Fishing Report

The Yellowstone River and pretty much most everything else in the area have gone into runoff mode the past week, but there’s still good fishing opportunities. Guides have been busy with a handful of private lakes we turn to from now through early July. The Paradise Valley Spring Creeks are also a great option. And last but not least, the Missouri River becomes a collection of guides and outfitters from all over the western half of MT for the next 6weeks to 2 months as the MO fishes right through the early summer without missing a beat. Being a tailwater […]

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 caddis frolicking was very short lived, but soooo good while it lasted. It’s on to re-focusing our spring creek angling skills, area lakes or making a run to a little farther locations. It’s a couple weeks out, but we are already looking […]

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 fly shop. That’d explain why things are blowing up with the caddis. Is it going to last? Not as long as we’d like. This spring caddis thing is one that will drive you crazy trying to guess when and where, but one thing is sure, when it hits […]

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 Browns are coming strong now too even on days like this. Big parachute Adams, Purple Haze and the like are getting eaten. Soft hackle PTs, Copper Bob Softy’s, Hare’s Ears, and Dirty Birds are great searching nymph patterns is you must. Coffee Sparkle […]

Late April on the spring creeks and fishing has been consistently fun! There are still a number of spawning fish in all 3 spring creeks. On Depuy’s, there’s a closed section on both the lower creek by Eva’s hut as well as in Betty’s riffle on the upper creek. Both locations are marked with orange cones and a sign explaining that the entire area’s shallow gravel bar is essentially a huge spawning bed and to please not walk out there, disturbing the spawning fish. or to fish over these fish. It’s amazing, but every day there’s someone who chooses to […]

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. Fish are active from mid morning through the afternoons. The cool, wet, and cloudy weather continues with a day or two of broken sun here and there. Picture here shows a heck of a nice day- one of the very few we’ve had as of late. […]

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 cfs plus. By Sat the river was pretty well shot even though the weather had returned to a more seasonable mid 50s and freezing at night. Fast forward to today, things are getting back to what they should be. Water levels are still a fair bit above what […]

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 holding steady at almost 120% of historic norm for right now… Could be a later start to the post runoff summer season around these parts. What might be expected should you choose to get after it today? Water’s been on the drop for a day now. That’s the good […]

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 color. It’s an earthy olive tint. Visability is about 16-18″ when looking at the rocks out off the bank. Certainly seen worse, but from what we have had, would be nice to go back to that. While the color hangs around- we need a couple nights in a row of below freezing […]

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 to less than a foot depending on where you are. This water east of Livingston has some of the better viz at that 2-foot mark, but all the water has that “earthy olive” tint from the Lamar. There’s no getting around the fact that a week ago it was pushing middle 60s […]