The river is flowing at 1,140 c.f.s. at Varney Bridge, 971 c.f.s. at Kirby and 880 c.f.s. below Hebgen Lake. The weather has been a bit on the chilly side but it looks like that will be changing over the next few days. Forecasted daytime highs are in the upper 50s and will climb into the upper 60s by the end of the week, let’s hope the fishing heats up too.
Dry fly fishing has been on the tougher side lately with the cold temps keeping the bugs below the surface but as it warmed up a bit over the last couple days we started to see some mayflies here and there. This means the baetis and bwo fishing is starting and will only be getting better in the coming days. It’ll be tough to beat the ol’ #16 parachute Adams fly for the Calabaetis and a #18 Purple Craze for the blue wing imitations.
The bead-heads are getting it done as usual. Behind streamers or under a bobber things like Copper Johns, Delektable Big Spankers, Zebra Midges, Soft Hackle Pheasant Tails, Shop Vacs, and Lightning Bugs are all getting bit.
Streamer fishing has been pretty good but colors and sizes have varied day to day, if you work through the fly box you’ll find success. Delektable Screamers have been my go to bugs but Bow River Buggers, Sundell’s Bad Boy, McCune’s Sculpin, and Sheila’s Sculpin are all good things to have in the box.
