Memorial Day is upon us and so is some of the best fishing we’ve seen this year. The forecast is cool and wet followed by clouds the remainder of the week, so bring your rain gear!
Nymphing: We are seeing the most fish caught on nymphs in the usual variety of Baetis, sow bugs, PMD, and the occasional caddis. Fish the obvious drop offs and trenches around gravel bars and the bank. The numbers of fish have for sure made nymphing worth the effort. Keep in mind the majority of these fish will be on the smaller (12-16”) side, but we have seen large fish come out of the depths also. Don’t be afraid to mix and match big bug, small bug on your rig with little to no weight while varying the depth. The common fly choices, Psycho May, Tung Tied Baetis, Radiation Baetis, Split Case PMD, Lightsaber PMD, Green Machine, Hares Ear, Wire worm, and warrior Perdigon are all some good options to load your box for the day!
Streamers: The name of the game right now is FLASHY. Lil Kim, Polar Minnow, Silver Kreelex, Rio Tractor, Sparkle Minnow, and Conehead ziwi have been working very well lately. Vary your retrieve (and mend when wading) to really make the streamers look “swimmy” and entice those bigger, aggressive fish to chase and chomp! The clouds in the forecast this week could make for an above average streamer sesh!
Dry Flies: The dry fly fishing requires a bit of patience these days! If you can stand to wait for the water temps to come up and the wind to die down in the later afternoon or evenings, your chances of seeing bugs come off and fish key in greatly improve. Sparkle Stacker, Purple Haze, Purple Para Wulff, D&D Cripple, and Film Critics have all performed well when you find some heads sipping. Big bug/ small bug double dry fly rigs can improve your chances, or drop a size 18 nymph off the back of your fly if you find yourself struggling with selective fish.
Other News: The shop is open from 7am to 6 pm daily, the coffee is hot and free as always, and our shop staff still love to talk fishing and help you have the best Montana adventure possible!
