Montana April Fishing Report

We are currently entering early Summer here in Montana and runoff is in full swing. Do not be discouraged by the fact that some waters are high and muddy, the waters that are fishable are spectacular right now and this is one of our absolute favorite times to target local waters. There are few out of state anglers and often you can have incredible fishing with light pressure. The only fisheries that you will see a good number of other anglers on right now are the famous tailwaters like the Missouri or Bighorn. In a few weeks to a month the freestone rivers will be getting ready to fall out of runoff and we will experience a golden period of casting to trout who have not seen flies in weeks or even months. The most anticipated hatch of the year on the Spring Creeks, the Pale Morning Duns, will be starting any day now and Salmonfly Fever is slowly building.

Generalities

Warm weather is currently melting our snowpack and water levels are up on all fisheries except spring creeks and stillwaters. In general, freestone fisheries are a tough option right now. Freestone rivers and streams are those that rely heavily on overland flow from rain and snowmelt. These streams and rivers (think the Gallatin and Yellowstone) become high and dirty with sediment during run off and are not fishable most of the time. Spring creeks are fed by groundwater and are completely unaffected by run off. Some rivers are also fed from reservoirs that trap sediment. These tailwaters (Bighorn, Missouri, Madison etc) do increase in flows during spring run off but they retain good water clarity and often great fishing. Stillwater reservoirs, ponds and lakes are also a very good option this time of year.

Hatches

We are currently in a holding pattern between the spring and summer hatches. The BWO’s, March Browns, and Caddis (for the most part) of spring have dissipated but summer hatches are right around the corner. Stonefly nymphs like Salmonflys, Golden Stones, and Yellow Sally’s are extremely active subsurface right now and will begin to hatch soon. The Pale Morning Dun’s, which are the main event each year on the Spring Creeks, are days away as well. Some Caddis are still hatching as well and will pick up steam quickly. This is a time to imitate the subsurface bugs that will soon have the trout rising voraciously to dry flies.

Safe bets

The safe bets right now are the waters that are protected by run off. These include tailwaters below reservoirs, spring creeks and still waters. The good news is that these three categories of fisheries are lights out right now and occur in abundance across Southwest Montana. Spring creeks have some lingering baetis and Caddis hatches and the PMD’s, the best hatch of the year, will soon be starting to get going. The fish are still fresh and haven’t seen a lot of artificials yet so catch rates are often high. Tailwaters are also fishing well right now as water temps rise and the trout put on their feedbags. Dry fly fishing is variable and depends on flows and if they are bumping the dam releases or not. Nymph fishing is predictably good. If flows are on the rise fishing closer to the dam is often better because moss can often get dislodged and if you are too far downstream it can foul hooks. Stillwaters are also a great option and catch rates can be very high slow stripping streamers. Early Callibaetis mayflies can also produce good dry fly action on some waters.

Wild card options

While most of our freestone rivers are still experiencing heavy runoff, each river system behaves differently and will exit runoff at a different pace. Generally speaking, the smaller the stream/drainage, the quicker runoff will subside. The Yellowstone River, which is a large river draining an immense area, is typically the last river in the state to clear up. However, some smaller tributaries like the Boulder or Stillwater will be fishable up to several weeks earlier than the main river. Knowing how to read hydrograph data will help you determine when runoff is coming to an end. During runoff, the hydrograph looks like a series of waves as the water rises and falls each day with snowmelt. As the melt subsides, the graph will start to flatten out and decline steadily. You only need a foot or so of visibility to catch fish along the banks as the water is dropping, so don’t be afraid to target these kinds of conditions even though other anglers might consider the river to be unfishable.

- See more at: http://www.montanaangler.com/montana-fishing-report

We are in the midst of the pre-runoff part of the season here in early May. Most of the freestone rivers have a week or two of good fishing left before the brunt of runoff hits but fishing conditions can be day by day. Warmer than average weather will cause some rivers of the freestone rivers like the Yellowstone to rise quickly and become off color while cooler weather with freezing temps at night result in falling and clearing waters. We have some of our heaviest hatches of the year on many of our waters with baetis, March browns and Mother’s Day Caddis all in healthy supply – often over the course of the same day. Tailwaters, spring creeks, and lakes are not affected much by runoff and fishing will remain good.

On the freestone rivers, the most important thing to pay attention to is water flows and clarity. This is a very dynamic time of year on our rivers and what happened yesterday is not a great indication of what is going to happen tomorrow. Trout feed best on stable and falling water levels and rising water usually puts them off the bite. The water level and clarity is very important, but whether the water is rising or falling to reach that level is equally important, if not more so. In general, rapidly rising waters will almost always spoil good dry fly fishing, but slowly rising waters may produce some color in the water but fish will still aggressively eat subsurface. On tailwaters, such as the Missouri and Lower Madison, the flows will be bumped up incrementally during runoff. The fishing is generally off for a day or so as fish adjust to the new level, but the fishing quickly returns to normal with the stable water levels. The other consideration on tailwaters is that freestone tributaries will bring in mud. Example of this are Cherry Creek on the Lower Madison and the Dearborn River on the Missouri. Be aware of this and choose to fish upstream if these tributaries are bringing in mud. Spring Creeks are generally completely unaffected by runoff.

Nymphing is going to be the best bet on all waters in the morning and during non-hatch periods. If there is too much color in the water fish may also feed subsurface even during heavy hatches. Your best chance at dry fly fishing will be found on the Yellowstone, Lower Madison, Upper Madison and Missouri, which all have daily hatches of Caddis. Cloudy days could bring mayfly hatches to any water in the region, but they are somewhat sporadic this time of year.

On freestone rivers, the best bets will be “big and ugly” type stonefly nymphs with caddis droppers. On cloudy days with heavy mayfly hatches try a baetis nymph or large hares ear to imitate the big March browns. Aquatic insect larva and nymphs are getting very active as they prepare to hatch. “Junk” flies like eggs and San Juan Worms will produce as well. On spring creeks and tailwaters, try things like scuds, sowbugs, Czech nymphs, etc. These nymphs represent food sources that are available to trout 365 days a year.

Hatches

The Mother’s Day Caddis, one of the best hatches of the year, is upon us. The Yellowstone River around Livingston and in Paradise Valley and the Lower Madison River are the best locations to chase this hatch. The Upper Madison also receives a good hatch in the lower reaches. The bugs are typically active from mid-morning on, with the most intense activity in the evenings. The dry fly bite is sometimes good all day but tends to really pick up as the sun starts to come off the water. The fish will eat adult imitations well, but oftentimes an emerger pattern trailed off of the back of your dry will outfish the dry by a wide margin.

Also be on the lookout for March Browns, especially on the Yellowstone River around Livingston, the Lower Madison and the Upper Madison near Ennis. The March Brown hatch is hit or miss, but the fish really key in on these large mayflies when they are available and on a cloudy day they can bring large fish to the surface. A Parachute Adams or large Grey Wulff will do the trick sometimes but it’s nice to have a couple more realistic imitations tucked in your box just in case.

Blue Winged Olives are starting to thin just a bit but will still be important on cloudy days, especially on the spring creeks. As with the Caddis hatch, fish will oftentimes key in on BWO emergers, so make sure you have the fly patterns to cover all stages of the hatch.