small creeks again today. I fished with friend and shop buddy Jason. Fishing with san juan worms and several different nymphs, we landed several trout. Over the last few days with temps. in the 50's and 60's for the highs the major rivers have been dropping. It is time to look for the salmon flies and getting in the boat.

Fishing Report

Weekend of June 12th,13th and 14th

The cold snap has dropped all the rivers and this has created some great fishing. With the fish coming out of the dark for the first time in weeks, the bite is on. So, drop those yard work tools and pick up your fly gear. Here's our best picks for this weekend.

The Big Hole is on fire, with great fishing on big ugly flies like Bow River buggers, black/olive size 4, drop a Copper John or caddis emerger off the back or tie on a San Juan worm.

The Upper Madison is below it's average flow and fishing very good, with good visibility. The hot flies have been Sculpin patterns like Big Gulps, Crispy Critters and buggers.

The Lower Madison has been hot with both Sculpins and craw fish. Don't forget to drop off your favorite beadhead from the back.

Watch the East Gallatin as the flows look good.

I hear reports of PMD's on the Missouri. The river has dropped over 5000 cfs and when it stabilizes for a day or two should fish great. I have been on this river several times in the last few weeks at huge flows and really rocked some big 'bows.

The Yellowstone is dropping, but still big.

My advise is to put the honey-do list on hold and get out there and fish! You will be happy you did. Watch for Salmon Fies to pop on the Big Hole, then the Lower Madison.

For more info and flies stop down to The Bozeman Angler! We are stocked and ready for the best season in years.

Hylite Reservoir

With the rivers looking like an overflowing glass of chocolate milk, i have been trying my luck at Hylite. The reservoir is very high, and still very cold, but the cutthroat are getting ready to spawn in the upper creek so they are stacked up in the deep water by the inlet at the southern end. The weather was mostly overcast so the fish weren't rising to the surface but as soon as the sun came out we saw a few rising. Over the last few days we've caught lots of big cutthroat on olive leeches, buggers and egg imitation patterns and a few grayling on small dark colored nymphs. So until the rivers drop, try heading to hylite or other lakes for some good fishing.

Small Creek Fishing

I went to one of my favorite small creeks near Bozeman with good friend and outfitter Rod King, today. What a day, I put 20+ fish in hand, long line released almost as many. Rod, after landing enough to scratch his itch, went experimenting to see if he could find something the fish would not eat to no avail. The only down side to our day was we forgot to take our camaras, sorry no pictures. During Spring run off deffinatly look for the small creeks and springs to keep that touch of hooking and landing some fish.

Fishing the runoff

It's June 1st and it's full on run off season. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the rivers and come up with an accurate fishing report. High, dirty, a little scary, with poor fishing. But, it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. If you put your thinking cap on and imagine what you would do if you were a trout in fast and dirty water, it won't take too long to find a few trout ducking the nasty water. The fish don't want to hold in that fast stuff any more than you want to stand in it, so they seek out easier places to hang out. Many of the river's residents get pushed to the banks looking for soft pockets to hang out in until the water returns to it's clearer and more manageable conditions. The beauty of this is that you can usually fish from the bank just up or down stream of the pool or pocket and not worry about fighting the raging river. So look for slower water at the rivers edge behind structure or on the inside of a bend and get your itch scratched.

TY