Montana Fly Fishing Guides Archives - Page 2 of 5

Otter Creek Classic won by Montana Fly Fishing Guide

Posted on April 15, 2013June 2, 2022 by Eric Adams

Congratulations to Montana Fly Fishing Guides Pat Joyce for winning the pro division of the 5th Annual Otter Creek Classic this past weekend. Yesterday was opening day for trout season in Vermont and the local fly shop, Middlebury Mountaineer and their guide Company Green Mountain Outfitters hosts the Otter Creek Classic. This year there were 80+ competitors split into Industry Pros and Amateurs.

Anglers participating in the Otter Creek Classic could choose to fish 5 different rivers in the Middlebury area: Middlebury River, Otter Creek, New Haven River, Furnace Brook, and The Neshobe river. These are all rivers Pat Joyce grew up fishing and are known for being pretty tough as they hold some of the states largest trout.

The tournament goes from 5am-4pm on opening day and the winner is chosen by total trout inches caught throughout the day. All angler were required to have a tape measure and camera with date and time on it to keep people honest.

Pat won his division by catching 6 Brown trout for a total of 94 inches including, one a 20.5-inch brown and a 17.5-inch Brown trout which came within 10-15 minutes of each other, on back to back casts in the same run early in the morning. While those were impressive trout by any standard they were not the largest caught. One angler stripping streamers nailed a 23.5-inch Brown trout for the biggest fish of the day.

All proceeds from the event go to the New Haven River Anglers Association for stream remediation projects and access. The organizers at the fly shop and their guides are all great individuals, doing hard work and promoting fly fishing in the state of Vermont. They also hosted the Fly Fishing Film Tour the night before opening day and sell it out every year. It’s a great way to fish on opening day in Vermont and meet local people with similar interests.

Congratulations Pat – we are looking forward to seeing you back here in Montana this June and relaying your angling skills to our guide clients.

MFG Gets an Update

Posted on February 28, 2012June 2, 2022 by Eric Adams

What do you do in the winter? We work – just as hard as we do guiding in the summer. This winter we decided to update the logo, website, and blog all in one shot. Thankfully it hasn’t been great skiing so it was a good winter project for us.

The new logo gives us a little more of a recognizable brand. We tried to keep it modern, but with a rustic feel. Mission accomplished and we couldn’t be happier. We’ve already heard from a number of anglers that they’d like a hat, shirt or sticker with the new logo – don’t worry it’s on the “to do” list.

The new Montana Fly Fishing Guides website is much cleaner and visually appealing. We took all of the detailed information and moved it to the new Wade Deeper blog. So for those of you looking to see the latest articles and fishing reports, it’s a lot easier to wade through. The new blog and website are about 90% complete, but we thought we’d release it a bit early as these projects are never really finished.

We’d love to hear what you think about the new updates so please comment below.

Yellowstone River 2/25/2012

Posted on February 25, 2012February 20, 2017 by Eric Adams

Its almost springtime here in Montana which means its time to pull the boats out of storage and get ready to start floating the rivers again. Personally, i cant wait to row the Yellowstone dragging streamers while waiting for signs of rising fish. Spring has become my favorite time to fish in Montana. The lack of crowds and surplus of hungry trout makes for an exciting time on the water. The only thing you have to worry about is choosing warmer days and the right sections of river to float.

Last spring i was fortunate enough to float several times in March and April and we sure had some awesome days! Big fish were our target and streamer fishing was the answer. Anyone interested in doing some early season fishing on the Yellowstone should give us a call!

Here is a little taste from last years spring season…

Spring Fly Fishing in Montana – 04/24/11

Posted on April 24, 2011June 2, 2022 by Eric Adams

Report Date April 24

Summary:
This weekend spring finally showed up in Montana and it is glorious! Today was almost 60 degrees with no wind, a remarkable thing for this season so far. While we could have done with a few clouds we won’t complain. Our guides and fellow anglers have been giving us great reports from the Yellowstone, spring creeks, Madison and the Missouri Rivers. There are good hatches of midges and baetis on most of these rivers, and even a few March Browns are starting to show up on the lower Yellowstone River.

Today Eric Adams from Montana Fly Fishing Guides, Jeff Pavlovich from Angler’s West, and our favorite bartender from Montana Rib & Chop House Bo fished the Yellowstone River. As expected with the bright sun, the fishing was a bit slow, but we got them to eat in the right spots – foam holes are about the only consistent places right now. We didn’t put forth a huge effort, but small shallow beads worked best.

PREDICTION:
This week ~~assuming the weather forecast is correct~~ we should see some good to very good fishing so stay tuned!

Hatches:
Midges, baetis on the cloudy days and we are starting to see a few March Browns. The lighter the wind the better the hatches will be and the more risers you’ll start seeing. As the water temperature starts to rise the March Browns and Mother’s Day Caddis will be starting in earnest – at the earliest look for steady hatches by next weekend.

Weather & Water Conditions:
The water has that usual green color for this time of the year with a couple feet of visibility. Partly cloudy and nice temperatures in the middle fifties with variable SW winds.

Best Technique:
Shallow water nymphing with small baetis and midge nymphs – concentrate on the foam holes along the rip/rap. We preferred pinch on indicators 2.5 – 3 feet above the flies. If you’re looking for risers check the tail-outs of the long runs or the inside corners of the riffles.

Best Bugs:
Midge Hatch: Olive & Copper Brassies, Zebra Midges, Miracle Midges sizes 16 – 20

Baetis Hatch: B.H. Pheasant Tail Nymphs, Olive & Black Copper John’s Micro May size 16 – 18.

March Browns: CDC Bead Head Pheasant Tails size 14 – no dries yet.