News from Blue Ribbon Flies

Fishing Report
Weekly Conditions and Tips

By Craig Mathews
16 June 2011

My friend and fellow co-founder of 1% for the Planet, Yvon Chouinard, and I had some pretty incredible fishing over the weekend. We were filming a conservation piece for Spring Creek Films of British Columbia, Canada and lucked into some very nice brown trout. I am holding a male brown in this photo, and you can see the coloration of this guy appears as if he is going into the spawning season. Another photo in this report shows Yvon in an interview with the film crew. The film is scheduled out early next year so stay tuned here for updates.

With our weather pattern of late we all feel we are in a fall pattern; cool-wet conditions prevail here in Yellowstone and we are anxiously awaiting some sunshine on this end. In the meantime my new fly fishing logbook is filled with entries of high water, even on the Firehole, yet we are seeing some insect hatches and rising fish. Speaking of a fishing log, and I feel we all should have and use one, our new little log books are awesome. Leather bound with the finest paper known this handy sized logbook is in my fly fishing pack or vest at all times I am on the water. We have them in two rich colors: buckskin and dark brown. Mine already has several entries as well as flies pasted into some dates logged and several wildflowers pressed into the pages, a few bird feathers found along the steam bank found while awaiting a rise of trout and photos too. This should be on your Father's Day gift list for dear old dad. He will think of you and thank you every time he looks to his log book!

Yesterday I spent the day with Chris Patterson of Confluence Films working on a project due out this fall. Confluence donates these films to conservation groups and the one we are working on deals with fly fishing some of Yellowstone Park's off-the-beaten-path waters. We will be filming more in July and I promise to file and update in this newsletter then. The film will premier with a showing this fall in Bozeman before its world release so stay tuned here. We took some nice trout to 22" for the camera on copper and pearl Zonkers, both of which are a necessary pattern to have in your arsenal when fishing high water, or searching for big trout!

Our guides and their clients have had some very good streamer fishing on the Madison River near Raynolds Bridge and $3 using tan Sculpinator streamers fished against the bank. Some very large browns are coming to these streamers and will continue to do so until the water drops in a couple weeks. The river continues to surprise those fishing it with the numbers of big fish, both rainbows and browns coming to the fly. The browns mostly come to streamers as mentioned, rainbows take nymphs like our large rubber leg stones, SJ Worms, Gummy Eggs, and Rick's Red Midge.

Between the lakes, below the dam is still red-hot using these same nymphs along with beaded Princes behind a Robin Nymph. Please stay off the rainbow redds at the island along the roadway. You do not need to wade here, matter-of-fact, we should not even fish here! It would be best to leave the few still-spawning rainbows alone to do their thing providing continued strong recruitment for the river.

The RxR Ranch stretch of the Henry's Fork is open. While there were caddis and PMDs on the water on opening day, yesterday, there were few risers. Bear in mind the wind was screaming and the water is still very cold. Things will improve here soon and the river's big rainbows will come up for Baetis, PMDs and caddis.

The Madison in the park has fished well. Salmon flies and PMDs are emerging but you probably won't find too many trout coming to the surface to feed. This should change in the next few days as the flows decrease. For now pitch big rubber legs and streamers near the bank and overhangs and you will catch some very nice trout, still big run-up fish from last fall and winter's spawning runs. You should try some Sunken Stones and big Royal Wulffs along the bank too as in selected spots trout will rise. You just need to locate a few of those spots and hang on!

The Firehole River is fishing but you will want to get above Nez Perce Creek which is dumping lots of high cold water into the river. We are finding the trout will come up for emergences of caddis and PMDs even in flows of 1000 cfs. The river is dropping ever so slowly and anglers are taking lots of trout so give this one a try using white woolheads and Hard Charger streamers, as well as beaded soft hackles. When trout are rising an Iris and X Caddis works as do PMD Sparkle Duns and split-back PMD nymphs.

Henry's Lake and its outlet are fishing well but best patterns vary from day to day so check with us. The fish are huge!

Wade Lake has fished more consistently than Cliff which is usually not the case. On both you will want small leeches like the seal and mini-marabou as well as chironomid pupa patterns you can find here. Hebgen Lake has been hot and cold with the weather. Midges are emerging heavily on warm eves, (we had one last week), and the mornings are strong when the wind stays calm. There was a 30" brown taken this week on a Halbop Leech near Rumbaugh which is the area holding the largest browns on the lake. Drifting with the wind has produced well with leeches and small streamers as well as our crayfish patterns. The crayfish continue to expand their range on Hebgen and can now be found from The Narrows all the way to the dam on the north side - be there!

Our late spring water conditions are beginning to stabilize on rivers like the Firehole, Henry's Fork and Madison. Some smaller streams are coming into shape now too and all lakes are fishing well but do NOT head to Lewis Lake as ice still remains on much of the lake. It is always best to call or stop in to check river, stream and lake conditions and to find what flies are working and where and when to fish. Plus, the coffee is on and our staff is ready with their smiles and information on where to stay, where to eat, where to fish and what to fish with.

Our crew is the most experienced in Yellowstone country whether it be our guides, (some with as much as 30 plus years of fishing and guiding in Yellowstone) to our shop crew which have been with us for so many years and, everyone of them fishes and ties flies for the area. Their knowledge of fishing, wading gear, vests and packs, rods and reels and everything fly fishing is unsurpassed in southwest Montana and Yellowstone country!

Call, email or stop in and let's talk fly fishing!

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