The Yellowstone River in the Park is fishing much like the river outside the Park that we reviewed yesterday.  Projections are still optimistically suggesting this will be a great fall for the Yellowstone, and the fall weather coming shortly should foster that transition quickly. 

Below the Lake / Above the Canyon – As in years past, not great numbers of fish this year (you could easily argue very few).  You can still find pods of working fish – when you see them, get on them with whatever bug is on the water – could still be PMDs, Drakes (gray or green), Caddis in the evenings, and maybe even a Yellow Sally. 

Canyons of the Yellowstone – this is a great time of year to fish the canyons; tourist hikers are greatly diminished, and streamers are soon to be the name of the game.  There are still some Golden Stones, hoppers, Spruce Moths, and baetis should be in the mix shortly. 

Near Gardiner and beyond– good days and less than sterling days just as for the Yellowstone below Park in yesterday’s Montana report.  Hoppers (and big attractors) are probably the surface ticket on most days, though the weather change coming should prompt the first serious baetis of the season.  A few evening caddis remain, and an ever more rare Spruce Moth or two.  Streamers not a bad choice, and will just get better and better. 

Flows have been dropping steadily but are still running well above average out of Yellowstone Lake; flows today (0515) at the Lake outlet were 1920 cfs, with today’s historical average 1580 cfs.  Clarity might be an issue if the forecast Sunday thunderstorms materialize, but the water looks great right now. 

If you’re new to our site, please check out our How to Best Use This Site page.

Flies to have in the box

Dries:  PMDs - parachute, sparkle dun, sprout, cripple, CDC Emerger, PMX - yellow, peacock, royal; Drakes - Paradrake, gray, green, olive, life cycle; Parachute Adams; Caddis – EHC, X Caddis, Electric Caddis, EC Caddis, Spent Caddis – tan and olive; Golden Stone;   Spruce Moth; have your baetis box ready

Nymphs:  Bubbleback PMD; BH & FB PT; Copper John, green, red, chartreuse; Shop Vac; Flashback soft hackle, yellow

Streamers / Others:  Woolly Buggers, brown, black, olive, blue; Sparkle Buggers, same - note overall they should be on the smaller side

Terrestrials:  Hoppers, ants, beetles

Technorati Tags:

Tags: River: Yellowstone