Is it Still Spring???

The weather is warming up and the snow is all gone...... KIND OF! The high peaks still have a bunch of snow on them and because of that the small feeder creeks are still blown out. Our crafty guides have been taking clients to some of Yellowstone Park's less known places and having good success. Recently I took one of my favorite clients to a creek so unknown I could not find a name of it on a map. The creek was small and most of the fish were small but we did catch a few fish that were in the foot range on small dries.

The Madison in the Park is just starting to fish well. There are some PMDs coming off (sz 16). I use a PMD sparkle dun or Bob Jacklin's rusty para-spin. Every evening there is a great caddis hatch (sz 14-16) and a tan elk hair caddis will work great. Also remember that in the evening those PMDs from earlier should be in their spinner stage, once again Bob's rusty para spin will work great.

The Firehole has once again had a great spring. The upper Firehole is fishing great with soft hackles in the riffles. Whenever a cloud covers the sun a hatch of PMDs comes off (sz 16) and in the evening a nice bunch of caddis emerge. The Firehole Canyon is still fishing very well with Salmon Flies and Jacklin's Salmon fly sz 4 is still the best. A few other good patterns to try are the Sofa Pillow and the Hedgehog (sz 4-6).

The Gibbon is not ready yet and almost all of the rivers in the northern part of the park are running the same color and consistency as a chocolate shake. You should have a good 15 minutes of fishing on the Gallatin in the Park from about 4 when the water is warm enough to really get the fish moving till 4:15 when it gets to cold again.

The Madison in Montana has been hit or miss. If the weather stays warm at night the river will be very dark the next day and fishing will be harder. However, if the temperature gets cold at night for a few days the river will clear up a bit. Brown rubber legs and Jacklin's stone fly nymph have been working well in sz 4 and 6. Also a sz 18 pheasant tail will work great. There are a few caddis starting to come off and around Three Dollar Bridge if you are intent on catching a fish on a dry and you really work hard a sz 14 Adams will work because there are a few Battis around.

The conditions are improving everyday and we are expecting the Salmon Flies to start popping any day now on the Madison. Book your trip now while there are a few guides left in town for the Salmon Fly hatch and come on in for an updated fishing report the shop guys here will be happy to let you in on a few of our secrets.
See you on the river,
Robert Orsini Professional Guide