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2010 Fishing Guide for Park County: A Fly Fishing Mecca

Could Montana be considered the fly fishing mecca in the world?  It’s certainly one of them.  Two other heavyweight contenders always come to mind: New Zealand and Argentina.  But if Montana is at least the fly fishing mecca of the United States, which city in Montana would best sport the thrown?  

Missoula is in the running with the Clark’s Fork, Blackfoot, and Bitteroot accessible, plus it deserves some props for being in  “A River Runs Through It”.  How about Ennis?  One could certainly make the case for its economy thriving on fly fishing and it does host several fly fishing functions every year.  The proximity to the upper and lower Madison, and Yellowstone Park is convenient but the area might suffer from perhaps not enough historical background?  What about Fort Smith or Craig?   They’re probably the two best rivers in Montana but for variety’s sake, there’s not much for other options.  Even West Yellowstone definitely deserves a mention with solid waters and deep history.  

Granted, the vote of a Livingston, Montana native who loves to fish seems quite biased, but I honestly cannot think of a better location for living and fishing in Southwestern Montana.

Centered between the Bighorn and Missouri Rivers, a day drive can put an angler on a number of blue ribbon streams including the Upper and Lower Madison, Gallatin, Jefferson, Stillwater, Boulder, Ruby, Beaverhead, Bighole, Gardner, Lamar, Slough Creek, Soda Butte, as well as countless lakes and creeks.  Talk about a Smörgåsbord of incredible fishing options.
One could spend a lifetime of fishing within 200 miles of Livingston and never be satisfied with covering the map. 

On the Map

Not only is Livingston centrally located for some of the best fly fishing Montana has to offer, fly fishing history has equally been centered around Livingston.  Legendary anglers like Dan Bailey and Joe Brooks stand out as resident fishing stars.  Together the pair started Montana’s first Trout Unlimited chapter, The Yellowstone Chapter (which has since been re-named the Joe Brooks Chapter).  

Livingston is also home to the Fly Fishing Federation’s national headquarters, equipped with one of the best angling libraries and fly fishing museums anywhere in the world.

Just an eight-minute drive south of Livingston will put an angler on one of three famous spring creeks: Armstrong’s, Nelson’s, and DePuy’s.  Here expert anglers can enjoy technical “match the hatch” fly fishing and the challenge of fooling big, selective trout on tiny dry flies.

A bit further down the valley will put you on superb attractor fishing in one of the Absoraka Mountain’s cool flowing creeks, and near Emigrant is Dailey Lake, which holds some truly monster rainbows, perch galore, and even a few walleyes.

Yellowstone Park is only an hour away and with the purchase of a Park fishing license, 2.2 million acres are yours for exploring where native Yellowstone cutthroat trout were born.

On top of all the reasons for Livingston to be fly fishing central, it is also home to the longest un-dammed river in the United States.

The River

The Yellowstone river commands respect in every way an angler can think of and everything about it is gorgeous:  the fish, the bugs, the wildlife, and the views.

There is something mystical about the river one cannot exactly put their finger on, something that sets it apart from all the other major rivers in Montana.

Perhaps it has something to do with the reality that anytime you wet a line in it, you could catch the monster brown you’ve been looking for your whole life.

Or maybe the river offers more solitude and space than popular rivers like the Madison, Bighorn, or Missouri.  Whatever it is, the Yellowstone is surely one of the major reasons many choose to live here, whether they like to fish or not.

Wetting a Line

Remember that before you fish you must obtain a current fishing license.  A Montana Fishing License is available at any of the local fly shops.  Non-resident fishing licenses (which include a conservation license) are $25 for two days, $45 for four days, $53 for 10 days, and $70 for a season.  The money paid will help Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks conserve, protect, and restore the natural resources of the state.  Anyone fishing does not have to have their license displayed, but be sure to have it on your person should a game warden appear. 

One popular question often asked by anglers is, “When is the best time to fish the Yellowstone?”  Below is a summary of many of the most productive periods to fish the Yellowstone River:

Late April to Early May

This is the time period when anglers see the river come alive from a harsh and often brutal winter.  As the water temperature warms up, trout become more active in seeking food, picking off a variety of aquatic insects including midges, baetis, march browns, stone flies, and caddis.  In the weeks to come, as water temperatures rise to 52 degrees, more and more caddis begin to “pop” (or hatch) and the fabled Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch begins. 

Seeing millions of caddis in the air, bushes, and water is not always the case.  Often the weather will get cold again, snow, or otherwise put the caddis down.  However, when all the planets are aligned, this is one of them most impressive hatches in the world.  Don’t worry - they don’t bite, but they might crawl all over you, tickling you as you catch fish after fish on caddis dry flies. 

If the hatch isn’t happening, or if the hatch is going off but the river is too muddy from snow melt for fish to key in on these tiny moth-like insects, you can still have great fishing with streamers.  These larger flies imitate a small fish, such as a sculpin, white fish smolt, or even a juvinile trout.  When you fish with these bigger flies, you typically catch much less fish, the ones who attack however are certainly photo-worthy, often over 20 inches.  

May to Mid June

Inevitably, as the snow melts from the snow pack in the Absaroka mountains, a gush of cold water, mud, and soil enters the river. Not only is the river unfit to fish during this time, but it can be very dangerous. Locals refer to it as the “cottonwood” hatch, where you will often see sticks, snags, logs, and even trees floating down there river. Needless to say if one of these hit you or your boat you’d be in big trouble. So during this time we fish the Paradise Valley Spring Creeks or the lakes in the surrounding area. If you are interested in fishing the creeks or a private lake, any of the local fly shops should be able to assist in getting a “rod” for the day. Prices vary from $75 to $100.

Lake fishing in May and June are two of the best months to fish lakes in Montana. Fish are eager to suck down callibaetis dries, damsel flies, snails, leeches, and even ants. They are not dumb fish by any means, but you can catch them off the guard before the summer crew arrives.

Many local lakes offer decent fishing (Dailey lake is 45 minutes south of Livingston) but the best fishing is usually on private ponds. Rod Fees are steep but well worth the shot at 20” trout or bigger. Some folks aren’t as excited to fish a lake as a river, but everyone who tries usually ends up really liking it. Since lakes offer fish a smorgasbord of food, fish are often on average are much bigger than those of equal length from the river. Experienced anglers will appreciate head hunting for circulating hogs while beginners have a better shot at catching a their first trout. Local shops will have the scoop.

Mid June & July on the Creeks

If the Yellowstone is still muddy from spring runoff, you can always find quality fishing on the local spring creeks: Armstrong’s, Nelson’s, and DePuy’s.  Rod fees this time of year are $100.  That is definitely a lot of dough, but think of it as paying greens fees to play a round of golf at Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, or St. Andrews. These creeks are legendary in their own right, and are in the book “Top 50 Places to Fish in the World.”

Certainly if you are an angler and have come to Livingston, the spring creeks should be on your bucket list to fish, even if the river is gin clear. 

During mid-June through the end of July the spring creeks host an emergence of small light green may flies called PMD’s (pale morning duns).  These aquatic insects grow to maturity through four different phases: nymphs, emergers, duns, and spinners.  During the nymphal stage, PMD’s usually cling onto the rocks, feeding on fine detritus and algae.  Sometimes the current pulls them off of their rock, upon which them become an easy meal for a keen trout.

A PMD emerger is a nymph that has floated to the surface and struggles to grow wings, much like a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.  Emergers are sitting ducks as well, because they are often helpless for a few seconds as their wings dry before they can fly away.  Once they fly away, (or ride the surface with their wings up in a sailboat-like manner) they are PMD duns.

Duns have slightly grayish wings.  At this point they are adults, but not yet sexually mature.  They molt their skin again, becoming a PMD spinner, and are finally ready to copulate in the air.  Spinners have clear wings and their tails are usually longer than the duns. 

During the morning anglers mostly fish nymphs until the hatch gets more active.  Once they start seeing fish rise, they may switch to an emerger or dry fly pattern.  Splashy rises often indicate a trout eating an emerger, since they eat it just under the surface and tail kick back to depths of the stream.

A slow “ring” like rise usually indicates a fish coming up to the surface slowly and “sipping” the dun or spinner into it’s mouth.  Pay close attention to these rise forms when choosing a fly pattern.

One can also wade out in the creek 40 feet below the fish and look carefully in the water to see what is coming down the pipe.  If you see a PMD coming down, you can catch them in your hands for a closer inspection, but spread your fingers (like the Vulcan “live long and prosper” sign) so that the water will push the insect into your palm.

Any fly shop in town will have a good selection of these different stages of PMD’s.  Make sure you grab a few of each because when the fish key in on a certain life cycle, they will often refuse anything else.  This is one of the challenges that makes fishing to selective spring creek fish so rewarding.  Any fish you catch on the creek is a trophy and proof of good angling skills.  

Late June and Early July

When it becomes late June, early July
I’m all about the hunt for the salmonfly
Whether we be in the mud or fishin’ in the clear
I’ll bring the boat and you bring the beer
Let the weather do whatever it does
If we ain’t catchin’ fish then we’re catchin’ a buzz!

Late June and early July can be the best fishing of the entire year.

Huge fish rise up to eat super-sized salmonflies, caddis, golden stones, yellow sallies and the action can be red hot.

However, to be on the safe side, you better bring along a case of beer, because while it could be the best fishing of your life, it could also be one of the slowest.  If we’ve had a big snow year with lots of snowpack, the river will still be gushing with tinted mud, making it difficult for fish to see your flies.  If this is the case, you’ll want to put the rod down, relax and kick one back as you watch a mating frenzy fly in air.

This hatch is a photographer’s dream come true, and as long as you have a good talk (AKA “buy some flies”) with one of the local fly shops, you’ll be in the middle of something truly incredible.  Again, folks with bug phobias, have no fear: these peaceful bugs have no mouth to bite you with.  Nope, these bugs are only around for one purpose: procreation. 

Sometimes if you look close, you will see black egg sack on the end of a female’s body that looks almost like a mini-blackberry.   Salmonflies live up to three years underwater as a nymph before they crawl out of the water and hatch into one of the biggest dry flies the world has to offer.  And the fish are dining big time.  So much, in fact that after days of eating nymphs and clobbering dries, many fish will become gorged. 

Some anglers choose to float slightly above or below the belly of this hatch but we feel it can be just as good if not better in the thick of things.  Like a bag of freshly opened cheese puffs, the fish cannot stop the urge to feast except perhaps for a few minutes a day here and there.  I’ve seen fish that have come up trying to eat our dry with samlonflies already hanging out of their mouths.  Talk about stuffed to the gills.  I think almost every local angler has caught a trout that was puking salmonflies in their net as they tried to take the hook out carefully. 

The other thing to remember this that in late June and early July there are tasty hors d’oeuvres on the table.  Succulent and slender sallies with, medium sized goldenstones, and chocolate caddis for desert.  Why would a fish key in on smaller bug instead?  Fish a dropper behind your big bug as a second offering, as you never know who might be ready for sorbet, but not ready yet for another baseball cut.

Mid July to September

Herein lies the meat and potatoes of the Yellowstone’s fishing season.  The weather is nice, it fits with most people’s vacation time, and the fish are keyed in on eating grasshoppers, caddis, stoneflies, ants, beetles, and other terrestials.  It is the “safest” time to book a trip because you don’t have to guess if runoff will start, or if it is over.  The only thing that can mess up the river in the summer is a strong rain in the North East section of the Park, in which the Lamar’s muddy banks will collapse and push a “plug” of mud into the Yellowstone.  These plugs typically last a few days, and anglers can often get around it by floating way below it, or by floating above it as the river clears. 

The Yellowstone is one of healthiest rivers in the world, and definitely deserves to be checked off a fishing bucket list.  While fly fishing is the most popular method (since you can fish dry flies above the surface or nymphs below) spin fishing is also permitted.  Artificial bait, including rapalas, spinners, spoons, rubber worms, etc. are always allowed on any stretch of the Yellowstone.  Bait however, (worms, maggots, dead sculpins, etc.) are only allowed on certain sections of the river.  Refer to a local shop or the Montana fishing regulations for more details. 

I’d still recommend fly fishing the Yellowstone, mostly from the thrill of seeing a big mouth swim up and engulf a hopper off the surface.  Big fish rise slower, so remember to let them actually eat your fly before you pull it out of their mouth. 

Even if you do miss a fish (and we all do) the memory of the big one coming up to crush your dry will be burned in your memory bank forever. 

One trick to successfully catching fish on the Yellowstone is getting a dead drift with your fly.  That means having the fly float along the river at the same speed of the current.  If the fly is skittering too fast through the current it will look suspicious.  While you might catch smaller fish this way, large trout are smart and have seen this number a time or two before.  Likewise, if the fly is flowing too slow it will look fake.  To help reduce drag and get a good drift, try to cast at an angler slightly downstream and pull your line back in the air.  This slack line cast or “reach cast” will enable the fly to look natural the instant it hits—which is often when the fish notice it. 

Another technique which will help with eliminating drag is to “mend” your line.  Since the leader and tippet are smaller in diameter than the line, the water will push the line downstream, so you have to constantly keep mending your line so that the line is up stream from your leader and fly. 

This action is harder to explain than do, so if you see another angler on the water who looks like he knows what he or she is doing, pay attention to how they are covering the water and try to mimic their style. Once you get in the habit, you will cast, mend, and be ready for the take without even thinking about it. 

So now that you have an idea on what it takes to catch fish in the Yellowstone, the next question is what do they eat?  Trout are reactive to their surroundings and are quick to notice what type of insects are currently hatching.  They can become “keyed in” on these specific insects, and ignore other patterns completely.  So before tying on a fly, I usually go down to the river to get a feel for what is going on.  Look for hints like insects crawling in the willows, on the rocks?  Are there birds flying around, are there fish rising?  If you notice something crawling around try to catch one and compare it with what you have in your box.  You might not have the exact representation, by try to match size and color as best as possible.  If you don’t see anything happening, select an attractor fly like a royal wolff, lime trude, hopper, or nymph.  Remember, if you are using a nymph, you won’t be able to see your fly and you will want to put a strike indicator about 4-6 feet above your fly.  If the strike indicator jumps or goes down quickly, set the hook!

When first starting out, I’d suggest fishing with only one fly until you get the hang of the rhythm.  Once you have made 10 casts in a row without tangling up you’ll know you have it down.  Once feeling confident in your ability to deliver the fly, consider trying two flies.  Fishing two flies is often more effective as it gives the trout two different choices.  Put your larger fly on first and the smaller fly as the “dropper” for easier casting.  The larger fly might attract the fish in the first place, but the smaller fly might look more like the meal it has been eating.  Don’t get any crazy ideas with three flies however.  Triple-threat is not only a disaster to cast, it is also illegal.  When fly fishing one can only have two hooks per line.  Some flies these days have two hooks on one fly, so you will one to break one hook off, or just use one fly.

One of the most popular methods is to fish two flies, the hopper / dropper technique.  Choose a large foam hopper that you can see well and that will float all day long.  You can use gink if you like, to help silicone your fly and keep it from soaking up water.  Tie another piece of tippet to the hook of your hopper, leaving 18 inches or so for your next fly.  Take your pick when it comes to droppers, but a bead head hare’s ear, prince, or pheasant tail are among the most popular fish finders.

Now you have two flies, one on the surface and one below, so you might catch the attention of a fish looking up, or a fish eating nymphs.  If your hopper goes down quickly, you’ll want to set the hook hard!   A quick disappearance of your hopper means your nymphs has either hooked up on a rock or stick, or a fish.  Either way you’ll want to strike to keep the fish tight, or hopefully get your fly out of trouble.

Fair warning: you will get more tangles fishing two flies so make sure you have a strong back cast with a solid pause before you come forward again.  If you get a serious tangle between the two flies, sometimes it is quicker to “cut and paste” by re-rigging. 

On the Water

One of the best things a new angler can do if they are interested in learning to fly fish is to hire a guide.  He or she will be able to teach you things you never would have thought of and also be able to break you of bad habits in the beginning. 

A guide will have a boat too, which helps drastically when it comes to finding sections of the river that are less fished.  A guide will slow the boat down and adjust to your drift, making it easier for you to achieve a dead drift.  Plus, guides know the best ways to take photos of your fish so that they look big and you don’t feel robbed when you get your photos back.

A guide will know all the cool local places to eat, what band is playing where, and what else shouldn’t be missed on your Montana vacation.  To top all it off, your guide will even prepare a stream-side lunch, making your day on the stream a pleasurable experience for all.

To find a guide simply call or stop in one of the local fly shops and they will gladly accommodate you.

Yellowstone Angler (406) 222-7130
Sweetwater Fly Shop (406) 222-9393
Dan Bailey (406) 222-1673
Hatch Finders (406) 222-0989

Photos and Article by James Anderson

James Anderson is his own outfitter #8969 and is the webmaster for the Yellowstone Angler.  You can also see more fly fishing photos from around the world at photographyonthefly.com