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 locked up a lot the snow in the mountains, causing the Yellowstone River’s flows to drop and provide better water clarity. For the first time in years, there should be a window to fish the Yellowstone in mid-May. However, this will likely cause runoff to be delayed even further. One a different note, Yellowstone National Park fishing season is set to open on Saturday. The Firehole River, Gibbon and Madison River inside the park are the spots to consider. There have been Blue winged olives (BWOs) as well as a few caddis and even some PMD hatches on the Firehole and anglers will find that imitative dry patterns of these sorts to be the “Go-to” for success on the surface. Anglers are also going to find success nymphing and swinging wet flies subsurface.
Recommended patterns: Razor Caddis, white (#16-18), Pat’s Rubber legs (#6-10), Soft Hackle PMD (#16), Morrish’s Iron Sally (#16-18), Day’s Sculpzilla, black (#4-8)