Author: Steve Price

After getting 4-6 inches of snow two nights ago and yesterday morning, Gunnar took Chris 
and Bill out for an adventure. Bill is Chris’ Father at 82 years old and in great shape: the pair are from Florida and didn’t know what was in store for them! Hello to Winter and snow which had not been seen by them for many years, being from Florida. Everyone bundled up to stay warm. After getting stuck in one of the boat launches while just inspecting the scene, then getting pulled out by Rod and Pam King, our friends and owners of the Bozeman Angler (Thank you Rod!!) and just about freezing, they decided they would be troopers and still go brave the cold cold morning. It actually ended up a really nice day in the middle of the afternoon. With Gunnar being the Stellar guide that he is, they were into fish soon after the snow shovels!

On day two, Jim had better snow conditions and a tad warmer weather to help Bill and Chris
get into some fish. On both days, it was either the double nymph rig or streamers and nymphs including the Sculpzilla in Black, Copper Zonker, The Mini-Loop Sculpin, and a variety of nymphs using Delektable Lil’ Spankers in PT and Silver and similar patterns with soft hackle or purple worked. Both days proved to be quite the adventure for father and son and the guides.

DanG and Nancy

These past few days the streamer/nymph bite was on! Blue Wing Olive nymphs, Mahogany nymphs, Prince nymphs and cold temps dominated both days. Smaller streamers like the Mini Loop (natural size 6), Sheila #4, the Copper Zonker, Sculpzilla, Delektable Screamers, The Big Gulps Natural and Olive and the Bow River

    Bugger (black size 6 er 8) caught and brought fish to the nymphs. Some of the larger stonefly nymphs that have been working are the Trout Retriever Chocolate Stone, the Delektable Mega Prince and other patterns like the Pat’s  Rubberlegs all in size 8 for the most part. The weather was a pre -winter scare and was cold, but the fishing was choice, the guys knew how to fish and did really well!! The smiling faces tell how it really went! There were so many beautiful fish that we had to put almost all of them up, so enjoy the photos and as always, Happy Fishing!!!  DanG

The Beartooth crew has taken advantage of the nasty weather this past week with the streamers. We have had good reports and some bad reports from people coming in the shop with feedback on how the streamer bite has been. Fact is they are moving and they are coloring up real nice. These big boys took big meat by way of sneaking up river in the shallow water (best in the morning and evening). When you are out there, don’t pass up any good looking water that cuts under the bank, or any structure without hitting it first. The fish have been used to the pressure all season and have found some pretty sneaky places to hide! They have been laying in the skinny, low water just chillin’ by the banks, and if you are quiet and stealthy, you may be rewarded well! The full overcast days have been the best for us, but they still ate in the middle of a sun-storm (my new word for bluebird sunny day). The streamers we were using are a bit heavier and not for the weak of arm, and we have been throwing them ALL day, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t get anything after an hour or more, just keep on throw’n ’em, keep moving and cover lots of water. We do not recommend this technique for the less experienced fishermen because it requires experienced casting, the flies are heavy, and you could hook yourself. Ouch! If you miss a fish or accidentally burn one with a bad cast, just keep moving, there are plenty of fish in the river. And if you just plain can’t get ’em, swing on in the shop here and we will try ta help you and maybe give you our dirty little streamer throw’n secrets. That’s the streamer report from us here at the Tooth! Happy Fishing!!!

DanG

Beyond being an extremely windy day, we did boat a nice rainbow on the black Girdle Bug size 8. The guys worked really hard! It does tend to be quite a challenge on the Madison when the wind picks up. When I say it was blowing, I mean it was about 30-40 mph wind gusts all day! Good job boys!

Marty

Today was a great day on the water. It really didn’t start picking up at all until about 11am, but when it turned on, it really turned on! The boys had a great day of catching. When one wasn’t catching fish, the other was! We got some pictures, but they wanted to quit taking pictures and just keep catching. The best combo was the Girdle Bug size 8 and the size 16 Olive Micro Mayfly. We floated from Storey Ditch to 8 Mile Ford and it was gooood!

Brandon

We had a really nice day with Jim and Lee from Windy to McAtee. Similar bug choices and nice fish. Fun day! Enjoy the photos and the smiles!

Marty

It was one of those days in the west where the wind decided to blow. We fought the good fight, the boys fished all day and we rowed hard! We caught fish because the effort was put forth. It was pioneer spirit at its best!

Big Dan 

The morning was super slow with only a few fish, with small nymphs behind the streamers. but it picked up in the afternoon with dries. Fat Albert in red, size 12, Royal Cripple 16, and ants around 2:00pm. Twitching and swinging seemed to be the ticket.

Marty and Jim M

The Fully Wild group is out again! This go ‘round the fish are definitely eating a little better. The cold snap and the snow in the air have let the fish know it’s time to fatten up soon. Some

patterns that have been hot are the big nymphs in 6’s and 8’s such as the Girdle Bug and the Delektable Mega Prince. Smaller nymphs are the size 14 Pearl Lightening Bug, the Delektable Lil’ Spanker size 14, Pheasant Tail soft hackle size 16 and the famous Prince nymph sizes 14 and 16. The streamer bite has really been on lately with the bunny fur! By now I hope you are practicing up with yer streamer tactics because they are just absolutely slamming the streamer! The streamer bite has been on for most of the day with 1pm-3pm being the slowest. But, that afternoon slot has started back with hoppers and ants, so go figure! For Streamer fishing, the evenings have been the best here at the Tooth for us after work with black, olive and white articulated streamers. We hope you enjoy the pictures, and as always, Happy Fishing!!! DanG

Today with the temps dropping and the water temp staying below 62 degrees, it was a good evening for the Beartooth crew. Daniel and DanG went out for a few short hours and it was good, constantly catching fish with a few good browns. The flies they were hitting

involved meat AND potatoes. Streamers for Daniel and nymphs for DanG. Dark coneheaded streamers and dark bigger nymphs. It was really on from 5pm to 8pm. They also destroyed the Copper Zonker. Happy Fishing!!!

DanG

As we move into the fall with the cold snaps in the weather the fish start gearing back towards the larger nymph patterns like the mega prince #10, standard prince #8-12 and bigger mayfly patterns than the 16’s and 18’s you have been using. The 12’s thru 16’s are going to be the ticket now. They are still going to hit the little ones, but they are

 definitely going to be hitting the bigger ones now. They are soon to be pressured less and less and be more apt to hit the bigger bugs you might rather like to fish. Of course the streamers are doing very well now with the cloud coverage and the little bit of rain we’ve been getting. The streamer/nymph combo has been the best setup as of late to use. Black, olive, white and tan have been great colors for streamers in different varieties such as Sculpzilla, Trevor’s Scuplin, Sheila, Bow River and the Delektable Screamer. The Zonker #8 Copper has proven true over and over this past week, also cone-headed darker ones have been good. Some nymphs that have been working have been the prince, the nymphicator, the guide’s choice hare’s ear, Delektable Lil’ Spankers (most colors), lightening bugs, and copper johns to be specific. Chartreuse is a great color right now to for the nymphs. The wet stone fly pattern in the picture is imitating the actual stone fly that is down there (as you can see), and different colors of dark are working (brown and black). The dries we have been getting them on are hoppers, ants (royal trude), mayflies (14-18) and caddis. Some fish are still being taken on the Chubby and bigger dry fly stone patterns. Like I mentioned before, thinking outside the boat will get you there! Happy Fishing!!!

DanG

Dan Greene and I took a birthday float for me yesterday. We put in at Windy at first light and floated to Storey by dark. It was a nice loooong day filled with cold drinks, great laughs and tight lines! First we threw streamers with nymphs trailing; we picked them up on the small nymphs. We did not however crush the huge fish we set out to get, but we did get the smaller fish all day. We changed flies all day long getting about one fish per fly. It was never consistent throughout the day on a single fly, but constantly changing up did do the trick. We hooked up on streamers, but never landed any. We got them on hoppers and small dries. We really got them on small nymphs. We got them on just about everything. Boats would come by and ask what fly we were using, so we said…all of them. We did get a lunker whitefish too. All said and done, another great day well spent on the Madison!

Dave