Living in Bozeman we consider the Gallatin to be one of our home rivers, and we spend a fair amount of time on the river, both in and out of the Park.

The Gallatin continues to fish pretty darn well right now, both in and out of the Park.   More good news - we’re due a break from the summer’s searing heat this week - it will still be warm but at least a little better.

As we posted in the past few days on Best Fly Fishing Montana the rains between here and Yellowstone over the past week or so have intermittently put the river off, particularly below Taylor’s Fork, and at times below Specimen and Fan Creeks. Flows today at 1045 were 477 CFS (average for today 781) at Gallatin Gateway after picking up flows from several tribs (Park section flows will obviously be lower.)

The Caddis hatch continues to work along steadily in the late afternoons and evenings, and there are a fair number of PMDs still coming off mornings.  Attractor dries or hoppers with a dropper rig are the ticket otherwise.  The Gallatin waters in the Park are interesting in that any pocket of water can hold a reasonable fish - cover the water and keep moving.

There are spruce moths in the canyon down below the Park, and can be fun.

There are no closures or special regulations on the river at this time in the Park, though the smoke from the Owl fire can be heavy at times.  The river remains on hoot owl restrictions from the I90 bridge downstream (flowing north) to the Missouri confluence well below the Park, and if you wander on downstream from the Park, you really don’t want to be fishing below the canyon anyway. 

If you’re new to the site, check out our How to Best Use this Site Page.

Flies to Have in the Box

Dries:  EHC, tan and olive; CDC caddis, tan and olive; X Caddis, olive; Ripcord caddis, Mangy Caddis, olive and brown; Limeade; Twisted Sister Purple; Parachute PMD; Parachute Lightning Bug; PMX peacock, royal, and lime/green

Nymphs: Mega Prince, Mega PT, Copper John, red, blue; Superflash PT; Rubberlegs, olive and brown; Hares Ear; San Juan worm, red, brown; BHFBPT

Streamers / Other: Stonefly, golden and olive; Explosion stone, purple; JJ Special; Rubberlegs, brown, coffee; Hoppers - your favorites #10-12; Foam beetles; Wooly buggers, black, olive, brown

Technorati Tags: ,

Tags: River: Gallatin