East Gallatin River Fishing Report
Current Conditions:
The water on the East is low right now but the fishing has been good. Nymphing the deeper runs is definitely the ticket. The trout are highly concentrated in these buckets and not found in the rest of the river so if you aren’t fishing some depth then keep moving. Once you find a productive run you can often hook up on multiple fish. Slow stripping streamers can also produce from time to time, especially with a bit of cloud cover. The best nymph patterns include a small San Juan worm trailed by a midge larva is a safe choice but dead drifting a big sculpin can also turn up some trout.
The Month Ahead:
The East should be a steady option in the early spring. The water on the lower river has more influences from spring creeks and spring seeps that helps to keep it open even during cold weather. The East Gallatin is prone to dirty easily in the spring as lower elevation snows melt off so if you see a quick rise on the hydrographs be wary. Run off on the East Gallatin comes a little early but most of April and sometimes early May can produce good fishing as long as air temps are not too warm.
Long Term Fishing Forecast:
The East will enter runoff in early to mid May and generally is high and dirty until around the middle of June.
