Mottled sunlight played across the river rock. A cool breeze caused the cottonwood leaves to rustle in the trees, their shadows running like brook trout among the stones. Looking through the shallow water of the little side channel, real brook trout were evident among the gently waving moss. Forget-me-nots dappled the creek bed like light blue jewels. Rock Creek was flowing well again, after years of low water, bringing all the little braids and side channels back to life. This was the Rock Creek I fell in love with so many years ago when Vivian first brought me to see her home, Montana.
I’ve been creeping around Rock Creek a lot lately. It’s great to have good flow during the last days of August. The water is cool and the fish are willing. Many of the old channels hold trout once again. Yesterday, I caught four brookies between Two Mile Bridge and Fox. That’s as close as I’ll come to revealing my secret garden. It’s been ten years since I’ve caught brookies that far down on Rock Creek. I’m amazed at what a normal water year can do, how fast things come back. Nature has a way of healing herself. Drought conditions are nothing new to her, just another part of the cycle.
Fall is one of my favorite times to fish our area rivers and streams. My other favorites are winter, spring and summer! Fall can be an exciting time on the water. We still have a bumper crop of grasshoppers leaping into the water. The weather is beginning to cool down, a welcome relief after the heat of summer. Along with the hoppers, late season caddis and mayflies are beginning to pop. Fishing on the Yellowstone changes over from a mid-day hopper game in summer to tricos in the morning, hoppers mid-day, and maybe an afternoon hatch of caddis and gray duns. Look for big fish eating tricos (size 22 black and white mayflies) on the slicks and in soft current lines in the morning. These flies are small, but prolific. Huge clouds of spinners can be seen dancing along the banks, some several hundred yards long. After the spinner fall, try a hopper/dropper combo. The fish should be getting back on the dropper as nymphs begin moving around again in anticipation of the fall hatches. Later in the day, if rising fish are evident, try a size 14 Adams or any slate or gray mayfly imitation.
Rock Creek and the Stillwater also fish well on these same patterns, minus the tricos. It’s not that there aren’t tricos on these streams, but fish usually don’t key on them. Fast currents make it difficult to see the tiny bugs and the spinners get churned under quickly. Fish will only key on something that small in glassy water where they can motor along the surface, sucking up dozens at a gulp.
Fall also means good fishing on the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone. Summer fishing over there can be iffy, as irrigation washes silt into the river. As soon as the irrigation stops the fishing turns on. The Clark’s Fork is about the only river in Montana that is regularly stocked with rainbow and cutthroat trout. The hatchery in Clark, WY releases approx. 3000 fish per year. The state of Montana does not stock moving water, preferring to let nature do her thing. Most of the stocked fish seem to move upstream, looking for cooler water. The Wyoming stretch fishes better than the Montana water for that reason. The same bugs work well on the Clark’s Fork as on the Yellowstone proper.
I’ll leave you with a tale from hopper season this summer. I fished with Emile and Tish Ruffier’s son-in-law and 12 year old grandson on the Yellowstone in early August. The hopper fishing was good, but slowed a bit in the afternoon. After the fishing slowed down, the boy wore out a bit. He was drifting his fly only a few feet from the boat. I kept telling him to get the fly out a little farther. Finally, he informed me that he was “trying an experimental drift”. About that time, a fish ate his fly. So much for the opinion of a highly trained professional fishing guide!
