Montana Snowpack May 2013

Posted on May 2, 2013June 2, 2022 by Eric Adams

Montana Snowpack May 2013 – Updated

It is shaping up to be pretty good with regards to Montana snowpack May 2013. A good early season in October/November (2012) gave way to a sluggish mid-winter. However, as has been typical in the past several years colder than average temperatures and average precipitation has brought our Montana snowpack up to 100% in most drainages and slightly more (104%) on the Yellowstone River drainage. As we all know more water means healthy, happy trout.

As far as run-off goes and when we’ll start fishing the Yellowstone River and surrounding rivers is anyone’s guess. Tony Valeriano from our core Montana Fly Fishing Guides’ staff is renowned for saying, “I’ll tell you more in October”. However, at this point with the weather forecast outlook and current snowpack, we would make an educated guess of late June or early July. Maybe just in time for Salmonflies!

As always we’ll keep you posted, but make sure to follow our Wade Deeper Blog and for weekly updates like us on Facebook.

Mothers Day Caddis 2013

Posted on May 1, 2013June 2, 2022 by Eric Adams

Mothers Day Caddis are here!!!

There’s not much more excitement around Livingston than spring time when the weather gets nice and the Mothers Day Caddis start flying. It’s a mad rush to find the fishing gear and grab some friends to hit the Yellowstone River for this truly spectacular event.

Eric Adams has been guiding the past several days and while the weather was nasty, cold and windy Sunday was beautiful – and wouldn’t you know it the Mothers Day Caddis came off in the hundreds between Pine Creek and Carter’s Bridge. These fickle little insects always flirt with the start of our spring run-off and need a water temperature of 54 degrees or greater to really get moving. Well it hit 54 on Sunday, and then cooled way off into the upper 40’s during the past few days. The warmer weather forecast for the later part of this we has us making the following prediction…

Yes we are making a prediction and you can quote us, “Mother’s Day Caddis will hatch on the Yellowstone River by Friday at the latest.”

Oh boy that might get us in trouble for all those who call in sick…

Be prepared for dry fly mania, but don’t overlook the pupae or emerger even during the thickest of hatches. The water should be relatively clear and a lot of fish never chase the dries in those conditions.

We actually have a couple days off from guiding, but you can bet we’ll be on the water getting in some personal fishing time. See you out there these next few days and enjoy one of the best hatches Montana has to offer.

Yellowstone River Fishing Report 04/25/13

Posted on April 25, 2013February 20, 2017 by Eric Adams

Eric Adams had the fortune of fishing with Doug MacDonald and Darcy Cook of Granite Sports Medicine in Livingston who both took advantage of our Spring Fling Guide Rates. We spent our day on the Yellowstone River and overall we landed a mixed bag of about 25 Rainbow, Brown and Cutthroat trout with several in the 16 inch range. All of the trout looked as though the wintered well and appeared extremely healthy. Overall a great spring day of uncrowded fishing.

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Weather & River Conditions:

The past couple weeks have seen some crazy weather from highs in the 60’s nearly two weeks ago to highs in the teens as little as 5 days ago. Mix in a couple white-out blizzards and you’ve got a typical Montana Spring. The weather cooperated as the highs were in the mid-50s with overcast skies until early afternoon. The wind was present, but tolerable at about 10 mph from the WSW. The Yellowstone River is low and relatively clear with a couple feet of visibility. The current flow is about 1,400 cfs which is low for this time of year, but mostly due to the recent cold conditions. Keep this low flow in mind as many of the usual foam holes are not in place with the lower water levels. Water temperatures yesterday reached 50 degrees and the trout were very feisty.

Fishing Strategy:

Baetis and midges where the ticket yesterday and we did see several caddis hatching in the afternoon, but the trout didn’t focus on them as the numbers weren’t there. Our most effective strategy was short-leash nymphing dropping a CDC Pheasant Tail Nymph (sz 16) below a Tungsten Zebra Midge (sz 18). Concentrate on the areas behind corners and point barbs where the foam collects and get ready to hook up.

Yesterday we did not work streamers very hard, but have heard some very good reports in the past few days of some very big fish being caught.

Yellowstone River Caddis Update:

As we mentioned we did see about a dozen of the Mother’s Day Caddis, so they are getting ready to pop. the magic water temperature to see full emergence is usually 54 degrees. With the warm weather predicted we predict a good hatch by this weekend. Stay tuned we’ll keep you posted as we’ll be on the river over the next several days.

Montana Snow Pack February 2013

Posted on February 5, 2013May 29, 2019 by Eric Adams

Forget about that silly ~~over weight rodent~~ Punxsutawney Phil, the ever watchful eyes of Montana Fly Fishing Guides will keep you up to date on the fishing forecast This is the time of year when we focus on the Montana snowpack 2013, because as most of you know the winter snows are the main reason our Montana rivers run throughout the summer.

So far this 2013 fishing season we are looking dead on normal in the Yellowstone, Boulder, Madison and Gallatin drainages. The Missouri River drainage is a bit low for the moment, but we’ve got plenty more winter in the Montana forecast so don’t fret yet.

Keep that snow flying – just in moderate amounts…