2010 Northern Rockies Fishing Conditions, (MT,ID,WY...)

[Lone Star]

Sometimes you can find a pod of 5-10 big cutties lazily finning in slack water along weedbeds. They will slurp up a bwo emerger or a small natural colored streamer but most of them will refuse and even spook at the sight of a big dry. Look for fish to be (a) in fairly slow water(usually featuring a foam line), (b) adjacent to deeper refuge water (c) below a shallow flat or riffle that produces bwos. You need all three features to find a big school of feeding cutties. I got around 30 out of the half dozen pods I worked

ran into the same sort of behavior on the Snake a couple days ago. Pods of them feeding in the rocks just adjacent to deep water. hard to even tell when they were taking my fly because they looked like they were more or less vacuuming the surface with their mouths open. got refusals from most ofthe bigger fish but tons of looks and takes even after a half a dozen drifts over the same spot.

followed that day up with some decent fish on Confidence Creek yesterday on hoppers!!!! but they were a lot spookier than the hopper-kinda days of mid September.

[neckdeep]

More of same but lots more short strikes and follows from fish yesterday... maybe a 1 in 2 hookup to strike rate and a 1 in 4 hookup to follow rate...bigger fish definitely behaving in a more territorial than hungry manner but still got around twenty 12-16 inchers on the streamer. Saw the big ones, but none would do more than tail nip. Could be because I was fishing an area of the canyon still being actively float fished and guided. Its been so calm that the surface has been like glass and this has definitely been some of the best sight fishing I've ever done with a streamer. Of course, the fish have no problem seeing me as well so floro tippet, long leader and long casts are working best.

[Lone Star]

hit up the snake by blacktail butte today, tonnnnnnssss of bwos on the spring creek there and the big guys were feeding on the top like crazy. usually they spook after the first non-perfect cast but they weren't so skittish today. the downside is we tossed a good number of bugs at them and finally decided that it was a success if they moved a half a foot before changing their mind. on the river itself, less bugs but a decent amount of surface action, and less discreet fish. got some great tugs on a dark, heavy streamer to end the day.

the snow's on its way, looks like we could get a pretty fast transition to winter up high!

[neckdeep]

Try using a flymph presentation when the fish are being tough during a bwo hatch. Sometimes the fish are seeing lots of nymphs swimming below the surface film and are concentrating their feeding on the swimmers. It looks like surface feeding on duns because many emergers are being grabbed right on the underside of the film. If you are seeing dorsal rise forms in the mix, its a clue that many of those rising fish and others you can't see are mostly eating the swimmers.

Get directly above your target fish. I take a bwo emerger pattern like a snowshoe, halfback or RS2 and hang it down wet into the school of risers without using floatant and just give it tiny 1-2 inch tugs that mimic the darting kick of a bwo nymph. I can often get more fish stripping the floating nymph with drag than with a good dead drift on the top with a dry. Wet fly swing works too but the hangdown twitch while slowly moving the rod tip side to side drives 'em crazy. Just fish it as if it were a #20 streamer that only moves 2 inches per kick. These days so much emphasis is put on dead drifting nymphs under a big dry or an indicator that it is the classic wet fly presentation techniques that show the fish something different (without a bobber or foam fly hanging over your fly to tip off wary, end of season fish.) Last week, I got two fat 14-15 inch bows off the far bank with the swimming nymph. Both trout ignored good dead drifts with the dry snowshoe so I pinched some water into the fly and tossed it across the stream two feet above them. Both fish took the swimming nymph on the first pass and the larger of the two actually threw a wake as it zoomed two feet off the bank to hit the fly swinging away. So much for the perfect mend and dead drift...

[schwerty]

LS- Vert solid advice from ND.

Today on the Snake was off the hook, until the damn sun came out around 4:15. I usually avoid, (aside from some guide trips and booze-cruise/fishing trips), until mid September. This year I waited till today, (10/23). FINALLY, some fuckin clouds in the area!

Just a hair to breezy for a blanket bwo hatch but most cutts were looking....just not actively feeding. Very fun fishing. It was sorta a combo of searching and matching. Search then pinpoint.

Prof - Borrow my bike - 2+ Miles down from the Wilson bridge was lotsa fun. 17"ish cutt and a football, (14-15") brown plus numerous 12-15 inch fat fall cutts. I rode a while but walked easily close to a mile in either direction and inly saw one local with her dog...respectful of the fishin'.

I'll be on Lewis and The Channel if anyone else is on Monday. 7am---dark.

[JeffreyJim]

So...what's the call when there is snow on the ground/in the air and it gets colder like now? I want to get out for an hour after work the coming days and see what I can produce but usually put the gear away once the temps get this cold. Thoughts?

Likely fishing flat creek and the snake near the bridge...

[schwerty]

Both should be good. The wind won't help much though. You won't see a ton of bwo's out but fishing underneath will bring some fish in. I'd hit the Snake and concentrate your efforts in the winter holes.

[JeffreyJim]

Thanks---what's the go to for fishing underneath right now? And should I be getting it deep? (assuming so)

[schwerty]

Two strategies:

1. Good ole snake attractor nymphs- pheasant tails, princes, copper johns even small rubber legs. Smaller is better.

2. Lead with an rs2 or another small midgy pattern. Serendipities etc... Unless it's really nasty out, try without weight. Follow with any standard blue wing nymph pattern.

Try calm water and very depths. Take some weight along but don't count out fish eating within a few inches of the surface when the wind and snow dies down.

[JeffreyJim]

Two strategies:

1. Good ole snake attractor nymphs- pheasant tails, princes, copper johns even small rubber legs. Smaller is better.

2. Lead with an rs2 or another small midgy pattern. Serendipities etc... Unless it's really nasty out, try without weight. Follow with any standard blue wing nymph pattern.

Try calm water and very depths. Take some weight along but don't count out fish eating within a few inches of the surface when the wind and snow dies down.

Thanks!!! Now I just need a bit more daylight and I'll be happy!

[NippleHighPow]

Schwerty what are you getting into this week end fishing wise? I'm assuming bringing the kiddo Trick or Treatin' Sunday but want to try to fish Saturday? I'll PM you later on. Jeff I guess you are invited too

[schwerty]

Schwerty what are you getting into this week end fishing wise? I'm assuming bringing the kiddo Trick or Treatin' Sunday but want to try to fish Saturday? I'll PM you later on. Jeff I guess you are invited too

I better double check but I think trick-or-treat is Sat???? I'd be into fishing a bit this weekend. Might be worth floating the South Fork . I don't have the time to head up to Jellystone unfortunately. Wading on the Snake could be good too.

[NippleHighPow]

I'd be into a float one of the days for sure or wading around. I would just like to fish somewhere. We'll talk.

[Professor]

Since the thread title includes MT, ID, and WY I will give a little rundown from each during the last week I was travelling:

MT: Fished the Madison between the lakes in the AM on Saturday. Wow, what great water and great scenery. Too bad the only fish that seemed to want to hit a streamer wasnt more than 6 or 7 inches. The guy I was fishing with put one good fish in the net, but nothing too exciting. I should have known better than to fish with him though since earlier that week he got into a bunch of big cutts on the Yellowstone in the Park, including a 4.5lb pig that in the pics was just amazing. Fish like that tend to slow down your catch rate for a while.

Also fished around the Park boundary and got into some fish and had some good tugs, but the one big fish I hooked shook me after a couple of minutes. Really the only big fish I saw all week.

ID: Didnt actually fish ID, but reports said the Henrys was fishing good before this weather, but those reports were from down lower aroud Afton. Heard the water was at great levels in the Box, but fishing was slow.

WY: Spent the last three days in WY. Fished Flat Creek on Monday. The good news there.... I was the only one out there. Maybe cuz I was the only one stupid enough to try and fish it with gusty winds and below freezing temps. No fish caught and didnt see a single bug, but still one of my favorite waters anywhere. Also interesting, the Elk herd must be way back there. Didnt see any on the refuge the whole time we were there.

Spent some time on the Snake just wading and got into a ton of fish on top, too bad most of them were whities. But did see a few good cutts feeding when the hatch first came off. Still dont know what was coming off since it was snowing so hard that I was fishing blind. But whatever was hatching, the fish seemed to like BWO emergers the best.

Bottom line, I left all the big fish in there for someone else to catch. Also realized that no matter how hard you try, it is difficult to turn a family trip into a good fishing adventure. Oh well, fishing in UT should finally be turning and streamers should be working well. Also going to try and hit the Green below Fontanelle before winter. Hoped to hit it on the way home yesterday, but it was so damn cold that I just couldnt bring myself to add two hours to my drive.

End of blog

[Professor]

Quick Utah Update: Yesterday tons of fish up, including some good sized fish that should be getting busy with each other, not eating BWOs and Caddis flies. Oh well, sooner or later the streamer season will start. Got to fish some private water on the Weeb last week and decent success, but streamers were still a bit slow for end of October. Might actually have to go fish some dry flies this week, since there are still some hoppers around

[shreddacord]

Fall Browns in all their glory

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They have jumped on their reds on the upper Madison. Leave em be and catch those still staging and the bows.

Epic fall browns from the confluence of the Henry's Fork and the beaverhead. Ok, not the Beaverhead but close to.....over the fence, up the riverbed, through some log jams and voilla browns thinking less about the lake and more about well u know.

ok mags, fan me and pass it forward please. So when I beg Moonlight Basin for a pass I can tell em I have more fans then them and did it for about...oh... $600,000,000 fewer dollars. Starving artist begging for a ski pass so I can ride this winter!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fish-E...y/360786338758

Blatant plug but u will enjoy.

[neckdeep]

Well, the ground seems to have frozen up and the snow is sticking this time, nothing but subzero nights and cloudy, snowy days in the forecast...guess that's it for the 2010 fishing season. I don't do ice in the guides. At least there was plenty of action right up till the end. The meadows got slow towards the end but Teton Canyon had an amazing amount of fish descending from the tribs to take up winter habitat in the canyon's big pools. Last week we could find numerous pods of cutts (probably come down from Bitch creek) milling around wherever they could find some midges or the last few bwos. Seems like Bitch creek's fish are doing very well now that the drought is five years past. Many, many 14-16 inch cutts magically appeared in the lower narrows over the last month. Even the easy access points had redonkulous numbers of fish cruising around in the pools. It has been a while since I was torn between the lure of such easy fishing and awesome early season powder.

[schwerty]

Fishing has slowed on the snake too. Not stopped but it's a different game now. The South Fork browns were late in getting riled up but it looks like they are getting frisky, with lots of cutts and bows interested in eating below.

[neckdeep]

Targhee just got another 10 inches so its game time up there. The resort opened with less snow the past two seasons...I've put away my fishing gear.


time to

[schwerty]

Targhee just got another 10 inches so its game time up there. The resort opened with less snow the past two seasons...I've put away my fishing gear.


time to

I hear it's been good up there! Pretty stoked to get some turns in myself but I just can't seem to clean my lines and waders and hang up the fishin gear. One more day, (tomorrow), will do me right. If we don't get more snow over the turkey day time frame, a bonus day might be in order. Then I'll try and forget about it 'till february. Hopefully it snows a lot in Dec and Jan!

[schwerty]

I got in what might be my last day for 2010 yesterday. The South Fork is fishing really well for browns and smaller cutts. We passed up all the cutts, bows and whities feeding in the slow water and just fished for the big boys and girls with egg patterns. Good day. Big fish. colder than shit. No pics...fingers were way to fucking cold to mess with the camera.

Basic egg technique works. Bottom bounce through the main beds, (there aren't very many). Weight is required. Some bows are stacked up below eating eggs now.

'Till next season, good fishing! (Unless I go over to Adipose and WySplits' neighborhood that'll be all for me.)