Current Conditions:
For the best fishing on the spring creeks right now cold, rainy, and snowy weather is ideal. Bright sun makes it easier to see spring creek trout, but Blue Winged Olives hatch best when the weather might be the worth. Even with that in mind, the Spring Creeks near Bozeman and Livingston Montana tend to fish better each day as more rainbow and cutthroat trout are moving into the creeks to begin to spawn. It is very important to be aware of redds and avoid walking on or targeting fish on redds.
Blue Winged Olives (BWOs) may not hatch as frequent on bright and warm sunny days, but those days sure make for nice fishing weather and make seeing the snow capped peaks of Paradise Valley that much sweeter. When we get warm, sunny weather, hatching BWOs on the surface may be low in number, but spring creek trout will still feed on mayfly nymphs and midges subsurface. Plenty of sight fishing can occur on these bright days....so slow down, watch for fish, and think like a predator.
Before a hatch occurs on the spring creeks, trout will be holding in deeper runs, buckets, or holes. These fish are best targeted with subsurface tandem nymph rigs fished on long leaders and light tippets. Midge, mayfly, and scud patterns are most successful. Choose sizes 18-24 and patterns that tend to be sparsely tied rather than bushy or large profiled.
Visit Our Shop for These Top Spring Creek Flies Right Now:
Juju Baetis size 22
Beadhead Zebra midge, black or red, size 22
Mole Midge size 18
Brooks Sprout, BWO size 18
The Month Ahead:
As more fish migrate into spring creeks in the coming month expect fishing action to increase. This time of year the ideal spring creek day has overcast or showers and little wind. Hatches will increase in frequency as water temps climb into the range of 40 degrees F to 50 degrees F.
Because the spring creeks often demand intimate knowledge, booking a local guide can be a good way to get the most out of these unique fisheries.