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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.
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.
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What's New
What's Happening in Yellowstone Country
Larry And Betsy Willey this past week with Drew.
One week 60 degrees and the next we struggle to make it above freezing, that's a Montana spring for you! Lately we have been getting many calls on Hebgen Lake and whether or not the ice has melted. As of now it's not even close. With the cold temps we have not seen many breaks at all on Hebgen. Our best guess on this would be around the first to second week in May if we warm up like the weather man says we are suppose to. Craig has headed over to Eastern Montana as well as North and South Dakota to do a little turkey hunting. We think he may have wanted to get to a little warmer climate but I'm not sure this will be the case.
Blue Ribbon Flies has helped fund the Conservation Hawks in their efforts to "to pass on a healthy natural world to the next generation of sportsmen, to defend our sporting heritage and traditions, and to educate hunters and anglers on the challenges and threats we face in the future." Check out some of the videos and the Conservations Hawks website. The Conservation Hawks mission is to "defend our sporting heritage and pass on a healthy natural world to future generations of Americans." Blue Ribbon Flies is excited to support the Conservation Hawks and we encourage you to stay up to date with these efforts. In the near future there will be a fishing video put out by the Conservation Hawks, so stay tuned!
Bucky, Cam and our new addition to Blue Ribbon Doug Smith have been busy this week with spring cleaning and getting the shop ready for the upcoming season, it's amazing how much dust and dirt can build up over the winter. Speaking of spring cleaning, part of this weeks newsletter is dedicated to "Spring Tune Up" yep it's time to get out the rods, reels, flies and gear to make sure that your ready for the 2013 season. So go to that corner or closet that you shoved all of your gear in last fall and make sure it's ready. Throughout this newsletter we'll give you a few ideas on what may need to be replaced, including lines, tippet and leaders.
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 summer and fall 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...
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Fishing Report
Weekly Conditions and Tips
Scott Clark and his Daughter Sky
About ten days ago we started to see a few rivers become off colored with the warm temperatures. Most all of the rivers are now running clear due to below freezing temps we have been receiving at night.
The Madison between the lakes has been very good! There are many fish up in this system and along with them there have been an abundance of anglers. Although there has been a few midges, nymphing is this best way to go in this stretch. Black and red Zebra midges #20, Rubberlegs, Pheasant tails#18 to 20 along with San Juan worms have been producing many fish in this stretch. Remember that the section of the Madison between Quake Lake and Macatee is closed until May 18th. The same goes for the section between Ennis bridge and Ennis Lake. We have not had any reports as of late from Macatee to Varney but the reports from Varney to Ennis have been quite good. The dry fly fishing could erupt in this section with Baetis, Midges and Skwalas the problem is that this has been very unpredictable from day to day. We have had reports of bugs blanketing the river one day then the next nothing. The best bet and most consistent fishing will be nymphing. Rubber Legs, baetis nymphs, egg patterns and midge patterns have been the most sucessful. Keep an eye on the weather for those warmer cloudy days to come which should bring some great dry fly fishing.
Our guides have given us some great reports from the Stillwater and Boulder. Baetis and Midges have been emerging but the nymphing has been the way to go.
The Henry's Fork is starting to pick up and has seensome great fishing in the afternoon on midges and Baetis. If you can hit the right day when it is warmer and cloudy the fish have been starting to rise very good between noon and 4p.m.
With temps in the single digits the Gallatin is running clear and late in the afternoon the fish are coming up to dries. Mainly midges on the surface, but be prepared for Baetis as well. The Gallatin has been that great green color that always seems to help the fishing this time of year. The nymphing is always a great bet with Rubberlegs Coffee/Black or solid Black in # 8- 12, Beadhead Prince in #4-6, Copper Johns #14-16, Lighting Bug Silver in #12-14 and San Juans # 10-12.
Although lower than it has been in the last couple of years the Beaverhead has been fishing good. The Baetis have been good in the afternoon and the nymphing just gets better with each passing day. A size #18-20 sparkle dun should cover you for the Baetis and Zebra midges, Red San Juan's and crystal dips for nymphs.
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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!
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Our Spring Road Trips continue and as you can see Betsy Willey had some great success with her husband Larry. Drew Mentzer guided the Willey's last week and they were joined by Larry Evans and his son Alan guided by Tommy Cornell. The group enjoyed some fantastic fishing on the Bighorn, Boulder and Armstrong spring creek and had a combination of both Dry Fly and Nymph fishing.
If your a Dry fly fisherman you know how frustrating it can be every time your fly sinks into the water. Over the years our guides have been using the combination of Dry Magic and Frog's Fanny to eliminate this problem by using the two products simultaneously. First greasing the fly with Dry Magic and then dusting it with Frog's Fanny.
