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Greetings!
Welcome to another Blue
Ribbon Flies weekly
newsletter. Thanks for tuning in. Settle in
and we'll tell you what's happening
around West Yellowstone and our other
favorite spots, show you the fly and the
material of the week, and tempt you to plan
your next trip with us.
Hope you're enjoying the new year, doing some
fishing, tying up some flies, and starting to think about your 2011 trip to Yellowstone country. Take a
break from work or play, grab a cup of
coffee, and
pretend you're leaning on the counter here at
Blue
Ribbon Flies. We wish you were
here, but until you are we'll keep you in the
loop. Thanks for stopping by.
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What's New
What's Happening in Yellowstone Country
Craig and Jackie headed into Ennis this morning for supplies and breakfast at the Ennis Pharmacy. It was the first day the sun came out from behind the seemingly constant snow and cloudy conditions we have had most of this month, last's, and the month before it. Watch the video by clicking the link at the bottom of the page to view the weather conditions in front of BRF! Moving to Montana?
They first stopped by to visit with Richard Lessner, Executive Director of the Madison River Foundation. We decided to host another BRF-Madison River Foundation day this July, (exact date to follow soon), and caught up on some great MRF projects on line for this summer, stay tuned in here for information on these in future issues.
They also stopped by to see the Inmans at their WCS-wolverine study headquarters and made arrangements for their team to get access in a couple spots in the Madison Valley to install a couple DNA snares and hidden cameras. This incredible study should yield more information on the elusive wolverines in the Madison Range of mountains. Craig promises more information in this newsletter on this study as it progresses.
As usual in the rest of this newsletter, you'll find fishing news from Yellowstone Country in the weekly Fishing Report. You can see what's hot off the vise in the Fly of the Week, get a sneak peek at some of the best materials on our tying bench in the Fly Tying Material of the Week, and stay up to date with the guide staff and their trips in the Guide Trip of the Week.
You'll be seeing a new email newsletter most every week throughout the winter to keep you tuned in to all things fly fishing and fly tying in the greater Yellowstone area and beyond. Throughout the seasons, we'll keep sending you news of hatches and fishing holes around West Yellowstone. So without further delay, go ahead and jump right into the newsletter. And as always, don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email if you have any questions, or if you just want a little fish talk.
Do You Wish You Were Here? Perhaps July!
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Fishing Report
Weekly Conditions and Tips
We arrived back home around 1pm and driving over the bridge I looked down at the river and told Jackie, "I have to fish". The truck's thermometer registered 26 degrees and the wind came strong from the south, but I know a spot I can get out of the wind behind some willows so came back with rod and reel and fished from almost an hour before my hands got to cold to tie on a fly after busting off and came home. The fishing was quite good as I took 5-6 nice plump rainbows and 2 browns. The Tenkara rod worked out well as I did not have to deal with ice in the guides (there are, of course no guides on Tenkara's Iwana rod). The best trout was around 15 inches. The rainbows are flying their spring pre-spawning colors and the browns are in wonderful late winter shape. I took a couple on GM Nymphs, one on a Slough Creek Midge Larvae, a hook-jawed male rainbow on a #16 Rick's Red Blood Midge and 2-3 on #20 Zelon Midges before busting one off while attempting to remove the hook. It was worth the freezing hands!
Our season on the Earthquake Lake to McAtee Bridge section closes to fishing at dark next Monday, Feb 28th. The river between Hebgen and Quake Lakes remain open to fishing all year, as does the McAtee Bridge to Ennis stretch and downstream of Ennis Lake. The Varney to Ennis section is ice covered but this will change in the next month.
I enjoy fishing the above stretches of the Madison in March, as well as the Henry's Fork. Both can have wonderful midge fishing, and the sight fishing for large trout can be challenging too.
Winter midge fishing is always best in March so get here quick and fish the Madison, Gallatin, Yellowstone and Henry's Fork with Zelon and Muskrat Midges, GM Nymphs and Ricks Blood Midge as well as $3 Dips in crystal. If the Madison between the lakes is your game make sure you have some GM's and Red SJ's. The river below Ennis dam and below the Bear Trap is always strong in March sight fishing big trout with the above midges, a real challenge, one many of the locals live through the long-dark winter months for!
For those of you who missed the Video of Craig Fishing midges on the Madison last week be sure to check the link below, and as always you can view this and many other videos on our website.
Watch Criag do a little midge fishing on the Madison
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Fly of the Week
Hot off the Vise
Spent Caddis & Epeorus Hi Vis Spinner
You can see a short video, by clicking the photo this week of our tying the famous Spent Sparkle Caddis for the upcoming Mothers' Day Caddis hatches on rivers like the Madison, Yellowstone, Henry's Fork, Firehole and others. This valuable and often overlooked pattern should be a part of you fly arsenal. How many times have we seen fish sipping females caddis as they regained the surface after crawling down a log or rock, laying their eggs only to re-emerge, it seems, on the surface and fly off. Trout, big trout, know this and stage behind these rocks and logs and pick off these female caddis. These larger trout are hard to fool, unless you have this simply, effective pattern in your fly boxes! Too, it works great for summer emergences of caddis like the Lepidostoma sp on the Madison and Slough Creek in July and Oecetis sp on the Madison and Henry's Fork. You will want to tie some up after seeing our video.
The same goes for Bucky's world famous Hi Vis Epeorus Spinner which he will tie herein on another short video. This awesome pattern save many evenings for us last year when these spinners overshadowed caddis emergences on the Madison, Gallatin and Yellowstone Rivers not to mention Soda Butte and the Lamar River in late July and August
Watch as Bucky Ties the Epeorus Hi Vis Spinnner
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Hope you enjoy the latest issue. We'll keep 'em
coming, keeping you up to date on the best
fishing water, tips, and gear we can get our
hands on. Let us know how you're fishing, and
what you're up to. Keep those pictures and fish
stories coming!
Thanks for spending time with us. We'll see you soon!
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