Not a whole lot has changed over on the Beaverhead this past week. The best water is still from the dam down to High Bridge, with all the creeks and feeder streams blown out. Nymphing is still the mainstay, with not a whole lot of action up on top. Standard nymphs such as princes, hare’s [...]
May 2009
The Bighorn continues to fish well. Flows were increased earlier this week to around 4,500 cfs. The water is running clear for the most part and the fishing is pretty good. Not much has changed as far as hatches and recommended flies are concerned. Nymphs such as sowbugs, san juan worms, pheasant tails, midge and [...]
The ‘more mature’ I become, the more interested I find myself in people, events, and things in general that defy conventional wisdom. ‘Conventional wisdom’ leads folks to often make what they think are ‘safe choices’ that very often turn out to be dull, insipid, and void of adventure and opportunity. The Big Hole this week [...]
The flow gage on the Yellowstone River as it leaves Yellowstone Lake has been moving up all week – there’s now an impressive volume of water moving through. The lower Grand and Black Canyons were marginal last weekend and are long gone now. See you below the outlet on the 15th of July.
Talked this week to a crowd averse, northeast corner fanatic who fished the first meadow on opening day. He report was less than ebullient about his experience last Saturday. In fact he talked much more about the critters he encountered (grizzly, bison, elk, deer, coyotes, wolves, otters, badgers, and sheep near Tower) than he did [...]
Warm, sunny days and plentiful snowpack have prodded flows on the northeast corner waters to make a move up this week. The powers at be have apparently discontinued the gage on Soda near the Lamar Ranger Station, so the gage report below was taken this morning from the Soda Butte gage near the Park border. [...]
Is it possible to brownline in Bozeman? Perhaps not quite to the standards of Singlebarbed and the Fat Guys Fly Fishing, but it can be done. Take the Bozeman Pond for example. After work last night, my buddy Shane and I decided to head on down there and throw for some flies for a few [...]
To be quite honest we didn’t spend a lot of time looking the Gibbon over in the days before the opener last Saturday and when in the Park over the weekend. Flows were running quite high and reports from friends and neighbors encouraged us to pursue other options. Despite some bright sunny days and warming [...]
What a difference a few days can make. The Park section of the Madison has cleared quite a bit since last weekend – visibility is now at least 2 feet, and you could argue that it’s even better. Flows have been a genuine guessing game for quite a while as the gage station wasn’t working [...]
The Lamar is still blown out. Damn.
Granted, we (I) spend probably too much time writing about the Firehole; it is and shall remain one of my favorite rivers on the face of the planet. It will never be a ‘trophy fish’ water – but you have to admit, there aren’t many like it around. Water levels are still high, though the [...]
We’ve just fired off the 4th issue of the Good Chi Newsletter this morning. There are waters that remain fishable in the area, mostly tailwaters as you’d expect, and the Firehole, upper Gallatin, and even the Madison in the Park are fishable (particularly the Firehole). Congrats to Bob on winning this week’s Rivers in Motion river [...]
The Gardner is running high, dirty and cold. Visibility is in the three to four inch range at best. If you feel that you absolutely must fish this river, try dragging a big nymph near the bank. I would recommend waiting for a few more weeks before spending too much time over here.
The Cascade Corner remains blown out. All of the rivers and creeks are high and very dirty. It will be a while yet before the water clears to a fishable level. Sigh.
