Fishing Reports

Yellowstone Park 6-20-15

Streams in the northeast part of the Park, (the Lamar River drainage) remain high and discolored in contrast to streams in the southwest corner (Madison and Fall River drainages).  Trout Lake is your best bet for fishing success in northeast area for the next several days. Walk the shoreline or pack a floatation device to get out on the lake to present damselfly nymph patterns or midge pupa patterns under an indicator. The Firehole River continues to offer good fishing with PMD, BWO, caddis life cycle, and soft hackled patterns bringing best reactions. As we move into July look for fishing to slow there with warming weather. Caddis and PMD life cycle patterns are working well on the Madison River during PM hours.  Duck Creek is tough fishing, but in a few weeks evening brown drake activity will bring fish up. Flows in Fall River Basin streams are dropping to levels where dry fly fishing will be excellent soon. Beula Lake has been a relative hot spot with damselfly nymphs and small leech patterns producing.  Those tasty lake trout are still in Yellowstone Lake shallows. Anywhere you can find weed beds on Shoshone Lake you will catch juvenile lake trout and have a chance at a trophy brown trout. All you need is a boat or floatation device to get out to the weeds, then present small olive or black leech patterns.

Yellowstone Park 6-16-15

Now that weather is warming significantly, here’s some thoughts on planning a trip to fish Yellowstone Park streams. Things are happening early this season because of relatively meager run-off. Flows on some Park streams, such as those in Fall River Basin, are at amounts usually expected around the first and even middle of July.  This suggests that barring big rainfalls, streams by mid-July could be lower than normal and with higher than normal water temperatures.  Such conditions slow fishing.  Thus the earlier you fish Park streams this season, the better are your chances for fishing success. And remember that in the past the Park has limited fishing when water temps get to levels that are dangerous for trout survival.

Trout Lake in the northeast corner of the Park opened to fishing yesterday.   This lake hosts some of the largest cutthroat-rainbow hybrid trout in Park waters.  However it warms and mosses up quickly. If you plan to visit there do so within the next few weeks in this year of low water. Be sure to have your damselfly life cycle and leech patterns.  You can wade much of the lake shoreline, or you can pack a flotation device the six-tenths of a mile to the lake. It’s a uphill walk, but the reward could be the best fish of the year.

Yellowstone Park 6-13-15

Ashton-Flagg Ranch Road is open, and Beula Lake is fishing dynamite good. Try your favorite small leech and damselfly nymph patterns on either an intermediate of floating line. No speckled duns emerging yet, but a few damselflies are.  Be sure to bring your DEET, or be ready for a transfusion if you do not. Yes, those little pests are out big time all over Fall River Basin country. I fished Bechler Meadows yesterday. So glad I had DEET along! Not quite dry fly season yet with only a very few yellow sallys emerging. River is low for this time of year when run-off is usually roaring through, but water is clear and plentiful right now. It wont be that way much longer because of low snow pack last winter. Firehole River is still producing well with PMD, BWO, caddisfly life, white miller, and soft hackled patterns producing best.  Hebgen Lake rainbows are pretty much out of the Madison River upstream.  Fishing on Duck Creek has slowed.