Just a quick update on the Yellowstone River fishing conditions. Yesterday, there was muddy water throughout the Paradise Valley. Things look much better today. The river is clearing and the visibility looks pretty good at Pine Creek. Judging from the stream flow gauges on the Lamar River and at Corwin Springs, we don’t anticipate another mud plug coming downriver. You should be good to go back to fishing dry flies today.
Yes, that can mean throwing Chubby Chernobyls all day. But don’t be afraid to branch out of that program. The fish are seeing a ton of those big foamy patterns these days. If you’re not getting eats, try a different attractor dry, such as a Parachute Madam X, Neversink Trude, Stimulator, or the like. And don’t forget about all of the bugs that are out and about. We’re still seeing a bunch of caddis and some Yellow Sally stoneflies, as well as some mayflies. An X-Caddis, Chubby Sally, or Parachute Purple (Purple Haze) could be the ticket.
What do you do if you get to the put-in and the water is dirty? Well, you could get back in the truck and drive until you find clearer water. That’s what most people did yesterday, with the majority of boats ending up down around Big Timber. I imagine it was a boat circus east of Livingston yesterday. Or you could just fish the muddy river. That’s what we did yesterday. With pretty good success. Despite the 6 inches or so of visibility, we landed around 15 trout. Most of the fish ate small streamers stripped right off the banks (darker-colored Bugger variations), with a couple more coming on dead-drifted nymphs. And the plus? We were almost the only boat on the whole stretch from Carbella to 26. So don’t be afraid of a little color to the water (or even quite a bit of color). Fishing a dirty river can still be productive, even if you don’t get to watch those topwater eats.
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