http://montanaflyfishers.com/ Fishing Reports Feeds From Montanaflyfishers.com en-us Sun, 26 May 2013 03:31:02 GMT http://www.montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports/rss UCMS http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4843 Recorded:  62 ° F Fishing: Great

Opening Day is tomorrow!  We are excited to be kicking off yet another fishing season in the Park.  It looks to be a great start.  Yes, it's been wet around here.  Has it been snowing in the Park, ummm, yeah.  But- looking like the sun is coming out and good conditions through the next several days.

What you might expect:  Firehole, Gibbon, Madison in the Park.  Peeps.  Yes, there is always a contingency of Park Afficionados who love to be here opening weekend!  That said, there's space for all.  Baetis should be in prime action.  Followed by possibility of caddis.  Chances are that nymphing will reign top dog to start, but by mid afternoon the hatch will be coming on and either swung flies or dries will pick up where the nymphing started.

Other areas of consideration: with the cooler weather, theres a decent chance that the Soda Butte may be fishable.  Not so sure on the Lamar, but it's a maybe.  The Stone in Paradise Valley is right on that edge, so why not the Lamar?  Gardener river is another to check too.

Feel free to stop by the shop for updates as well as licenses, gear, and a great Park fly selection.  We are open 7 days a week.




]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4843 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4842 Recorded:  66 ° F Fishing: Great

Water.  That's one of the words this week.  Besides Wonderful.  Opening weekend last week through now has proven to be quite good!  Despite the abundance of water in the form of high, and well, yes, dirty water a week ago to the multiple inches of rain that has fallen over the course of the week, we've had water!  River has cleaned up in a big big way.  From 6 inches of viz last Sunday to almost 2 feet now, clarity has greatly improved.  And the flows, due to the cooler weather, have dropped.  Fish that were easy to catch last week in the less than stellar clarity however have become a little more challenging.  Turds and Worms are getting replaced with a little more technical fare.  But there's reports of fish eating on dries too, so we'll take the change.

What to throw: typical Upper Maddy spring stuff!  On the run be looking at Pat's Rubber Legs (turd), san juans in various colors, Bow River Buggers, Zonkers, and such as point fly.  Add a baetis sized BH mayfly nymph, or caddis pupa pattern as the dropper.  If you find a good run and want to post up on it, change that depth and weight scenario to make sure you get down.  Otherwise, same fly rigs will work fine.  Water stays or gets even more clear, lighten up on leader X and think smaller, techy fly patterns.



]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4842 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4841 Recorded:  68 ° F Fishing: Good

Lots of rain this week.  Soggy conditions on top of the burnout from last June is spilling a bit of silt/debris into the Lower.  Water is on the drop as well as runoff from the Upper river is dropping and working it way through.  Seems that after a week of blazing sun, a week of clouds and rain is a fair trade.  We need the moisture!  Road construction continues, but is not that big of a deal between Black's Ford and Warm Springs parking lot.  Overall, nothing WoW out there, but there are fish being caught.  Caddis, some stoneflies (mostly golden and yellow sallies, no salmonflies- give it a couple weeks) there's also baetis and maybe some callibaetis given the weather.  What to do to put a bend in the rod?  Nymph 'em up with  Crays, Bow Buggers, Zonkers, San Juans as good to great point flies.  Run a smaller dropper.  BH mayfly, caddis, or small stoneflies are good bets.   Under your Indy be running 3-6 feet of leader to said point fly.  Weight.  Add enough to get the bugs down in the zone.  If it ain't ticking every now and again, it ain't heavy enough.  Be ready to adjust as needed for different areas.  Deep buckets- add and lengthen that indy out.  Running weed bed edges- lighten up.  Want to be stealthy in those less than deep spots?  Run the short leash pro rig.... simple pinch on indies and tungsten headed point flies sized appropriately as needed to just get it in the zone.  Works!

Call the fly shop for info 406-333-4401

Patterns du Jour
Clouser Cray, tan, dark tan
Pat's Rubberlegs (aka Turd)
RBGB
San Juan
Flexi Juan
Hot bead stone
Copper Johns- red, copper, black
Lightning bug- mirage, purple, gold
Shop Vac- olive, PT
FB PT
Wonder baetis, wonder PMD
Iron Sally
Copper Zonker
Bow Bugger in black/olive
Olive articulated fathead
Foxee Clouser
Granato's Sasquatch




]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4841 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4838 Recorded:  65 ° F Fishing: Good

Cloudy, cool, and wet.  Those 3 words speak volumns in that we like these conditions, the fish like these conditions, and the bugs that have been hatching like these conditions. 

What is hatching?  midges for one.  Always or nearly always a staple on all 3 spring creeks.  And---baetis.  That's right, we still have some lingering blue wing olives.  Mind you, these little buggers are the more sensitive about weather conditions.  No dark clouds, cool weather- no baetis.  But given the week's worth of clouds and rain, they've been out.  And yes, the fish are in the know!
AM concentrate on a little deeper water.  Hatches won't be till midday or later. So deeper slots and runs will have the fish hanging till nymphs begin to stir before the hatch is seen on the surface.  Nymphing these deeper spots 3-4 feet below soft indies with heavier Sawyer PTs followed by midge pupa, baetis soft hackles or possibly even a caddis pupa are good starts.  Around midday, start to consider hatch time and fish moving to shallower/riffly spots.  Especially if the clouds stick around.  Once the bugs begin to roll, you'll be seeing fish on top.

Rainbows are all but done spawning now.  However, there are still spawning fish in the creeks.  Really you say? Well, yes, it's Mr & Mrs Cutthroats time!  And as we've been saying:
Do consider the Redds in the creeks.  You know, the places the Cutties are making the next generation of themselves that we would like to see get big?  There's really no need to fish to the fish that are actively spawning or are about to.  There are plenty of other trout in the spring creeks that are a)done spawning and are below the redds feeding b)other species :browns that aren't spawning at this time.  It's very helpful to not stress the fish that are actively procreating as well as not walking all over their spawning grounds.  Simple- leave them be.  Your courtesy and thoughtfulness will go a long ways to making more trout!
 
Short leash nymphing with a non-beaded yet weighted PT pattern like the Sawyer PT with it's copper wrapped body tied in tandem with either midge pupa or very small baetis softhackle patterns has been very effective at blind nymphing up fish.  Sight fishing to specifically feeding fish may require changing the flies around a bit until that fish takes. Yet another effective "search and grab" means is to work small to medium sized streamers in olive, black, or sometimes white coloration through likely looking haunts.  You may be well rewarded....

Flies to fish:
Sawyer PT 16-20
Tung Zebra Midge, black or olive 18-20
Natural Scud 18
Soft Hackle Scud 18
Split back BWO Nymph 18-20
MO softhackle baetis18-20
Micro May olive, brown 18-20
Flossy san juan 14

Black, olive buggers
JJ Special
Sculpzilla

Call anytime 406-333-4401



]]> Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4838 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4837 Recorded:  65 ° F Fishing: Fair

Dropping, droppping, dropping....... cool, wet, and rainy weather has the Stone actually coming back around!  I'm not saying it's great or anything but it's close enough I'd bet that you can get 'er done out there right now.  Foot plus visibility along the edges is making me think that dark streamers dropped into the right areas will get whacked!

Beyond this- long term we're still very much not in the peak flow area at all.  As soon as the warmer temps and sun come back, it's a good bet that the Stone is going to jump again and be bank full.  Guessing peak to be around the first week in June.  Next guess is that we'll be on the river the last ween in June and ready for SALMONFLIES!


Feel free to stop by the shop anytime or give a call 406-333-4401 for any other information. 






]]> Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4837 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4795 Recorded:  74 ° F Fishing: Poor

How things change in a hurry!  Weekend saw good to great fishing depending upon where you were.  Yes caddis.  And everything else too.  Today- crap.  Blown.  Chunky.  Cottonwood hatch in full force.  Time to turn focus to Madison for a bit before it goes.  Word is that the Gallatin is on its way out as well. 

Bye Yellowstone River.  See you in Late June.  Already looking forward to it.....


Feel free to stop by the shop anytime or give a call 406-333-4401 for any other information. 






]]> Tue, 7 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4795 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4794 Recorded:  50 ° F Fishing: Good

Overcast skies this afternoon could be a good thing.  It should bring on the hatch.  That is, baetis and March Browns.  Caddis are bumping around too, though not full fledged blizzard effect.  This said, here's your fly selection basis.  Pick that dropper BH from one of these 3 hatch categories and be good with it.  Doesn't work?  change to one of the others based on visual inspections.  Out front be throwing the typicall Lower fare.  Crays, Bow Buggers, Zonkers, San Juans are all good to great point flies.  Under your Indy be running 3-6 feet of leader to said point fly.  Weight.  Add enough to get the bugs down in the zone.  If it ain't ticking every now and again, it ain't heavy enough.  Be ready to adjust as needed for different areas.  Deep buckets- add and lengthen that indy out.  Running weed bed edges- lighten up.  Want to be stealthy in those less than deep spots?  Run the short leash pro rig.... simple pinch on indies and tungsten headed point flies sized appropriately as needed to just get it in the zone.  Works!

Call the fly shop for info and patterns 406-333-4401



]]> Fri, 3 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4794 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4793 Recorded:  50 ° F Fishing: Good

Reminder: Upper Madison from outlet of Quake Lake to MacAttee Bridge and again from Ennis boat ramp downstream to Ennis Lake are CLOSED to all fishing until the General Fishing Season opens May 18th!!

Overcast skies will bring good baetis today on the Upper.  March Browns a strong possibility as well.  Caddis?  Not quite yet.  Flows are not terrible but at a little over a grand, there's plenty of rocks to scrape on so watch your course as you work your way downstream.  Fishing from Varney to Burnt Tree is seeing the majority of the traffic just because Cameron Flats are well, just that, flat.  And skinny......  What to throw: typical Upper Maddy spring stuff!  On the run be looking at Pat's Rubber Legs (turd), san juans in various colors, Bow River Buggers, Zonkers, and such as point fly.  Add a baetis sized BH mayfly nymph, or caddis pupa pattern as the dropper.  If you find a good run and want to post up on it, change that depth and weight scenario to make sure you get down.  Otherwise, same fly rigs will work fine. 



]]> Fri, 3 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4793 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4792 Recorded:  75 ° F Fishing: Poor

Oh how quick things change!  Hero to Zero in 48 hours.  So through Sunday the Yelly was giving it up pretty good.  Mother's Day Caddis- check, Baetis-check, March Brown's-check.  Fish happy-check here too.  Then the wheels fell off......  Monday the Lamar River in the Park shot up and it's gone to junk since.  Gone.  Done.  Full on Cottonwood hatch.  The river at Corwin has jumped from 2 grand to over 6.  Nuf said.  Without a miracle, it's going to be the end of June now before we get back on the Stone.  Oh but it will be good then......

Feel free to stop by the shop anytime or give a call 406-333-4401 for any other information. 






]]> Tue, 8 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4792 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4779 Recorded:  56 ° F Fishing: Good

Partly to mostly cloudy with not very warm temps, chance of rain yet means good chances Baetis will come off.  It was really good out there yesterday which was in direct contrast to Thurs and the bright sun.  Keep clouds and things are good...... Bright sun and its a simple fact- tough. 

AM concentrate on a little deeper water.  Hatches won't be till midday or later and the fish know it. So deeper slots and runs will have the fish hanging till nymphs begin to stir before the hatch is seen on the surface.  Nymphing these deeper spots 3-4 feet below soft indies with heavier Sawyer PTs followed by midge pupa, baetis soft hackles or possibly even a caddis pupa are good starts.  Around midday, start to consider hatch time and fish moving to shallower/riffly spots.  Especially if the clouds stick around.  Once the bugs begin to roll, you'll be seeing fish on top.

Still spawners in the creeks.  Seems to be a little past prime, but still lots of rainbows doing their thing.  And as we've been saying:
Do consider the Redds in the creeks.  You know, the places the rainbows are making the next generation of themselves that we would like to see get big?  There's really no need to fish to the fish that are actively spawning or are about to.  There are plenty of other trout in the spring creeks that are a)done spawning and are below the redds feeding b)other species :browns and cutthroat that aren't spawning at this time.  It's very helpful to not stress the fish that are actively procreating as well as not walking all over their spawning grounds.  Simple- leave them be.  Your courtesy and thoughtfulness will go a long ways to making more trout!
 
Short leash nymphing with a non-beaded yet weighted PT pattern like the Sawyer PT with it's copper wrapped body tied in tandem with either midge pupa or very small baetis softhackle patterns has been very effective at blind nymphing up fish.  Sight fishing to specifically feeding fish may require changing the flies around a bit until that fish takes. Yet another effective "search and grab" means is to work small to medium sized streamers in olive, black, or sometimes white coloration through likely looking haunts.  You may be well rewarded....

Flies to fish:
Sawyer PT 16-20
Tung Zebra Midge, black or olive 18-20
Natural Scud 18
Soft Hackle Scud 18
Split back BWO Nymph 18-20
MO softhackle baetis18-20
Micro May olive, brown 18-20
Flossy san juan 14

Black, olive buggers
JJ Special
Sculpzilla

Call anytime 406-333-4401



]]> Sat, 4 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4779 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4778 Recorded:  56 ° F Fishing: Excellent

100 Questions:  What's hatching?

Answer: Everything you would expect the week going into Mother's Day!  Midges- check, Baetis-check, March Browns-check, and Caddis.

Solid emergence 2 days in a row now east of Livingston and yesterday saw pretty good numbers in/around town as well.  Enough so that the fish definitely got on them and were happy.  Today's mixed clouds and not too warm temps should see more bugs popping by lunchtime and the hatch going through the afternoon. 

How to run the day: start middle depth in the morning.  And word- you don't have to be out there much before 10AM.  5-6 feet from first fly to Indy is a good way to get going.  Find deeper buckets and runs off the back of riffles.  Then moving that bobber down to 2-3 feet by early afternoon as the caddis pupa, baetis nymphs, and March Brown nymps start to become active. Or run a March Brown or Caddis dry and a 2 foot dropper is another good way to roll.  Once you start seeing solid emergence, you'll see fish consistenly on top.  Roll the double dry or dry-soft hackle without a bead rig for the remainder of the day.  Just there are fish going nuts doesn't mean you don't have to get a good drift....... 
DO NOT FORGET THE RIVER IS CLOSED TO FLOATING below Mayor's due to  KPRK bridge work. 

Feel free to stop by the shop anytime or give a call 406-333-4401 for any other information. 






]]> Sat, 4 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4778 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4770 Recorded:  50 ° F Fishing: Good

Reminder: Upper Madison from outlet of Quake Lake to MacAttee Bridge and again from Ennis boat ramp downstream to Ennis Lake are CLOSED to all fishing until the General Fishing Season opens May 18th!!

Tough day looking like.  Not just here, but pretty much everywhere.  Major wind coming on and a sizable cold front sliding in to most all of MT today.  Not a good situation anywhere.  Time to hunker down for the day and check in tomorrow or Tues.

If you go:
Olive Pat's rubberlegs
Yuk Bug (6-8)
RBGB (6-8)
Theo's Terminator (6-8)
San Juan (8-10) pink, red, wine, natural
Flashback PT (12-18)
BH Prince (12-18)
3Dollar Crystal Dip (14-18) red, olive, brown
Lightning Bug (14-18) pearl, pink, gold
Copper John (14-18) copper, red, black




]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4770 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4769 Recorded:  50 ° F Fishing: Fair

If you are blown to North Dakota, don't blame us!  The lower is NOT a place any of us would remotely consider "escaping" the wind on tap for today.  Not in the least.  Skip it.

Call the fly shop for info and patterns 406-333-4401



]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4769 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4768 Recorded:  52 ° F Fishing: Good

Ummmm- I'd say skip it today..... South wind climbing to middle 30MPH and trying to dupe spring creek fish?  Save the $$ and hunker down today!

Still spawners in the creeks.  Seems to be a little past prime, but still lots of rainbows doing their thing.  And as we've been saying:
Do consider the Redds in the creeks.  You know, the places the rainbows are making the next generation of themselves that we would like to see get big?  There's really no need to fish to the fish that are actively spawning or are about to.  There are plenty of other trout in the spring creeks that are a)done spawning and are below the redds feeding b)other species :browns and cutthroat that aren't spawning at this time.  It's very helpful to not stress the fish that are actively procreating as well as not walking all over their spawning grounds.  Simple- leave them be.  Your courtesy and thoughtfulness will go a long ways to making more trout!
 
Short leash nymphing with a non-beaded yet weighted PT pattern like the Sawyer PT with it's copper wrapped body tied in tandem with either midge pupa or very small baetis softhackle patterns has been very effective at blind nymphing up fish.  Sight fishing to specifically feeding fish may require changing the flies around a bit until that fish takes. Yet another effective "search and grab" means is to work small to medium sized streamers in olive, black, or sometimes white coloration through likely looking haunts.  You may be well rewarded....

Flies to fish:
Sawyer PT 16-20
Tung Zebra Midge, black or olive 18-20
Natural Scud 18
Soft Hackle Scud 18
Split back BWO Nymph 18-20
MO softhackle baetis18-20
Micro May olive, brown 18-20
Flossy san juan 14

Black, olive buggers
JJ Special
Sculpzilla

Call anytime 406-333-4401



]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4768 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4767 Recorded:  52 ° F Fishing: Good

Todays word: W-I-N-D!  Yeah, like that's just what you wanted to hear..... Spring in MT.  One day it's too hot, the next too cold and blowing like he**.  Not that we have much to do about controlling that!  Bear it out for the day and hope tomorrow's change is tolerable.

How to run the day: start deep in the morning hours and work progressively shallower into the afternoon as fish move up.  5-6 feet from first fly to Indy then moving that bobber down to 2-3 feet by afternoon.  On a good day, there will be a respectable hatch that will have the fish up on top.  Dry flies only or dry/dropper rigs will work just fine.  Look at the fish feeding and try to discern if they are on mayflies or midges.  Both are present now. The foam holes and back eddies have been the most productive areas during the hatch times from 1-5.  How bout streamers then?  Some days are good even in the bright conditions.  You just have to roll with your choices of what to huck.  Black, Olive, White are traditional--- and they still work!

Pay heed to the fact that the river is basically closed off to floating from Mayor's to 89 right now with the KPRK bridge work.  You DO NOT want to try floating through the bridges now!  FWP/State/TU/Anglers/Shops etc all working on an alternate so that we can fish from just below the bridges downstream and we will keep folks informed of how that progresses.


Feel free to stop by the shop anytime or give a call 406-333-4401 for any other information. 






]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4767 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4766 Recorded:  70 ° F Fishing: Good

Sun, sun, sun.  Making it a bit tough if you are a spring creek dry fly guy.  Why?  Hatches have been pretty well put off with the heatwave.  OK, really?  Well, yeah, 70 degrees for several days in a row IS a bit on the warm side for mid/late April.  Remember though, we can go back to snow just as quick.....  So what gives?  Our bet lies on finding the deeper holes in the creeks and, gulp, getting down there toward bottom....That is to be consistent.  Wanna fish dries only?  Have at it.  Just be ready to hunt for a long time through a lot of water for that opportunity.....

Still spawners in the creeks.  Seems to be a little past prime, but still lots of rainbows doing their thing.  And as we've been saying:
Do consider the Redds in the creeks.  You know, the places the rainbows are making the next generation of themselves that we would like to see get big?  There's really no need to fish to the fish that are actively spawning or are about to.  There are plenty of other trout in the spring creeks that are a)done spawning and are below the redds feeding b)other species :browns and cutthroat that aren't spawning at this time.  It's very helpful to not stress the fish that are actively procreating as well as not walking all over their spawning grounds.  Simple- leave them be.  Your courtesy and thoughtfulness will go a long ways to making more trout!
 
Short leash nymphing with a non-beaded yet weighted PT pattern like the Sawyer PT with it's copper wrapped body tied in tandem with either midge pupa or very small baetis softhackle patterns has been very effective at blind nymphing up fish.  Sight fishing to specifically feeding fish may require changing the flies around a bit until that fish takes. Yet another effective "search and grab" means is to work small to medium sized streamers in olive, black, or sometimes white coloration through likely looking haunts.  You may be well rewarded....

Flies to fish:
Sawyer PT 16-20
Tung Zebra Midge, black or olive 18-20
Natural Scud 18
Soft Hackle Scud 18
Split back BWO Nymph 18-20
MO softhackle baetis18-20
Micro May olive, brown 18-20
Flossy san juan 14

Black, olive buggers
JJ Special
Sculpzilla

Call anytime 406-333-4401



]]> Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4766 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4765 Recorded:  70 ° F Fishing: Good

Bright and sunny.  Warm temps have returned.  With it, you can bet that the snowpack that we added to by several feet last week and even earlier this week, is going to be coming out.  River levels are going to be rising and guess that the clear water is going to dirty up some.  How much remains to be seen.  On the fishing, as bright as it's been, AM hours before the sun is high overhead have been OK.  Through the PM until the sun level drops, it's been tough.  There hasn't been nearly as much bug hatch activity as we'd like to see.  Late PM has been picking back up decently.  All this may be short lived though as there's supposed to be a cold front (clouds, cooler weather) returning by late this weekend.

How to run the day: start deep in the morning hours and work progressively shallower into the afternoon as fish move up.  5-6 feet from first fly to Indy then moving that bobber down to 2-3 feet by afternoon.  On a good day, there will be a respectable hatch that will have the fish up on top.  Dry flies only or dry/dropper rigs will work just fine.  Look at the fish feeding and try to discern if they are on mayflies or midges.  Both are present now. The foam holes and back eddies have been the most productive areas during the hatch times from 1-5.  How bout streamers then?  Some days are good even in the bright conditions.  You just have to roll with your choices of what to huck.  Black, Olive, White are traditional--- and they still work!

Pay heed to the fact that the river is basically closed off to floating from Mayor's to 89 right now with the KPRK bridge work.  You DO NOT want to try floating through the bridges now!  FWP/State/TU/Anglers/Shops etc all working on an alternate so that we can fish from just below the bridges downstream and we will keep folks informed of how that progresses.


Feel free to stop by the shop anytime or give a call 406-333-4401 for any other information. 






]]> Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4765 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4764 Recorded:  50 ° F Fishing: Great

Lots of fish in the creeks right now.  The Rainbow spawn is full on still and likely about peak this week or next.  Numbers of fish are not just bows, but browns and cutts too.  Given the right weather situations, there are good hatches coming off on the creeks as well making for some fun fishing situations.  Finding an afternoon with low light, clouds, light or variable wind can bring on a very good hatch and fish will definitely be looking up.  Midges will be present here/there throughout parts of the day. Spring Baetis are a good bet as well.  We should start to see even a few caddis coing on relatively soon as well.

Do consider the Redds in the creeks.  You know, the places the rainbows are making the next generation of themselves that we would like to see get big?  There's really no need to fish to the fish that are actively spawning or are about to.  There are plenty of other trout in the spring creeks that are a)done spawning and are below the redds feeding b)other species :browns and cutthroat that aren't spawning at this time.  It's very helpful to not stress the fish that are actively procreating as well as not walking all over their spawning grounds.  Simple- leave them be.  Your courtesy and thoughtfulness will go a long ways to making more trout!
 
Short leash nymphing with a non-beaded yet weighted PT pattern like the Sawyer PT with it's copper wrapped body tied in tandem with either midge pupa or very small baetis softhackle patterns has been very effective at blind nymphing up fish.  Sight fishing to specifically feeding fish may require changing the flies around a bit until that fish takes. Yet another effective "search and grab" means is to work small to medium sized streamers in olive, black, or sometimes white coloration through likely looking haunts.  You may be well rewarded....

Flies to fish:
Sawyer PT 16-20
Tung Zebra Midge, black or olive 18-20
Natural Scud 18
Soft Hackle Scud 18
Split back BWO Nymph 18-20
MO softhackle baetis18-20
Micro May olive, brown 18-20
Flossy san juan 14

Black, olive buggers
JJ Special
Sculpzilla

Call anytime 406-333-4401



]]> Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4764 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4763 Recorded:  50 ° F Fishing: Great

Middle ground this weekend.  Not last week's snow, but not really all that warm and sunny either.  Nothing wrong with that!  AM hours still pretty tough.  Once lunchtime hits, however, you should start seeing a few more bugs.  Certianly this is increased with the cloud cover and lack of wind.  Broken clouds are good.  Would love to see a warmish day with full cloud cover though.  May not get it. 

How to run the day: start deep in the morning hours and work progressively shallower into the afternoon as fish move up.  5-6 feet from first fly to Indy then moving that bobber down to 2-3 feet by afternoon.  On a good day, there will be a respectable hatch that will have the fish up on top.  Dry flies only or dry/dropper rigs will work just fine.  Look at the fish feeding and try to discern if they are on mayflies or midges.  Both are present now. The foam holes and back eddies have been the most productive areas during the hatch times from 1-5.  How bout streamers then?  Some days are good even in the bright conditions.  You just have to roll with your choices of what to huck.  Black, Olive, White are traditional--- and they still work!

Pay heed to the fact that the river is basically closed off to floating from Mayor's to 89 right now with the KPRK bridge work.  You DO NOT want to try floating through the bridges now!  FWP/State/TU/Anglers/Shops etc all working on an alternate so that we can fish from just below the bridges downstream and we will keep folks informed of how that progresses.


Feel free to stop by the shop anytime or give a call 406-333-4401 for any other information. 






]]> Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4763 http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4762 Recorded:  35 ° F Fishing: Good

Reminder: Upper Madison from outlet of Quake Lake to MacAttee Bridge and again from Ennis boat ramp downstream to Ennis Lake are CLOSED to all fishing until the General Fishing Season opens May 18th!!

The open river parts from MacAtte down to Ennis ramp have been fishing well.  Windy days are definitely tougher.  So are the super bright sunny days.  However, less wind, clouds, all make for good days.  Blue wing olives reign for hatches right now.  However, there are skwala stoneflies present in the Upper Maddy and they can definitely have the fishes attention.   While moving, run heavily weighted stonefly nymphs coupled with smaller beadheads or swing your favorite streamer pattern and see what grabs.  Find the good runs, post up, and keep changing flies, weight till fish are putting a bend in the rods.

Olive Pat's rubberlegs
Yuk Bug (6-8)
RBGB (6-8)
Theo's Terminator (6-8)
San Juan (8-10) pink, red, wine, natural
Flashback PT (12-18)
BH Prince (12-18)
3Dollar Crystal Dip (14-18) red, olive, brown
Lightning Bug (14-18) pearl, pink, gold
Copper John (14-18) copper, red, black




]]> Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://montanaflyfishers.com/fishing-reports#4762