The Yellowstone River continues to fish well, both in the Paradise Valley and downstream of Livingston. There should be no clarity issues anywhere on the river this weekend (yippee, no “where’s the mud” calls today). There’s just a touch of green, and on the Yellowstone, “green is good.” Water temperatures remain relatively good, despite the hot days we’ve had, and the forecast is for more moderate temperatures today and in the coming week. All in all, we couldn’t ask for much better conditions for the first week of August.
Hopper patterns are picking up more and more fish, all over the river. Pink has been a good color, but go ahead and experiment with different colors, sizes, and profiles if you’re not getting takes. We continue to have success with Chubby Chernobyls of various colors. My advice would be to go smaller with your Chubbies as the water drops and clears and the trout see more of the bigger guys floating by. We just got in some juicy size 16 “micro-Chubbies” from Yellowstone Fly Goods in Billings that I’m dying to give a try (if there are any left by tomorrow). Drop a nymph off of your dry to double your pleasure. Tan Rubberlegs, Psycho Princes, and Green Mo’s are only a few of the plethora of nymphs that have been working out there. Or go with a smaller dry off the back of your “foamy” – there are still plenty of caddis around, so an Elk Hair Caddis or X Caddis would be a good bet. Purple Haze, ants, and Neversink Trudes are others worth trying.
We haven’t heard of a lot of streamer success, what with the bright sunny days that we’ve had lately. That said, we’ve seen some pictures of really nice trout that were fooled by dead-drifted sculpin patterns. So you might want to sink a streamer under an indicator (or even a large hopper or Chubby, if the streamer is small enough that it won’t sink your dry), especially if you’re wearying of the whitefish bite.
So get out there this weekend! And don’t forget to stop by Sweetwater Fly Shop this evening (Sat., Aug. 5, 5:30-7:30) for what may be our last free barbecue of the 2017 season. Free burgers, sausages, dogs (of both the hot and canine varieties), and cold beverages. Dusty Smith of the Livingston Rod Company will be joining us with a quiver of his beautiful and smooth-casting graphite and fiberglass rods. Come cast a rod and enjoy a free meal on us (and bring your friends and family)!
Did I forget to mention that the Subaru bite has been particularly good lately? They’re taking dries!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.