The river is starting to clear up slowly but there is still mud in the system. This morning we had about 1.5 feet of visibility coming through Gardiner, MT. We had eyes in the park yesterday evening and still had mud coming out of the Lamar. Although it had cleared up a lot since that morning. We expect the river to remain off color for probably another day or so. There were two clear spots in between plugs, one between Mallards Rest and the Yellowstone Edge RV Park yesterday evening, and one between Brogan’s Landing and Yankee Jim this morning. We are not exactly sure where those are at this time but are something to look into. The Lamar River is just about back to its normal flow as of late and should be clear soon. There is currently rain in the forecast in the park this afternoon into the evening so keep your eyes on that graph!
Aside from the off color river, the Yellowstone has been fishing really well. Terrestrial season is in full swing so make sure you have those bugs we’re always ready to fish in your gear bag. We are seeing a ton of hoppers on the banks and fish are really starting to key into them. Beetles and ants are starting to fish well too. Trailing an ant behind a larger hopper has enticed some really fun eats! Patterns we recommend fishing include, #14-08 Morrish Foam Hopper, #12-08 Chernobyl Hopper, #14-08 Bloom’s Paracricket, #16-14 Galloup’s Ant Acid, #12-10 Fat Albert, and #18-14 Bloom’s Flying Parachute Ant. Come by the shop to restock your boxes!
Additionally, we are seeing plenty of Golden Stonefly shucks along the rocks on the river bank. #12-08 Water Walkers(black/red, black/purple and brown), #12-08 Circus Peanuts, and Chubby Chernobyl’s have been getting quality fish to rise and eat a fly. Similarly, #10 Pat’s Rubber Legs fished subsurface have been moving fish as well.
That is the general gist of the river at the moment. Continue to check in with us regarding hatches, pattern recommendations, floats, and river reports. As always, there are more and more folks on the river everyday, lets all do our part in cleaning up after ourselves, respecting private land owners properties and each other, and making sure that fish are handled correctly and make it safely back into the river. Have a great time out there everybody and we look forward to seeing you in the shop!