Spring Fishing Archives - Page 5 of 6

Emmett took his days off to go to Yellowstone to catch fish. Among the chaos of the many people from all parts of the world, there was an abundance of fish to be caught. Emmett fished both the Gibbon and Firehole rivers, in multiple locations on each. There were plentiful hatches of Mayflies, Caddis, and Mosquitoes, with the fish eating all of the above. The best of the fishing was on the Gibbon River. The water on the Gibbon is slow, soft, and clear in the locations that were fished. The fish can be picky, but with the right fly, a good presentation, and a careful approach, the fish can be caught. The best of the fishing was on a small Parachute Adams, although a very small Humpy could catch fish too. There was an abundance of Brown Trout, and Brook Trout, with each living in its particular stretch of river.

The fishing on the Firehole was good, but not as good as the fishing on the Gibbon. The fish were on average larger, but they were pickier, and harder to catch. The fish on the Firehole were eating caddis emergers right at the surface. If you could find the right emerger, you could get the fish to devour it, Emmett did not succeed in finding the right emerger, but did have luck on the Bomber Caddis dry fly. As the old saying goes “Trout don’t live in ugly places”, and it is definitely true in Yellowstone. It is always amazing to get to fish in one of the most beautiful locations on planet Earth, and it is even better when fish will eat a dry fly.

April 27th-30th 2016| Madison River Fishing Report

We hosted a great group of Project Healing Waters veterans at the lodge this week. Bob Frey was the also the host and helped out. Tom, Ed, Brian, and Caleb spent four days with us staying at the lodge and fishing the Upper Madison. They experienced a variety of weather and conditions. Bob took Brian and Caleb on an adventure hike. The hike was a true workout but they did get into some nice trout action. Considering these are wounded vets, they did great doing the hiking. We will need to inquire with Simms to help them with more customized waders and boots to make hikes like that easier.
Tom and Ed fished with Dan out of the boat the first day, and with Brandon the second. Brian and Caleb hiked two days and went with Dan in the boat the third day. Tom was with Ian on the third day. Thanks to the guides for helping out.

The river was evolving with the cool weather. The first day it was a bit dirty, then more

green, then more clear and green. The cooler weather really made a difference and cleared up the river quite a bit. They fished a variety of bugs including Mega Princes which worked well, Pat’s Rubberlegs in Black, some used different worms, Delektable Lil’ Spankers in PT and other colors. Streamers were also a good choice on the weathery days. The later part of the trip March Browns started to show along with BWO’s. Some caught on dries when the hatches started to pick up but mostly on wet flies.

It was a great experience for us to help these guys and spend time with them. They were really nice people and became a part of the Beartooth family. We look forward to seeing them again on their next adventure.

Dan and Nancy

April 28-30 2016| Madison River Fishing Report

What can we say about this day but Keefer really figured something out. Jim and Keefer

were fishing with Brandon. Both days were Lyons Bridge to Ruby Creek. After such a good first day, they had to do it again. The fun part was Keefer is using new photo equipment so we get the advantage of “Fish Eye”. The “Vana White” trout pose is more profound in these pictures. The river was off color. There was some weather. They used the usual spring combinations we have been using the past two weeks with some variations and some of Brandon’s secrets which may have included his own CDC Prince. The bugs included: Delektable Single Screamer Black/Olive; Delekable Mega Prince Flashback Standard; Delektable Flashback Hurless Stone; Pat’s Rubberlegs Black or Brown/Tan; Delektable Lil’ Spankers in PT,and Red; BH Worms; and Shop Vacs.

How do you follow a day like that? Our friend Kim and Mark fished with Joe and had a great day too. Remember this is the well known “Big Fish Kim”. There are actually two Big Fish Kims. Kim may be a lucky fishing name but this day, Mark was the big fish guy too. Sometimes the weather and the dirt can help. The river was off color but still green and it was cloudy. These can be ideal conditions.

Ian and Hienie went out earlier in the week and then Joe with Hienie on Saturday. Again, they were fishing streamers or big nymphs and trailers. Thursday was more productive than Saturday for them. It was fun both days. As you can see Hienie was sporting a very warm hat. It was cooler out both days.

April 25th 2016| Madison River Fishing Report

Our new Shop employee Emmett started off the week with a nice trout.
Emmett is an avid fly tyer and rod builder at a young age and is a serious fisherman and skier. We are happy to have him join the Delektable team.

Dan and Nancy

April 21-23 2016| Madison River Fishing Report

Dan fished with Hienie on a cold and cloudy day with some color in the river. It was another Upper River float from Windy Point to McAtee. Hienie put some nice fish in the net. The fly combinations were a single Delektable Black/Olive Screamer with a #12 BH Red Worm trailer or a #8 Delektable Flashback Mega Prince.
The articulated Delektable Black/Olive Double Screamer fished by itself well too.

Brandon and Gunnar fished with David, Matthew, Jackson, and Doug. The first day was
bigger action on the fishing. The second day the weather kicked in and the river became higher and the color started to get dirty below the West Fork. The river has been ever changing this spring as we have had a mix of very warm then cold conditions. As it cools down, the river clears up but when it gets warm, the snow melts and the side streams flow heavier into the main river with some dirt. They had good results with some of the same bugs. They fished Pat’s Rubberlegs in Black, Delektable Flashback Mega Prince Standard and Olive, trailers of Lil’ Spankers in PT, some worms, some silver, some red, and streamers worked with olive or black and olive being the better choices.

Joe fished with Hienie on Saturday and they fished streamers mostly. There was more weather as the day went on enabling the streamer bite more. You can see the articulated streamers were the ticket. Not everyone can throw junk like that but Hienie has had a lot of practice. He had fun. Thanks Joe.

April 2nd-9th 2016| Madison River Fishing Report

Dan took our friends Chip and Bill on a float. Big Nymphs in combination rocked! Springtime in the Rockies with weather conditions either hot and sunny or cloudy and cold. The bite was on with my favorite stonefly nymphs: all size #6 and #8 Delektable Flashback Mega Prince; Delektable Flashback Hurless Stones in Gray and Olive.

Dan and Nancy had a great day for Dan to take Mrs. Delektable floating. It’s incredible that the Upper Madison is open from Quake Lake to McAtee again year round. There were spots in the calm where the trout were sipping like crazy in pods. Those fish were fussy about the dry but not about the Delektable nymphs. Dan’s favorite spring flies were great that day. Later on we did try the small Delektable Chubbyness and it worked too. What a fun day.

Dan fished with Mike and Catalina. They floated from Windy Point to McAtee. They just killed it on the Delektable Flashback Mega Prince in Standard and Olive and the Delektable Flashback Hurless Stone in Gray and Olive. Catalina caught a massive Rainbow and rocked all day. Way to go Cat! Mike helped with the rowing and Dan was able to enjoy some rod bending.

Multiple fun days, early season!

Dan and Nancy

March 29th 2016| Madison River Fishing Report

Okay, had to share this, elk in the back yard. When you fish this time of year you get to see herds of elk along the river and wildlife abound. What a country!

Nancy

March 20 & 21, 2016| Madison River Fishing Report

Our friends, Zac and Kim had a great time on the Upper Madison catching really nice trout despite the “W” factor which prevailed. They had the two really nice weather days in between some winter conditions on the front and back end of their trip. Kim has a reputation for catching the big fish, not to be confused with another Kim we know who also catches big fish, and this time Zac was right in the competition with his sweetheart. Brandon took great care of them floating two different sections of the upper in his new boat which he loves.
The flies that worked were stone flies including the Pat’s Rubberlegs in Black, Delektable Mega Prince Olive Flashback, Delektable Hurless Gray Flashback, and an assortment of worms and Caddis Emerger patterns. It was a great time and a nice birthday celebration for Kim with Zac. Happy Birthday! Kim!