Fishing Reports Archives - Page 35 of 56

June 18, 2014 Upper Madison

There’s nothing like a day on the river, and it’s even better when surrounded by a bunch of friends, new and old.

The “Friends of Doug” hit the river earlier this week on a day that just kept changing. The weather was dark, cold and windy when the float started, turned to sunny and warm for a couple hours in the afternoon, then ended back at dark, cold and windy, and threatening rain.

But the fish didn’t care about the weather. The bite was on.

Fish, and lots of them, produced boatloads of smiles. The fish were hitting the variety of offerings that have been working recently.
They took streamers, different sculpin patterns in olive and tan. Nymphs that worked were the Delektable Mega Prince, Pat’s Rubber Legs in a variety of sizes, in darker colors, but mostly the larger ones.

One of the guides turned over a rock which showed multitudes of Stone Fly Nymphs which the flies were imitating.

The river is in the right condition for action. The big bugs are not here yet but expected soon. They are still under the surface like the nymphs you see from under the rocks.

Lately some folks have tried the Chubby as a dry fly/indicator and trailed it with a stone fly nymph like the Delektable Mega Prince or a Pat’s Rubberlegs and scored well with that combo. The trout do seem to like the big nymphs, it is like a steak dinner.

It’s time to go fishing!

Nancy and Marty

June 12, 2014 Upper Madison

The forecast was not entirely accurate about this day. The “W” factor wasn’t supposed to be so gusty and it was. There was a bit of weather but not bad. The good news is the fish were biting and it was fun for the reunion of the “Friends of Tom” group. It was so nice to see good friends getting together and enjoying each other and a nice fishing adventure.

Joe and Jim took care of the guys and they helped them find the fish.

The bug choices were pretty similar to the previous week with dark stone fly patterns and streamers.

Part of the day some smaller nymphs started to work for trailers but most of the day the bigger wet bugs worked best.

Enjoy the photos and share in their fun!

Nancy

June 6, 2014 Upper Madison

Conditions were pretty ideal for this group, we shall call “Friends of Matt”. What a great group, many learning fly fishing for the first time. The best part was everyone caught and landed trout and had great scenery and wildlife viewing. The morning started off cool with threats of thunder storms which did not happen but the overcast morning helped the bite for sure and then the afternoon warmed up for a pleasant day.

Joe, Gunnar, Dave, and Brandon did a terrific job teaching these guys and getting them into fish.

The river was steadily dropping in flows this week and the color had just become green with good visibility by Friday. The fish were hungry. The boys went from Lyons Bridge to Ruby Creek as the river turned that perfect green color we all love to fish. The dirt has surely subsided and as of this writing, the upper river is on fire, fishing well and perfectly clear.

The bite was primarily on Stone Flies including the Delektable Mega Prince and Pat’s Rubberleg in Black in sizes ranging from #4 to #8’s. There was also action on streamers including the Delektable Screamer in Black and Olive and Sculpzilla in Black. A variety of other bugs were also working such as caddis nymphs and caddis emergers.

As of this posting, June 11, the bite is still very good and the flows are becoming steady at Kirby at around 1,350 cfs following the past few days of more reduction in flows.

Many of the same flies are working now including the Delektable Hurless in Gray Flashback #6 & #8, Delektable Mega Prince Flashback or Flashback Olive in #6 or #8, Delektable Black Stoner #8 or the Delektable Black/Orange Stoner #8, Delektable Bug Halloween #8, The Delektable Sure Strike Yellow Peacock and Peacock #14, Pat’s Rubberlegs in dark colors or the mix with orange, Delektable Screamers Jointed and Single, Bunny Style Streamers. Basic Prince patterns are also working as trailers. Big Dries, Chubbies in purple,pink and brown size#10-12 with Delektable Hurless and Mega-Prince and Stoner droppers in sizes#6-8.

TOO MUCH FUN!

There are plenty of choices when the fish are eating. We recommend you go fish!

Nancy and Dan

June 4, 2014 Beaverhead

Deirdre and Roger had a great time with Brandon on the Beaverhead.

They were learning techniques for the first time and had great fun and success catching. They were using mostly Sowbugs and Ray Charles patterns.

Nymphs were working for them.

Nancy

May 31, 2014 Beaverhead

Some of us Beartooth folk got a chance to jet over to the Beaverhead for a quick little fishing/camping trip this weekend. The camping was excellent with a little rain and the fishing was pretty good with sowbugs, caddis, little mayfly nymphs, and streamers. We floated from the Clark Canyon Dam down to Henneberry takeout. The action in the beginning of the float was mostly on caddis and mayfly nymphs, but others I talked to said they had been crushing them on sowbugs such as the Pink Ray Charles, the Dead Ray Charles and the pink Smidget in sizes 18 and 20.

The sowbugs were not really producing for us. The mayfly nymphs however were producing for Ross and I. I was getting them on little green guys on the drop like the olive Hogan’s S&M size 18 with Dan’s Delektable Big Spanker olive above that.

The sun was out hot and the fishing started to slow down a bit by noon, so we thought we would throw some streamers out the back of the boat and float down the river for a while instead of stopping and wading a bunch. Fish On! The streamer bite was the ticket for the water around High Bridge down to Hennaberry. It didn’t seem to matter that the sun was out and beating down hard, they just kept eatin. As normal, there were chases happening almost all the time but the refusals were many. Changing up colors and stripping technique always helps. As always it was another great day on the Beaverhead with a bunch a fun in the sun!

You can see that Roy, my dog was nice and comfy napping in the boat. Andrea enjoyed the float and learned more about our fishing techniques.

Happy Fishing!!!

Young Dan and Ross

May 29, 2014 Big Adventure/Day Off!

This day was a rare event, Dan and Nancy took a day off to go fishing and believe it, we hired a guide to spoil us. It was a big treat for us and a real fun adventure. We have been wanting to fish below Lower Mesa Falls for years. Dan hadn’t done it for maybe twenty years. This is not an easy adventure and you need to be in pretty good shape to do the hike.

The day began with a drive into the park and a trail that is steep and deep. We needed walking poles to prevent from sliding down on our buts because it’s steep and gravelly. Phil, our guide, from Trouthunter, had to push the raft down the long steep trail to the launch. All this took at least an hour. Trust us, it’s not a short trail! We took a few photos on the way down so you can see the experience with us.

Once we got down to the boat launch area it was beautiful with lots of trees and under the rocks were loads of cases from the spent Salmon Flies. The river was clear. As we put our gear on, Golden Stones were crawling over us. That was a sure sign of one of the bugs we should try.

The canyon you float through is picturesque with lots of birds and wildlife. We had action and caught trout and some white fish on our flies most of the day. Our primary patterns were Dan’s Secret Salmon and Dan’s Secret Golden Stone. We also used a variety of Chubbys with Royal being a good one. The dries floated like a cork so you could put a long trailer on it and these included the Delektable Mega Prince #10, Lil’ Spankers in various colors, Princes, and Pheasant Tails. The hatches were going on all day. We saw Salmon Flies dwindling, Golden Stones heavy, Caddis of various sizes, March Browns, May Flies, and PMD’s. It was really awesome. We also tried streamers for a bit but rare action on the streamer.

The weather was a bit too nice. We thought it would be overcast and it became sunny a good part of the day. The fish were biting the dries and eating the trailers. We waited to take pictures of bigger fish and alas most of the day our catch was in the small to mid size Trout with a few in the high teens. It was fun and silly with the catching and a great day off.

Thanks Phil!

Nancy and Dan

May 26th, 2014

Ross and Emmett did well between the lakes. There were four other boats there though! So someone else figured it out. Emmett caught his rainbows on a red copper john that he tied and on a rod that he made!

Thank Dan for the good recommendation!

Ross and Emmett

May 25, 2014 Henry’s Fork

As the Madison got high and dirty, the big bugs arrived on the Henry’s Fork. As of this writing, they are headed past the Box Canyon. We have also heard reports they are at Rock Creek now, in early June. The Henry’s Fork was still clear, low, and full of hatches: Salmon Flies, Golden Stones, Caddis, PMD’s, March Browns, etc..

We sent our friends Jim and Keefer to Island Park. They had a nice day fishing with the big bugs with Ryan from Trouthunters.

Keefer caught a noteworthy Hog! Way to go Keefer!

“Please find a couple pictures of my Henry’s Fork brown trout attached. This fish was landed on a size 6 Tennessee volunteer orange chubby.”

“I casted the fly a foot off the bank and dead drifted through an undercut bank near the Aura put in.”

Keefer and Nancy

May 22, 2014 Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing

Brandon took Jose and Jim, “Grampoo”, to the Beaverhead for a new adventure. They had a good day with the best results on Ray Charles patterns and Sow Bugs.

May 21st and May 22nd, 2014 Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing

Beartooth Flyfishing enjoyed hosting guests as part of the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Organization.

There were six service connected disabled vets, a number with purple hearts, and some with more than one purple heart, staying at our lodge and fishing with guides including Dan, Ross, Gunnar, Brandon, and Bob Frey, a friend who is very active with Project Healing Waters.

Special thanks to Bill Kelman who was the group leader and trip coordinator who really made this happen. Thank you to the guides for volunteering their time. Thanks to Bob Frey for coordinating some of the details for the group. And Thanks to our friends who provided donations to help support this trip.

In the group were three Bills, Bob, Jim, also known as Grampoo, and Jose. What a great group of guys who became part of the Beartooth extended family. It was tough saying good bye.

We really enjoyed their company and hope to be able to provide a trip like this every year.

Day one they experienced float fishing for the first time and enjoyed the scenery, wildlife, camaraderie, and the fishing.

The river flows started to come up that day and Dan and Gunnar needed to be very cautious getting under the bridges in the upper stretch. As of May 24th, we suggest you walk the boat under the left or west side to be safe. Call the shop (406-682-7525) for current conditions as the flows are now high and fast and the river is now in true run off condition. Reports of fishing are still good with specific techniques for these conditions.

They were catching trout on Delektable Mega Princes in Olive Flashback and Delektable Hurless Stones, Delektable Red and Pink Worms, Dark Stone Flies with Flashy trailers, and Delektable Black and Olive Screamers.

Day two the group fished the wade section on the upper river.

Most of the same bugs were used and BWO Emergers, Beadhead Zebra Midges, Delektable Tungsten Surestrikes in Peacock, and Delektable Tungsten Big Spankers in Light Olive and Read Headed.

They did well wading the buckets as the river came up quite a bit again and the clarity was better in the upper section compared to below the West Fork which became pretty dirty. As of this writing below the West Fork is very high and dirty.

Everyone caught fish, working the buckets. Thanks for a great time and great company!

Dan and Nancy