HOLD ON TIGHT TO YOUR DRY FLY BOX—you may be dipping into it frequently this week. That's because the water is dropping quick in the West and a plethora of hatches are either coming off or are set to come off in the next seven days and you may be playing the hatch-matching game more often than you'd like, trying to figure out which insect and which stage of a given hatch those meaty browns, rainbows and cutthroats are keyed in on. Here's what you can expect:
TOP BET: BIG WOOD RIVER, ID
: If you're young, single, not earning big coin and you don't like your boss, give it all up, drive to Ketchum, Idaho and plant your ass on the Big Wood this week—the green drakes are coming off and when the drakes are popping on the Wood, there isn't a better place to be. I lived there for six years, fished the drake hatch every year the water would allow and it is a phenomenal show. And I'm not the only one who thinks so; John Huber, a former roommate and fishing bud of mine, who now manages the travel end of things for Ketchum on the Fly
, said, "The Wood is just getting into shape and the drake hatch is really going."
I asked, "Well, is it full on or just kind of average and Humber elaborated, " It's not just average right now, it's knock them dead. If you are in the right run you hammer them and the peak of the hatch is around two or 3 p.m., although you can catch fish all day. We're using the Colorado Green Drake on top and an epoxy black nymph underneath."
While stomping around on the Wood this week you may also run into some solid salmonfly, golden stone and yellow Sally hatches so pack those meaty dries. Concentrate your efforts south of Ketchum. The upper Wood still needs to warm. A final salvo from Huber: "This is wear a wading belt, don't bring your dog fishing. The water is high and fast and it could take you with it if you're not prepared."
PMD BLITZ: SILVER CREEK, ID: It's a solid PMD show on Silver Creek right now and that equates to some good fishing. In fact, the best day I ever had on Silver Creek, which is a very demanding piece of water, was during a solid PMD hatch when I fooled something like 28 fish one morning/afternoon. Not saying you'll do that if you go to Silver Creek this week, but you should pick up solid fish on size-14 and 16 PMD Pullovers and PMD Cut Wings. The hatch comes off around 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. each day and extends until lunchtime. It picks back up in the evening.
According to Huber, you'll see a couple other appealing hatches, too. "There are Baetis every day and the Tricos are just starting," he noted. "There are Callibaetis in the sloughs, too. And baby hoppers are just hatching out. Regarding Tricos, the hatch will build and the best fishing, for pods of fish, will be in August."
CADDIS & PMDs: FIREHOLE RIVER, YELLOWSTONE PARK
: Persistent cloudy weather in Yellowstone has kept the Firehole River running cool and the fish have responded to that—they're chowing dry flies like crazy. Now, don't go to the Firehole if you're seeking large trout, but do go if you want to have a blast on dry flies, with unlimited access and fairly easy wading. That's the word from Dick Greene, the longtime owner of Bud Lilly's Trout Shop in West Yellowstone and a Yellowstone area trout junkie.
"The Firehole has fished well from the get-go," Greene said, "and the cool weather has helped. This week it's supposed to be warmer but the fishing should still be good. Primarily we're seeing PMD and caddis hatches. The PMDs come off around 10 or 11 a.m. and hang around into the afternoon. The caddis are there all day long and a lot of them are those white miller type that look like moths. People try to imitate those and I can sell them patterns to match those caddis if they insist, but the trout don't eat those.
"The fly they want," Greene disclosed, "is the Harrop CDC Palmered tan caddis or the Hemingway caddis, sizes 14 and 16, fished off 5X tippet. We fish it dead drift and then let it swing underneath at the end of the drift. It pops up like an emerger and the fish slam it. You get an occasional 14 or 15-inch fish on the Firehole, and that's not big, but when they hit it on the swing it's a pretty good grab."
If you're going to fish the Firehole this summer, do it now because the predicted warm weather will slow things down in a week or so. Another good park option right now is the upper Gallatin. Salmonflies could be seen there soon. Caddis and yellow sallies are a given.
GIANT GOLDEN STONES: BITTERROOT RIVER, MT: I used to live near the banks of the Bitterroot and I know what dropping water means—hatch madness. That's the story on the Root this week and weekend where anglers should encounter green drakes, PMDs and, hopefully, the big golden stoneflies. If conditions are cloudy those mayflies should be your priority; if the end of the week and weekend provide hot weather, which is forecasted, get those meaty stones ready to roll.
"This weekend should be the kickoff to our best hatches," said Chuck Stranahan who runs Stranahan's Flies and Guides
in Hamilton and has guided on the river for a few decades. "There's a real good chance of seeing those big golden stones and that is this river's best hatch. The key to fishing the Bitteroot when it is full (of water) is to look at the current speed. Watch your fly drift. You want a dry fly in water that's running one-to three feet a second. With nymphs you want it running five-to six feet a second because you're fishing the slower water underneath the surface water. Look for foam lines where the water is greenish instead of brown. Typical river wisdom says fish the outside bank, but that doesn't hold true in this higher water. You'll find more fish on the inside bank on corners, in the nondescript water that other guys don't fish. Fish that water and you'll get nice trout that the other guys miss.
"Make sure you have a couple golden stone patterns this week," Stranahan urged. "Carry a Rogue or Carnage golden stone, a fly that sits flat on the water in the surface film for the calmer water. Carry a Stranahan Golden Stone for the choppy water, a fly that wit up and dance on the water like an egg-laying stone would do. To match the green drakes you're likely to see I like an extended body drake. Quigley Cripples are great for when the hatch begins."
SALMON FLIES AT THE SLIDE: MADISON RIVER, MT : According to Kelly Galloup, who runs Slide Inn
on the banks of the Madison just below Quake Lake, the river is set to blow loose with hatches. "I think hatches should be peaking by the weekend," Galloup said. "It is supposed to be in the 80s this week and salmonflies are being seen at West Fork so they should be here by Saturday. We'll probably see golden stones, too. Already we've got PMDs and epeorus on the cloudy days. It hasn't been great so far with those hatches but it's been ok. In the evenings we have caddis and that has been good and will only get stronger. Those caddis begin in the afternoon and the egg-laying flights happen around 8 p.m. and run through dark. A good tandem rig this weekend would be a rubberleg (stonefly) and some sort of caddis pupa or a size-16 or 18 Hare's Ear nymph. If you're strictly focusing on the egg laying caddis flights go with a Butch Caddis with a Sunk
Caddis behind it."
RAY CHARLES MADNESS: BIGHORN RIVER, MT
: Don't hit the horn this week if you're limited to wade fishing because flows remain around 9,000 cubic feet a second and crunching around in the gravel, even at Three Mile Access, is restricted at best. But, if you have a boat and plan to float, your timing is good. According to Duane Schriener, who runs Bighorn Fly & Tackle in Billings and Fort Smith, you're not going to get any fish on top, but you can slay them underneath in very identifiable spots, meaning the banks, the back eddies, and just downstream from islands in slack water.
"All of the fish are up against the banks right now or they're in those soft spots in backwaters and behind islands so it's pretty easy to locate fish and that's why it's been so good," he said. "The problem is once you hook one they run to the fast water and turn sideways. We're not landing a great percentage of them because they're 16-to 20 inches on average. To help our chances we've been going with nothing lighter than 4X tippet and most often we're going with 2X or 3X. The best rigs right now are big wire-wrapped orange and red San Juan (worms) in size-4s and 6s. Off the San Juan we run 18 inches of 3X and tie on a size-14 or 16 tan or gray Soft Hackle Ray Charles. The other pattern that is working great is the Firebead Sow Bug, size-16 and 18 in tan or pink. Nobody is talking about scuds yet so those sow bugs are the way to go."
ON THE DROP: ROCK CREEK, MT: Warm weather this week means fishing will slow a little in the midday hours, but dropping water and cool mornings and evenings mean big-time dry fly action. And what better time of year to camp on Rock Creek? I mean, this is true summer bliss for you and your family.
According to Josh Hodsdon at Rock Creek Fisherman's Mercantile the water is dropping every day and the creek's rainbows, cutthroats and browns are pounding big dries, such as Stimulators and size-10 Royal Wulffs. "The fish are coming up for big dries in the middle of the day and there are a ton of yellow sallies in the evening. Lots of caddis, too. We also get guys saying they are still seeing green drakes between Gilles Bridge and the 18-mile mark. With a few days of warm weather the fishing is going to move more towards the mornings and evenings. We should see PMDs in the morning just as the sun hits the water. The fishing will really heat up between 6 p.m. and 7:30 and it will continue until after dark with caddis."
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BELOW: Bighorn River high-flow medicine. The wire worm.
