May 1st – May 8th, 2023 | Upper Madison River Fishing Report

Posted on May 8, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

Spring in Montana is such a tricky beast! Cold, wet and maybe still Winter to hot Summer weather and then back to true Spring, overcast and just perfect. This week we saw Spring in true form with temperatures in mid-70s most of the week and dropping back to the mid-50s by the end of the week. We saw a little preview to runoff with flows jumping from 1,275cfs @ Kirby & 1,500cfs @ Cameron starting the week, 1,480cfs @ Kirby & 2,070cfs @ Cameron mid-week and then a progressive drop to 1,250cfs @ Kirby & 1,630cfs @ Cameron by the end of the week. We should see a continuation of drop in flows and improvement of water clarity next week as cool temperatures are predicted.

Stone Flies, Midges, Baetis, some March Brown Nymphs and Streamer action has been the most consistent this week. We saw some water discoloration from the feeder streams this week with the warmer weather, but clarity improved later in the week as temps cooled. This had some impact on catching but anglers that were willing to change their tactics with the conditions had some great catching days!

At Beartooth Flyfishing we are gearing up for the season! We are open Every day 8am to 5pm and we got fantastic free coffee, just the best entertainment and pretty good advice. Let us help you with your next fishing adventure!

Nymphs: Delektable Braided Stone FB Brown/Tan size #8; Delektable FB Hurless Stone Gray or Olive size #8-#10; Delektable FB Olive Mega Prince #8-#10, Delektable Big Spanker Warrior size #16- #18; Delektable Worm Red #12-#14, Pat’s RubberLegs Black, Black/Brown or Olive/Brown #6-#12; Delektable Guide Stone Black/Brown or Black #6-10; BH Tung Teaser Black #20; Geppert Crystal Dip Olive, Red #18; Delektable JH Tungsten Spanker Holo Black #18; Wire Worm Red #6-#10; JH CDC Flashback PT #18; BH PT Tungsten Soft Hackle #20; Delektable Mega Prince STD FB #8 & #10; BH Lightning Bug Silver, Pearl #14-#20; Delektable Twinkle Black or Red #18-#20; BH Montana Bullet Black, Black/Red #18; Delektable Lil’ Spanker Pheasant Tail or Silver #14-#20.

Streamers: Delektable SS Jointed/Double/ or Single Screamer Olive/White, Black/Olive or White #6; Zonkers Olive or Natural Copper Body #6 & #8; McCune’s Sculpin Olive #4-#8; Delektable Christmas Tree Original #6; Jr’s Conehead Streamer Olive #6; Dali Llama Olive/White #6; Mini Loop Sculpin Olive or Natural #6; Sparkle Shelia Sculpin #4.

Dries: Purple Haze Parachute#14-#18; Parachute Adams #14-#20; Delektable Chubbyness Royal or Olive/Brown #14-#16; Delektable Lil’ Chubby Royal or UV Rainbow #16-#18; Gulper Special #18-#20; Adams Split Wing Parachute #16-18; Adam’s Midge Cluster #18-#20.

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April 22nd – April 28th | Upper Madison River Fishing Report

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

Spring has sprung in this lovely little valley and not a minute too soon! This Winter has been one for the record books and we (including the fish) are ecstatic that it’s over! The river is looking fantastic this week, running at 1,230cfs @ Kirby and 1,390cfs @ Cameron. This week has been a mixed bag of Spring weather conditions, the most productive days have been overcast and the streamer bite has been insane!! Lots of quality fish from the Delektable Single Screamer in Olive/White and Black/Olive. Please see below! Fish have been moving a little slower with the cool water temperatures but have been found in pockets in the bank, in the middle and stacked in deeper riffles. We have seen some March Browns around the upper near Lyons, here at the shop, and most definitely near town. Keep your eyes peeled, you may be lucky enough to get some awesome early Dry Fly action!

This upcoming week we shall be seeing Summer-like weather, highs in the 70’s, in the valley. Come on down to Beartooth Flyfishing and enjoy the sunshine! We are open 7 days a week 8am to 5pm, we would love to help you with your fishing adventure!

Nymphs: Delektable FB Braided Brownstone size #8; Delektable FB Hurless Stone in Gray or Olive size #8-#10; Delektable FB Olive Mega Prince #8-#10, Delektable Big Spanker Warrior size #16- #18; Delektable Worm Red #12-#14, Pat’s RubberLegs Black, Black/Brown, Olive/Brown #6-#12; Delektable Guide Stone Brown, or Black #6-12; BH Tung Teaser Black #20; Geppert Crystal Dip Olive, or Red #18; Delektable JH Tungsten Spanker Holo Black #18; Wire Worm Red #6-#10; JH CDC Flashback PT #18; BH PT Tungsten Soft Hackle #20; Delektable Mega Prince STD FB #8 & #10; BH Lightning Bug Silver or Pearl #14-#20; Delektable Twinkle Black, or Red #18-#20; BH Montana Bullet Black or Black/Red #18; Delektable Lil’ Spanker Pheasant Tail, or Silver #14-#20.

Streamers: Delektable SS Jointed Screamer/Double or Single Screamer Olive/White, Black/Olive, White #6; Zonkers Olive, or Natural Copper Body #6 & #8; McCune’s Sculpin Olive #4-#8; Delektable Christmas Tree Original #6; JR’s Conehead Streamer Olive #6; Yo Dali Llama Olive/White #6; Mini Loop Sculpin Olive & Natural #6; Sparkle Shelia Sculpin #4.

Dries: Purple Haze Parachute #18; Parachute Adams #18-#20; Delektable Chubbyness Royal or Olive Brown #14-#16; Delektable Lil’ Chubby Royal, or UV Rainbow #16-#18; Gulper Special #18-#20; Adams Split Wing Parachute #16-18; Adam’s Midge Cluster #18-#20.

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April 23rd-April 28th, 2023 | Lower Madison River Fishing Report

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

FWP NOTICE: Warm Springs access will be closed till early June for a reconstruction project, plan your floats accordingly.

The Lower Madison has been a good choice this week, even though the bite was not consistent, there were some good trout to be caught. With flows running 1,610cfs and greenish blue clarity, BWO’s were all over the place and a few March Browns were flying about, the Lower Madison is looking sweet! Nymphs, Crayfish and slow stripped streamers have been the way to go, still a little hit and miss on dry fly action. Be watchful of the Stream flows coming out of the dam this Spring as spikes and drops in flows can change your fishing routine. As always, the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Nymphs: Delektable Lil’ Spanker Pheasant Tail #18-#20; JuJu FB Baetis #18-#20; RS2 Black #18-#20; Geppert Skinny Dip Black #18; Delektable Mega Prince Standard #8-#10; Pat’s Rubberlegs Olive/Brown #8-#10; BH Tungsten Jig FB Pheasant Tail #18.

Streamers: Bloom’s JH Zirdle Olive/Orange, Gold #10; Snapping Craw #8; Claws R Crawfish Olive #8; Rickard’s MLT Seal Bugger Olive/Burnt Orange #10; Delektable Screamer Single/Double/SS Jointed Olive/White, Black/Olive, Yellow, White #6.

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April 24th-April 25th, 2023 | Yellowstone River Fishing Report

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

Consistent bite and very fishy conditions on the Yellowstone this week! Day One from Pine Creek to Carter’s Bridge, Day Two from Carter’s Bridge to Highway 89 and fish on throughout the trip! Starting at 1,760cfs at Livingston and rising to 1,880cfs by the end of the 25th. Fishing during on the rise flows and on the drop flows can be very productive, so we hit it just right! A few March Browns were spotted and Baetis were prevalent. The Nymph bite was hot, especially Stonefly and Baetis patterns. The upcoming warm weather will most likely bring runoff conditions for Ol’ Yellowstone, however this Spring test proved the Yellowstone’s trout population is resilient, there is still a lot of catching and releasing to be done on this iconic fishery!

Nymphs: BH Tung Teaser Black #18-#20; JuJu Flashback Baetis, Flashback Purple Baetis #18-#20; Delektable JH Tungsten Spanker Holo Black #18; Delektable Hurless Stone Olive FB #10; Delektable Mega Prince Olive FB #8-#10; BH Micro May Olive #18-#20; Delektable Lil’ Spanker Pheasant Tail #18-#20.

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April 23rd, 2023 | Big Hole River Fishing Report

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Beartooth Flyfishing

Spring fishing on the Big Hole can be really good or quite challenging. At the time of this report, ice off was not too far in the past and the fish seemed to be moving slower to the take.  Some quality fish were moved today, mostly on Skwalla Nymphs and Streamers. Some Skwallas were spotted, however dry fly action was slow. The Big Hole is a wild freestone river and today it showed just how wild with flows fluctuating in a range of 200 cfs up and down (1,100-800-1,300cfs) from the start to the finish of the day; this also really effects the water temperatures and thus the bugs and the trout. A wise angler once said, “Check your streamflows, check the weather and plan appropriately for the conditions.” When fishing in the Spring in Southwest Montana this is invaluable advice.

Streamers: Delektable Screamer Single/Double/SS Jointed Olive/White, Black/Olive #6; Coffee’s CH Sparkle Minnow #6; Dali Llama Olive/ White #6; JR’s Conehead Streamer Olive #6.

Nymphs: Delektable Hurless Stone Olive FB #8-#10; Delektable Mega Prince STD FB #8-#10; Delektable Mega Prince Olive FB #8-#10; Delektable Lil’ Spanker PT, Silver #18-#20; Pat’s Rubberlegs Olive Brown #8-#10; Wire Worm Orange & Red #6-#8; Worm Flossy Red #10; Delektable Worm Red #12.

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