Current Conditions:
A few very sporadic hatches of Blue-Winged Olives have been seen, but the river is not yet showing its best self yet for the fall season. Some trout in the Yellowstone are still looking up for grasshoppers, ants, and beetles. Dry-dropper rigs are the preferred rigs right now, but the most likely rigs to catch fish are going to be tandem nymph rigs with smaller beadhead nymphs or a large sculpin with a smaller beadhead dropper.
The Yellowstone River produced a lot of inconsistent days near the end of the summer, but as temps drop and the number of anglers on the water has dropped, the fishing has really turned on. Nymphing is still producing – try a rig with a very long indicator with no weight and make sure not to over-mend. Big trailed by small is still the way to go, so a Wooly Bugger, sculpin, rubber legs, etc. on top trailed by a smaller attractor nymph is a good choice. The dry fly fishing has also really improved, but the small mayfly-style patterns from size 18-12, like Grey Wulffs and Adams patterns, are outproducing terrestrials on many days. A potluck of mayflies sprinkles off this time of year, but it is enough to get trout looking. On overcast days, there is a decent mahogany spinner fall in the late afternoon and evening. There are still some fish in the faster riffles and heavy water, but they are starting to slide further back in the runs as water temperatures drop. Some trout are also moving into the slower tailout slicks and the big foam eddies looking for baetis mayflies and larger mahogany duns and spinners. Streamer fishing is slowly improving and should get better as we move farther into the fall.
The Month Ahead:
Fishing should remain very good for the next few weeks on the Yellowstone. Baetis hatches will continue to grow stronger by the day, especially with cloud cover. Streamer fishing will also improve. As water temps drop, try a sinking head like a 200-grain line. The shorter “streamer tip” lines aren’t much better than a floating line, so if you are going to go big, you may as well do it right.
Long Term Fishing Forecast:
The Yellowstone can still be productive in November with continued baetis hatches but begins to turn off in December as winter settles in for good and ice shelves develop.
Visit Our Shop for These Top Yellowstone River Flies Right Now:
Rubber legs in sizes 12-14
Lightning Bugs in silver and gold in sizes 14-18
Perdigons in sizes 16-18
Para Adams in size 12-22
BH Pheasant Tail in size 12-16
BH Prince in size 12-16
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