Runoff is officially in full force. Water clarity on the Yellowstone and most tributaries is very minimal. Hopefully there are no other pauses in the snow melt so that the Yellowstone River will be fishable by early July. The weather has been consistently sunny and warm, with some...
As the saying goes, "if you don't like the weather in Montana, wait five minutes." The temps have dropped dramatically and there has been consistent precipitation the past few days. There has been lots of evening showers, in addition to light snow in the mountains. The drop in temperature has...
Early May in Montana typically means two things; snow melt and Mother's Day Caddis. Caddis hatches have been increasing in intensity but have been later in the day to evening rather than the classic mid afternoon. Fish have been very willing to take Caddis dry flies but you'd best be sticking...
The snow is starting to melt and the river is beginning to rise here in Paradise Valley. However, there's still a handful of days we think that you'll be able to get on the Yellowstone before it totally goes out. The Yellowstone continues to get March brown and Blue winged olives hatching in the...
Sometimes you catch the most interesting things while floating the river. Today was no exception. Though as April Fool's day goes, perhaps this one had a double message. I'm pretty superstitious and belief in the No Bananas In the Boat gig is for real. April Fools Day had been proving to be...
This last week we have experienced a considerable flush of all the copious amounts of low elevation snow. And its gone in a hurry! Middle 50 degrees and not a hard freeze at night has ushered in a big time thaw. Partly good, but also highly destructive in places! Middle valley areas were flooding...
Back on the water. It's been a long month! The entire month of February was one long arse below zero, snow filled, horrid month of weather. Perhaps one of the hardest winter months in recent memory! We maxed out at a whopping NEGATIVE 38 degrees the first weekend in March. In like a Lion...
Middle winter check-in. It's cold! Not much else can be said, really. Snow is piling up and we're experiencing the coldest weather of the winter so far. Zero, zilch, nada, why would you want to go fishing around here right now about sums up the scene. However, the snowpack for next summer's...
Warming weather the past couple days made a quick change to the river conditions. A majority of the lower elevation "valley" snow melted in a hurry and results are pretty evident that the river is up significantly and off color. In a way this could be a good thing though. Moderating temps in the...
River conditions looking good this weekend. It's a Baetis kind of day! Low hanging clouds and doesn't look to warm up all that much. High 40s but the wind isn't supposed be cranked up. We've seen plenty of that as of late. Look for midges to be the first bugs you'll see. Fish might get on them...
It's now April and Yellowstone River fishing has been pretty darn good lately. There's been some fish on the deep nymph rigs- slow and offspeed water with 5-7feet of depth. And there's been some fish on streamers. I like the medium sized ones. Not the ones as big as your cousin's springer...
Nice weather break this week has turned into good fishing opportunities! A few guides have been finding themselves on the oars again with positive results. Dodging winter weather fronts has been an ongoing issue. One that may actually stick around for a little bit yet. Maybe. Maybe not. We'll...
It's been cold here. Real cold. Again. Late February is getting long in the tooth and we're all getting a little cooped up. Doesn't look like fishing the river is really an option right now. In fact, up and down the valley, a lot of the boat ramps are still very much iced up and unusable. ...
How did August sneak up so fast? Seems like everything around here has been fishing well and in many cases, just keep getting better. Fish are looking up which is nice. Been hearing more and more about hopper bite and terrestrial patterns being the goods. What's your favorite grasshopper...
Good fishing on the Yellowstone River. Flows are still a fair bit above what they have been in the past couple years this late into July. But- conditions are setting up for a really positive late July through September time period. We are definitely excited about the prospects for the remainder...
Yellowstone River is starting to shape up pretty decently. Kaitlyn here found herself a dandy of a brown floating the upper valley yesterday. You can see by her smile that she's digging fly fishing! Is it Rockem-Sockem fishing out there? Not really. Just being honest. But, folks are...
What's the Yellowstone looking like? Take a look yourself. Here's a pick from the Mill Creek bridge. Yeah, if the river doesn't head back into higher CFS range again tomorrow or Tuesday from the high 80 degree temps we are going to get, things could be turning the corner here real quick! It's...
As is so often the case with the Mother's Day caddis, there's a fine line between when the caddis really pop and the hatch is in full force and the onset of runoff. Pretty hard to hold back 130% snowpack when the days are hitting 80 degrees. We're not wholly down and out in the area. Yes, the...
Folks been asking. Here's seeing! Yes, that's Emigrant peak in the background. Isn't it looking cool with all that snow? Oh- you want to know about the caddis. Well, they're right here. And down valley all the way to and below Livingston. Today it hit 70 degrees by the thermometer outside the...
Oh what a day! The clouds finally rolled back and look what's there..... With this kind of a sunny day and warming up a bit, there's a chance that we might be seeing some caddis in the next week. Reports have been coming in that east of Livingston has shown a few caddis here and there. March...
Good fishing was had this past weekend. River conditions are still considerably elevated in flows from what one would typically expect for late April, but clarity is good and improving each day. It's still green and there's a good 2 feet of viz when looking at the river off the banks a little bit...
Happy Monday after Easter. We're continuing to see ourselves in a bit of the Yo-Yo Stone syndrome. Late last week, daytime temps hit 75 degrees. Felt good to be in flip flops for the day, but it didn't do much for keeping the river in shape. Friday the river came up 750...
Top o' the week to you! Certainly looks a bit more like early-mid April than a few days ago. By that I mean the new snow in the valley as well as up in the High Country. Seems to keep piling up in those higher elevations. Snow Water Equivalency (SWE) still...
Looking at our river this morning, the recent few warmer days have had an effect. Low elevation snow in and around the area including up to the lower Lamar basin have been running into the river. While we're not seeing a big mud situation, the Stone certainly has...
Taking a look at the Yellowstone down by Springdale, on outward appearance the river looks pretty sweet doesn't it? As we've all heard before, looks can be deceiving... In actuality, the river pretty much from top to bottom right now has anywhere from about 2 feet of viz...
Getting around the valley a bit today, we've been keeping an eye on what's usable as far as boat ramps. And what's not. It's early, but there's been folks asking. So, here's a quick rundown on where you can and where you CAN'T put-in or take out your...
Eerie. That one word describes what it's like along the banks of the Yellowstone River right now. There's no one. Empty river, empty fishing access sites. Nothing. In places where on a typical August day there would be 10 or more trucks with trailers...
In case you have not already heard or read about it, we are writing to let you know firsthand about the unfortunate and unprecedented events on the Yellowstone River.Last week we began to receive phone calls asking us about why there were dead whitefish showing up...
Mid August is here and with it the Dog Days of Summer. Or so it seems in a lot of places. I won't be one to upstage how the Yellowstone has been fishing. Frankly, it's been getting pretty tough out there. Water levels are low without a doubt. Cooler weather...
@Mill Crk @ Emigrant Bridge Strong storms moving through earlier in the week had the fortunate effect of much liked precipitation. Soak the garden, put snow on the mountain tops kind of precipitation and cooler weather. As we reported earlier, the...
Today seems to be a bit of a "pull back" sort of day. After how busy the past 3 weeks have been and how well the Yellowstone has fished overall (pretty much WOW), it only seems natural that an event such as an all day rain storm, 50 degrees, and snow in the high country might have a...
It has been a great week over here in Paradise Valley. A ton of bug activity has kept fish on the rise and the bite has been outstanding. The Salmon Flies seem to be mostly on the upper stretches of the Yellowstone near Gardiner and above. You will see the occasional adult fluttering lower....
Yes, it's been a bit busy around here. If you haven't heard, the annual Salmonfly hatch is kicking off on several locations in SW Montana. The Yellowstone River being one of them. As such, the place is hopping. We're a bit ahead of schedule, but that...
The weather. Always something that confounds us anglers. Not very often is it "just right". Instead it's too sunny and one can blame a lack of a "bite" on the premise that the big orange orb in the sky has fish staying in the depths. Or the case may be that it's...
There's snow in them mountains! Yesterday reports on the Yellowstone were mixed. We heard of very good fishing above Yankee Jim Canyon and in the upper valley. Mid and low valley were not so great. Fish were being taken on mostly mayfly patterns. BWO's, and Drakes. This was due to the cooler...
