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April 28, 2011 
 News from Blue Ribbon Flies
 Fish With The Best
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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.

 What's New
 What's Happening in Yellowstone Country

shop Well we wish this is what it looked like in Yellowstone country right now but that would be far from the truth. Monday night brought us close to a foot of the fresh white stuff. This brought the snow pack for the town of West Yellowstone up to 167% and the Madison sits at 129% Snow Water Equivalent Percent of Average. Throughout the state some of the lowest averages are 123%. With no doubt we are going to experience some run-off but when? We will try to keep you informed on the water situation as we draw closer to the season openers.

One last note that was brought to my attention about the water situation, many of the waters in this area will fish extremely well during run-off and while many run scared from the high murky waters there are several that brave through with great success. Perhaps the greatest sleeper bet of the year! Just food for thought.

We need your help this week. Please check out the link to www.BeanFever.com for information on our friend Bean Bowers. Bean and Craig are Patagonia Ambassadors, Bean a heck of a mountain climber while Craig tries his best to be a fly fisher. He is undergoing some chemo treatments for cancer and if you could offer any help it is much appreciated. Thank you so much!

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.

 


 Fishing Report
 Weekly Conditions and Tips

craig By Craig Mathews

The Henry's Fork has fished well this week around Chester. Friends have reported some very good nymphing with Krystal and red $3 Dips and Rick's Blood Midge with a Beadhead. It is March Brown time now and Baetis mayflies as well as midges can bring up trout near Vernon Bridge and Seely's Ranch so be prepared.

The Madison has been awesome, mostly in the Bear Trap and around Varney Bridge as well as between the lakes. In the "Trap" you can expect March Browns and Baetis. The Mother's Day Caddis hatch is still a week or two away and we are holding our breath hoping the water remains fairly low to get in a few days of caddis fishing. Midges and Baetis are bringing up some nice trout around Varney but be looking for March Browns on the east side of the river and downstream to Crane Island. 8 Mile has seen some very good Baetis emergences, mostly on rainy afternoons from 2-4pm. Micro-Madison Midge Nymphs, Micro-Madison BH Mayfly Nymphs, Zelon Midges and Baetis Sparkle Duns and March Brown Sparkle Duns are required. A Macro-Madison Beadhead Nymph is deadly fished in the heavy flows around Crane Island and downstream to 8 Mile. The boat launch is closed at Ennis and the better launch is at 8 Mile rather than Burnt Tree access, FYI. Streamer fishers are doing quite well pitching Chee's Olive and Olive Sculp-zillas along the banks along the entire length. A sleeper bet fly pattern to search the water with now is a #10-12 Stimulator, one that imitates some of the spring stones you may see along the river. Once the big trout see one of these spring stones they do NOT forget and often pounce on a dry stone during the afternoon hours when nothing seems to work, especially on sunny days.

The Yellowstone will begin to color up with snow melt this week. As with the Madison, we are hoping for high temps to remain in the 50's with nighttime lows going below freezing upstream to keep the flows clear but we are flirting here with high-dirty water conditions moving in any time, and when the arrive this year it will be several weeks before they clear up

The Gallatin River has been outstanding. Now, we will see some turbid water conditions moving in over the following days ahead so it is best to check with us before heading to this great river. While it remains clear try Micro-Madison Beadhead and GM Nymphs as well as red Rick's Blood and Copper Johns. Dry flies like Baetis Sparkle Duns and #10-12 Stimulators can be counted on to bring some nice fish to the top. I like the water I talked about above, just downstream of Big Sky.

We've had some calls regarding Hebgen and Earthquake, Cliff and Wade Lakes. The ice won't be off for a few weeks yet so hang in there and call us before making a long drive here to fish them! When the ice comes off, May 10-15, they will be incredible during midge and streamer times!

 


 Fly of the Week
 Hot off the Vise!!

Micro Madison Midge Micro Madison Midge

What does each of the rivers, lakes, and streams in Yellowstone Country share in common? A huge population of Midges. The Chironomidae family is found on all of our area waters, and fish feed on some stage of their life cycle every day of the year. The Madison River is to midges what Detroit is to cars. Midge larvae cover every rock on the fifty mile riffle, and that's a lot of rocks.

We love running nymphs through the tight pockets, and slicks around Raynold's Pass and Three Dollar Bridge. It's a suspenseful game of trial and error. You know that there's a pile of fish in there. The game is to adjust the depth and position of your drift, the length of the drop from your indicator, the combination of flies, all the while anticipating that tightening of the line on every drift. There's nothing more gratifying than figuring out the right combination, and watching a fish explode out of the water. The Micro Madison Midge has been deadly in the series of beadhead nymphs. Due to the abundance of midge larvae in the Madison throughout the entire season, we have yet to find a time when this fly won't catch fish.

Check Out All Of Our Fly Tying Videos!! 


 Fly Tying Material of the Week
 Unique Materials for Effective Patterns

turkey Whole Turkey Tails

What did Benjamin Franklin have to say about the turkey?

"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him"

"With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country."

"I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America. He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."

Ronnie Hall also sent us some incredible eastern turkey tails. You can see the video link in this report with us showing and discussing these museum quality tails and how we use them in our fly tying. Craig has been tying some emerging PMD and Epeorous Nymphs lately and has used turkey tail quill sections from these beautiful birds. He has also been tying some of Yvon Chouinard's effective Mighty Midge Emergers using black Whiting Hen Capes for saddles. Patrick tied several dozen GM Nymphs and he uses these hen hackles for legging his flies too. Whether tying size #6, or down to #22's these capes and their hackles are what you need!

Look here for this and many hard to find fly tying materials. 


 Where are we? Where are we going?
 Let Aerial photos & USGS topographic maps help!

Gallatin River Atlas

We have found the most user-friendly map collection available. Color aerial photography placed side-by-side with USGS topo maps show the beauty and detail of our favorite waters. These maps pinpoint access points, natural features & fishing holes. This map details over 98 miles of the Gallatin River form the Montana Wyoming border to Three Forks.

It sure is great to have a bit of a warm up! While the weather has remained mostly unsettled the afternoon temps have gone up making for some great dry fly action. Craig was studying a few Gallatin River maps in the Gallatin River Atlas, specifically maps on pages 14, 15 and 16, and found a couple spots he'd not fished in a few years so he headed to them this week and had wonderful fishing during midge and Baetis times. His good friend and talented fly tyer, Tim Bozorth, had delivered some Madison Mico-Midges (look for our video in this report on tying this important pattern) last week and he trailed one behind a red Copper John and had great fishing mid-morning until the fish began to rise to Baetis. I had just tied some #20 Improved Baetis Sparkle Duns and knotted one on 5x tippet and had great dry fly fishing for an hour before the bugs ran out and the fish quit rising.

Yellowstone Resources, let these publications guide the way. 


 Guide Trip of the Week
 Nobody does it better!!

NICK Who is that happy guy? Believe it or not, this isn't an extra from "Deer Hunter." After a misguided Hollywood career, this is a photo of one of our guides upon learning a new recipe for Scrapple.

 


 No Not Big Fish Eyes!!
 Big Eye Hooks.

fish eye Orvis Big-Eye Hooks

Many fly tiers prefer down-eye hooks for their looks, particularly on classic patterns. Down-eye style hooks make tying parachute fly patterns easier. These hooks have the same great point, perfect bend, and whisker barb.

Craig had tied the sparkle duns on Orvis Big-Eye Hooks. His old friend from Atlanta, Ronnie Hall, got him on the Big Eye hooks a few years back. Both he and Craig are nearing the "golden years" they say, and we need all the help we can get in order to thread small flies onto our tippets. These hooks are a godsend for those guys. With the huge eyes we can easily thread the flies on to our tippet ending the frustration we used to experience with fish rising to the surface and us not being able to find the eye of the hook in order to tie it on! I now have a small box full of midges and Baetis all tied on the Big Eyes.

 


 2011 Spring Trips.
 It's Happening!

Char Spring trips here in Yellowstone country are still going strong. Here's a nice shot of Char Wolford. Bob & Char spent last week with Dan and had a great time. Here's a little of what they had to day about the trip.

Had a GREAT Spring Trip with Dan. Weather could have been warmer but it also could have been a lot colder. Nice relief from 90 degrees in Fl. Fishing was great and Dan made us appreciate true FLY fishing. We stalked several fish and with his expertise were able to hook numerous fish on a dry fly. Which flies we used are a secret. Hope you have a good summer and we will see you in the FALL! Thanks, Char & Bob

Thanks Char & Bob be sure to work on Ginger, Di, Bruce and Don for the Fall!

 


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!