Yellowstone Park 6-18-19

Give Fall River Basin streams another week or so and dry fly conditions will prevail.  Our trip into Bechler Meadows yesterday resulted in wet fly conditions with streamer patterns fished deep being the best producers. As per usual this time of year the mosquito population is fierce, their nature the same, meadows a bit wet, and wildlife signs abundant. The Firehole River is still fishing very well, but with warm weather coming up, look for trout activity to begin tapering off.  Dry fly fishing on the Madison River is improving with PM caddisfly and oncoming PMD hatches providing action. If you are willing to carry a flotation device into Shoshone Lake and concentrate on fishing around weed beds with leech, scud, and streamer patterns, your reward will be non-stop action from juvenile lake trout (17″-21″), and a few brown and brook trout. Be sure to use a full-sink line.  Trout Lake opened to fishing on the 15th of this month. Some of the largest cutthroat-rainbow trout in the park reside here, and the next few weeks will be the best time encounter them until the lake begins it usual algae bloom.  Run-off prevails on Lamar River drainage stream but is decreasing.