What's New
 What's Happening in Yellowstone Country

Gary Kasnett provided us with this neat shot - pretty accurate view of just some of our weather lately. It's been a crazy few weeks here in July. We've had hot, dry, wet, windy, cold, rainy, hazy, sunny, strange weather coming and going. The fishing is a little behind in some spots, a little ahead of the usual game in others, and we are just enjoying the heck out of almost all of it.

Some of our favorite folks have been in and out of the shop over the last little bit, but we're still waiting for others to arrive, or to come back. The flow of old friends and new, the revolving door of Blue Ribbon Flies, is one of the best parts of summer.

We want to extend a very special thank you to Jeffrey and Grayling Wilkes, who presented Craig with an unparalleled treasure last week. Last year Craig gave Grayling a fly box, and he and his dad more than returned the favor by spending the next three seasons crafting a gift so special and beautiful words fail us. Without leaving a mailing address, this delightful family dropped off the gift in the shop. Heartfelt thanks from Craig and an unsent thank you note remain unexpressed. Grayling and Jeffrey, if you're reading this, give a call. And thanks again.

We have a very special opportunity for bamboo aficionados. We have three vintage Winston bamboo rods, never fished, in beautiful condition for sale right now. Somehow we got our happy little hands on a 9' 7wt, a 9' 6wt, and an 8'6" 5/6wt, and they are available to you for $1500 each or $3995 for all 3.

If bamboo is not your thing but drift boats are, we have an even better deal for you. For $10 you can buy a raffle ticket, all proceeds benefitting the Madison River Foundation, for a brand new ClackaCraft drift boat! Call or email us at the shop for as many tickets as you'd like. The drawing will be held at the Ennis Fly FIshing Festival over Labor Day weekend.

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 spring and summer 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

26 Juiy 2012
Blue Ribbon Flies Weekly Fishing Report
Craig Mathews


They're baaaaaaaack! Everyone in Yellowstone country including bears and trout has been waiting to see if spruce moths would return in force this summer. And it looks like they will wreak havoc again on our spruce and fir trees. Trout relish these meaty moths which have played a huge role in successful dry fly fishing the past few late summers. The adults often seem to find their way onto the water on area rivers, lakes and streams and trout, big trout, take advantage of those hapless moths that fall or fly into the water. Lakes like Wade and Hidden, Grebe and Cascade, Sylvan and Trout can experience superb rises of trout to the moths when they are out in late July and August. When we gave John his order to tie several hundred of our famous Summer Spruce Moths we thought we'd have our fly bins stocked for the season. But already I've had to put a crew to work tying nothing but our spruce moth pattern into the foreseeable future! Our Madison floats have done well in the early morning hours fishing the moth fly. Streams like the Gallatin and Gardner Rivers, Slough and Soda Butte and Tower Creeks have fished very well during spruce moth periods.

This morning I filled my Finsport Fly Keeper with flies for fishing the day and headed out with friends to spend the day on-stream. My Finsport is nearly 10 years old and was once dark green but now looks lime in color. I can't tell you how many flies and how much time and effort I've saved by using this handy device over the years. My only regret is that I didn't think of it before Finsport did! Jackie bought me a new one the other day but I have not had the heart to retire the old one that's been with me so long; it's an old friend. I'd tied Callibaetis Emergers, olive scuds with rusty live-hearts, amber and tan Iris Caddis and PMD Soft Hackle Emergers all for fishing today. Friends and I used all these flies except the Iris which I hope to use later this evening.

This week we worked with the Yellowstone Park Foundation on an important event at $3 Bridge Ranch in the Madison Valley. Tomorrow we have a Grizzly Bear meeting with local ranchers and conservation groups on how to live with these bears as well as wolves and other predators, all the while making sure our local ranching community stays vibrant and in business. Next week we'll meet with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition to discuss local issues and more. Despite a busy season we remain active in wildlife and wild trout concerns in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem!

Before getting into the fishing report there's one item I can't refuse talking about. While some might say I try to sell things in this report I have to say the Simms DeYoung Fly Fishing Flasks are incredibly beautiful. They make wonderful gifts so make sure you check them out. I carry mine in a lower front pocket of my fishing vest. Jackie brews a cup of espresso and puts it in the flask for me when I fish early mornings or late evenings. Even though the air temp might be warm, I love to sit on the bank and pull out my little flask and have a sip of espresso while I admire how pretty this little flask is. It too forces me to sit and watch for rising trout or insects or animals like the doe and her twin whitetail fawns that blew and snorted at me last night while I enjoyed a sip from my flask. And just maybe when the weather turns cold and the winds switch to the north this fall I might put something a bit stronger in the flask to enjoy at the end of a day on stream, but for now warm espresso is just fine.

The time is ripe in Yellowstone country for terrestrials to bring trout to the surface. Hoppers and beetles, ants, crickets and spruce moths will raise trout - big trout - and you'll want to be prepared with the right patterns. Rivers like the Madison and Gallatin are fishing very well with small grass and leaf hopper patterns as well as ants and beetles and small crickets. A sleeper fly pattern has been the Attracta-Ant fished behind a Grand or M's Hopper. Evening caddis are still strong on the Gallatin but the action is slowing a bit on the Madison. While we await the final evening caddis fishing flurry of the summer look for Epeorus mayflies to bring the trout to the surface during emergences in late afternoon as well as spinner falls near dark. Our Epeorus emerger is killing fished all day long but requires concentration and skilled anglers to fish it correctly. Check with us on this one! For caddis times have a bright green and Amber Iris as well as a #16 Tan X2. Those in the know will never be without #20 Black X Caddis for those times coming upon big sipping rainbows in the early evening hours as they take these tiny adults from Raynolds Bridge downstream to Pine Butte. Mornings are made for midges and you will find trout sipping them around $3 Bridge as well as Raynolds, and the West Fork from 6-9am.You will have to walk and sit on some water but it can be very rewarding to those in search of midging trout!

The Gallatin is not only fishing well with terrestrials like Crystal Beetles and small hoppers and ants but it also has seen some great PMD and Epeorus emergences in the morning and afternoons on cloudy days. While the green drakes are gone you may find some Flavs (small western green drakes) and a Hetagenia on the water also, so have olive and yellow sparkle duns #16-18. Evening spinner falls have been good near Big Sky and upstream according to Bucky who is on this river most evenings now.

The Henry's Fork is fishing during evening spinner and caddis times around Wood Road. You all remember Dan Daufel and his brother Doug. These twins are two of the finest fly tyers Yellowstone country has ever seen and Doug took a 26" rainbow on the Fork last week with his spinner pattern.

Speaking of great fly tyers, how about Rowan Nyman who still ties for BRF and has for over 20 years! His flies like Royal Trude and Wulff Cripples, Epix and moth and stone flies along with lime and tiger Dips still grace our bins and score so many fine fish on streams like Slough, Lamar and Soda Butte. For the next several weeks these waters will all fish very well.

And how about the Yellowstone in the Black Canyon or near Tower, or Tower Creek itself which have all fished well? Blacktail Deer and Lava along with the Gardner River are fishing very well. Terrestrials and caddis, stone flies and attractors are working their magic on these fine waters. The Snake River inside the south entrance and upstream to its confluence with Heart River has fished well. But then, really what has not? There have been some who've complained, for instance, that the Madison is not fishing well but then I have been on it 5 of 6 nights and find enough rising fish each time to score 4-6 trout in the 15-18" class from 8-10pm nightly. Daytime nymphing has been very good with Duck Collar Nymphs and the little Red Headed Stepchild (I wish they'd change that name).

Hebgen's tricos have been great on the upper Madison Arm from 7-10AM. While Callibaetis have sputtered and stalled a bit this week we will soon see them kick in from now through September. Earthquake Lake continues its run of great fishing as do Elk and Hidden Lakes.

I got a note from my friend who just returned from the south end of Yellowstone Lake where he had fine fishing. To date the lake trout removal crew has netted over 160,000 lakers this year. Those in the know report lots of cutthroats showing up in the nets now which are unharmed. It appears to experts that we may be just now winning the battle to control lake trout numbers and return Yellowstone cutthroat nearly to their former greatness. Time will tell but what is now most important is that we all step up and support the removal efforts through a joint GYC-YPF initiative. Please join us in this effort by financially supporting both organizations. More to follow on this so stay tuned here please. Let's think of all future generations and their opportunity to catch Yellowstone cutts and what we can do to ensure this.

Think of small waters to this time of year, places like Joffe and Grizzly Lake, the upper Gibbon River and Solfatara, Fan and Taylor Fork Creeks. When was the last time you hiked into Nez Perce, TeePee or the upper Firehole or Little Firehole Rivers? Or places like the Warm River and Robinson Creek? I get excited to fish places I've not visited in a while just writing about them! Let our small stream experts like Tylor, Jennifer and Aaron line up places for you to explore next time you are in and around Yellowstone county! Give them a call or stop by and visit!

This week I will be fishing my Tenkara rods on small streams like those discussed above. Then too, I fish mine nightly on the Madison too. Give us a call and get in on the Tenkara craze. It is so simple and fun not to mention how effective it is. I will bet you you'll take twice as many trout in no time as you do with traditional gear. Call or stop by and let us introduce you to the joy and fun of Tenkara fishing!

Read past fishing reports and archived newsletters... 

 Fly of the Week
 Spent Spruce Moth

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Spruce Moths have plagued our western forests since 2005 or so. Every summer numbers creep higher than anyone can ever remember seeing in previous years. The mature old growth forests lining the Gallatin River are especially inundated by these parasitic budworm moths. This is the bad and the ugly.

We have a real love-hate relationship with the spruce moth. We hate what they're doing to our forests, and we hate seeing them appear year after year. It's hard to hate the way fish respond to them however, and we're starting to see some action on spruce moth patterns again this year. This of course is the good.

Try some spent spruce moths soon, and keep your fingers crossed that one day this pattern will be obsolete.

Here's a couple of other patterns you should check out... 

 Fly Tying Material of the Week
 Nature's Spirit Emergence Dubbing Selection

Twelve Shining Colors in One Box

This may be one of the better deals going, and you know we're always anxious to tell you about deals. This selection of twelve unique shades of Emergence dubbing is only $16.99 and will change your tying, if not your life. It is known that aquatic insects in the emerging stage have an aura about them not unlike a glow. These insects emit gases that help propel them to the vulnerable surface film before their transition to the adult stage.

Nature's Spirit emergence dubbing is specially formulated to emulate the sheen of emerging insects. This product possesses ingredients that will give your flies that life-like appearance you need to duplicate the two above criteria of this important stage in a mayfly, caddis and midge life cycle. There are twelve colors intended to match the spectrum of the majority of emerging nymphs that inhabit our rivers and lakes.

Craig had been using our new Nature Spirit Emergence Dubbing Blends from this very dubbing selection. Bucky showed him the blends and dubbing kits which occupy a special place on Craig's fly tying desk. Here is what he wrote to us this morning, along with his fishing report, about his recent fishing:

"Our best fish of the day, a 23" brown, came to the scud I tied and several fine browns couldn't resist the C. Baetis nymphs I'd fashioned with the dubbing in the selection. If you are into dubbing selections and blends make sure you check this one out as it has most every color and shade I could ever want to tie flies from BWOs and PMDs to Iris, X and X2 flies as well as scuds and spruce moths and more."

Try out a selection for yourself.

For these and other fine materials check here! 

 Guide Trip of The Week
 Fish With The Best!

Guides are getting excited about gulper fishing! When they're not out with clients, they're out with each other trying to catch the first of this year's gulping trout on Hebgen.

If you want to join us for some of the most exciting fishing of the Yellowstone season, book a guided trip in August with Blue Ribbon Flies. It's the closest thing to saltwater fishing we have to offer, complete with the adrenaline rush and the big pull of a big fish.

If you're not here, we'll try to entertain ourselves with these gulpers, but we'd love to save a couple for you.

Blue Ribbon Guides - nobody does it better! 

 Chums and Finsport
 Gear Up for Summer And Fall!

Blue Ribbon Flies, Chums, and Finsport have a common belief: fishing should be easy and fun. Whether you're out fishing every day like we are, or weekend warrior-ing, you need to have your gear ready to go when you hit the door. None of us are interested in the little inconveniences that slow us down and take away the enjoyment, like losing glasses or flies, or having to look for keys as the sun is sinking behind the horizon.

Chums has you covered with clip-on cleaning cloths for your sunglasses and spectacles. They have a great keychain carabiner, and all sorts of glasses retainers, neoprene and otherwise.

And you've heard us rave about Finsports for years. Keep up with your flies, allow them to dry after you switch patterns, and have them all at your fingertips.

No matter how much time you spend getting ready, fishing, and cleaning up your gear when it's all said and done, there's nothing like having a few inexpensive pieces of equipment that make the day go better. Keep up with your gear and your fishing with Chums and Finsport.

To see some of Chums' offerings, look here... 

 Yellowstone National Park Bandanas
 Use As A Map Or An Accessory!

We're big fans of buffs and bandanas here in Yellowstone country. Keep out dust, pollen, sun, wind, and all those biting flies and mosquitoes with just a little layer of cloth.

We offer a couple different styles and fabrics, but one of our favorites is this full-sized, historically accurate 1881 map of Yellowstone National Park printed on a cotton/poly bandana. They come in white, navy, forest green, red, and purple for under $10.

If you'd rather have a Painted Trout bandana, we've got those too. Buffs are in as well, though they're hard to sell on the website due to the variety of colors and styles available. Give us a call if you'd rather go that route.

And speaking of routes, if you want, you can use this YNP 1881 bandana to track yours. Order these handy and comfortable neckerchiefs for a variety of uses.

See all our bandanas... 

 Patagonia Stormfront Backpack
 Guaranteed Waterproof!

Wade a little too deep? Take one over the bow? Twelve hours of horizontal downpour? No problema. Whatever you need to keep dry, stays dry safely inside the Stormfront® Pack.

This ultrasimple waterproof pack is made of an extra-tough 840-denier double-polyurethane-coated nylon fabric and features a revolutionary easy-to-use waterproof zipper and an internal, custom-fit padded gear case with hook-and-loop dividers. It's comfortably supported by a removable shoulder-strap harness and a 3D spacer-mesh back panel. Take the harness off and you have the perfect dry boat bag.

A glued-in zippered mesh pocket keeps valuables organized and extra dry, while the external mesh pocket holds your hydration reservoir. The harness system includes tool attachment and storage capabilities plus, as an added bonus, you can replace the harness with the vest portion of Patagonia's Pack Vest (offered in previous seasons).

Check out all our packs and vests...