The Classic Time

MADISON CLEAR AND COLD

Firehole Popping Bugs

gibbon about ready

WALLPAPER: FIREHOLE RIVER AT MIDWAY BASIN

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.. This is the time of year that visitors aim for. This is the time of year that book writers and travel agents love. We're entering that fabled few weeks when the rivers on the west side of Yellowstone National Park are readily yielding fish to those that visit.

Up top and beautiful

.. The trout are frisky. The bugs are blooming. Fish the surface, fish the film, fish the seams, fish shallow, fish deep, all produce success in the catching department.
..Golden Stoneflies, big black Salmonflies, Caddis, PMD's, BWO's, and a few other sorts of bugs are presenting a smorgasbord of delights for the diet of the fish. The fish are loving it. The fishers too.
.. The Firehole River is nearing it's peak for surface activity and for a couple of weeks, (weather depending,) will be the focus of glory water fishers. Elbows will proliferate like the bugs and parking spots will be hard to come by. The PMD's can fill the sky on just the right day and will always be present by noon or so. Caddis of a couple sorts can hatch all day and will enjoy both sex and egg laying in the afternoon and evening.

SEE THIS ?  BRAVE IT & FISH THE BOULDERS !

.. The Salmonflies of the Firehole Canyon are moving into the Madison River and the trout seem interested in the biggies. Fish the mature imitations on the surface or neotenous forms deep and in the seams.
.. Poke them into the soft pillows in front of large boulders and the slicks behind them. It's hard to miss with nymphs, it's even hard to miss with soft hackles and dry flies.
.. If, however,  your casting is so poor that you miss the water, you may not catch too many fish.
.. As the days warm, the waters of the Gibbon River are beginning to provide easier opportunities for catching both above and below the falls. Golden Stoneflies are working wonders below the falls. Above the falls in both the canyon section and in the riffled runs of the big meadows soft hackles and Pheasant Tail Nymphs are the ticket for subsurface action.
.. The little meadows above Norris Campground have some surface action, some bison and a couple of bears. Catching is good to fair.
.. Our Spring mix of weather continues but is moderating rapidly. The snow and graupel flurries are short, sporadic, and widely dispersed. The afternoons are blessed with cloudy to overcast skies, Wind has blown to 40 mph but not for long. All in all it's perfect fishing weather - catching weather is fisher folk dependent.

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WALLPAPER: SPRING AT NATIONAL PARK MOUNTAIN