Tag: mt
June 10th | Big Hole River Fishing Report
May 11th – May 15th Madison River
The last week on the Upper Madison has seen a bit of everything. We’ve had beautiful calm warm spring days, mixed in with cool stormy days and even some snow now and then. The fishing has been overall good yet sporadic at times. We are still holding on with pre runoff conditions at the moment but that could change in the next few days with warm temperatures forecast for the next four to five days. Currently the river is holding on with that nice green color. Plenty of visibility for dries, nymphs, or streamers until runoff begins in earnest.
Nymphing has been the best way to get into some fish at most times. Delektable Mega Princes, Delektable Hurless Stones, and other Stonefly Nymph patterns in sizes #8 – #10. We are beginning to see the fish looking for the Golden Stone Nymphs as well now. It’s a good idea to have some of those in your fly rotations now also. Delekatable Lil’ Spankers in Silver and Blue #16 – #20, Delektable Big Spanker Warriors in #18, Shop Vacs #16 – #18, Delektable Hammerheads #16, Zebra Midges #18 – #20 in Red or Black, Perdigons #16 – #18, Psycho Princes #14 – #18, Hare’s Ear Nymphs #14 – #16. #12 – #14 Lil’ Spankers and other Pheasant Tail variants will imitate the larger March Brown Nymphs that are now beginning to emerge on the warmer days.
Dry Fly action has been good around Ennis and on the Lower Madison with the Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch in full swing. Delektable Halo Caddis Emergers in Peacock and Olive #14 – #16, Delektable CDC Holographic Caddis in Olive are excellent patterns to imitate this hatch. Our Delektable Lil’ Chubbies in the Olive tones have also fished well. Afternoons through evenings have seen the best action. Blue Winged Olive and Midge activity continues on the Upper Wade Section around Raynold’s Pass and $3 Dollar Bridge. If the wind is calm and not super bright you can have some outstanding action up there.
The Streamer bite continues to be sporadic. Cloudy days have been better but still not lights out. As runoff begins and the flows come up, we should begin to see the Streamer action really begin to take off. Dead drifting, and varying your retrieves and color choices will get you into some fish if your patient and mix up your game a bit. And of course being out early or late when the light is low always is Streamer time.
April 20th – 24th | Smith River Fishing Report
Oh Boy, OH Boy, OH BOY!! Do we get to talk about a special place today The Smith River in Montana. Kevin recently got to go down as a lucky winner of The Smith River lottery permit system. The start date of his permit was on April 20th and he decided to do it as a 5 day and 4 night trip. He knew what the river could be like as he had been down it twice. Once when the flows were perfect and the water was a dirty brown color but perfect flow of 400 cfs(cubic feet per second). His second time was slightly unlucky and run off kicked into full effect and the river went from 1000 cfs to 2500 cfs. While that trip fished it barely fished. This time was different he was now going under the conditions of very low water. The cfs flow for the whole week clocked in around 160 cfs. Now this is a fishing report, but the goal of the smith river is to enjoy the present, make it out safely and to try to enjoy the cliff walls. It is pretty hard not to enjoy the present for what it is but for those that need to catch fish here we go.
Let us get into the nitty gritty of the fishing game he was seeing on this river while he was there. Well, we all know Kevin who loves his dry flies and that is where we are going to start. He watched his mom catch the first fish on a dry and his first time even seeing flies on surface being eaten on this magical river. He started off with a Water Walker in olive and tested a few Chubbies as well in olive and black. Everything he tried on the surface was eaten at some point, but you must be patient as not every hole wanted to eat the foam. He did see a few Midges, Mayflies, and even a few Skwalas everyday but not enough to make holes turn into a perfect dry fly heaven. He is sure if you had a second Dry Fly following your main piece of foam, being a Midge pattern or Mayfly pattern of sorts, they would have been eaten by some fish. You would have had to be patient again. Instead, he went for a Dry Dropper style to produce more fish.
After you get bored with that set up and you really want a challenge for a fish it is time to go to Streamers. Kevin used his own creations, but they resemble something along the lines of a Silk Kitty and Sex Dungeon. While he was there, he used only two colors Olive and White. Olive had a few looks but never any commitment from the fish. He was frustrated by this lack of commitment from the fish, so he went to White to trigger more promising strikes. It worked but the strikes were still far and few between. Other people were around Kevin at the start of The Smith River journey that were fishing streamers as well. The color they informed him with was Black and Olive. He never got a fly, but Streamers are never about the fly as they are about the color or colors of the day.
Time for the last way to catch fish Nymphing. Kevin said it was incredibly easy and with any cast it could catch a fish. He mainly performed this act in the morning and night when he was cooking and waiting for the pot to boil. Many campsites come with perfect buckets filled with fish and he found this to be the most effective way to wait. He caught fish on flies such as the Zirdle in Olive, Lightning Bug in Silver, Wire Worms in Red, Pats Rubber Legs in Black and Purple, Hot Spot Jig Pheasant Tail, and Three Dollar Dip in Pearl.
All in all the trip is an experience and a full blown adventure it doesn’t matter if the river is low or high it is always recommended. To anyone who loves the places Trout take them as you follow them across the globe. You would enjoy this place at the end of the day because it is not the size of the Trout or how many Trout you caught but the places the Trout take you. You get to enjoy these precious fish as they entertain you under some of the most magnificent cliffs that are ever changing, glow under perfect sunlight, and are seemingly endless during a forty mile stretch of the Smith River. If you ever have a chance to go on the smith don’t blink just say yes and when.
October 4th – 17th | Madison River Fishing Report
July 1st – July 7th | Madison River Fishing Report
The big bugs have taken over. If you were here this week, you would have no doubt seen the Salmon flies and the Golden Stones that are out. They are still out and about making the whole river a bug manifesto!!! The fish have been doing trout things such as, not eating when the people are out, eating bugs until they are too gorged from eating real bugs to even eat YOUR fly, and eating small stuff when you want them to eat the big bugs. Well, that’s Salmon fly season my friends. But if you were lucky enough to get in on the action before they got too smart to eat your fly, you may have gotten lucky this week!
There are so many different choices of flies for the fish to be eating right now. The Salmon Fly, the Golden Stone, the PMD, the many different Caddis, the Callibaetis, the Yellow Sally and yes, even the little midges are out and about on the river and lakes this week. That is a lot of choices, so arm up and equip yourselves for battle. Just when you think that brown or shamebow is going to give it up to the Salmon Fly, it doesn’t. It may want just a little Caddis, or a PMD…. or nothing at all because it is full. We all love throwing the big bugs, but if they aren’t eating it, they just are not going to eat it, so don’t get discouraged, they will eat it tomorrow. Because of the big bug hatch, there are more than average people about, during this time try going out a little earlier or a little later in the evening. Either way, the fish will eventually eat. Try variety in your schedule to experiment with the timing of the bite and the people.
Anyways, the trout will be trout and you can’t help but be you, so come on in the shop and get those big bugs you need. The flies I am going to recommend this week are flies that we at the shop have used, the guides have used, and your mom has used…. along with the combination of intel from others that have come in the shop. Everyone has their favorite Salmon Fly, so I will not elaborate on the patterns too much there.
Dries:
- Salmon Flies
Dornan’s Water Walker size 6 and 8 in the red
Delektable Secret Stone Salmon Fly UV Orange size 6 and 8
The Stimulator size 6 and 8
Sofa Pillows size 6 and 8
Delektable Secret Stone Royal size 6 and 8
Delektable Mega Chubbyness in Salmon fly colors size 6, 8 and 10
- Golden Stones
Dornan’s Water Walker size 10 and 12
Delektable Secret Stone Golden size 10 and 12
The Stimulator size 10 and 12
Delektable Chubbyness in the Golden Stone colors size 8, 10 and 12
Dornan’s Peanut Walker Golden size 10 and 12
- PMD size 16
Purple Haze
Adams
Light Cahill
Quigley’s PMD Cripple
- Caddis
Delektable CDC Caddis in corresponding sizes
Elk Hair Caddis
Lil’ Hottie size 14 and 16
Half down size 14 and 16
Bloom’s Caddis Amber size 14 and 16
- Yellow Sally
Delektable Chubbyness Olive Brown size 14 and 16
Delektable Chubbyness Royal size 14 and 16
Half Down Amber size 12 and 14
June 15-17 2016| Yellowstone Park Fishing Report
Emmett took his days off to go to Yellowstone to catch fish. Among the chaos of the many people from all parts of the world, there was an abundance of fish to be caught. Emmett fished both the Gibbon and Firehole rivers, in multiple locations on each. There were plentiful hatches of Mayflies, Caddis, and Mosquitoes, with the fish eating all of the above.
The best of the fishing was on the Gibbon River. The water on the Gibbon is slow, soft, and clear in the locations that were fished. The fish can be picky, but with the right fly, a good presentation, and a careful approach, the fish can be caught. The best of the fishing was on a small Parachute Adams, although a very small Humpy could catch fish too. There was an abundance of Brown Trout, and Brook Trout, with each living in its particular stretch of river.
The fishing on the Firehole was good, but not as good as the fishing on the Gibbon. The fish were on average larger, but they were pickier, and harder to catch. The fish on the Firehole were eating caddis emergers right at the surface. If you could find the right emerger, you could get the fish to devour it, Emmett did not succeed in finding the right emerger, but did have luck on the Bomber Caddis dry fly. As the old saying goes “Trout don’t live in ugly places”, and it is definitely true in Yellowstone. It is always amazing to get to fish in one of the most beautiful locations on planet Earth, and it is even better when fish will eat a dry fly.
April 27th-30th 2016| Madison River Fishing Report
We hosted a great group of Project Healing Waters veterans at the lodge this week. Bob Frey was the also the host and helped out. Tom, Ed, Brian, and Caleb spent four days with us staying at the lodge and fishing the Upper Madison. They experienced a variety of weather and conditions. Bob took Brian and Caleb on an adventure hike. The hike was a true workout but they did get into some nice trout action. Considering these are wounded vets, they did great doing the hiking. We will need to inquire with Simms to help them with more customized waders and boots to make hikes like that easier.
Tom and Ed fished with Dan out of the boat the first day, and with Brandon the second. Brian and Caleb hiked two days and went with Dan in the boat the third day. Tom was with Ian on the third day. Thanks to the guides for helping out.
The river was evolving with the cool weather. The first day it was a bit dirty, then more
green, then more clear and green. The cooler weather really made a difference and cleared up the river quite a bit. They fished a variety of bugs including Mega Princes which worked well, Pat’s Rubberlegs in Black, some used different worms, Delektable Lil’ Spankers in PT and other colors. Streamers were also a good choice on the weathery days. The later part of the trip March Browns started to show along with BWO’s. Some caught on dries when the hatches started to pick up but mostly on wet flies.
It was a great experience for us to help these guys and spend time with them. They were really nice people and became a part of the Beartooth family. We look forward to seeing them again on their next adventure.
Dan and Nancy
April 28-30 2016| Madison River Fishing Report
What can we say about this day but Keefer really figured something out. Jim and Keefer 
were fishing with Brandon. Both days were Lyons Bridge to Ruby Creek. After such a good first day, they had to do it again. The fun part was Keefer is using new photo equipment so we get the advantage of “Fish Eye”. The “Vana White” trout pose is more profound in these pictures. The river was off color. There was some weather. They used the usual spring combinations we have been using the past two weeks with some variations and some of Brandon’s secrets which may have included his own CDC Prince. The bugs included: Delektable Single Screamer Black/Olive; Delekable Mega Prince Flashback Standard; Delektable Flashback Hurless Stone; Pat’s Rubberlegs Black or Brown/Tan; Delektable Lil’ Spankers in PT,and Red; BH Worms; and Shop Vacs.
How do you follow a day like that? Our friend Kim and Mark fished with Joe and had a 
great day too. Remember this is the well known “Big Fish Kim”. There are actually two Big Fish Kims. Kim may be a lucky fishing name but this day, Mark was the big fish guy too. Sometimes the weather and the dirt can help. The river was off color but still green and it was cloudy. These can be ideal conditions.
Ian and Hienie went out earlier in the week and then Joe with Hienie on Saturday. Again, they were
fishing streamers or big nymphs and trailers. Thursday was more productive than Saturday for them. It was fun both days. As you can see Hienie was sporting a very warm hat. It was cooler out both days.
April 25th 2016| Madison River Fishing Report
Our new Shop employee Emmett started off the week with a nice trout.
Emmett is an avid fly tyer and rod builder at a young age and is a serious fisherman and skier. We are happy to have him join the Delektable team.
Dan and Nancy