The Yellowstone is Far From Ideal, But Not A Lost Cause Today

Yeah, the Yellowstone River has quite a bit of color, even some brown, this morning. But it’s not quite chocolate milk, and you stand a decent chance of getting into fish today if you’re willing to adapt to the challenging conditions. After all, that rising water that’s muddying things up is also washing down a lot of trout food. And the fish can see to eat in surprisingly dirty water. But you’ll have to hit them on the nose with something they can see easily. My go-to rig today would be a dead-drifted streamer (maybe a Sparkle Minnow) with a good-sized stonefly nymph as a dropper. I’d choose both flies in a dark color (maybe black or dark olive) and drift them pretty close to the bank. But that’s just me. And it’s going to be a gorgeous day today, so a few fish would just be a bonus, wouldn’t it?

I fished the ‘Stone behind the shop for a couple of hours last night and pulled out a decent brown trout on a deeply-stripped streamer (and lost one that felt somewhat larger). They’re out there, and they’re still eating. I only saw a couple of Mother’s Day Caddis flying about and wouldn’t expect to see them in large numbers until late next week, but that’s just an educated guess. Sunday is probably going to be a no-go, but the river should drop and clear up early in the week. Spring fishing isn’t quite over on the Yellowstone River just yet. Let’s show the naysayers!