|
|
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.
We've got a lot to show you and tell you about this week, so settle down in a comfy chair and dig in. 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 hope to see you soon, right here in West Yellowstone, but until then we wish you happy and healthy fishing and fly tying. All our best to each of you. 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
Craig is just back in town after his annual leave to chase spring trout and wild turkeys. He had a grand time calling in over a dozen big gobblers while in the turkey woods of South Dakota and Montana. The fishing was awesome too. March Brown and Spring Baetis mayflies emerged on overcast days and midges and Skwala sp. stoneflies brought up plenty of big trout also. Craig fished rivers like the Madison, Yellowstone, Boulder and Stillwater and had fine dry fly fishing as well as some great nymphing too.
We have had a lot of calls on this and thought that we should mention that the Ice has now melted off almost all of the area lakes. Hebgen, Quake, Wade and Cliff are all ice free! As many of you remember this is at least two weeks earlier than last year. The few reports we have had on these lake have been good, but we will be sure to include this in next weeks report after we have had a chance to fish them for ourselves.
Bucky and Jackie have been getting the shop ready for the upcoming season, cleaning, stocking and doing some major rearrangement. Scott continues (while not guiding) to work on remodeling and new shelving and new products are arriving daily.
So you can see we have not been sitting still here at the shop. Our spring Mayfly Tours are in full swing and you'll read more about them later on in this report but now lets look at some fishing!
As usual in the rest of this issue, 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 fall and 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.
Read more from Blue Ribbon Flies...
|
|
|
|
|
Fishing Report
Weekly Conditions and Tips
By Craig Mathews
The Madison River between the lakes is fishing well, although it is crowded at times due to it being some of the only clear running water around. Most streams are in early run-off stage. The weather forecast is for cooling temps with some spring snow this weekend before it warms again next week.
Rivers like the Gallatin, Yellowstone, Boulder and Henry's Fork are truly in spate now and you'll want to check elsewhere for the next few weeks until they clear.
Now is the time to fish lakes like Cliff, Wade, and Hebgen as they are all fishing very well. Large midge larvae patterns like the Chan's and Driskill will work very well as will our crayfish patterns. If you have not fished these lakes you owe it to do so as they will give up some very large trout which will get you quickly into your backing! You might see a few fish rise to impaired/crippled emerging midges so have a big Zelon Midge along too. As we mentioned earlier we will much more on the lakes next week.
The Beaverhead and Missouri Rivers are both fishing well. Beaverhead trout will rise to emerging caddis, midges and Baetis mayflies while the Missouri fish are on midges and Baetis. Have flies like Krystal Dips, #16-18 and Zelon Midges #20 for midge times. Iris and X Caddis along with X and X2 Caddis in olive will score some nice trout when they key on emerging caddis. Baetis Sparkle Duns, Soft Hackle Beatis Emergers, and Micro Madison Beadhead Baetis Nymphs work when big trout are selectively taking Baetis nymphs, emergers and duns.
This time of the year with changing water conditions mean you'll want to be flexible in your fishing plans. Always check with us before making a long drive to water which might prove unfishable due to high turbid water conditions. Our guides are on the water daily so we always have current, up-to-the minute stream reports-hatches, and other information to make your trip successful. Stop by too, the coffee is always on and we are tying flies! See you soon.
|
|
|
|
|
Fly of the Week.
Olive X-Caddis
Get ready for that Mothers Day hatch!
If you haven't fished with an X-Caddis, you've cost yourself a lot of fish! This cousin to the Sparkle Dun is simply a machine. Another concoction of zelon, dubbing, and deer hair; the X-Caddis is always our go-to fly for the epic caddis emergences.
As with Mayflies, caddis can experience difficulties emerging from their pupal shuck at times. Many end up trapped in their shucks entirely or with the shuck trailing off their body and with wings fully emerged. Though the fish may not always key on these cripples, we have found this fly to work extremely well, in fact, much better than standard ties, whether the fish are on cripples or not.
We fish the fly as a dry, and dress it with floatant. Upstream, dead drift is the most productive method, casting to individual fish if they are rising.
Here's a video on how to tie another great Caddis pattern.
|
|
|
|
|
Astream American Writers on Fly Fishing
Coming in June!
This marvelous collection features stories from some of America'sfinest and most respected writers about one of the world'smost solitary and satisfying sports: fly fishing. For the first time,the stories of twenty-four acclaimed writers including Kim Barnes,Walter Bennett, Russell Chatham, Guy de la Valdène, RobertDeMott, Chris Dombrowski, Ron Ellis, Jim Fergus, CharlesGaines, Bruce Guernsey, Jim Harrison, Pam Houston, MichaelKeaton, Greg Keeler, Sydney Lea, Ted Leeson, Nick Lyons, CraigMathews, Thomas McGuane, Joseph Monninger, Howard FrankMosher, Jake Mosher, Craig Nova, Margot Page, Datus Proper,Howell Raines, Le Anne Schreiber, Paul Schullery, W. D. Wetherell,and Robert Wrigley come together in one collection. Fly fishersand non-fly fishers alike will recognize in these poignant tales theuniversal aspects of the appreciation of nature, the necessity of conservation,and the joy and knowledge that come from time spenton fresh and salt water. This is a delightful, handsome volume thatcaptures the allure and spirit of fly fishing and those that love it.
We will have this book available in June. We suspect that there will be a limited field of these books so to ensure you get a copy you can give us a call and Pre-Order! We can even get Craig to sign it for you!
Here's a few other books to help plan your trip to Yellowstone Country!
|
|
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.
Thanks for spending time with us. We'll see you soon!
|
|
Spring Road Trips
