Here’s a notice recently given by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (Montana FW&P) of interest to all anglers. Hoot Owl closures are in effect from 2 PM to midnight on certain areas of the following Montana Rivers:
Beaverhead
Big Hole
Gallatin
Jefferson
Madison
Ruby
For details go to the Montana FW&P web site.
Any small stream with a campground nearby will be heavily fished this holiday weekend. One exception might be the upper Blackfoot River. The river within the Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area is the best water above Blackfoot River Reservoir and likely will not be crowded because of the South Fork turning on and the lure of the upper Henry’s Fork and the Madison River. Camp at Mill Creek campground to enjoy the evening brown drake emergence which may be relatively sparse during this low water year. PMD and caddisfly life cycle patterns and patterns to simulate the few gray drakes during afternoons will bring some action as will patterns to simulate a growing terrestrial insect population.
Palisades Reservoir tribs are in good shape now with PMDs, caddis, and sallies providing hints for effective patterns. South Fork tribs are also now open and in good shape with same insects as in Reservoir tribs providing food for trout and pattern ideas for fly-fishers. In fact, all area small waters not impacted by irrigation diversion are offering good fishing. Now may be the best time to fish small waters during the next several months because of the low water year we are having. So consider visiting a small stream now, then get in touch with us to see which may be fishing best at a given time.
The South Fork has been fishing excellent lately. The Salmon flies are out from above Cottonwood to Heise (Lower Canyon Section). Also, fishing Yellow Sallies, Green Drakes, and PMDs has been great in the riffles. The upper South Fork still has no Salmon flies, but the fishing with nymphs and streamers has been the best method to catching the most amount of fish. Lastly, there are a few PMDs starting in the afternoon and I would start to look from some Yellow Sallies on the Upper South Fork.
Flies I would use:
Nymphs: Bennett’s Brown Rubber Leg size 6 & 8, San Juan Worm size 10, Red Copper John size 14, Super Flash size 14.
Streamers: Gallop’s Yellow Dungeon, Kreelix Copper/Gold, Gallop’s White Peanut Envy, Sparkle Minnow, Flash Minnow.
Dry Flies: John’s CFO Yellow Sallie size 14, Green Drake Wulff size 10, Kyle’s Yellow Sallie size 12, Olive Hare’s Ear Parachute size 12, Super Chernobyl Golden size 6 (A.K.A Chubby), Brett’s Salmon Fly size 4, CW Pink Albert Dun size 16