R. Lyons with a nice Yellowstone River Cutthroat trout
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to guide two different groups. Mr. Lyons and I fished the Yellowstone River from Carter Bridge to 9th street and had a beautiful spring day. Temperatures where in the mid forties with little wind, and it was bright and sunny – which didn’t help out for the Baetis hatch, but we did manage to catch between 12-15 nice trout. The fish were very healthy and we even caught several nice Cutthroat trout in the 14 – 15 inch range. It’s always a pleasure to catch the original Montana native! We caught all the species found in the Yellowstone River; Rainbow, Cutthroat, Brown, and even some Cut-Bows (a hybrid of Cutthroat and Rainbows).
The following day the Hobson boys graced my drift boat and after looking for a spot to get out of the wind (25+) we ended up back at the same float. In the early part of the day it was hard to tell how the fishing was, due to the heavy breeze and tough casting conditions. However, by about 2:30 we managed to find some feeding trout just below a riffle corner and out of the wind. Mr. Hobson was the first to strike a trout and then 9 year old son Kyle hit the jackpot. While the breeze made it challenging our patience paid off and we managed to land about 8 or 10 good trout. Our biggest catch of the day was hopefully young Kyle who is going to be a very good fisherman some day. He ended the day right by showing off his skills at the take out, catching a nice rainbow with his Mom and Sister watching from shore.
A small Tungsten Zebra Midge fished under a shallow indicator was the ticket on both of these days. We tried every imaginable location, but just below the riffle corners and in whatever foam lines we could find were the most productive. The Baetis hatch is right around the corner and we’ve seen them on the cloudier days. Later this week should prove good fishing as it’ll be in the 50s and cloudy. Fellow Montana Fly Fishing Guide Eric Paramore and I will be hitting the water and we’ll be back to give you the most recent update.
Spring time in Montana is toying with us as usual – the weather has been 70+ degrees the last few days but cool weather is forecasted for this weekend. These warmer temperatures have caused some of the lower snow to start melting and the Yellowstone was a bit off color yesterday. However, we did have some guides report good fishing on March Browns and even a few caddis were spotted fluttering around. The cooler weather this weekend should bring the river back to its normal spring color and we’re predicting some caddis to start showing up as early as next week. Keep you fingers crossed and check back shortly for the most recent update!