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
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
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