News from Blue Ribbon Flies

Fishing Report
Weekly Conditions and Tips

By Craig Mathews
17 August 2011

It is amazing to me that in a blink of an eye most anglers can finally see the light, so to speak, but don't or fail to, as a rule. Case in point; what appear at first glance to be trout rising to something on the surface during a mid-August afternoon on the Gallatin or Madison Rivers. By sitting on the bank and watching and doing what the river tells us, we find fish taking emerging mayflies, Epeorus sp., under the surface. Later that same day during the late hours of the evening, 8-9:30pm, you can expect to see big trout sipping something off the surface in the failing light. For several minutes you will see, even if only for that blink of an eye, mating pairs of mayflies fluttering by you as you sit on the bank or stand downstream of heavy riffle stretches of the river. Mostly likely these mating pairs of mayflies are Epeorus sp. and the sips from rising trout as those made from large trout taking spinners of these mayflies after the females have laid their eggs and fallen spent to the surface.

Take time to watch for that blink of an eye, sit on the bank and do what the river tells us to do. Daily anglers come into the shop and complain about fishing to rising fish and not being able to take them. Most tell of trout taking insects on the surface of the water when in fact they are taking emergers under the surface. Epeorus mayflies emerge subsurface and you must fish an emerger imitation that way or you will only take small trout.

With Epeorus mayflies being the most important stream-borne insects now on the Madison and Gallatin as well as canyon stretches of Soda Butte, the Gardner, Lamar, Yellowstone and Henry's Fork Rivers fly patterns imitating all stages of this beautiful insect are required for successfully fishing these waters. Our Epeorus emergers, nymphs, cripples, sparkle duns and ICUs as well as spinners are very important patterns to add to your arsenal of patterns when fishing Yellowstone country now.

This is the week for flying ants to begin swarming along several rivers in our area. My notes indicate ants become very important now on Slough and Soda Butte Creeks and rivers like the Madison and Henry's Fork and Lamar. Lakes such as Hebgen and Wade come alive in late August when ants find their way onto the water. Hoppers are beginning to show on the Madison also. I predicted earlier this season that hoppers would not be a factor in Yellowstone this summer due to a cold-wet spring but on the Madison below $3 and to Ennis as well as the Lamar and Yellowstone we are seeing some very good hopper fishing. Too, tiger beetles and bees are becoming more and more important each day on area rivers and streams.

The Lamar has been offering up some very fine dry fly fishing. Mayflies, caddis, ants and beetles will all bring the fish up. Cache Creek has fished well too. Remember bear spray! Important fly patterns to have include PMD Sparkle Duns #18 as well as spinners, Drake Mackeral Sparkle Duns, Tiger Beetles and Yellowstone Foam Bees as well as #16 X2 Caddis and Cutters Caddis. If fishing canyon stretches have Epeorus Sparkle Duns cripples and emergers. The upper reaches might have good hopper action now too.

Slough and Soda Butte Creeks have both fished well during beetle and ant times in mid-afternoon. Alder bugs are now on many area waters and our Tiger Beetle pattern is the best bet for imitating that insect. Big Drake Macs have been seen on Soda in limited number but every insect gets eaten by good trout. This large mayfly will continue to emerge through September, always strongest on overcast-rainy days. Evening caddis are strong as are midges and Heptagenia mayfly duns will emerge on Soda with evening rusty spinner falls. A most important pattern to fish during evening spinner falls or searching the water in the early morning hours is a #16-18 Triple Wing Rusty Spinner. Not only does this fly float well but it is easy to see. Fishing one in the morning can be deadly as the big trout patrol the shallows and pools searching out the leftovers from the previous night's spinner fall. A sleeper bet area this late in the summer can be upper Soda Butte and the water above Ice Box can be fun fishing with large attractors like the PMX and Royal Trude Cripples.

The Yellowstone River has been good near Tower and Hellroaring Creek can be worth the hike now as it has dropped and the water temps have warmed so cutts are looking up for dries. Another tributary worth fishing is Blacktail Deer Creek and you just might want to check out Blacktail Pond now also. The pond can offer a good brook trout to 17" with a Sparrow Nymph while the creek is always great for plump 7-9" brookies on cripple trudes and wulffs, a fine spot for beginners!

The Gardner River has been fun, both the lower river near Mammoth as well as the upper river above the confluence with Indian Creek and also upstream of Panther Creek. These little rivers fish well in the afternoon with hopper patterns like the Enhanced Chaos #12 and tiny Charlie Boys too. Look for good Epeorus activity on the lower stretches around Boiling River and downstream to town. Anglers are never too old or experienced to fish these fine waters, nothing of size but lots of beautiful fish. In Gardiner, Mt stop in and see the boys at Park's Fly Shop and bug them about Bear Creek and Mill Creek and some of their favorite off-the-beaten-path places too.

The Gallatin River has been productive lately for not only numbers of fish, but some very large trout too. The river fishes well from the 22 mile marker all the way downstream to the mouth of the canyon, over 50 miles worth of prime trout water! Epeorus mayflies, a couple species of caddis and terrestrials like the spruce moth, hoppers and bees and beetles as well as crickets can be counted on to bring up the trout. If nymphing is your game then try red Krystal Dips and trail a no bead original $3 Dip behind or a GM Nymph trailing a bright green Robin Nymph and you can count on some nice rainbows with a big brown thrown in. wish we could tell you Taylor Fork and Fan Creek were fishing well but with continued cold water temps these little tributaries have not come on.

The Firehole River above Midway is fishing well during caddis time in the late evening and some hopper activity is happening now near Biscuit and Midway. The hoppers are strongest on the upper river and the fish are coming to them if the winds come up in the afternoon hours. Fall Baetis are due most anytime now especially with any rainy day so be prepared! White Miller Caddis are continuing to bring up good rises of trout during the late evening hours. This little river has been great all year and we all look forward to fall fishing on it this year. The fish are larger this year due to higher-colder water and the hatches have been great!

The Madison in the Park continues to fish well. While most of the fish you will take are river fish there continues to be more and more run-up fish moving in from Hebgen Lake. While it is still too early for these fish to be territorial moving into spawning times and attack streamers they will come up for Trico mayflies which continue to emerge from Barns Pools downstream to the lake. If they are your game you must separate them from the rising whitefish to succeed. Most of the risers you'll see will be whitefish so it pays to pay close attention to riseforms although it is fun to fool whitefish now too.

Both the Henry's Fork and Madison are fishing well in the evenings when Margarita and Epeorus spinners are on the water. The larger pinkish mayfly spinners are Epeorus with the small olive spinners being Margaritas. These smaller #18 spinners appear to have white wings while in flight, and will always swarm below the larger Epeorus spinners. In select spots along both rivers the larger trout initially prefer the smaller insects as there usually will be more of them on the water. This occurs for the first part of the spinner falls, 7-8pm, after which the larger spinners will bring up the fish from 8pm to dark. It pays to either have a rod caddy along in the failing light to hand you the other rod rigged with appropriate fly or change flies quickly when the rising fish switch to the larger spinner. Fall Baetis are due on both rivers with the next cold front and wet conditions so be ready. Excellent beetle and ant fishing is on now too. Spruce moths are failing and should finish up their time this weekend but the trout might remember them for the next week or two so it pays to have an imitation along, usually a #12 elk hair works this late in the summer for these and other moth species found along the rivers. Tribs to both rivers are fishing well. The Warm River as well as the Bechler are both fishing on the upper H Fork and Indian Creek and the West Fork of the Madison are fun to fish now too.

Henry's Lake has fished very well the past week. Our red soft hackle along with rusty-orange seal buggers are the key to lots of nice fish. Callibaetis continue to bring up rises of fish on Hebgen, Wade and Cliff and Ennis Lakes. Spruce moths and Callibaetis are on now on Hidden Lake, and Elk Lake has come alive lately after a strong spring but lackluster early summer season. Soft hackle Callibaetis emergers, nymphs, sparkle duns and spinners are all important patterns. A Gulper Special would be great to have on Hebgen too. And, oh yes, there has been some strong evening caddis fishing on Hebgen lately. If lakes in the park interest you try Sylvan and Joffe, Trout, Wolf, Grebe, Grizzly and Lewis as they are all great during Callibaetis, dragon fly, and spruce moth times. Has anyone even thought of Goose or Gooseneck Lakes this summer in Yellowstone?

We are getting ready for our presentations at the Tenkara World Summit here August 27th as well as our FFF workshops and program for the Ennis Fly Fishing Festival in early Sept. Stay tuned here for more information and we hope to see you there!

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