People ask, “Why can you fish the Chubby Chernobyl a majority of the summer and have success on it?” Our answer is this picture right here. Long after the Goldens, Salmon flies, and Sallies are gone, this guy (yes this is a male, although he is missing his rear end) appear at the end of July to give us good dry fly action on big Stone fly imitations. The Nocturnal Stone (Claassenia Sabulosa) is a species of Golden Stone that not only is big in size but can also get big fish to come eat. As the name states, this Stone fly is most active at night but you will find isolated adults here and there on the river. The best indication that these bugs are around are the nymph shucks spotted along the rocks. You will notice that the male’s wings are very small. The males are flightless and only “skate” or “skidder” across the water’s surface. Right now this is a great tactic to try out and you may be surprised at the reaction you get from the fish.
Saying that, the fishing on the Yellowstone has its good days and its not so good days. It seems the fishing report is different every day. Terrestrial fishing has not been great but you will get the occasional fish to come up for a hopper, ant, or beetle. Try throwing the Spruce Moth this week (lighter colored elk hair caddis or an actual spruce moth pattern). This is another terrestrial that can be overlooked. Today looking out from the shop we see cloudy skies and rain. This is dry fly weather but more along the lines of PED’s, Epeorus, Drakes, and Caddis. The Nocturnal Stone is a great fly to fish wherever you see the shucks on the rocks. I would think the streamer bite might be on today as well with this weather. The water temp at Livingston is reading 63 degrees.
The Spring Creeks are fishing well right now as we start to see more western Sulfurs then PMD’s. We have heard that bug action is better in the afternoon and evening. Midges, scuds, and small terrestrials will still be good imitations as we get further into August.
Drop us a line here at the shop for the latest and greatest on the river. 406-333-4401. Now get fishing!