Caddis have arrived

Caddis have arrived on the Yellowstone and Lower Madison. Cooler weather will put an end to the bump in flows and once the weather slowly warms expect some amazing dry fly fishing in early May. Time to call in sick and get out on the rivers because it is going to be really good very soon!!!

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Montana Spring Fly Fishing Update

The wife and kids were gone all last weekend so I took the opportunity to get out on the water for a few days with some of our guides. On Friday we hit the Ruby River and had a blast fishing over a morning midge hatch and an afternoon baetis hatch. The water is still very low, no irrigation calls yet. At 36cfs the Ruby is similar to a spring creek. We were able to spend most of the day sight fishing to browns and bows in the 15-20" class. Once the baetis hatch started the entire river turned on and caught fish both on dries and emmergers.

On Saturday we floated Bear Trap Canyon with three rafts. The water was still a bit green from the sediment in the lake that was kicked up by some windy days. The fishing was slow but steady. It should get much better once the clarity improves...Either way it was a great feeling to be back in Bear Trap Canyon for the first time in 2010.

On Sunday we scouted out a new put in on the Yellowstone. We put it right on the YNP boundary in the town of Gardner. The catch is the only access is a 200 yard long trail to the river so we used two elk carts to roll the rafts down. A lot of hard work but the payoff is 3 miles of untouched water. The water had bumped up a bit from warm weather so the fishing was off, I can't wait to get back in there under productive conditions...it should be a late summer gem for dry fly fishing to trout that are still dumber than a box of rocks!!!

fly fishing the baetis hatch in Montana

Baetis are a genus of mayfly that hatch in the spring and the fall. These small insects have olive-bodies and gray wings. They are frequently referred to as "blue winged olives", "BWOs" and "olives". There are multiple species baetis, but they all look similar to the non-entemologist. In Montana baetis hatch from March-May and from late Septmber-November. The hatch is often 20-50 times more prolific on cloudy, rainy, snowy days.

On sunny days, baetis are still very imortant. Dry fly fishing can be found in back eddies that concentrate cripples. The best fishing will be subsurface fishing nymphs. Pick your favorite top fly but hang a baetis nymph or emerger 18" as the trailer. Many people don't realize that emergers actually work great when below some split shot and fished deep. The baetis usually start emerging in the very late morning and continue until late in the afternoon. This coincides with the best fishing of a spring or late fall day, even if you are throwing streamers. The presence of the insects simply gets trout thinking food!

On cloudy days it is time to grab the dry fly rod and target rising trout. Rainbows will typically pod into groups...typically in size classes while browns will be solitary. Pay close attention to the rise forms...if fish are porpoising or you can see their backs, they are probably eating emergers or cripples just below the surface. If you see bubbles or fish snouts they are eating the duns on the surface that are drying their wings. A great strategy is to target both by fishing a small dry like a parachute, thorax or cripple dry on top with an emerger fished just 12" behind tied to the bend of the hook. CDC emergers are a great choice for the second fly...no need to grease them.