Fishing Reports

 Not a report, but a quick update.  Thanks to everyone who came out to East Rosebud Fly and Tackle for my fly tying demo last weekend.   Good crowd, and a good time.

It's the time of year that I start to keep an eye on the snow pack numbers, and lake levels to start to form an idea of how the river levels may shape up for the year.  Please be aware that the next 2 months are probably the most significant of the year in making any determination, so I look at the numbers as simply a starting point.

These numbers are taken off of the Wyoming NRCS snotel site:
http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/wrds/nrcs/snowprec/snowprec.html

In terms of snow water equivalent, the Bighorn Mountains are sitting at 94% of normal, and the Wind River's are at 88%.

The Yellowstone drainage is at 97% of normal, while the Madison/Gallatin is at 95% (all numbers as of 2/14/13).

Bighorn Lake is 87% full at present, and isn't likely to be caught off guard if a drought event happens.

I'll keep you updated, but as always feel free to give me a call with any questions!

(406)690-4752

Tight Lines!
Jeremy

 *Important Note* The Billings airport will be closed to weekend flights between the 4th of July, and Labor Day, 2013.  People who need to to fly in or out of the area on the weekends are encouraged to think about extending stays, or possibly redirecting to Bozeman, MT, or Cody, WY.

O.K., I'm not very good at keeping up on these, but please feel free to give me a call if you have a question.

I'm on the Bighorn until I'll hit the Missouri in late September/October, then back to the Bighorn.

I've been fishing the lower river a lot (as usual), and have been getting a little bit of trico fishing in the mornings.  Later in the day, it seems like I can get fish to eat a hopper drifting from hole to hole, then the PMD's come off.  That pretty much sums up my typical sunny day, but if we get a little bit of cloud cover, then the streamer rods come out.  It's been very good, with fish on the move.  There are lots of little trout out there, and lots of predator fish looking for them.

By all accounts, the upper river PMD hatch has been as good as anyone can remember.  All in all, some pretty good fishing to be had.

Hey David, hope the Yellowstone treated you well!

Tight Lines,
Jeremy

Thanks to Dave and Tracey for another father's day trip on the Missouri.  Fishing was good from top to bottom, as we spread ourselves out over 30 miles of river below Holter.

We focused on nymphing, as it was so productive, and the bugs were so plentiful.  The PMD fishing was steady on the upper, and (if you're into technical dry fly fishing) good targets could always be found.  As you get further down stream, the more the trout diet tended toward Yellow Sally's, and Caddis (Tan and Black).   A large yellow mayfly pattern behind a worm was pretty hard to beat in most lower river situations.

Fish are strong (as always on the Missouri), and the water's clean.  Flows are at 7,000 and dropping.  Nice change!

Tight Lines,
Jeremy

Playing a little catch up on the Spring, as I've gotten way behind on fishing reports.  I can, obviously report that I've been very busy, and have enjoyed a full calendar in the early season.

The flow is just under 1,800 cfs, and looks to be staying right there.  The lake is a little under 5 feet short of full, but the inflows now match the outflows, so it looks like there's no freak storm coming to push the flows up for a little while.  The low flows have made nymphing difficult, as the free floating moss is a constant issue, but we seem to be turning the corner there, and things are starting to clear up.

Most folks have been sticking to the upper river for less moss, and have had a long baetis hatch that has dictated most of the fly selection, and timing of the bite.

We seem to be transitioning now into more PMD's coming off, and Yellow Sally's to follow.  I've also had some Mother's Day Caddis fishing on the lower, from time to time.  Look for these to become more relevent on the upper.

I've just gotten back from another successful trip up to the Missouri, and will be on the Bighorn for a while, so look for my Missouri River report next.

Tight Lines,
Jeremy

O.K., I've been very busy, and am going to be on the water 19 of the next 20, so I thought I'd better get caught up.

Fishing's been a blast.  If you like dry fly fishing, and long for the old days of the Bighorn, you should give it another try.  Midge fishing is as good as it's been in a long time, and there are young Brown Trout in the river that just love to rise.  You may have to hunt for a bigger fish, but they're in there, too.

Nymphing has been O.K., and I would categorize the streamer fishing as O.K., as well.  When I pump fish, I'm finding very few scuds and sowbugs (although the patterns still work), it's been almost all midge larva, and pupae of every color.

We did a Spring flush earlier in the week, but the river is returning to 2,500 cfs by today.  The feeder creeks are running pretty clean, so the lower sections are fishable, as well.

I expect this report to be pretty consistent, until the Baetis start to pop consistently, which is usually in a couple of weeks, so keep that in mind.

Tight Lines,
Jeremy