Bozeman Angler Blog

Online Shopping Service

2009-12-01T09:24:00.000-08:00

Our website has a new look which includes an online shopping service! Some of you may have already looked at it. We are having some technical difficulties and are ironing the glitches out. If you want to place an order and have trouble, please give us a call at 1-800-886-9111. We want to hear your feedback on the site.

Thanks to all of you for your support this past year. We truly appreciate it and look forward to another great year of trout fishing in Montana.

The Big Horn

2009-11-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Sarah and I headed east this week to fish the worlds most famous tail water fishery, the Big Horn River. The trip started out with a little excitement in the form of a high speed tire blow out just west of Billings. With my wannabe NASCAR pit crew skills, I was able to get us back on the road and river bound in no time flat....no pun intended. Unfortunately, this bit of fun was to be the highlight of our weekend adventure. When we finally got the boat in the water this is what we found. Bright skies, a crap load of river grass, and spooky fish. We hooked one fish on a streamer, one on a nymph, and a few on drys late in the day. We even had a killer Baetis hatch, but with the blue bird skies, the only trout coming up to eat were just dinkers.

TY

October Gallatin Days

2009-10-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

We’ve been fishing out on the Gallatin the past couple days with some luck. We started fishing close to the canyon and have been working downstream since. Closer to the canyon we were able to find some deep runs that were just filled with rainbows, and of course lots of whitefish. They were mainly hitting dead drifted olive bead head buggers, zonkers, prince nymphs, and San Juan worms. The next day we decided to pack our bags and head out to the Big City (aka. Manhattan) where the East Gallatin dumps into the Gallatin. Here we encountered some descent browns and some more bows. The browns are just starting to get aggressive and a mini sculpin pattern seemed to be the ticket. Don’t let the cold weather discourage you, bundle up and enjoy. The fishing is great.

Oct. 1st Yellowstone River

2009-10-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

Clients, Steve and Asa, came back for their second trip this season to the Yellowstone River for some early fall Salminoid love. Though we did run into a few trout, the only true love was coming from the hoards of Whitefish that have taken over every square inch of the river. We fished every fly that a trout would love and a Whitey would only eat if it was bounced off of his nose. Still couldn't keep Mr. Whitefish off the hook. We threw the biggest Bow River Bugger I had in the boat, only to be inhaled by the biggest Whitefish upstream of Livingston. So, if you're a numbers guy and you're looking to rack up some points, head over to the Yellowstone with those crap flies you tied after too much beer. They'll eat it.

Browns gorge on mice in NZ

2009-09-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

thought some of you might be interested in seeing this. How many mice can a brown trout fit in its belly? Also, if you havent seen it yet check out thisisfly.com, it is a great online publication on fly fishing. One of my favorites.

-Daniel

It's a warm fall

2009-09-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Some of us here in the Bozeman area feel like we were screwed out of about a month of summer. The month of June was officially changed to Junuary. It's now late September and it feels like it's the middle of the summer. With temps in the 80's and 90's, it looks like we're making up for that lost month of warm weather. As much as I love warm weather, cold river beer, and not wearing waders, I'm ready for fall fishing. Though the browns are getting territorial and beginning to chase streamers, we need some rain and cold weather to get those big Salmo Trutta in the mood for love and hating big rabbit fur flies. Pictured above is my client Christian Nordby and a perfect example of what can happen when fishing in these unusual warm fall conditions. It's hot and the shirt comes off. It's fall and the streamers come out. The wind picks up in the afternoon, and the picture tells the rest of the story.

TY

Lower Madison Streamer Fishing

2009-09-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

The lower madison is beginning to show it's fall colors and big browns are looking to feed as they begin to spawn. Caught this big old hen on olive zonker size 4 by canaday boat launch so it's easy enough to find buckets from shore. Dead drifting streamers (zonkers, bow river buggers, and crayfish) with small nymph droppers (lightning bug, king prince, copper johns) have produced enough good hits to keep me happy. Look for PMD's coming off(sparingly but enough) in the afternoon and sulphur duns/callabaetis in late evening to satisfy the dry fly cravings. All in all the lower madison is shaping up nicely to regain it's beautiful fall fishing. Don't be afraid to go below the surface to find the big ones!

Small Stream Fly Fishing Techniques

2009-09-13T11:56:00.001-07:00

Fly fishing small streams is often one of the most successful and rewarding styles of fly fishing. It can however be one of the more tricky and adventurous ways as well. Having fly fished small streams (I classify these as less than thirty feet in width to just over a foot wide with the average somewhere around 15 feet in width) for most of my life including my 11 years in Southeast Alaska, my time in Canada and my eight years here in Montana I've experienced some of my best fishing adventures on small streams that rarely see an angler a day and most often go months without fishing. Here are some of the techniques I use in fishing for small-stream trout from the basic, to the not so obvious.

The first, is how to find a small stream that no one fishes. My rule of thumb here in Montana is hit a gravel road, and keep going. I've found so many of my favorite streams by just hitting the road, getting my Explorer a little dusty. Now, a topography map can be useful and knowing a rancher or two can help out, but chances are if you hit a gravel road you'll run into both. You could just drive over the stream, hop out and go to the nearest house and ask "I'm out enjoying the day and I was wondering if I could fish this small creek near your house?" Most often I've gotten the reply "We'll there's only little ones in there but you can definitely go try!"

Once you've found a small stream it's best to keep it a secret, meaning George your uncles friend and your neighbor Bob need not know where you're going. This keeps the pressure to a minimum (which small streams tend to handle pressure very poorly) plus it means you wont be combat fishing for the 6" brookie under that log.

Second, is remembering where you're going. I usually do this by visiting my friends at Google Earth and by marking it with a flag. You can see what I mean by visiting www.google.com/earth and downloading the software. Once you flag it you can put down some basic notes such as the species of fish you caught, the flies that worked, and the hatches etc. This will act as a catch report and record and will also help you find the location again.

Casting can often be one of the most difficult parts of fishing a small stream. Lots of brush combined with tricky lays ("holes" in layman terms). I often will go without doing a back cast for hours because the dense foliage behind me, and therefore have to use either the roll or "bow and arrow" casts. These casts are very basic, and you can find basic instructions on YouTube (perhaps the greatest fly casting tool other than a fly shop) or in most casting book.

If you're interested in fishing some small streams but dont know where to go give us a call and we'll let you in on some local waters.

Labor Day Excursion

2009-09-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

Every year I like to get out for a weekend and strictly relax. This year I decided to do that on Labor day with a couple friends of mine, so we hit up a small tributary of the Gallatin. On our trip I was the only person to fish, and from what it seemed I was about the only one on the stream as well!

I took a friend fly fishing at the same location a couple weeks ago and had huge success on a Royal Wulff for decent size brookies and cutthroat. However once I'd lost all of my Wulff's to the bushes I decided to try one of my favorite small stream flies, the Peacock Parachute Caddis. This fly proved equally successful as the Wulff providing an awesome day fishing.

During the time I tried fishing several unsuspecting runs that were very shallow plus the usual deep pools that hold fish. The runs really surprised me as they held just as many fish as the pools did and often the larger of the trout were rising to small caddis that were hatching (size 16 or so)

Brookie for the Rookie!

2009-08-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of taking my good friend Mr. Bill Jimmerson with the Montana FFA Association fly fishing for his first time. Being his first time fly fishing I wanted to get him started on the right foot so I decided to take him up for a couple hours to Hyalite Creek. Now for those of you who have fished Hyalite it's a small stream outside of Bozeman that dumps into a reservoir and then later into the Gallatin River.

Being his first time we started with a quick casting lesson in the small camping area, then we headed out to fish the beautiful creek. Mr. J started the day off right by hooking a nice little Brookie on a Royal Wulff (which seemed to be the fly of the day).

Once we released the gorgeous little fish we headed downstream in search of other, possibly bigger fish. Well, we found one! Not a huge brookie but bigger none the less coming in around 11" for that size of stream thats a decent brookie! Another brookie for the rookie!

In all the day was awesome and I think we can add Mr. Jimmerson's name to the list of potential addicts to our great sport! Thanks to Hyalite and a couple willing (more or less) brookies for a great day!

Trib Attack!

2009-08-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

There are those days when you don't catch fish that just suck. 30 degrees and hailing and having to walk uphill both ways to get there. Today was NOT one of those days, in fact we even caught a fish or two! I was fishing a section of private water near Livingston with my good friend Race. This was Race's first time fly fishing and what a day to do it! We started off getting to the water around 10:00 am and the Pale Morning Dun hatch was spectacular! We started off with the basics and were tossing a simple Parachute Adam's in size 14. This proved successful with Race hooking a nice 14" Yellowstone Cutthroat, his first fish on a fly rod! Later that day we hooked up with several other fish including many of decent size! We also had tons of fish hitting on hoppers such as the Grand Hopper, the Pink Pookie, and one of my "special ties" a Shields River Hopper. I'll post the instructions for that fly some-time here on the blog!

August 13th

2009-08-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Had a great day with Mike Lambardozzi from Bermuda via NY. We had fun fishing and talking about Rome NY. Mike proved that he was a great fisherman and could keep his game face on all day. We got some both down under on nymphs and had good hopper action in the afternoon.
Thanks Mike for a wonderful day. Mike got a Yellowstone grand slam with whitefish, browns, rainbows and cutthroats.

August 10-11th

2009-08-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

My good friends Francis and Florence from Paris France have come to Montana to see our beautiful state and sample our fishing. We have been having been having fun but the fishing has been a challenge. We did have some luck on the Yellowstone, that has been fishing slow in the AM and picking up in the afternoon. They will be with us for another week so stay tuned.

8/9/09

2009-08-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

Fished with the Thornbroughs up on the Yellowstone. Both Grant and Diana were a blast to fish with. We had fun with the eager Cutthroats and spunky Rainbows. Their friends Jack and Pam joined us with Cale VanVelkinburgh as their guide. Just a great day and welcome to Bozeman.

Blue Lines

2009-08-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Fly fishing in Southwast Montana is some of the best worldwide, bringing in anglers from all across the country to rivers such as the Madison, Gallatin, Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. But those arent the only streams that we're blessed with. Montana has thousands upon thousands of miles of small streams holding brook, cutthroat, and rainbow trout of all shapes and sizes. This time of year is an awesome time to fish these small blue lines as you veer away from crowds, experience some of the states best dry-fly fishing, and see perhaps some of the prettiest trout decorated in the most vibrant colors.

The fly selection isnt hard either! These small fish have to be opportunistic due to the streams size alone but pair that with the basic laying structure of the streams and it's a recipe for success. "Blue lines" are also a great place to teach children how to fish as you often catch dozens of fish (even if they're only 6" long!)

Hot Flies for Blue Lines:
Tan Elk Hair Caddis
Royal Wulff
Lime Trude
Red Copper John

Rods needed for these streams are very basic. I prefer a seven to eight foot rod in line weights 2-5. This gives me the opportunity to fish small nooks and crannies that a nine food rod could not, and gives me the ability to cast in such confined spaces (you're often shrouded in brush and willows.)

Always carry bear spray when fishing these streams as they can be a hold-out for black and grizzley bears and every year we have casulties from bear attacks that could have been avoided by the use of bear spray!

Yellowstone August/July

2009-08-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

The Yellowstone the last few weeks has been a lot of fun to say the least, fishing has been pretty dang good! I just cant get enough of it. I've been so busy going here and there this summer I have had trouble keeping up with Rod's improving blogging skills. Here's a few pictures from the last couple of weeks on the stone. Thanks to everyone who's provided these great days! PS- I thought everyone should know that Ty is considering dropping guiding and picking up a modeling career (see below)...

August 3rd

2009-08-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

Rowed Pam and my son, Peter, down the Stillwater River for Pam's annual Birthday float. Pam's B day is really the 6th, but due to scheduling we had to float a few days earlier. Whoever named the Stillwater must have been drinking or out of his mind, there is nothing still about the Stillwater.
The river is full and fast, so I had to stay on the sticks the whole day to keep from getting stuck more than we did. But the bite was on and we landed many bow's and brown between 10-15 inches, that this river is famous for. Hoppers were the ticket and the BLT gold and yellow was the best pattern.

August 2nd

2009-08-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

Floated on the Yellowstone with my wife, Pam, and good friend Jerry "Coach" Walczak, from Herkimer, NY.
Jerry nailed "Ol fighter" right out of the gate. This fish just flushed the toilet, sucking his hopper down with out so much as a ripple. We knew it was a good fish but when it swam under the boat, that's when we realized it was a fish of a lifetime for Jerry. The brown measured 23 inches and was in beautiful shape. We went on to have a great day with many nice bow's landed but nothing held a candle to Leroy Brown.

Bus Mans Holiday August 1st

2009-08-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

Fished with Greg Bricker and Percy Oliver on the Yellowstone today. We played float football(rules on a previous blog) and looked for big fish. Never broke 19" but put some fat bows in the boat. Great to get out there and just fish and not have to yell mend and set all day.

The final score was Rod 15, Percy 11 and Bricker 2. I told you, Greg, to bring your A game. I think Greg has spent so much time fishing through his clients that he needs their help now. Just kidding! I feel that Greg Bricker is one of the most talented guides and fishermen I've known in my life time.

Maybe I should get out more?

July 29 and 30th

2009-08-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well July has flown by as it always does when you are in the fly fishing business. Fished and helped Dennis and Mary Murphy learn the art of fly fishing. They fished with Ty on the 28th and me on the above dates. And we had a ball. Great folks and they are on they're way to becoming fly fishing addicts. We fished a walk/wade on the Gallatin first and we got some spunky browns and rainbows, as well as worked their way up the learning curve of casting,knots,entomology, and reading the water. The second day with me, we fished the Yellowstone just to put their new learned skills into practise.

July 30, Upper Madison

2009-07-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Had the day off today, so Pete and I went to the Upper Madison for the afternoon and what fun we had. The fish were eating flies under the water as well as on the top. We fished Hoppers with trudes and the fish ate. We fished hoppers with Royal Wolfs and the fish ate. Pete even fished a Hopper with a Calabaetis and the fish still ate each fly. It is the end of July and hoppers with droppers are the way to go. Let's get out and have a Hopping good time.

July 28th

2009-07-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

Fished with Ron and Harry on the Jeff and got a few nice bows along with some dinks. As normal this year the rain came and soaked us and our dry fly action. Remember, always bring your rain coat.
The nocturnal stone were coming off and the rubber leg nymph was king.

July 27th

2009-07-30T05:43:00.000-07:00

Fished the Yellowstone again with Don and Jon Lister. After a great day the day before with hoppers, a cold front moved in and crushed the dry fly action. We did manage to get a few to the boat on nymphs and cubby chernobyls. I have been trying to work with Don on his fish photos.
We had a great time as we always do. Thanks Don and Jon see you in September.

July 26th

2009-07-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

Guided Ron Webster today on the Yellowstone and the fish were on the bite in a big way. We started out of the gate with this nice Brown and rocked them all day on hoppers. The 'Stone is on fire so get out there while she's hot. Speaking of hot, today was a scorcher temperature wise and the water temps stayed at 64-65 all day. See you on the water.

July 25th

2009-07-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

Jon Lister and Don Lister

Friday July 25th
Fished with the Listers on the lower Yellowstone. We fished hoppers from 10:00 on after taking a few nice big 'bows down under. The action was not hot and heavy but better than the day before. Jon is an excellent photographer but never shares his photos with the rest of the world, so this is the only shot I have, the mug shot of the boys. We had a great time.

July 24th

2009-07-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Fished with Greg Conradt and Ron Kubera on the Yellowstone. We had a fun day and landed some nice fat rainbows and a brown. The fishing was spotty and we stayed with nymphs all day. Great guys and I really enjoyed the day, but I could see the Yellowstone was improving in clarity and dropping slowly with better fishing to come.

Thursday 7/23

2009-07-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

On yet another scorching hot summer Thursday, Peter, Ty and I headed to some of our favorite local waters. The day started off very well with tons of fish and continued to fish well throughout the day. When it's really sunny and hot out, look for shady dark holes next to rocks and deep, cool water. We caught most of the fish on caddis pupa's and beadhead buggers. If you head out, try throwing olive soft hackles, prince nymphs, iron sallie's, and olive buggers. If you need to get your dry fly fix, try using a golden stone pattern, brown caddis and PMD's.

Upper Yellowstone

2009-07-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Sarah, Daniel, and myself fished the upper Yellowstone River from McConnell to Joe Brown for a day looking for our little native friend, the Yellowstone Cutthroat. Most of the fish came on nymphs and buggers but we did manage to find a couple pods of cutties feeding on Caddis in eddies that provided some solid surface action.

11 yrs old, first fish, 20"

2009-07-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today I was on the Yellowstone with Bill and his 11 year old daughter. We floated for 4 hours and landed 5 fish. Kate's biggest and first fish landed on a fly rod was 20 inches, congratulations Kate. The fish were eating bow river buggers trailed with an iron sally. The river has cleared and the fish are very hungry. Today Bill and Kate hooked several fish that they did not get in the boat. Get out and go for the big one.

7/10 on the Yellowstone

2009-07-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of taking Andrea and Mike from Irland today to the Yellowstone. Doing a 13 mile float was enjoyable and we caught plenty of fish. The river is still off color, with about 18 inches of visibility. Fishing buggers and beadheads was the trick to finding fish today. The river is coming down and clearing and the fishing is getting better every day.

A Rainy day on the Jellystone

2009-07-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

I headed to the Yellowstone river on Wednesday with Ty to try our luck at finding some hungry fish in the high water. The water level was pretty high still, but the water was green and had good visibility. As soon as we put the boat in the water it started to rain, and it didn't quit until we reached the take out. As miserable as it was, the rain brought out a huge caddis and PMD hatch, and the fish started to feed. With the water running fast, the fish were up right against the bank eating the caddis pupa as they hatched. We had good luck with green caddis pupa, green copper john's, and olive soft hackles. We found some fish feeding on the surface in the slow moving eddies, and had some strikes on a tan caddis, size 14 or 16, but most of the action was sub-surface. The water levels are dropping every day so plan some time to get out and catch some river monsters!

The Missing Link

2009-07-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

I have been hiding up on the Missouri River waiting for dry fly fishing to start. We did have a sampling of great dry fly fishing for about 5 days when the river was dropped to 5200 cfs. The PMD and Rusty Spinner fishing was silly. There were 18-20" fish moving 3-4' to eat a dry. That almost never happens on the Mo. Then, they shot the river back up to 10,000+ and the dry fly fishing went with it. Now, do not get me wrong, I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool purist, but as a recovering nympho I was ready to fish dries, and not look at an indicator until fall. The nymph fishing with long leaders was and still is off the chart, with big bows and browns in the 18-20' class eating like mad. I even threw streamers several times and nailed some nice fish. So, with no heads up to dries I was content to row Pam, my wife, down the river for days, waiting to throw a small dry on long leaders. As you will see she landed some fish and hopefully it got me some browny points for later in the summer when things really get hot. There is some great dry fly fishing on Caddis on the Missouri between 8pm and dark with size 16-18 spent caddis, but I normally have a cocktail in my hand and am sitting around the campfire by that time of day. I would like to think that this is what they call maturity and not old age.

The fishing closer to home is just getting good with the Yellowstone River greening up and the visability getting better each day. The rest of the Bozeman water has been back and forth with the evening rain showers, but is fishing well over all. For what patterns are working or up to the minute reports just call The Bozeman Angler at 800-886-9111 and we'll be glad to give you the straight skinny on what's happening. Here are a few pic's of Pam's fish. More browny points!!!!!!

Fishing report, July 9th 2009

2009-07-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

The big story this week is that the Yellowstone is finally fishable. The water clarity is about 1’-2’ and a nice green color with levels at 9,800 CFS. Even though it rained all day yesterday, the feeder streams are still running clear and have feeding fish gathered at their mouths. Anglers will find a buffet full of fish food consisting of PMD’s, Green Drakes, Caddis, Golden Stones and a few Salmon Flies. The best angling approach is still from a boat, but it won’t be long and the wading fishermen will be able to fish their favorite holes.

The Gallatin is still running a little high and dirty but the fishing has steadily improved over the last few days. If you’re still looking to get your Salmon Fly fix and keep your trip close to town, you should look to the canyon near Big Sky. Anglers are still finding big bugs and feeding trout in this area. If you prefer to stay on the valley floor you’ll find Baetis, PMD’s, Golden Stones, and Caddis on the menu. The wading is still a little sketchy, so be careful and try to fish with a friend.

The upper Madison is still the place to be for the die hard Salmon Fly hunter. The hatch has moved to the Three Dollar Bridge area and is fishing well. If you still need to chase the big bugs, be prepared to have company. Tuesday night 27 cars were parked at the bridge. A wise fisherman will show up early and fish until the crowds arrive and come back in the evening after the mob is too pooped to fish. The giant Stone Flies are still the star of the show, but, make sure you have a hand full of PMD’s, Caddis, and Golden Stones.

Between the up and down water levels and the bikini hatch, the lower Madison has been a frustrating chunk of water to fish lately. The better fishing reports are coming from the Bear Trap canyon, but they still aren’t the consistent fish stories we like to hear. If you do find your self on the lower Madison, focus on the evenings when the floaters have gone home and the fish have had a little piece and quiet. The water from Warm Springs to Black’s Ford is easy to access for a few hours of fishing after work and can be a good place to find some dry fly action. The bugs of choice will be Golden Stones, PMD’s, and Caddis.

Yellowstone 7/7/09

2009-07-07T20:04:00.001-07:00

The Yellowstone is finally down to levels that are safe to float. I spent the day with fellow guides Travis Dubyac and Joe Sharpe. We caught a number of fish on nymphs even though the water was still a little off color. Joe fished with drys for a little while and managed to land one nice brown on the surface. There were Salmon flies, caddis and even a few Green drakes in the air. Look to the Stone in the next few days for some great fishing.

July 2nd, 3rd

2009-07-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

If your over the "big bug" thing, fishing the small feeder streams is great way to take a break from playing bumper boats with the hoards of Salmon Fly hunters. Yellow Sallies and PMD's are in full affect on the "off the beaten path" type of water. So, get away from the big rivers, bust out the 3 weight, and check out creeks like Spanish Creek and Portal Creek in the Gallatin Canyon. Not only are they quiet and uncrowded, but their full of fish.

I spent the 2nd and the 3rd with clients on some small water avoiding the Salmon Fly craze and hunting for trout on foot. Pictured above is Steve Stith and his daughter Tracy on her first fly fishing trip. Both Steve and Tracy found trout eager to eat PMD and Yellow Sally nymphs from the time we stepped into the river to the time we called it quits. If you head out load up on Iron Sallies and Hogan's Military Mays for your nymphs and Para PMD's and Yager's Never Sink Yellow Sally.

TY

July 3rd

2009-07-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

Once again on the Upper Madison chasing the Salmon fly. This day proved to be long but excitement was in the air. The bugs were everywhere however the fish ate few. Tim and Mike did however manage to land a few nice fish. Tim was able to find a nice rainbow on a stone pattern early in the day and Mikes Best fish was on a yellow stimulater. The fishing should be good over the weekend and early in the week if you are looking for the salmon fly's, enjoy and good luck.

July 2nd

2009-07-02T19:21:00.001-07:00

I finally had the chance to fish myself today with fellow guide Bo. It was a day that will not soon be forgotten. The salmon flies were out in droves on the upper Madison. We rolled 20 + fish before a storm came in over head, after which the fishing went dry. Tomorrow should be another good day for the salmon flies so as they say, " GO BIG or go home.

Weekly fishing report July 1st. 2009

2009-07-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

The Salmon Flies have made the leap over Ennis Lake and are making their way up stream on the upper Madison. This week our guides found the giant stoneflies in large numbers between Varney Bridge and Ennis. If you plan on chasing the big bugs this weekend, give us a call and we’ll let you know where they are and what pattern their eating.

Constant changes in water levels this week has made the lower Madison a difficult piece of water to fish. Look for a couple of days of level water conditions if you want to find fish in the eating mood. We should be seeing the last of the spring run off, so the river should be a little more predictable soon. Golden stoneflies, PMD’s, and little brown Caddis are still on the menu, but now that the Salmon Flies have moved on, the big boys will begin to look for craw dads and sculpin again.

Though the Yellowstone River is still high and mighty, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The water has cleared to about 1’-1 ½’ of visibility and is slowly beginning to drop. It may be a couple of week before it’s where we like to see it, but we’re getting there.

The Gallatin River has dropped and cleared just in time for the arrival of the Salmon Flies. The big bugs have been spotted in the lower end of the canyon and will make their way to Big Sky in just a few days. The river is still a little high, so stay close to the banks and fish the soft pockets at the rivers edge. This is a great place to avoid the crowds of Salmon Fly crazed anglers on the Madison and still get a shot at this famous hatch.

Water levels on the big lazy Missouri River are through the roof, but some how the fish are still coming up and feeding on PMD’s and Caddis. Look for the water to drop over the next couple of weeks and watch this river come alive. So don’t let the high water scare you off and take advantage of Montana’s best dry fly fishery.

Salmon Fly's

2009-06-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-11T06:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-05T13:09:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

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

May 16, Ruby River

2009-05-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

With river levels finally on the rise in the Bozeman area, Sarah and I headed west to the Ruby and fish water that hasn't yet felt the effects of run off. The water below the dam was in great shape with that typical Ruby River haze and levels at 255 cfs. We stepped in at about noon and found caddis in the air in big numbers, but didn't see any fish feeding on top until we left at about 5:00 or so. We started with nymphs and caught fish, switched to streamers and caught fish, and at the end of the day threw drys and caught fish. Good stuff!

TY

Fishing update May 5 2009

2009-05-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

Most of our rivers here in South West Montana are one warm snap away from the inevitable run off and will creep over their banks. So if you need to get your fix, now is the time to get it. The mother's day caddis hatch has arrived and has trout looking up. We've recieved reports from the lower Madison of caddis so thick that you can't see the other side of the river. With so many naturals on the water the chances of a trout eating your fly is slim to none, so try throwing something that stands out like a para-adams or a bigger caddis pattern.

The Gallatin is fishing well but most of the action has come from bouncing the bottom with a heavy nymph rig. The water temp has come up a little getting the stone fly nymphs to rome around a bit and the trout are taking advantage. A Pat's rubber legs or a large prince nymph with any bead head dropper will be a winning set up. Water clarity is around 2' and the levels are still safe for wading.

The Yellowstone river has been the star of the show this week. With a wining combo of 2'-3' of visibility and late afternoon baetis, caddis, and march brown hatches, the local trout bums have had some of the best dry fly fishing this spring. For those of you meat hunters out there, a dead drifted sculpin pattern is probably your best bet for that big fat Joe Brown.

May 1st Yellowstone River

2009-05-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's dry fly season, people. I floated from Pine Creek to Carters on the Yellowstone with clients Asa and Steve in search of our slippery little salmonoid buddies. The day started off with Steve stick'n a nice little brownie on a dead drifted bugger within the first fifteen minutes of the float. As we all know, catching a fish right away could either jinx you or it's a good sign of things to come. Well, fortunately it was a good sign. With the exception of a few fish here and there, the majority of the day was quite slow. There was no sign of bug life until about 3:00 when a few Baetis began to pop, but we didn't see but maybe two fish feed until 5:00. Game on. When the clock hit five bells it was like a switch was flipped and the feeding began. We found large pods of fish eating BWO's in the back eddys like it was their job.....I guess it is their job if you think about it.

Back from the Bahamas

2009-04-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Pam and I had a great time bonefishing with our friends on Long Island, Bahamas this year.
In spite of some wind and clouds we did manage to catch some nice bone fish. And the wind and clouds were better than the snow that was waiting for us on our return to Bozeman. It was wonderful to see our good friends, Sammy and Jennie Knowles, Wade Smith, and Frank and Jerry Cartwright. We also spent two days fishing snapper, Cuda and sharks, with hand lines,what a blast!
To spend a day out in the ocean, on a boat with Wade Smith, is one of the best things that can happen to a person. You spend the whole day laughing and listening to Wades views on life and the world. It's like spring tonic for me, and I'll be doing it 'till God says no more.

The groups that joined us included Bozeman fishermen Don Lister, Joe Columbo, Jack Wiess, Al Gadouri and Robert Badaliance as well as many others from around the country.

We will be booking the 2010 season starting in May, so let us know if you are interested by calling 800-886-9111 and talking to Pam or Rod.

I watched the guides from the other lodges drive their clients from flat to flat, like taxi drivers with no idea of what they were doing. I really felt sorry for their clients as I watched them waste there time and money. Sammy Knowles, Jerry Cartwright and Frank Cartwright at the Smith & Wells Bonefish Lodge work with you every minute of every day, spotting fish, poling the boat and walking with you. They just don't drop you off on some flat and tell you to walk, while they stand by the boat or fish, like I saw the other guides do everyday.
Sammy, Jerry and Frank truly love what they do and work very hard to make sure you get into bones, see them. and catch them. I post this info not to book more trips, but to help future bone fishermen going to Long Island from getting ripped off. If you are one of the other bone fishermen that went to Long Island this April with one of the other lodges I would love to hear from you and discuss your trip.

Argentina 2010

2009-04-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

Even for those of us die hard anglers that fish through the snowy months, the winters can be a little long and drawn out. The last two seasons shop owners, Rod and Pam King, have spent several weeks exploring Argentina in the Patagonia region in search the perfect break from long underwear and icy fly rod guides.

The Bozeman Angler has two one week trips reserved at the Carrileufu Valley Lodge for the winter of 2010, Jan 9th - 16th and Jan 16th - 23rd. The trip cost of $3750 is based on double occupancy for six days of fishing and seven nights lodging.

April 25 Lower Madison River

2009-04-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

I partnered up with Chad on a slightly dirty lower Madison yesterday for my first guide trip of the '09 season. We had about 2'-3' of visibility until we reached Cherry Creek, which was dumping a bit of mud and making the right bank of the river chocolatey. Shortly after we soaked the boats at the Warm Springs access, we found our little buddy the baetis hatching in fair numbers and seemed to be present all day. But, as often is the case on this piece of water, very few fish were looking up to slurp those BWOs off the surface. So, we stuck to bouncing nymphs through buckets and runs in search of hungry trout.

If you find yourself on the lower Madison anytime soon, be prepared with flies that will stand out in water with a little stain. San Juan worms, egg patterns, prince nymphs, and lightning bug are your usual suspects but don't forget your sculpin and crawdad patterns.

Pictured above is Tony from California with a little Brown Trout that jumped on a San Juan fist thing in the morning. After I let this fish go I told Tony that It was a 15" fish. This was the first client caught fish in the boat this year and I think my "internal guide measuring device" is a little rusty. He'll be a 15" trout next year for sure.

Ladies Night!

2009-04-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

This one is for the ladies! Ever get the feeling you're a small female fish in a big 'ol pond of dudes? Here's your chance to school up with some other lady fishermen for a night of wine and apps. We're not going to shove product in your face, and we surely recognize women fly fishermen aren't novelties in the industry. We just want to open up the shop to those who would like to meet more fly fishing bums who don't grow beards!

Where to be & when:What: Fishin' Chicks Meet 'n Greet

Where: The Bozeman Angler 23 E. Main St.

When: Friday, May 1st @ 6:30 - 8pm

Who: Lady Fly Fishing Bum & her friends

RSVP: No need, just show up!

Spring fishing

2009-04-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

April 2009

The spring weather has finally warmed up enough to fish comfortably. The Lower Madison has fished well producing good numbers of decent browns from 15"to 19", but few big dogs over twenty. The big guys were not there in good numbers last fall, so I did not expect to see them this spring and I was right. But with the number of nice fish in the 18" class there will be good numbers of 20 inchers this year in September.

I want to tell you about a game called Trout Football dreamed up by Mike Treloar. The scoring goes like this: a trout under 15" is a field goal for three points, a trout between 15" and 18" is a touchdown and 6 points, a trout over18" is worth 6 points plus the two point conversion(8),and all trout have to be played to the net to count. Now a whitefish is a safety for the other team or teams, giving the other teams 2 points, and the other team or teams only have to see that it is a whitefish, it doesn't have to be landed. Mike, Greg Bricker and I played on the Yellowstone the other day and had a blast. We rotated every 30 minutes around the boat with the front fisherman going to the rowers seat, the rower going to the back and the back fisherman to the front. You can make up other rules as you go along. You are allowed to call a time out to change flies but not if you break off.

I brought on the kicking team in the 3rd quarter throwing small baetis nymphs size 18 and landed 4 quick bows to break into the lead.

The final score Rod-41, Mike 29, and Bricker 16. It was a fun day. So, bring your A game next time Greg.

Headed to Long Island Bahamas on Monday to fish for some bonefish. Pam and I will give you a report when we get back, just in time for the Mothers Day Caddis hatch.

Fishing is not only about the fish

2009-04-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

Fished the Madison river yesterday, in the Bear Trap Canyon. The fishing was a little slow but what a day to be on the river. Hiking up the canyon this time of year is very beautiful. The high steep banks covered with snow and the river banks with a slight hint of green showing. Even though I did not land any fish it was a great day. Remember, fishing is not just about the fish but about being in nature and enjoying the beauty of mother nature.

Another thing about being out on the river is meeting new people. I spoke with several folks hiking along the river just enjoying the day. Some had dogs with them and others were just out for a walk. I also met 3 gentleman going back packing for an overnight. They had their rods with them to catch some dinner that evening.

Wow what a great day on the river.

Snow Report

2009-03-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

I just looked at the snow pack percentages for Montana. Most of the area is 95% or better, with a few river basins being over 100%. It is currently snowing here in Bozeman making reports for later in the week even better. What does this mean? It means it should be another great summer to visit us at the Bozeman Angler and take a fishing trip. The fishing should be fantastic. The rivers will have good water levels and the water temperature should stay in the 60's, right where the fish like it. If you like fishing or just floating down the river and seeing some of the most beautiful sites this country has to offer, come join us for a day on the river.

Chad

Spring Creeks in the Spring

2009-03-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

Fishing spring creeks in Montana in the spring can make for a great on the water, much like the day I had with Seth and Barry. The weather was partly cloudy most of the day, which brought a few fish to the surface. Seth and Barry had a great time trying to catch fish on the surface, but to no avail. However, fishing with nymphs, man what a day. Between the 2 fisherman there were 10-12 fish landed and 4-5 hooked and got away.

The lessons learned in mending and casting will be forever remembered, mend and feed fellows ,mend and feed.

Bitterroot river 3-14-09

2009-03-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

I ventured west to the Bitterroot River this past weekend for a romantic getaway with my fish-o-holic partner in crime, Sarah. Though the fishing was secondary on this trip, we did manage to get a few hours on the water. One of the more attractive buckets that we fished had a big slow back eddie full of emerging midges and the occasional stonefly nymph, witch told me that Skallas are just around the corner.

Check out the very short clip of the "fish of the day" caught by Sarah just a few hours before I asked her to be my permanent fishing partner and the future Mrs. Webb......She said yes

Ty

Fly Fishing Argentina Presentation

2009-03-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

Rod King from the Bozeman Angler will be giving a presentation on fly fishing in Argentina on Wednesday, March 11th at 7:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn on North 7th Avenue. The meeting and presentation are open to the public, so come on down and see photos of big trout.

Explosion in downtown Bozeman 3/5/09

2009-03-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

As many of you may have already heard there was an explosion and fire two blocks from our shop in Bozeman yesterday. The good news is that we are fine and our shop didn't suffer any damage, in fact, we were open for business this afternoon for a while. Four buildings are gone and seven businesses were destroyed including the Pickle Barrel, Rockin' R Bar, Boodles, Montana Trails Gallery, Lilli Lu's and the American League with damage to the Rocky Mountain Rug gallery and Starky's Deli. We are grateful for the quick response from the Bozeman Fire Department and Police Department as well as the National Guard to keep us safe. Thank you to all who called and sent emails to check on our status.

Winter 08-09

2009-02-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

I went out the last couple of days and fished in the warm weather we've been having, and had a bunch of luck. the last few days have consisted of driving around and finding good spots to fish. The fish have been hiding down deep in the slower water, and only eating what is laid exactly in front of them. If you go out, try throwing bright colored midges, worms, soft hackles, prince and pheasant tails. As long as the weather stays like it has been the fishing is only going to get better so any chance you get, hit the rivers!

Feb. 13 2009

2009-02-13T14:22:00.000-08:00

What a nice day to be on the river. Ty and I went to the Gallatin River today. The fishing was slow and nothing seem to be eating. Between the 2 of us, I would have to say we threw everything we could think of at them. The temp. was in the low 30's and the sky's were clear, the fish just were not cooperating, could it be the day, fri the 13th. It was a day for the expression " There is a reason why they call it fishing not catching". But still what a day to be out and having a good time with good friends. Take a day and go out with your friends and have a good time.

2009-02-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

Got a chance to fish with my good friends Bo Brown and Dr. William Mealer from Bozeman yesterday on Armstong Spring Creek. The weather was fabulous with sun shine, no wind and temperatures in the mid fifties. I was looking for the early baetis hatch that never came and Doc and Bo were slamming them on midge pupa, scuds and sow bugs. Not being a true purist after lunch ( venison BBQ and chilli) I rigged up with a scud and blood midge and landed this nice Yellowstone cutthroat.

The bows are starting to move up into the spring creeks and the fishing will get better everyday for the next few weeks. The winter rates are in affect($40.00) per day, so treat yourself to a great time. Please remember to not wade on the reds and try and target the fish that are off the reds feeding and not bother the spawning fish as they have a very important job to do, sustain our passion of fly fishing by making more treasures.

2/06 Upper Madison

2009-02-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

This past Friday I headed up to the Raynolds Pass area with fishing bud, Nick Lux, for a day of snowy fly fishing on the Madison. Quarter-sized snowflakes, upper 30's temps, and next to no wind made for a quiet and beautiful winter scene on the river. If you haven't fished this time of the year, you really should get out and take advantage of the light pressure and hungry trout.

The fishing was far from hot, and the fish weren't in the slow winter holding areas like we're used to this time of the year. Due to the midge hatch that seamed to go on most of the day, the fish were hanging out in more traditional feeding lies, keying in on tiny nymphs. I feel like we would have done a little better if we were prepared with flies smaller than the size 18 midge nymphs I packed. However, we suckered a few with Prince nymphs and flash back pheasant tails.

If you go, arm yourself with midge nymphs in size 20- 22 for sure. We're entering the time of year when midgeys are popping, so have your basic selection of midge drys too.

2009-02-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

Argentina - January 2009

The Bozeman Angler hosted trip to Argentina was a wonderful experience. We spent the week of January 10 - 17 with Don & Jon Lister and Colleen and Wayne Minami in the beautiful Carrileufu Valley Lodge near Cholila, north of Esquel. The fishing was stellar on the Rivadavia & Carrileufu Rivers. We also fished several lakes and the El Cannel spring creek in Los Alerces National Park. The folks at the Carrileufu Valley Lodge were just fantastic and made us all feel welcome and comfortable. Fly fishing is the passion that drives us to the ends of the earth, but it's the friends and cultures that remain in our hearts and memory that keeps us going back. The food and wine was delicious.

Many thanks to Willy Ricigliano and his wife, Isabel, who took care of every detail to make sure everyone had a wonderful stress-free experience. It is that attention to detail that will always make us book our trips to Argentina with Willy. And on top of that, he is the funniest guy I know in all of South America. He kept us laughing all week.

After the group departed Bariloche, Argentina, Pam and I spent two weeks exploring all over Patagonia looking for more interesting places, trout rivers and lodges to show our friends and clients. We fished and hiked in three different National Parks and covered many beautiful miles of breathtaking scenery. The people of Argentina are the kindest most helpful people on earth. We will return in 2010. For dates on our hosted trips or information on fly fishing Argentina, give us a call at 800-886-9111 or email us at info@bozemanangler.com.

Snow Report

2009-01-30T11:17:00.000-08:00

This week there was about 3 inches of snow here in the Bozeman area. In the mountains there were several more inches. With temperatures above normal last week much of the valley snow melted, however with the additional snow this week and temperatures back to normal, the snow conditions are still above average for most of the area. Lets keep our fingers crossed for this trend to continue so we have another great summer of fishing.

Prince Nymph and Hares ear

2009-01-21T07:46:00.000-08:00

What a fun time. The third of four classes was a time of learning and laughing. This week Ty showed our new members of the tying community how to tie a prince nymph and a hare's ear. Since the first week our new friends have made great strides in tying flies, from learning the names of the tools and what they are used for to different feathers and furs used for tying different flies. After tying the first of each pattern, the laughs and giggles at their new creations(Remember your first one will catch more fish). These are some of the great times we have learning at The Bozeman Angler. A new class will be starting on Feb. 10th so sign up today and come join the fun.

Summer is coming

2009-01-20T08:48:00.000-08:00

With summer just around the corner and snow pack above average, I am looking forward to a great year on the rivers. The weather in Bozeman, Montana has been above average the last few days, and reports have been good for winter fishing. Take advantage of the warm and sunny days. Get out and look for the midge hatches. When there is not a hatch coming off try a green and brown rubber leg with a beadhead dropped behind. Lets keep our fingers crossed for the winter snow to continue and temps to get back to normal.

Loss of a friend

2009-01-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

Late this morning Phil Braun, a good friend to the Bozeman area fly fishing community lost his battle with cancer. Phil was a regular in every fly shop in the valley and will surly be missed by all.

MO. Report

2009-01-12T12:28:00.000-08:00

Just heard from friend and fellow guide Ken Stock about the Missouri river. He fished over the weekend around Craig and had a fantastic day. The fish were eating red worms and midges. One fly that Ken said was the ticket, a red rubber ribbed worm pattern on about a size 6 Scud hook.
So look to the tail waters for what sounds like some great winter fishing.

FLY BOX BAIL-OUT

2009-01-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

Come and join the angler crew on sunday afternoons from 12 to 3 for good stories and coffee. Bring your tying supplies and sit with us in the shop and tie your favorite fly. Learn from fellow tiers the short cut you have always been looking for to get that fly finished so you can get to the water a little faster. We also will have movies playing, like "Drift" or "Rising the Ghost".

Jan 10 Upper Madison Trifecta

2009-01-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my gal pal Sarah, fishing buddy Nick Lux, and I headed to the Ennis area for the Madison Vally trifecta. What is the Madison Vally trifecta, you ask? Well, it's the perfect way for a fly fisherman to spend a winter day in south west Montana. First, pile on the layers and dredge up a few trout on your favorite stretch of the Madison River. Second, head to the Bear Claw Bar and Grill in Mcallister to tell b.s. fishing stories over a beer and possibly the best burger and fries in the state of Montana. Thirdly, and for sure the best part of the trifecta is soaking your tired back side in the water of the god's at Norris Hot Springs while sipping on another cold brew and taking in some live blue grass.

Fishing report...

With a little snowy weather rolling in on us, the upper Madison was a bit slow, but we still managed to run into a few trout. The stretch of river we fished was typical upper Madison water with few deep pockets or pools to collect pods of winter fish, so being able to read water is very helpful. The obvious lies were found behind boulders or anything that may slow the current down enough to give a cold blooded salmonoid a break from the swift main stream. The not-so-obvious lies are given away only by the slick or smooth surface created by a large submerged rock or a depression on the bottom of the river. Early in the day bouncing stonefly nymphs and Lightning Bugs on the bottom brought a few tight lines, but in the afternoon, fish keyed in on midge nymphs. Finally, we saw some surface-feeders slurping down adult midges before a winter storm rolled in.

Fish Food...

Nymphs: Brown Pat's Rubber legs, Prince Nymphs, King's Prince, Zebra Midge tied in black or pink, Lightning Bug.

Dries: Griffiths Gnat, Para Gnat, BWO.

Fly Tying

2009-01-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

Winter, the weather is cold, the rivers are frozen, time to get out that vise and get ready for the summer of 2009.
Tonight was the first tying class of the year here at the Angler. Ty (the great white north instructor) taught 7 new tiers how to tie the wooly bugger. Using a video camera the new tiers could make out the steps taken to assemble the fly. Great job Ty for his instruction and to all the new members of our tying community on your first flies.

Gallatin River Jan. 4

2009-01-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Fish Heads!

We're five days into the new year, and I have yet to wet a line. But, I did get a Gallatin River report from good buddy Nick Lux, who said,"shelf ice with slush." This is going to be the conditions we will have to deal with until we get temps consistantly higher than the 20's. If you do get a chance to get out, you should look to tail waters close to the dams or near springs bringing warm water into the main river to avoid fishing in a giant slushy. Shelf ice is hard to avoid, so watch your step getting in the water. Fish the usual winter patterns like San Juans, Midge pupa, Beatis Nymphs, and your favorite egg pattern. Remember in cold conditions, concentrate on slower pools and runs, and keep your bugs tight to the gravel.

TY

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

2008-12-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

From all of the crew at Bozeman Angler, Happy Holidays. With the cold weather the fishing has been a little on the slow side. Nymphs would be the way to go when you get out and find a hole in the ice. Everyone have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year.

CHRISTMAS CLEARANCE SALE

2008-12-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

From today until Christmas Eve everything in the shop, with the exception of consignment items, will be 40-50% off of the retail price: Patagonia, Simms, Ross, Winston, Scott and many other brand names. This sale is limited to on hand inventory only. So, save yourself some cash and come downtown or call 1-800-886-9111 to pick up that rod, reel and fly line you've had your eye on.

IT'S COLD AS HELENA OUT THERE!!!!!!

2008-12-15T15:58:00.000-08:00

With the temp at -22 this morning in Bozeman and no expectations of getting any higher than the teens this week, I think fly fishing will be put on hold for a bit. On the bright side, Mr. Weather Man said that we may see 30 degrease by Christmas day, witch is all we need for some productive Holiday fishing. Until then, poking a hole through the ice on one of our local lakes may be your only angling opportunity.

TY

Dec. 6th Upper Beartrap

2008-12-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I headed to the Lower Madison's Beartrap Canyon with fishing buddy Nick Lux. First on the list of car ride conversations was what the wind situation might be and what our options were if the canyon was screaming. When we drove through Norris the car was getting rocked from one heck of a stiff breeze, and it wasn't looking good for a quiet day on the river. When we dropped in to the Madison Vally, the wind was light, and we noticed that the few unfrozen areas on Ennis Lake had just small choppy waves. By the time we entered the upper canyon the wind had almost completely stopped blowing and stayed that way for the remainder of the day.

The fish were more than willing to eat a well-placed nymph, but it had to be put right on their noses. Our drifts needed to be perfectly dead with zero drag or there was no chance at detecting the incredibly light takes. When I say "light takes", I mean the strike indicator would hesitate just as if your rig barely bumped or scraped bottom. Once we figured that out, we were more eager to set the hook with the slightest movement, but a trigger-happy fisherman catches more fish!

If you go, a basic selection of nymphs such as Pheasant Tails, Prince Nymphs, and Hare's Ears should fool a few trout, but a simple midge nymph tied in pink is my favorite Beartrap fly.

4th ANNUAL CUSTOMER APRECIATION SALE

2008-12-02T09:05:00.000-08:00

Come on down and see us Dec. 3rd for our 4th annual customer appreciation sale and holiday bash. Starting at 6:30pm we will have drinks, hors d' oeuvres, and store wide sales from 30-50% off. Just our way of saying thanks for your patronage and an other great season.

Nov 29 Galatin trip

2008-11-29T18:35:00.000-08:00

Little Ol' Lady Luck was no where to be found today on the Galatin. I fished with Sarah today above Sheds bridge and the only thing that seemed to work was a pink midge. Sarah caught one brown and one rainbow on a pink midge and that was all the action. The fish seemed to be eating more in the earlier part of the day becuase on the walk back downstream they werent eating anything. If you're heading out to the Galatin try using bright midges and maybe a rubberleg or another nymph. Head out before it gets too cold!

Monster Brown Trout!!!!

2008-11-29T15:33:00.000-08:00

Who needs to go south of the equator for giant trout? Who needs New Zealand? Who need Patagonia? Well, me for one. But, I know of a guy who found one of those monster fish without traveling to the other side of the globe. His name is Bryan Gregson and he found his dream trout on the Madison River just up stream from Quake Lake. Does anyone remember another big fish story from the same stretch of river just a few years ago?

Check out Bryan's story on the "BIG FISH" link below.

BIG FISH

Nov. 17 Idaho Steelhead

2008-11-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

Over the last few years I've had the good fortune of making my living guiding for Steelhead in western Michigan on the Muskegon River. Actually, I'm extremely fortunate in a couple of ways. First of all I worked for Midwest Steelhead guru, Kevin Feenstra. Kevin isn't just a talented guide and fisherman, but he also has a real passion for swinging big flies for Chromers and taught me most of what I know about Steelhead. Second, I guided and fished rivers full of naturally reproducing fish that are more than willing to grab a well presented fly. Truly a spey casters playground. Being a Great Lakes Stealheader, obviously the number one fish on my ever growing fantasy fish list is a real west coast Steelhead.

This past weekend Jason the shop rat, my girlfriend Sarah, and myself piled in to J-Dog's Subaru and headed west to Idaho in search of metalheads on the north fork of the Salmon River. We arrived in the village of North Fork well after dark excited to set up camp, get a fire going, and get to work on the 12 pack of Fat Tire we picked up in Butte. With a sleepless night of freezing my back side off under my belt, we broke camp after a hardy breakfast and raced the sun light to the river to scout out potential fish holding runs and pools. One of the things that Great Lakes and west coast Steelhead have in common is that they hold in the same type of water, so it wasn't a challenge to find water to start swinging flies through.

Bright skies and clear water are great for leisurely visits to the river, but unfortunately a bad combo when trying to fool Trout or Steelhead into chasing a swung streamer. With those exact weather and water conditions working against us, we thoroughly worked water that looked to be ideal holding water for both Trout and Steelhead. After a handfull of pools and a couple of tours up and down the highway in search of more water, we had to call it a day and head back to Montana.

We rushed to get there, we rushed to set up camp, we rushed to the river, we fished our fannys off, but at the end of the day with the exception of one big Sucker Fish, all three of us got Green Butt Skunked. Unless you're a dedicated Trout bum or Steelheader this sounds like a lot of work and a lot of miles to go to not catch fish, but to us it was one of the most satisfying trip's we've had this year. To me this trip was just another reminder of how lucky we are to live in the middle of the world's greatest fly fishing water. Here in the Bozeman area we're surrounded by quality Trout streams, and just a few hours west you can fish for real ocean run Salmon and Steelhead. If you've read enough of these reports and blogs, I'm sure that it sounds a bit cliche by now but I'll say it any way.... Get out and fish! Take advantage of the thousands of miles of rivers and streams that the Rockies have to offer. After all they're right here in our backyard.

Ty

11/11/08 Changeing with the seasons

2008-11-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

The closer we get to winter the more we think about and practice cold water techniques. Though many of us are still in the fall "big streamer big fish mode", the way we fish streamers changes as the water temps gradually drop. Ripping a sculpin pattern off the bank will become less and less effective and slow retrieves or swinging flies through deep runs and pools will be increasingly productive . Once the Brown Trout have spawned and eggs are not so prevalent, the fish will begin to go into winter mode and seek out deeper and more importantly slower pools to hang out in until spring brings warmer water temps.

Now, with all of that said, winter isn't here yet... In fact, we still have some very summer like fishing available to us in the form of a little olive May Fly known as the Baetis. With the abundance of cloudy and cool days lately, those size 20 may flies have been hatching regularly and some of our rivers have seen some fabtabulous dry fly action in the foam that collects in the back eddies and seams. We don't have too many chances left this season to fish on top, so before it's all bottom bouncing and bobbers, get out your 6x leader and dry fly box one more time before old man winter arrives.

TY

Spawning fish warning

2008-11-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

Hey! It's spawning time and some of the big Browns are up on the gravel in shallow water making sure that we have fish to fish to in the future. Our rivers are not stocked, so lets help the Trout out and leave them alone! Also, be aware of the redds with no fish on them. We need to protect those eggs and give them a chance to incubate, hatch, and repopulate our rivers.

TY

SAVE WILD STEELHEAD FESTIVAL!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

Come on in to the shop and get your tickets for the Save wild Steelhead Festival this Wed Nov 5th. The pre-party starts at 6pm where you can preview the raffle items and rub elbows with the Fly Boys. But wait!!! The fun doesn't stop there. Head on down to the Pour House for the after party and get a free drink with your festival ticket stub.

Beaverhead 11/1

2008-11-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

traveled out to the Beaverhead on saturday and hit the browns during the spawn. They were hiding in the deep water eating pink nymphs, hares ears nymphs, and the occasional pheasant tail. If you get the chance it's well worth the drive so pack up and head out!

Late Oct. Madison

2008-10-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

I spent a day this weekend doing the streamer thing on the Madison with Sarah. The morning started nice and cloudy, perfect for ripping meaty sculpin patterns but it didn't take long for the sun and the blue bird Skies to show up. Always bad combo when you add the low clear water. Despite the less that ideal streamer conditions we still found a few fish hiding from the sun tight to the bank or in the gut of the pools.

TY

10/25 Bear Trap

2008-10-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

I fished the Upper bear trap on the madison saturday just below Ennis Dam. It was an ok day of fishing probably due to the water still being muddy from Ennis lake. It was colder in the morning but as the day progressed the clouds went away and the sun came out. The set-up of the day seemed to be any olive green bugger with a pink midge dropper. Also caught some fish on olive bead head soft hackles and lightning bugs. Some fish were rising here and there to baetis flies, but nothing would touch a dry fly. The fish we caught were earlier in the morning and around 12:30 - 1:00 the fishing slowed down.

Jason

Wild Steelhead Festival

2008-10-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well it feels and looks a lot like winter out there. Some of our local trout bums have put the fly rods down for a bit so they can take advantage of the fresh powder that old Mother Nature has dumped on us over the last few days. It won't last long though. It looks like we'll be getting back to more seasonal weather with temps in the 50's over the next 5-6 days.

Don't forget to do your part on Nov. 5th and attend the Wilde Steelhead Festival and see the new movie Raising The Ghost by Bozeman stealhead rock stars, the Fly Boys. Paul, Jess, and Nick have put out one hell of a flick that has plenty of B.C. fish porn, but more importantly the film has a strong message and interviews with experts on the endangered wild Steelhead population.

Passing of an icon

2008-10-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

One of the sports greats Mel Krieger died quietly at his home early Oct. 7th after recently being diagnosed with brain lymphoma. It goes with out saying, he will be greatly missed.

Oct. Streamer Time!!!

2008-10-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year when we start looking for those big angry pre-spawn Brown Trout. What do big angry pre-spawn Brown Trout like (or hate, depending how you look at it)?........Meat! It's big streamer time gang. So bust out those 7wt rods, sink tips, and big streamers and start hunting for toads.

3 days of fish for Virgina

2008-09-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Took Brian and Mack from Virgina for 3 days, fri., sat., and mon. Fishing the Yellowstone for 2 days and the Lower Madison for 1. While the yellowstone has a whitefish bite going on, we did manage to land a few trout. The Lower was full of trout taking bubble heads and lightining bugs. Lots of fish were landed some even got away, so lets get out and try to bring them in the boats

Fish after Fish

2008-09-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

Had another great day with my new friends the Minamies on Tues. We floated the upper Yellowstone with dry flies. What a day, with lots

of fish in the boat and who knows how many that got away. We had a great time and lots of fun. We also can not forget the Carrols and the fish they landed and had get away with Joe. Lunch time was full of good stories and lots of laughs. Lets keep fishin and havin fun.

Hebgen Dam Update - 9/22/08

2008-09-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

It was reported to us today that the problem in the tower at the Hebgen Lake dam has been fixed and water flows are beginning to drop. The hope is to drop the flows by 20% each day until we reach 850 cfs on the Upper Madison. With dropping levels the fishing most likely will be affected this week until the river stabilizes. Thanks to all the crews, FWP and PP&L for their hard work in resolving this situation. We look forward to more great fishing on the Madison this fall. The Browns are coming into the Lower and are looking good.

Sept. 17th on the Yellowstone

2008-09-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

Wendy Wilson caught this nice Yellowstone Cutthroat this past week on the Yellowstone River. Good going, Wendy!