InsideSeam

I started to update the shop reports this morning, but since every shop has essentially the same report for every nearby river, I'll just sum it up here: the fishing is generally good; use small BWO dries on cloudy days, two-fly nymph rigs w/ big-ugly/beadhead when they're not rising, or swing for the fences by stripping streamers.

Also, here's my photo-excuse for not fishing this weekend:

The 2pm-midnight restriction has been lifted on the Sheilds, Gallatin, East Gallatin and Lower Madison rivers. For details see, http://fwp.mt.gov/news/article_5947.aspx.

The referenced press release states that restrictions remain on the Lower Madison from Warm Springs to Three forks. However, other pages on the FWP website seems to suggest otherwise: http://fwp.mt.gov/fishing/guide/waterclosure.aspx
http://fwp.mt.gov/content/getItem.aspx?id=29184

Either way, the forecast looks pretty warm, so it's probably best to just lay off for a while yet.

Also, check out our updated photos, shop reports and articles/instructional video pages.

I drove up and down the Gallatin canyon today. The river was the color of a strong White Russian on the way up, but was trending toward a weak Scooby Snack on the way down.

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Assuming no more rain in Taylor Fork, it should be fishable by tomorrow and in good condition for the weekend.

Posted for meade:

Quick note on a great place to bring beginner fly fishers or out of town guests. Down stream from Cameron Bridge is a great place to get dry and nymph action. The fish are small but tenacious. Nice slow open water with a clear backcast can be great for the first or second timer who wants to catch fish. They were hitting terrestrials and any nymph in the box. Crimp your barbs for these little guys because they really smack those flies. Remember, always wet your hands before touching a trout!

Best,

Bob Meade

Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures
888-777-5060
406-585-8667

The fallout from yesterday's thunderstorm runoff is suspended in the Gallatin and Yellowstone Rivers:

YO,
Put on @ 8:00 AM Saturday morning at the Manhattan Bridge. Things were a little boney off the bat which was no problem because we were in Slojac’s Cat-a-raft. To all you sayers of nay out there, this was the perfect boat for this float. I would have destroyed my Hyde on this stretch. Anywho, due to the river’s level you knew exactly where the trout were gonna be. It was a forward row to the next sweet spot type of deal. We only pulled one fish out of each hole though, not a multiple fish deal. No action on hoppers, or steamers but just plain ol’ bead head nymphs was getting’em. Slojac lost 3 nice fish, toads that we had visual confirmation on and we landed a few smaller ones. There are some really nice fish in that river.

A few nuggets of wisdom:

1.) They don’t start selling beer till 8:00 AM
2.) They don’t start selling beer till 8:00 AM

We also forgot the lighter as to enjoy a nice post fish ciggy. So no lighter we decided to try the fire bow trick. We fashioned a fire bow and got some dry grass and actually got some smoke happening. After our 6th attempt we decided we really didn’t want a cigarette that bad, BUT it will work with perseverance.

Have fun out there and always practice safe fish handling!

Meade
Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures
888-777-5060
406-585-8667

Both the Yellowstone and the Gallatin are the color of chocolate milk this morning. Find somewhere else to fish. We will keep you posted.

Andrew, apparently, crushed them on the Upper this afternoon, fishing down from $3 for a couple miles. Action improved with distance from the bridge. He loves to fish hoppers, and although he didn't move a single fish to the damn thing, he tossed a hopper-dropper rig all day. Not to be redundant, but all of his fish were on the dropper, which was an x-caddis.

[You may have noticed something about my bro by now -- he's more about changing water and presentation than flies. We learned that from our father, who taught us to fish with one fly -- a #14 hares ear -- while meat-fishing for Louie Lips on the Weber River:

(Since I'm slightly buzzed, and on a roll here, I'll continue the story.) After a decade or so, he (and thus, we) discovered the Henry's Fork and added the black bead-head bugger to the arsenal. Two decades into it, he/we are still fishing that same rig (albeit, some of us more than others).]

Also, Andrew drove down the Gallatin this afternoon and said it's totally blown out.

This report was submitted via reports@InsideSeam.com yesterday afternoon. I was about to turn the guy into the FWP for violating the current restrictions.

Turns out the report is a bit dated (like, 9 months), but it's never too early to start thinking about late-season brownies...

"I went to Manhattan last evening and got some lines wet on the Galli. Started out underneath the Nixon bridge and moved upstream...Not the biggest fish I've caught in the Galli, but it felt like I was reeling in Rosie O'Donnell. ~Anonymous"

While I'm at it, here are a couple others:

Note the look of utter devotion (or, perhaps, disbelief) on Cory's face:

So, we went to cool off in the Gallatin last night. There was a good mix of bugs flying around. We caught some fish, but I got the impression that they'd seen a few flylines recently.

Most of the fish were small. Andrew reported catching a 15 incher with a comment like, "yeh, I almost got your attention for a photo...he was prolly this big [holds up hands to 10"]".

I tried several different caddis and attractor patterns. I'm sure any mid-sized dry would have worked. This tan x-caddis seemed to work the best:

Greg tried a few patterns also, before settling on a parachute adams. Andrew didn't have his fly box, so he stuck with the tan elk hair caddis that he stole from me at the truck. It worked fine.

There were a lot of big stonefly shucks laying around.