Excellent dry fly fishing on Armstrong’s spring creek started this week with thick hatches of both baetis and midges.  Fish are taking anything parachute, such as a parachute adams, parachute BWO, and even parachute ants!  The fish are looking up productively all day too providing non stop surface action.  Anglers can also pick fish up just below the surface by hanging a small midge emerger or larvae a few inches below a dry fly.

-Miles

I took my wife to the Lower Madison to fish on a partly sunny 50 degree afternoon.  It was certainly nice to be on the water again this spring, which has produced high quality spring fishing.  We parked the truck and took a short walk before fishing a deep bucket (depression).  I immediately hooked and landed a spunky 14″ rainbow on the first cast.  Before spoiling the pool, I had my wife replace me and make the second cast.  Another slightly larger rainbow agreeably received her baetis nymph offering.  Our first child received her first assist, at the spry age of 8 months and still in utero!  We pulled another 7 fish from this hole before wandering a little farther upstream.  Before long we had our fill of fun with great action from the pods of fish stacked up in the deeper runs.

Baetis were not observed on the water that day but are conceivably beginning to move more frequently subsurface as the long awaited spring baetis hatch looms ever closer.  Midges were hatching productively all day.  Trout aggressively began rising on the midges around 3pm once a large cloud came overhead and began spitting light sleet, hail, and large snowflakes.  I took advantage and rigged up my new dry fly rod, a Winston B-IIT 9′ 4-weight.  Numerous rainbows quickly cooperated in selecting my midge cluster dry fly patterns, ultimately highlighting pure pleasure with the new rod.  I always remember and appreciate the details of the first trout on a new rod!  Time will tell if our in-utero baby girl has the same romantic memory of her first trout assist.

Miles

One of our most frequently asked questions by seasoned anglers planning Montana fishing trips is “when and where is the best dry fly fishing?”. As with most fishing related questions the first answer is “it depends”! The biggest attribute of fishing in the Big Sky state is the vast diversity of high quality fisheries that are available. This enormous selection of thousands of miles of water in all shapes and sizes make any type of “when is the best” or “where is the best” question nearly impossible to answer concisely. The good news is that there is always some great dry fly fishing to be had from March to early November somewhere in the state. I will do my best to provide a few ideas on where and when to target great dry fly fishing. Keep in mind that conditions change from year to year, especially the timing of events. On big water years everything is delayed and on drought years timing is accelerated. Another disclaimer is that we spend the majority of our time on the waters of the Southern part of the state and we simply have much more of a knowledge base on the waters that we fish every day.

When to come for the best dry fly fishing?
A safe response to this question is to simply describe some of the different high points of the season that can produce good surface eats. Each time period has its advantages and disadvantages and I will try to emphasize each of these.

Late April to Early May – although there is some good fishing on the surface before late April it tends to be short lived. One can have pretty good surface action on midges on some tail waters like the Bighorn, Missouri and Ruby in March and early April. Missoula anglers also get excited about the Skwala stonefly that produces some upward looking fish in early April. The most exciting early season action, however, really gets going in late mid April with the arrival of the beatis (aka blue winged olive) mayfly. This hatch really heats up the last week of April and is joined by the much larger size 12 March Brown mayfly. During the first week of May the Mother’s Day Caddis begins to explode off of rivers like the Madison, Yellowstone and a few others and extends until run off hits (the Mother’s Day Hatch isn’t as important on tailwaters). The best match the hatch dry fly fishing on the larger rivers is often during this window. The water levels are still low since most of the snow is still locked up in the high mountains which encourages fish to come to the surface since they do not need to fight the stronger current of higher flows. The only downside of spring dry fly fishing is that the surface action tends to occur during a fairly compact feeding window that lasts for about 3 to 4 hours each day in the afternoon when the hatches take place (the morning can produce good nymphing or streamer fishing). Another thing to consider is that the mayfly species (baetis and March brown) are highly variable and produce much thicker hatches with cloud cover than with bluebird days. The caddis hatch seems to come off in abundance on sunny days. For avid Montana anglers this is a must fish time of the year!

Late May – Run off begins in mid May on most freestone rivers across the state. As such, visiting anglers tend to avoid late May. This is a big mistake since this time period can produce awesome fishing. Although some rivers are blown out, the spring creeks and tail waters below dams are still in great shape. Cool snaps also quickly bring back freestone rivers back into shape for one last shot at good fishing before full on run off arrives. Late May is one my favorite time to fish some of the spring creeks in the Yellowstone, Gallatin and Beaverhead valleys. The baetis hatch brings trout up like clockwork on a daily basis. Weed beds on the spring creeks aren’t that established and the big trout are still easily fooled (at least as far as spring creeks go). This combination makes it possible to both hook and land the biggest fish in the creeks on dries. There are very few out of state anglers to compete with at this time which enhances this time of the year as an “under the radar” window to get some great fishing in.

Mid June to Early July – This is THE time to toss dries on the spring creeks. The pale morning dun hatch usually begins around the 10th of June and picks up each day afterwards. The larger insects hatch first (about size 14) and then drop to 16s by early July. There is something about the PMD that makes wary spring creek trout behave like intoxicated brook trout on a remote mountain stream. During the magical window from late morning until about 3pm each day the fish become a little more tolerant of errant casts and less than ideal fly placement that would normally send the darting for cover. Experiencing the PMD hatch on some of Montana’s legendary spring creeks should be a must for any dry fly loving fly fisher!

Early summer is also the time to chase salmonflies and golden stones on some of the big freestone rivers like the Madison, Yellowstone, and Big Hole. These monstrous insects can reach 3” in length. The salmonfly definitely does not produce high fish counts in regards to surface fishing. The appeal of the salmonfly hatch is that you are in the game to catch the largest trout in the river on a dry. Fishing during the “hatch” can be frustrating and slow when the fish are gorged (which they often are), but it only takes one massive strike from a 25-28” brown to turn a sane mortal into a mumbling fool.

Mid July – Mid july This time of year produces a hodge podge of aquatic hatches that includes yellow sally stones, pmd mayflies, nocturnal golden stones, and assorted caddis species. Mid July also produces great attractor dry fly fishing with big bugs like stimulators, pmx’s, and assorted foam patterns like chubby chernobyls. The trickiest part of fishing at this time of year is fly selection because sometimes the trout really key in on one insect species or the other. I find that caddis are a safe bet early in the morning and some type of pmd style pattern is effective later. Fishing two dries is a good bet with one large attractor on top trailed by a more imitative insect pattern like a caddis, pmd or yellow sally behind. Mid July is a very safe time to visit to target good dry fly fishing.

Late July – Early August – The first wave of hopper fishing usually arrives in late July. This is the best time to catch great hopper fishing on the more famous larger fisheries such as the Madison, Yellowstone, Big Hole, Missouri and Bighorn. This is the busiest part of the season and everyone is salivating to throw hoppers and get the jump on some big “foam” eats. As a result, the trout on the legendary rivers start to wise up to hopper patterns by mid August. Hopper fishing can still be good on the most famous waters, but also expect some more “sniffs” and tender takes. If you can catch the first wave of hopper fishing it can really produce some unworldly fishing. The trick is that this one or two week glory window changes from year to year based on early summer temperatures and weather conditions. The good news is that if you arrive in late July and the hoppers still aren’t ready there will still be some great attractor dry fishing!

Mid August to Mid September – This is when the best terrestrial fishing of the season occurs. The trick is that the best hopper fishing isn’t always on the big famous waters anymore because those trout have started getting wise to the larger patterns. On the big waters smaller patterns like ants tend to be more productive. The really great hopper fishing is on lesser known waters, private waters and stretches of larger rivers that are harder to access. We can’t name names on these locations because it has take us so long to locate and identify them but it is safe to say that the trout are nearly 100% keyed in on crushing hoppers by this time of the season!

This is also a great time to target the trico and callibaetis hatches. Tricorythode mayflies occur in great abundance on Ennis Lake, Hebgen Lake, the East Gallatin, Bighorn and Missouri rivers. These diminutive mayflies make up in quantity what they lack in size and will often bring pods of nice sized rainbows to the surface. Callibaetis are a larger mayfly (about a 16) that are lake specific. They show up in late July and hatch through August on still waters. The best Callibaetis fishing is on Ennis and Hebgen lakes. Die hard river anglers are often surprised by how much they enjoy fishing still waters when they are targeting cruising fish that are “gulping” duns off of the surface.

Mid September to early October – This is one of my favorite times of the year to throw dries on big waters like the Yellowstone River. Fishing pressure drops off fast in late August once kids go back to school. Many locals have had their fill of fishing and outdoor enthusiasts now turn their attention to hunting leaving legendary waters nearly empty. The lack of fishing pressure helps erase any memories of foam hoppers that the trout may have had. This time of year produces a mixed bag of both weather conditions and dry fly opportunities. More often than not we experience an Indian summer that extends the terrestrial season into early October. It isn’t uncommon to experience the best hopper fishing of the year in late September or even early October. When grey skies and early fall storms arrive mayfly species including baetis, mahoganies and drakes come off in abundance. Even when high pressure sets in trout are often looking for mayfly patterns and targettng sipping fish in foam lines and inside corners of riffles with a parachute adams can often be deadly.

Early October to early November – The heart of the autumn season produces terrific baetis hatches with almost zero fishing pressure on many waters. The best baetis hatches occur when cloudy skies settle in. The spring creek dry fly fishing also kicks in with the fall baetis and you can often get lucky and be the only one on one of the famous creeks like DePuy, Nelson and Armstrong. The down side in terms of dry fly fishing is that the hatch is variable from day to day and even on a good day it is mostly an after lunch event. The upside is that if you are willing to go down under with a streamer or nymphs this is also a great time to run into some giant pre-spawn browns. Since my two favorite modes of fly fishing are stripping streamers and casting dries to rising trout this is one of my favorite times of the year to get out on our local waters!

October is a fantastic time to enjoy Montana fly fishing.  Water temps are dropping fast as the days get cooler and the fishing can really turn on as the summer tourists have headed back home and kids are back in school.  Tom Jenni and I put on for a three day overnight float on the Lower Yellowstone last weekend and only saw 3 other guide boats in 3 days despite averaging 40 trout per boat per day.

Although the very beginning of October can still produce some decent hopper and ant fishing, autumn fishing is dominated by the baetis hatch and stripping big streamers.  Although making any hard and fast rules in the sport of fly fishing is never a good idea, there are two main strategies I use in October: going big and going small.

The baetis (aka: blue winged olive) is the dominate late season hatch on Southern Montana waters.  This dependable small mayfly weighs in at a diminutive size 18 or 2o.  Despite is small size its dramatic abundance raises the interest level of even large fish.  In October we almost always fish some type of baetis imitation when tossing dries or nymphs.  When dry fly fishing a parachute adams is a good bet, but the many versions of baetis dries out there will also work.   When nymphing trail your top fly with a beatis nymph or emerging baetis pattern.

Browns also become more aggressive in the fall and targeting large pre-spawn migratory fish can produce the largest trout of the season.  The best way to catch browns over 20″ is to drag big streamers around.  Both stripping with a classic streamer retrieve and dead drifting or “tight lining” bunny fur can produce some very big tugs.  Although numbers go down when you up the fly size quality definitely increases.

October fly fishing offers many options, but to maximize enjoyment try tossing small baetis dries for the best surface action and stripping giant streamers when targeting monsters.  Go big or go small!

Jerry (a talented angler eager to employ some new casting techniques) and I enjoyed a fun day chasing healthy trout with small flies on Armstrong’s Spring Creek.  The fish were cooperative in every run except one.  Regardless of the sunny warm weather, we observed small size 24 BWO’s in the morning and some large size 18 BWO’s in the afternoon.  A light breeze through the idyllic autumn foliage placed a friendly riffle on the water, which allowed us to sneak in close and tighten the line on numerous wild and energetic fish.  They couldn’t refuse a sunken size 22 Baetis Emerger nor a size 18 CDC Baetis Emerger fished dry on 6X.  The baetis are popping (even with full sunshine) and the fish are eager… the next cool cloudy day should have Armstrong’s Spring Creek boiling!

Miles

September is a transition month in Montana.  Fall can arrive early in the Rockies, but warm Indian summers are also possible.  Most of the snow from the previous winter has melted out and river flows are low even on a big water year.  Nights are becoming longer and temperatures start dropping.  Summertime tourists thin out once kids go back to school and many locals set down their fly rods to take when archery season opens.

The beginning of September often feels like an extension of August with terrestrials ruling the day.  Montana fishing in September is dominated by hoppers and terrestrials on years with when warm temperatures extend into the fall.  Hoppers, ants, beetles and crickets always play an important roll in the early fall, especially on hot days.  With the exception of the trico mayfly there are not many aquatic hatches in the bigger rivers.  Trout are opportunistic and will often key in on larger subsurface food sources like crayfish and sculpins.

With lower flows don’t expect trout to always be along the banks.  On many rivers like the Madison, Gallatin and Yellowstone trout begin moving into the main channels and riffles and are no longer along banks unless they hold swift and deep water.  Paying careful attention to subtle depth and current changes can pay big dividends.  Depressions in riffles and seams are great places to target trout in the fall.

Some of the first storms of the fall begin moving in during the month of September.  These rainy days always produce big fish.  They are a great time to strip streamers or toss big ugly nymphs that imitate large food sources.  Later in September these cloudy days begin targeting the fall baetis (blue winged olives).  The fall baetis can produce terrific dry fly fishing on cloudy and drizzly days.

May has arrived and with it comes some of the most exciting and diverse fly fishing of the season.  May can produce the most intense hatches of the season as well as some of the most unpredictable weather and water conditions.  It is also a month of significant change; river levels, weather patterns and insect hatches can change quickly from one day to the next.  May is probably my favorite month of the year to fish local Montana rivers.  I really enjoy the diversity of options available and the need to play the chess match of following water levels and hatch cycles.  As water temperatures warm quickly the trout really start putting on their feed bags and the fishing can be downright explosive at times.

May Hatches

Baetis – Mayflies of the baetis genus hatch throughout the month of May.  These small grey and olive mayflies are generally best imitated with a size 18 hook.  Hatches usually occur just after lunch and can extend for hours on a good day.  The intensity of the hatch varies and is much stronger on cloudy and overcast days.  On foul weather days these “blue winged olives” can blanket the water and bring trout up steadily for many hours.  The small size of the insect helps keep the trout from filling up too quickly resulting in long sustained surface activity.  A good baetis hatch can produce some of the best match the hatch fishing imaginable.

March Browns – March Browns are a large size 12-10 brownish gray mayfly that hatches sporadically during May.  Like the baetis mayflies, March Browns prefer cloudy days.  Although the baetis often greatly outnumber these bigger insects, the larger trout often prefer the larger mayfly.  One of the biggest browns I have seen eat a dry was a 25″ fish that was furiously gulping these down in a side channel of the Madison a few years ago.

Midges – Midge hatches become strong in February and the tail end of the hatch extends into early May.  It is often easy to overlook midges when other larger insects are on the water, but midges are still very important in the late spring.  Tailwaters and spring creeks generally have much stronger midge hatches than freestone rivers like the Yellowstone.

Mother’s Day Caddis – The Mother’s Day Caddis is the most intense hatch of the year on legendary rivers like the Madison and Yellowstone.  The timing of the hatch varies from year to year, but it is generally just getting started in early May.  Once water temperatures consistently top out at 52 degrees the hatch begins.  Generally the Yellowstone is the first river to produce fishable conditions followed by the Lower and then Upper Madison.  On rivers like the Yellowstone the good fishing often runs into the beginning of run off so paying close attention to water levels is critical.  Tailwaters below dams like the Madison are much more predictable and great fishing extends well into the month even when other rivers rise and become dirty.  The Mother’s Day Caddis can become so intense that large rafts of caddis actually blanket the water and can cover several square feet of water in back eddies.  When the hatch is cuaght at its peak it can bring up every trout in the river producing a feeding frenzy that is

I’ve been hoping to run into a good midge hatch one of these days.  It seems like everyone I talked to was reporting a nice run in with rising fish over the midge hatch the last few weeks.  On friday I met up with seasoned guide Sean Blaine and Ryan Castle to do some fishing behind the Gallatin River Lodge.  GRL is one of the areas best Montana fishing lodges and we were fortunate to enjoy their two miles of private access that they have behind the lodge.  Ryan was a former student and is now a junior at Bozeman High with aspirations of becoming a fishing and hunting outfitter some day.

Despite some scattered snow flurries and cooler temps the day was a nice one with zero wind.  The water behind the lodge is gorgeous with lots of great slower runs where the trout are stacked up this time of year.  We hiked down river for a while where Ryan and I settled into a nice slow slot and managed to hit about a dozen trout within an hour with two doubles.  Ryan was throwing a rubber legs with a copper john trailer and I was picking them up on an egg trailed by an RS2.  Sean was hitting fish on a small floss worm so it didn’t seem to matter too much as long as you were in the right water.  After satisfying the need to feel a few wiggles on the edge of the line we started hiking up the river to look for some rising trout as the midge hatch started.  Sean quickly found a nice pod of fish rising where the main current met with a back water slough.  About six fish were working the slough and we all had a blast taking turns casting to the risers.

It felt great to get some of the first solid dry fly fishing in of the year.  The rivers feel like a powder keg ready to explode right now and the next few weeks will produce some of the most exciting hatches of the season.  Spring fishing is defined by rapid change, turbulent weather and rapidly changing water levels.  Hatches change day by day and rivers come up and down with rising and cooling temperatures.  When conditions are just right many of the hatches like the blue winged olive and mothers day caddis explode off the water in astounding numbers producing a feeding frenzy that is a spectacle not soon to be forgotten.

Spring is fast approaching and everyone is itching to get out and wet a line.  Although winter fishing is great…things really begin to get exciting when water temperatures begin rising in the spring.  One of the great attractions of fly fishing in Montana is the terrific variety that anglers can experience on the vast array of rivers, spring creeks, ponds and lakes the state has to  offer.  Fishing technique and aquatic hatches are also diverse and across the state and change from month to month.  April is arguably the most diverse month of the fishing season in regards to fishing techniques and hatches. 

Spring weather in Montana is notoriously fickle and can produce both balmy warm days and blizzard like winter weather.  April is a major transition month for weather with a tumultuous blend of cold winter storms and mild spring temperatures.  Fishing in early April across Montana often produces winter like fishing conditions with a few exceptions.  Water temperatures are still cold and trout are concentrated in slow deep runs in order to conserve energy.  Prime feeding times coincide with the warmest part of the day which is generally from about noon until 4pm.  The most productive fishing techniques during the early part of the month is generally nymph fishing just off of the bottom.  Rainbows are spawning this time of year and egg patterns can often be deadly along with the standard stonefly, small mayfly and midge patterns.  

Early April does offer some decent dry fly fishing in some locations.  Montana fishing guides from around the state converge on the skwala stonefly that begins hatching in late March and continues into April on many of the larger rivers in Western Montana.  The trout see enough of these relatively large insects to be enticed to the surface.  Early April also produces some outstanding dry fly fishing over midge hatches.  The best midge fishing tends to be on some of the tailwaters below dams such as the Missouri, Ruby and Bighorn.  

As water temperatures continue to rise the baetis mayflies (aka blue winged olives) begin hatching in earnest by the middle of April on most Montana rivers.  This smaller mayfly often produces intense hatches on cloudy days that can entice nearly every trout in the river to the surface some days.  Because of the smaller size of this insect trout are not quickly filled up when feeding on baeits resulting in a long and sustained feeding window. 

Late April produces an explosion of hatches and fish activity across the state.  Midges and baetis continue to hatch but are also joined by the large march brown mayflies and prolific brachycentrus caddis (also known as the Mother’s Day hatch).  Warming temperatures have also triggered trout to begin migrating out of their winter lies and they begin spreading into more traditional lies across the rivers.  Streamer fishing can be very good in April and many of the largest trout of the season succumb to the massive streamers that many obsessed Montana fly fishing guides prefer to throw on their days off.

I had a chance to get out on Sunday for an afternoon and do some wade fishing on one of my favorite Montana secret streams.  This little gem is just an hour from Bozeman and is a favorite of a few of our montana fishing guides including myself!  October is usually thought of as a time to huck big streamers or throw dainty dries during a blue winged olive hatch.  Hoppers and other terrestrials are still very important in October, especially when the weather stays warm.  On Sunday I was wet wading on a beautiful sunny day with the highs in the low 80s.  The small stream I was fishing didn’t have a footprint on it to be seen and the trout were hungry and willing.  I had a blast pulling out 3-4 trout out of each hole including about 6 fish in the 15-16″ range!  Trout were eating my hoppers, but bees were the real ticket.  Early in the day I heard some buzzing and noticed about a hundred bees buzzing drunkenly on the ground near the waters edge.  This time of year bees and wasps start to get slow and die off and many end up in the water.  A yellow double humpy is a good imitation and the fish seemed to agree.  Most of the tourists are now gone from Montana and many of the locals are preoccupied with 4 legged critters that taste good in the oven leaving many of our rivers empty of fisherman!

October fly fishing in Montana often produces our biggest trout of the year.  Large browns are prepairing to spawn and are much more aggressive than normal.  The big trout are also moving upriver and we get several spawning runs of huge trout that run out of lakes such as Canyon Ferry, Ennis and Hebgen into fisheries like the Madison River.  October also sees much lighter fishing pressure than any other part of the traditional fishing season: locals are out hunting and tourist season is winding down.  The best way to target the big fish is to use the big uglies under the water.  Fishing large streamers as nymphs trailed by a smaller baetis emerger is very effective.  On cloudy days, stripping large streamers can be very productive.  Cloudy and rainy days also produce great dry fly opportunities over prolific baetis hatches.  These mayflies are often called blue winged olives and hatch in great abundance on stormy days bringing nearly every trout in the river to the surface.

The dry fly fishing in Montana has been hot and getting hotter.  I was fortunate this week to guide a skilled angler, John, into some exciting dry fly opportunities.  On Wednesday, we enticed lots of eats on size 6 rogue salmon flies on the upper reaches of the Yellowstone just below the park.  We wrangled a variety of rainbows, cutthroat, and even a brook trout from both the boat and while wading distinct rifles and eddies (some eddies produced a dozen fish before slowing down).  On Thursday we enticed big browns and rainbows to the surface of the Boulder using PMX’s and Hopper Patterns.  It was the first hopper action of the season and the fish were not timid!  John quickly learned how to open up his peripheral senses to prepare casts ahead of time for slow water pockets following fast rifles (while the boat was still traveling at a brisk pace).   Immediate gratification characterizes the take from an accurate dry fly delivery cast from a fast moving boat!

It is certainly a treat to catch fish on salmon flies one day and hoppers the next!  We suffered through a cold wet spring but will reap the benefits of great water volume and lush grassy banks for hopper season.  Grasshopper fishing usually picks up when fly fishing the Yellowstone River after the insects molt and gain their wings, typically in the last weeks of July and throughout the remainder of the summer.  We are expecting a fabulous hopper season equal to or better than the last two years  (last August we recorded 30 to 40 fish days on the foam hopper)!  Big fish love to strike the dry fly with a vengeance, making for unrivaled excitement!

Miles