Madison, Firehole, Gibbon

I took a guide trip in the park today. We fished the firehole and had a bunch of fish come up to a size 14 white caddis. The timming of the hook set was a little off and we only managed to land three fish. A little later a nice PMD hatch came off and the again we missed some more fish. Such is the life off a fishing guide.

The Madison in the Park is fishing well in the evenings. A tan elk hair caddis with a rusty spinner off the back both in size 16 will be the best.

The north part off the park is starting to come down and clear up. Slough, Lamar and Soad Butte are high and dirty but should be fishing soon. The Gardner River is fishing well right now, not much on top but nymphing will produce fish. The Yellowstone is high but comming down.

We are still waiting for the big bugs to pop in the Madison near Ennis (anyday now). Nymphing is still the best bet down there.

Hebgen Lake is good and we are getting good reports from there everyday. A woolly bugger and a ice cream cone will bring them to the net.

Henry's Lake is also fishing well. Your favorite leach pattern will work. We like the simi seal. The ice cream cone has also been working out there.

Come in to the shop and take advantage of our deals. We still have a few of the Salmon Fly boxes left where you get 13 flys and a box for 12 bucks. Also we are trying to get rid of all Hodgeman waders (make a deal). And for you fly tiers we have necks for $1.00.

Rob Orsini, Guide

June 14, 2009

This is the time of the year that the Firehole and Madison (in the Park) traditionally fish the best. This year is no different! The upper Firehole will fish best with a sz. 16 PMD or a sz. 14 white caddis. If the hatch slows a soft hackle in a green or yellow will work! The lower Firehole has Pteronarcys Californica (aka Salmon Flies) a sz. 4-6 Jacklins Salmon Fly will really bring them up to the top. A trick you can use is to hang an unweighted rubberleg (sz. 4-6) 12 inches off the back of the dry. The Park section of the Madison is fishing very similar to the Firehole. The section of river right below the bordwalk about 2 miles in is a good place to try.

If you are in this part of the Park but you want to try something else, a small attractor pattern in the Gibbon River will bring a bunch of fish up.

The Gallatin is fishing well above Big Sky, also with the big bugs. Also try Jacklins Rock Worm in a sz. 16 in this section of the river.

The Madison down below Quake Lake is really clearing up and the fishing is improving everyday. The banks should be your focus with a large stone fly nymph or try stripping a streamer.

Good Luck,
Rob Orsini Guide

June 2, 2009

Sorry for the out of date posts. We are all back from our off-season jobs and will be posting much more often. I will try and keep it up to date this off-season as well.
The weather is going to be bad for the next few days with rain and thunderstorms moving through the area. Bring your rain gear and a 4 wt and let's head into the park. The Madison from the Junction to the Lake has been fishing ok with nymphs; a few PMDs and caddis are starting to show up as well. The Firehole is high but there are hatches everyday and if you know the Firehole you know it likes this type of weather. White Caddis and a few PMDs are around (look in the faster water for some big bugs! Hint, Hint!!)
Hebgen Lake is fishing with midges on top most days, the fish are cruzing the edges looking for them. If there is no action on top pulling Woolly Buggers with a small midge off the back is effective.
Gallatin River is blown out below the Taylor’s Fork. The park section is ok but I would wait a few weeks.
The Madison below the Lakes is high and off color. A big nymph behind rocks and close to the bank is your best chance if you go out there.
The Lower Henry's Fork is coming alive there are Salmon Flys from Chester to Warm River along with Caddis and BWOs.
The shop is having a sale on Salmon fly patterns you get 13 Salmon Flys with a box for only 12 bucks! Come in, stock up for the season and talk to the guys about your day.

See You on the River,
Rob and Andy Guides

Montana fishing season opener was Saturday May 16th and the fishing was good on the upper Madison at the Reynolds bridge area. A brown rubberleg and a red or black serendipity dropper was just what the fish were looking for on the way up the river, on the way back down I threw a mixture of big olive, white, or brown articulated streamers, that got the fish interested but not enough to actually eat the fly, the fly that did the trick on the way back down was a big size 2 black flashy bugger fishing less than a foot off the bank casting and twitching by all the undercut banks or big rocks trying to move one or two big fish and ended up with 3 nice browns within 20 yards of the bridge.

The ice is now moving off hebgen lake but you better hurry cause it wont be there for long, from the longhorn saloon down to the damn is iced over but its disappearing in a hurry, the flies to use on hebgen along the banks and out in a boat would be a mixture of leech patterns, wolly buggers, streamers, griffiths gnats and a nice assortment of chironamids in all different colors and sizes and possibly even a big crayfish pattern that we sell here at the shop.

The park is opening up this saturday the 23rd for fishing and as long as the water holds up, it should be another great weekend of fishing, the firehole always fishes good on the opener with small nymphs, soft hackles, and depending on weather possibly some small dries. Please feel free to stop by the shop with any questions or to pick up the equipment you might need for the day on the river.

Chris Daniel

Fly Fishing Report

August 21, 2008

Andrew Klatt and Conrad Steiner

The Madison River
The Madison River is still fishing excellent! It is the middle of August and the terrestrials are here. Caddis and mayflies are starting to taper off, but are still producing fish. Be sure to have some caddis, rusty spinner, and epeorus spinners if you are fishing in the evening! Mid-day look for flying ants, hoppers, beetles and Bees! The spruce moth is also tapering off but still fishing well in areas with pine trees. Look back to the basic flies and fish royal wolfs, trudes and adam parachutes.

The Gallatin River
The Gallatin River is fishing good, especially down low beyond Big Sky. Spruce moths are fishing extremely well, but get out their soon because it will not last much longer. In the park section fish terrestrial patterns and look for a few Pale Morning duns.

North East corner of the park
The Lamar, Slough creek and Soda Butte are fish very well right now. In the morning look for gray drakes, some days they are their and other days they are not. Fish a lot of ant patterns and small hoppers patterns to trick those big cutthroats.

Hebgen lake
Gulper fishing on the lake has been fishing great lately. Get out their early in the morning and fish to the rising fish. We are starting to see and good number of flying ants. There are also lots of tricos and callibaetis patterns. Fishing for gulpers is very difficult but very rewarding. If the wind cooperates you will have a great day targeting these big rising fishing.

Other water:
Yellowstone National park and the surrounding area is a big region that takes a lifetime to explore. Try something new and get away from the big rivers. Almost every little stream or trickle has fish in it, and they are just as rewarding to catch as a bigger fish. Standard attractor patters like adam parachutes and humpys will do the trick. So go get out away from the roads, put your bear spray on and go have some fun?

Summer Fishing

The Madison has unfortunately started to come back to normal fishing, the Salmon fly hatch is just about over; though you can find some big bugs still hatching in between the lakes and a few left overs all the way down to Palisades. The hatch was the gift that kept on giving this year and if you missed it I am sorry but I did tell you to get here awhile ago.
Fishing is now going to get a little harder. To catch the big fish you are going to have to be on your game. The trout are going to be eating in different areas daily. It may take you or your guide a little while to find out where that may be. If you go down to the river try the banks first then 4 feet from the banks in the deeper water called the trench. If those still don't produce try fishing the really skinny water on the gravel bars then the deeper water off the gravel bars. Still not working try the nondescript water in the middle and don't forget in front, the sides and behind rocks. Still not catching fish; maybe you should try golf!

The Gallatin has finally cleared up and those fish are really hungry. Any small nymph (sz. 16-20) will catch lots of trout all the way up to Four Corners. You will see some PMDs hatching in the late morning (sz. 16-18) from the park up past Big Sky. There are some Golden and Olive Stones flying around up there still so a size 6-8 golden stone with a PMD nymph or dry will work.

Firehole and Madison in the Park are just about done for a few weeks. Can you catch a few fish there....... sure but I would stay away and let those fish deal with the hot water temps. If you want to fish in that area the Gibbon is still your best bet. Someone catches a great big one in the Gibbon every year and I have not heard of that fish being caught yet this year, maybe it will be you.

The north part of the Park will be your best fishing inside the gates. The lower Yellowstone (below the lower falls on down) has been really fun. PMDs in the morning with a spinner fall to follow at night. In the afternoon hoppers and other terrestrials will get a few fish to come up.

This is a great time of year to take a hike and fish some of the creeks and lakes in the Park that don't see quite as much pressure. Come in and talk to the shop guys they can give you a few ideas based on what kind of a hike you want to do.

Hebgen Lake....... wow! Callabatis are coming off in the morning and there is a spinner fall in the evening. The only thing that will hurt you on the lake is the wind, once the wind starts to blow fishing with dries is over. You can sit out there with a bobber... I mean indicator and a nymph if you want, I'd go to the Gallatin.

See you on the river,
Rob Orsini, Guide

Fishing Report: by Bob Jacklin

The Salmon Fly Hatch:

Fishing the Salmon Fly hatch is more then following the hatch as it moves up the Madison River and other rivers in our area. For me this hatch is a time or season of the year. This year, we are experiencing a very late spring runoff and all of our hatches have been several weeks late. This is the latest I have ever experienced the Salmon Fly hatch on the Madison in my many years of fishing the hatch. As I stated earlier, this hatch is very special and it signals the starting of all our major hatches for the season. Just as our rivers start to clear hatches of caddis start to show and then when everything is right the Giant Salmon Fly (Pteronarcys Californica) will become active and the nymphs will move towards the banks of the stream and will emerge working it’s way up stream on many of our larger rivers in this Yellowstone region. The most noted of all the river hatches is our famed Madison River.

Fishing the Madison River can take a lot of work. This fast moving river that drops almost two thousand feet in elevation in the seventy miles from Yellowstone Park to Ennis, Montana has been labeled a seventy-mile long riffle. The river moves very fast and with the heavy flow this year is best fish by floating. The fishing trick is to fish through and past the major hatching area attempting to lure some fish to a large Salmon fly imitation. Having a nice wild trout rise and take a size four or six dry fly is quite a thrill and one that will last forever. Our guided fishing trips have been experiencing some great action in the last several days. Warren and Ann Phillips who have been fishing with us for over 30 years said they had the best fishing on the Madison in over twenty years. They were using my Jacklin Giant Salmon Fly pattern I developed many years ago. This Fly tied on a number four hook floats well and has the proper silhouette and wing formation to bring the big fish up. Naturally, I believe my pattern for this giant Stone Fly is the best. However, I do believe that all the Salmon Fly patterns work well and that is part of the fun. Tying your own fly and catching a nice trout on the fly you tied. There is one trick needed and this is more important then the right fly. Having a drag free float with your fly floating high down stream and acting as though is were not connected to your leader or line. This can and must be accomplished with ever cast or you will not see a fish to your fly. I use a 2 or 3X nine-foot leader with an 18” butt section and 24 to 30 inches of 3 or 4X tippet. This longer leader gives me lots of slack in the leader when I “Check the Cast”. This checking the cast is easy to do and a must on the Madison. Cast about ten feet more line then you need to reach your target area. Cast higher then needed and after the forward cast has been made, “Check the Cast” by stopping the forward cast in mid-air and dropping your rod tip down. This will pile up your leader with lots of slack and will allow your fly to drive as though it were not attached to anything. This is not always easy to do with the fast current and the ever-present wind, butt mandatory.

Where To Fish the Madison:

The Salmon Fly hatch has reached the Quake lake area and that means that the entire river from Quake Lake down stream will fish. For the wade fisherman the Raynolds Pass bridge and down through the Three-Dollar Bridge will offer an excellent opportunity to fish this great hatch. Crossing the bridge at the West-Fork Cabin Camp and driving up stream along the river will offer some great afternoon fishing as the Sun will be at your back and you can cover the water quite well from shore. For many years in my personal guiding I concentrated on fishing the Salmon Fly Hatch well below the hatching area. The fishing was slower with lots less people but many of the larger trout were still on the lookout and were willing to take the “last” Salmon fly of the season, it worked. Fishing and casting up stream tight along the bank and the willows is the prime area. Getting a good drift out in the center of the Madison can and often does produce a good strike. Fish it all.

Other places to fish the Salmon Fly Hatch:

The Salmon fly hatch is now on the Yellowstone River. The upper river in Yellowstone National Park is very high but fishable. There are some Salmon Flies at Le Hardy Rapids and I expect fishing to get better in the next several days. The lower Yellowstone at Tower Junction is very high and milk colored. Fishing along the banks would be a good bet using the big Salmon Fly Nymph and the Salmon Fly Dry. The Salmon Flies are all through the Gallatin River and using the Salmon Fly could still bring up some nice size fish. I like the area of the Gallatin River just above the Big Sky junction. Fishing between the lakes, below Hebgen Lake Dam is another good bet for the next several days. The Hatch is now working up the Lamar River and the Lamar is fishable but high. The flies are hatching up the Gardiner River. Remember, This is a time of the year when the fish know the salmon flies are around and using the big fly can bring up a big trout. Slough Creek is high and fishing well. Gray Drake Spinners and the Pale Morning Duns are hatching. I rose two fish to the Salmon fly yesterday, when fishing Slough Creek. If you wanted to fish the Salmon Fly Hatch, now is the Time. Another good trick in fishing this great hatch is not to fish the larger Salmon Fly, instead, offer the fish a smaller fly like a Golden Stone or the little Western Yellow Stone Fly. Some fish could be feeding on these smaller flies or even caddis and some Pale Morning Duns on the Madison and other rivers. Take the time to look carefully and try to see what is hatching and try to match the hatch. Remember, This is Salmon Fly time of the year and the trout know they are present. Presentation is more important then the right fly.
Good Fishing!
Bob Jacklin