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

[schwerty]

Those of you in the Tetons will get a kick out of my saturday morning observations...

So, I'm sitting here in the radio studio, doin my saturday am radio program above Cuttys. Not really into it today so I've been spacing out looking out the window. Counted 14 drift boats and 2 rafts with fishing frames go by between 7:15ish and now, (8:40)!!! And, I obviously haven't been watching the whole time. I think the Hank might be a little crowded this weekend.

[RootSkier]

Clyde!

[schwerty]

Clyde!

Is that the Clyde Clint belongs to...that just turned 12?

[schwerty]

Runoff has hit the greater Yellowstone region. Things cleared up for a couple days over the weekend but yesterday and today should be about it for a while on the freestones.

The South Fork is apparently high but fishing...I have not been and prolly won't be going soon but that's what I heard third hand. I'll have an update on the HF in the next day or 2. Opener above, (not the Ranch), this wknd.

[72Twenty]

I'm in Sheridan for work right now and I just drove out to the Tongue River north of town. It is running high and about as clear as chocolate milk (as expected). I stopped and fished a bass pond for a couple hours but didn't catch anything (I was mostly just sight seeing).

[teleee]

Floated the Henry's Fork Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Salmon flies were defintiely the key, although we hauled in some nice browns on a black streamer early Thursday morning (we were on the river at 8:30).
Also some good PMD action using a bead head pheasent dropper. The salmon flies were definitely more present and the fish more keyed in on them in the evening versus the morning.

[schwerty]

Floated the Henry's Fork Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Salmon flies were defintiely the key, although we hauled in some nice browns on a black streamer early Thursday morning (we were on the river at 8:30).
Also some good PMD action using a bead head pheasent dropper. The salmon flies were definitely more present and the fish more keyed in on them in the evening versus the morning.

Did you float Warm River - Ashton? Glad you found fish!

[teleee]

Did you float Warm River - Ashton? Glad you found fish!

Yeah, Warm River to Ashton. A couple of other thoughts on the trip, the guys at Premiere Fly Shop in Ashton were great, very helpful and friendly, even let me use the backroom to change from work attire into fishing gear. The morning float was great got on the water early and did not run into one other boat. Although the hatch wasnt going off, but the streamers were for sure picking them up.

[adipose]

Conditions are more suited for skiing in the Wind Rivers @ 8700' than fishing. From Monday.

Usually fishable in mid-may.

[72Twenty]

Conditions are more suited for skiing in the Wind Rivers @ 8700' than fishing. From Monday.

Usually fishable in mid-may.

Nice! I will be driving over Togowatee on Monday with some friends up visiting from Texas. They will be excited to see some snow.

[schwerty]

I heard Brooks Lake on Tog still has a cap on...the texans will see some snow.

[beer30]

Some big fish action on a little lake up the gros ventre. Caught two 17 inchers and saw oh so many more. Excited even now to get back up there.

[schwerty]

There are some pigs up there.

[schwerty]

In case anyone is heading to the Teton region....

The snake in Jh is and will be brown and high for a while. They had the flows outta The dam down for a few days and brought them back up to a more seasonable 3500cfs or so. I sure hope they don't fuck the release up this year!!! Anyway, the Snake is not am option unless you fish the tailwater stretch below the dam. I've heard good reports from up there on the streamer and nymph fishing. 3500 is a little high for wading but there are spots. 1500-1800 is ideal for that stretch however you fish it.

The tribs in JH are mostly toast. Flows on lower flat creek are almost stable. I might go see if it's fishable tomorrow. Anyone been down there?

Since the flows were tapered off, the South fork has been fishing well. The warmer weather, (finally), is bringing the water temps up a bit. Fro
what I hear, still mostly underneath but good fishing. There are some spring creeks and back water over there the hold a lot of fish this time of year. Walk around away from the main river.

The Henrys has been doing well. Some bugs are beginning to show. Haven't heard any reports from the canyon but the rest of the river above the Fall I know is fishing. I will let Neckdeep take care of the rest...

Sorry to be vague but this update is all second hand info. I have not had anytime to fish. Hopefully that will change soon!

[neckdeep]

HF is on. Warm river is on. Robinson creek is on. Fall river has salmonflies but is still a bit high for wading in most areas. Teton was still too muddy yesterday; loads of yellow sallies on the water but no surface action and only one eat on the nymph.

[schwerty]

A handful a guys called today saying the big bugs are all over the Hoback. It's still high and a but silty but the fishing should be decent and getting better. Floating, if you're competent on the sticks, is the best way to fish it until the water drops. Small rafts and catarafts do the trick...not enough space in the whitewater for hard boats. If you live in the area and haven't fished the hatch there, you should. That river doesn't get enough credit for being so close. Too bad the hwy is right next to the river.

The Green has been up since last weekend but should be fishable.

I'll be out Saturday and then heading to canuckistan to sting some monster pike and smallies.....as soon as I leave, it will go off in the region...just like the snow, it always does.

[neckdeep]

The Fall is getting low enough to wade in some areas, 4ft vis. good fishing. Pmds, green drakes, golden stones and yellow sallies. Eats on # 6 golden stone nymph before hatch and on #10 parachute Adams with #16 bh fb pheasant tail trailer during hatch, noon to 4pm. Teton still too muddy for now, Bitch creek seeing kayak hatch.

[Pow4Brains]

Saturday the 3rd I'll be in Victor and got a buddy with a boat who is thinking either the South Fork or Henry's will be the best bet. What say you ol' wise ones?

[Lexi-Bell]

I thought this deserved a spot here:

http://www.hatchopedia.com/

User submitted fishing reports so take the info with a grain of salt.

Since I'm here, the Lower Madison is now officially over-run with a full-on bikini hatch, the Upper river has some salmonflies around town although it seems the fish haven't really started keying in on them. We fished higher up-river this weekend to avoid the big-bug fever crowd, but still managed to find an ass-load of guided trips and kinda tough fishing.

The yellowstone River is STILL high and dirty, although I suspect it will be fishing great very soon, and the Gallatin appears to be on the drop for good but water clarity is still day-to-day as a result of high altitude snow melt and rain.

As mentioned above, I'm leaving town for a week after the 4th of July so I'm sure that would be a terrific time to plan a fishing trip to SW Montana!

[teleee]

I hit the A section of the Green yesterday. I am happy to report the fish are FINALLY eating on top! Big bugs worked best on the upper slow sections fished with a dropper. Chernobyls, ants and beetles were our most productive bugs, dropping a zebra midge picked up quite a few fish.
Down low later in the day, caddis and pmds were going off and the fish were definitely keying in on them. Crowds we low but wind was high. Great day to be on the river.

[neckdeep]

Saturday the 3rd I'll be in Victor and got a buddy with a boat who is thinking either the South Fork or Henry's will be the best bet. What say you ol' wise ones?

SF is still mostly nymphing (or streamers on dark cloudy days). Got a report from the lower SF yesterday:Uncrowded and salmonflies were starting up but not many fish eating them on top, yet. Probably will be better by saturday, but loads of guided boats will shift over to the lower SF when the salmonfly action takes off. At least, there is room to spread out on the SF.

HF has loads of bugs and loads of anglers. Launch time is key. Expect boat traffic to be past the point of diminishing returns during "gentleman's hours" but not too bad between 5pm and sunset. A lot of fish get hazed down by pressure during prime hatch hours but magically reappear to feed on spinners and caddis when things clear out around 8pm. Water levels are low, so below Ashton fish (and anglers) will be concentrated in the holes and deeper runs.

The Teton is still high and muddy. Scratched out half a dozen nice fish scouting hatches in the canyon section yesterday but pretty much had to hit them in the mouth with a big black salmonfly nymph to get an eat. Not worthy yet...not too high or too cold, but just too muddy. Clarity dropped from 18" to 6" while I was fishing and the river is rising again. Plenty o' bugs around; it will explode as soon as the river clears to 2-3 ft vis.

Small freestones are good now when they are clearing. Got around 175 fish over the last four or five days. Nothing over 16 inches but I only saw two other guys fishing (at a distance) the whole time. For me, that beats the take a number and wait for your turn on the riffle shit any day.

[Pow4Brains]

Awesome, thanks for the update mang. Since I've never fished the SF I'm pretty sure we're going to head there. Looks like it's going to be a cool weekend so things should clear up a bit too.

The show doesn't start till' 7 so I was thinking about trying some stillwater before hand. Is there anything close by Victoria with a short hike and decent fishing? Or, is Bitchcreek up high toast too?

If you can make it out either day shoot me a PM.

[neckdeep]

Bitch creek is still high and cold as ice. I would not bother with it as it does not fish until the Teton has already taken off. Pine creek opened yesterday, I may go give it a shot today. If it is stillwater you want, you could try Ririe res. There's decent amounts of trout and smallmouth in there. Palisades res has had five solid water years so its a lot more productive than it used to be, or so I hear from my ice fishing friends.

Thanks for the invite, but I'll probably be wade fishing the Fall. I quit chasing salmonfly hatches on the HF and SF years ago. I spend all winter being a lazy lift served rider. I hiked three times last season. But, in the summertime, I rarely "fish inbounds". If there is a concrete boat ramp involved, you are still inbounds. I remember 10 years ago, I got my first boat thinking I'd be getting away from the crowds. Wrong! Most of my fishing days now begin with a substantial hike, the rougher the better. If I get my boats out ten times in a summer, I'll be suprised.

[schwerty]

Things in the Jackson Hole valley are starting to come around. The snake is flowing high but green at the Wilson bridge. I've been hearing that folks are catching fish but it's definitely not my pick now. Most of the larger cutts are in the creeks for a while. Apparently lots of bug activity on the river though.

Fished the lower Gros Ventre and lower Flat Creek yesterday. By the looks of the angler paths, LFC has been getting hit hard. Caddis hatch late afternoon was decent. Only the resident fish were looking up. Larger fish fro the snake were taken on caddis nymphs and a red copper John.

The Gros Ventre is still a little tough but definitely fishing. I briefly fished the Middle of the Park section. I've heard above lower slide is still high and a little too muddy. Maybe fishing up there by the weekend though??? Might even be good to go now...my info was coming in on Monday. The Park section was your typical attractor-dropper deal with 8-10" cutts eating mostly sub-surface.

The bug bugs are over on the Hoback. There should be some goldens showing their faces soon. Tough wading still. Great floating if you are good on the sticks and have a small raft.

The Green has been picking up all week. I'll be there Sunday and will have more info for those thinking about that one next week.

[neckdeep]

Fish are finally taking dries on the upper Teton but it is still a bit too cloudy for great fishing. Bitch creek is coming into shape, as well. The canyon water is clearer than the valley. Still doing much better with a golden stone nymph than the dry but some nice fish have been blowing up the dry when its skated in the right places. A friend hooked a 22-23 inch cutt in the canyon. We spotted it sitting under a patch of foam in a 3ft deep side pocket in some rapids and it sucked down a golden chubby chernobyl on the second cast. Definitely top 3 all time biggest trout I have ever seen in 12 years of fishing down there; looked like a small log suspended in the eddy. Poor guy had it on for 5 seconds when his dropper nymph snagged on a little stick in the pocket and the pig calmly swam right off the barbless dry before the battle really got started. D'oh!!!!!!!! Exactly why I won't fish tandem rigs in rapids or around weeds if there is a chance for truly big fish on the dry.