Take Mom Fishing!

It’s going to be a beautiful day!

A lot of people seem to have given up on the Yellowstone River, thinking it’s done until after runoff. It’s not! With the recent cooler weather, the flows have dropped a lot. The river is currently running about 6300 cfs at Carter’s Bridge, which is a very fishable level. There’s still a fair bit of color to the water, but the clarity is plenty good enough to catch fish. Even on top (I caught a nice brown trout on a caddis dry yesterday afternoon). So get out there while you still can. Try drifting a brown or black Rubberlegs or Wooly Bugger with a smaller beadhead nymph as a dropper. Or strip a darker-colored streamer through the soft water along the banks. The fish are there, and they’re feeding. As far as top-water action, there are still some caddis and blue-winged olives about, and you might see fish rising along the banks or in eddies. Try a dark olive Bloom’s Parachute Caddis, an olive Elk Hair Caddis, or a peacock Everything Emerger for the caddis. For the BWOs, a size 18 Parachute Adams or Parachute Purple should suffice. Happy Mother’s Day from all of us here at Sweetwater Fly Shop!