Get 'Em Ready

HOPPERS ENTER FINAL MOLT

Wings Just Around The Corner

invent a double dropper

FISH HERE FOR BIG RAINBOWS

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.. We saw one hopper with wings over the weekend. It was at the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park. We saw quite a few with stubs of developing wings. We saw very many hoppers without wings.

No Wings

.. We saw two kinds of hoppers: gray with dark gray speckled spots about 1/4" long, AND brown with yellow about 3/8" long. Neither sort had fully developed wings. The one with wings was too fast to get a picture of - unless we decided to abandon the rod for the camera.
.. Terrestrial bugs are prolific on the Gallatin River right now. Soon it will be impossible to walk without killing some trout food.

Wings Just Starting

.. The inventive minds in the neighborhood have already prepared an arsenal of double fly rigs for the upcoming shenanigans.
.. The traditional favorite is the widely used "Hopper-Dropper" combination. A big hopper up top with a nymph or emerger of some sort on the point.
.. Coming on strong over the last two years has been the "Hopper-Hopper" rig. Big hopper on top and little hopper on the point. Also being used with some regularity is the "Dropper-Hopper" combination with a small nymph on a short tag, (2") about 14" above the hopper on point.

Armed And Ready

.. The "Bobber-Hopper," "Hopper-Bobber," & "Hopper-Bobber-Dropper" variants have their adherants as well. One thing for sure - it's easy to see the bobber rigs.
.. The trout of the Gallatin River are about to be inundated with food. The PMD's are still working late on cloudy afternoons.
.. Caddis are starting about 1:40 PM. Ants, beetles, spruce moths, hoppers, butterflies, segmented annelids, and neotenous forms of stoneflies are all on the plate.
.. The neighbors are already on the river. The visitors are too. The thistles have grown spines, and are beginning to bloom, (hopper food,) and will soon be a hazard to your waders.
.. If you plan to fish the Gallatin River please carry your bear spray. The lush valley is full of bears. The bear scat is on the trails and in the weeds. Fish with a friend and make some noise as you stroll from giant fish to giant fish.

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