Montana Trout Scout Fly Fishing Report
Finally, we have fishable streams in the Red Lodge area! I was beginning to wonder if everything would be blown out until winter. Good thing we can fish now. I was beginning to drive Vivian nuts.
“What do you mean ‘beginning’?” would be Viv’s response to that comment.
I admit I’ve been more that a little on edge without my river fix. Sure, I’ve been fishing lakes and the occasional tail water river these last few weeks. That’s just not the same as float fishing the Stillwater in early summer. For one thing, we get to float Cliff Swallow to Johnson’s bridge this time of year. That stretch is above the Rosebud convergence, so the water’s too low to float for most of the year. There is very little foot access to that piece of water, so floating is the only way to get to the best holes. If we’re lucky, we get three weeks of good water.
My first trip on the Cliff to Johnson’s stretch was well worth the wait. Although the water was still high, just barely ready to fish, the fishing was awesome! Those fish were ready to eat. Anything. We caught fish on every fly we threw. At one point, we were changing flies just to see if a fish would eat it. One always did. A dry-dropper rig was the way to go. The take ratio was about 50/50. Madam X’s and trudes were the top producing dry flies, size 10. Any size 14 bead head dropper worked fine, with a rubber leg copper john being the best by a slim margin. We had three doubles that day, and my friend George stuck four fish in four casts in one fishy spot. Only landed three (snicker).
The fish weren’t just dinks, either. We caught a couple pushing 16 inches, several around 14. Ten inches was about average. George’s guest, Jim, a novice fly fisherman, said the most fun thing was catching three different kinds of fish. Rainbow and brown trout, along with an occasional big pig whitefish. George added cutthroat trout to our count. He caught two pure cutts. I only see a couple of those in a season that far down on the Stilly.
There were several kinds of mayfly coming off all day, along with the occasional caddis. Giant golden stones were in evidence, so that would explain the fish eating a big dry so well. The yellow madam x worked the best.
All the area streams are coming down. The water’s still pretty big, so wading is going to be a challenge for a couple of weeks. Don’t take chances out there, especially on the small streams like Rock Creek. If you fall down, you won’t be able to get back up for a while, so pick your spot to cross carefully.
The Yellowstone is still big and dirty. I don’t expect to fish it until sometime in August. The good thing about that is we’ll have cold water through the summer. It should fish great through hottest part of the season. Keep an eye on my report at www.montanatroutscout.com for the latest info!
Trout Scout Mid Summer Fly Box
Madam X size 10
Jack Cabe Trude size 10
Stimulator size 8, 10
Yellow Humpy size 14
Elk Hair Caddis size 14
BH Prince Nymph size 14
BH Pheasant Tail size 16
BH Copper John size 14, rubber legs are good.
BH Hare’s Ear
Montana Trout Scout, LLC is owned and operated by Craig Beam, outfitter license #8875. To book a trip with Craig, call 406 855 3058,email mtroutscout@hotmail.com. Go to www.montanatroutscout.com for more information.
The water is still high, but the hopper fishing is in full swing. Those trout are lookin' up for the big bug! The last week has given me the three best hopper days of my career on the Stillwater. If you can get a dead drift and set the hook, you're in business! Any bead head dropper will enhance the catch ratio. As usual, there are slow periods on the dry each day. The dropper has been producing nice fish in the interim.
