Spring Mix

PICK YOUR POISON

Weather For One And All

catching improving by the day

If you have a large screen you can read on the sign who once lived here.

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.. Estuary fishing is good: estuary catching is great. Those with the guts get the glory. A bit of local knowledge and a willingness to post hole, snowshoe, or ride a sled to the open waters will yield some of the best catching ever. Hebgen Reservoir is the destination of choice for many of the neighbors. Ice out is not officially here but the expanding tributary estuaries are giving it a nudge.
.. Some neighbors are exercising their petrol ration and visiting the lowland Madison River, Missouri River, Yellowstone River, and Big Spring Creek. Lowland fishing and catching is in full swing; as it were. Check the sidebar for links to the reports of folks already deep in Montana's waters.
.. The weather has given us everything from wet snow to hail. A bit of rain and some graupel always keep the mix interesting. The fish don't seem to mind: the fishers usually do. Rare, however, is the empty pub parking lot syndrome. Folks have bailed out of town with a whoosh that was heard as far away as the Varney Bridge.


Reversed Parachute Midge Emerger

.. Up here it's still midge time and the fish are enjoying it. The bright, dead still, gentle snows of mid day are perfect times to tie on a midge pattern.
.. Some of the "REVERSE" midge emergers from across the pond have been used by the world traveliing fly fishers in the neighborhood. You'll have to tie them yourself - no local feather merchant has them at this time.
.. You can read about their success rate and use HERE. We like fishing midges Between The Lakes because there is no need to enter the water and disturb the redds of the spawning trout. Cavitation slicks and back eddy swirls are prime places, (and they ocure near the shore.)
.. The midge is a staple of the trout in many areas - not the least of which is the Madison River tailwater, or the edge of the weed beds in the just now opening estuaries.. The wonderful video by Ralph Cutter, (below,) is highly instructive for fly fishers that wish to indulge themselves in this sublime form of torture - and exaultation.

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.. If dinky flies are not your cup of hooch, try some streamers. The ones with a stinger hook seem to be becoming fashionable right now. There may be something to it. Little fish nip at the tails of their food. Big fish attack the head. If you'd like to hook up with a small  16" trout for a dance or two try a streamer with a stinger hook. If you are looking for normal sized fish stick 'em with a traditional streamer.


Scleech, image courtesy of Parks Fly Shop

.. Stinger hooks are a staple of salt water fishing but seem to have never caught on with the inland fly fisher.
.. One of the best in our region is the SCLEECH, that has been tied in Gardiner for a long time and is now available from the MONTANA FLY COMPANY. It should be available at a retail feather merchant near you.
.. It's not our practice but, some of the neighbors fling a streamer toward the over-sexed trout and aggrivate them into taking the offering. Some very big fish are stuck this way.
.. The outlet of Quake Lake is ice-free and access through the boulder field is negotiable by younger legs than ours.
.. The Devil Worm and it's relative the GOB 'O' are each being used currently, with more than moderate success, at the edge of the ice at Quake Lake, both at the outlet and at the boat ramp near it's head.
.. That's it for now. We're headed to an empty parking lot that we know of.

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Parking lot sucked dry, (and empty,) by folks leaving our village

D Minus One

WHAT'S THE FUSS ABOUT ?

As If You Don't Know

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.. Here are the "official" maps of the Madison River that will be discussed tomorrow evening at 6:00 PM in a plush conference room just 200' from our front door. We'll let you know if anything new crops up.

NEWS FLASH !

ONLY 4" TO GO

Only 2899.2 Acre Feet Left

inflow = 1564.2 cfs

outflow = 1170.7 cfs

CLICK HERE FOR HEBGEN STATS

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.. It's true. The pool of Hebgen Reservoir is just 4" from being full.
.. Folks are skiing where they haven't skied in years. Fishers are fishing in wonderfully strange and unusual places. The weed beds are covered with more water than is usual for this time of year.
.. What's that mean for gulpers? Stay tuned.

Double Dealin' Mother

ICE GONE - RIVERS UP

What's A Fisher To Do?

the worst is just around the corner

THERE'S LAWN CHAIRS ON THE POINT
AND 300' OF ICE AT THE DAM

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.. Mom has been both loving and cruel this Spring. First she gives us a good snow year that promises to have our rivers running cold well into the summer. Then she throws us a warm spike that takes away a goodly amount of the snow pack. Then just as the ice begins to leave the shores Hebgen Lake she presents us with a rare east wind that pushes the thin ice out of the estuaries.
.. Lately she's been toying with us in a new and wonderfully sadistic manner. The diurnal temperatures have been in the high 40's, while the nocturnal degrees have not dipped much past the mid 30's. Afternoon on Saturday reached 50° F. So the rivers continue to flow freely and the clouds keep the sun from encouraging the bugs, (no it's not quite dreary enough for those other bugs either!)
.. The rivers were so high on Saturday that several roads were closed. The most significant was Highway 191 going to Bozeman. Greek Creek expanded to the point that it was not only out of bank, but out of control as well. It flooded the road and caused a road closure for most of the day and well into the evening.
.. The Madison River is running at a high seasonal average. The Firehole River has slowed to seasonal discharge. The Gibbon River, on the other hand, is being frisky and flows are all over the place.

It's not a fly but it's hot right now

.. So is there a place to fish? Certainly not down-canyon where the Gallatin River is hitting 3,000 cfs and growing. How about using a boat on the lake? It's still good near the ice, and just normal where you find the fish. Trolling a small Kastmaster has galled a couple of reported 24" Brown Trout, (cell phone picture verified.)
.. How's the fishing between the lakes? Glad you asked!
.. It's fair right now, (and crowded,) - BUT - Hebgen Reservoir's Flood Control Pool is full. Discharge is a moderate but fishable 1,250 cfs.
.. The "BUT" is that inflow is 2,200 cfs, and there's only 7 feet left to the spillway. Things are looking pretty bleak for the near future.
.. The only good news to be had is that with the rising lake levels the junction of tributary streams and the lake receeds upstream. Technically some places where the neighbors are fishing are illegal. Practically, if you wade the muddy willow bottoms of Grayling Creek, Duck Creek, Cougar Creek, or the South Fork, you deserve the catching - if there is any.

.. The lowland Madison River is fishing good. The catching is fair. The color is O.K. and bugs are available. Nymphs and streamers are still in play and shoreline catching is as good as drift boat catching.
.. Everything will go to hell quickly if they pull the plug at the dam. It could happen. Or, with current repair crews still working on the intake structure they may just let it fill to the spillway. That could happen about the time the Madison River discharge hits it's maximum: this year projected to be near 2,000+ cfs. That's double what it is now.
.. We're headed to a little stretch of the Gallatin River that is way too cold to fish. It's that little bit of water between the Yellowstone park-line and Taylor Fork Creek. It's so cold the fish are having trouble holding on to the flies. It's so cold that they are eating anything that seems eatable: sticks, leaves, flies, bare hooks, etc. It's so cold that everyone that fishes there tells you it's too cold to fish!

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THE VORTEX IN HEBGEN RESERVOIR IS CAUSED WHEN THEY PULL THE PLUG

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Best Bar By A Dam Site

EVER TRIED

SWEET 'TATER FRIES ?

Good With Flame Broiled Beef

good food and good fun

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.. Now there's a change of pace. The Happy Hour Bar on the shores of Hebgen Lake is a haven in the winter time for folks that travel between the high country and the salubrious climes of the Madison River Valley down below.

.. This longtime favorite of local residents harbors good food, good drinks, and good fun.
.. It's a cozy place with "atmosphere" just dripping from the walls, (and ceiling.) This year-round watering hole is gathering place for the "LAKE PEOPLE." It's out here in the country where elbow room is more important than the minimal conveniences in the town of  West Yellowstone.
.. Sledheads find it in the winter as they cruise the vast expanses of a frozen Hebgen Lake.
.. Ice fishers call the place home, (and they can show you buckets of fish as proof that they really were fishing.). The adventurous cross country skiers willing to forgo the sweet and simple trails of Yellowstone National Park frequent the bar for a toddy or two.

.. In the summertime this is a popular destination for lake fishers, (both gear and fly,) who prefer the adventure of large trout taken from a boat. It's also a port of call for visitors meeting " . . . at the bar . . ."
.. Seasonal and local festivities center at the Happy Hour Bar. The Super Bowl Party was a scene of extreme gaiety. Through the year you may bump into Senators, Movie Stars, Famous Fly Fishers, and other not quite normal folks. Of course there are quite a few "not quite normal folks" that aren't famous and live right here too. You'll probably meet some of them as well.
.. This place just warms the soul and the toes if necessary. Grab a stool and order a burger done the way you like it and be sure to try the sweet 'tater fries.Let them know we sent you; but only when you're ready to leave!

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Only The Lonely

YO YO WEATHER CONTINUES

Ice Still "Iffy"

use extreme caution

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.. Construction workers repairing the head gate at Hebgen Dam report the disappearance of a moose that has been a daily visitor to the job site. They also report that a moose-sized hole has appeared in the ice near shore where the moose was last seen

.. Mom has been "playing goofy" with the temperature and precipitation lately. Everything from blizzards to rain have been seen in the last couple of weeks.
.. Yesterday reached a high temperature of 36 and it rained and snowed - at the same time.
.. Currently it's 39° F and rising with a predicted low tonight of only 11° F. Thursday night the low is predicted for -15° F. And the beat goes on.
.. Some of the neighbors have started to fish on the ice of Hebgen Reservoir. We're still a bit cautious, ('scared shitless' is the technical term,) about the conditions and the water on the surface. Walking through ankle deep slush on a partially frozen lake with crackling noises beneath our feet is not the sort of thing we choose to do right now.
.. As an aside: there have been bear warning signs posted on some of the local ski trails originating in town. If it ain't cold enough for hibernation, it ain't cold enough for ice fishing. Enough said.

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Courtesy Photo

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