Latest fishing reports - please scroll down for older reports.

The 2008 fly fishing season has finally started!!

We've had great winter here in Montana with cold temps and above average snowpack. Things are looking good for the summer river flows and fishing. For the latest snowpack and precip data check out:

snow

precip

5/8/08- Patrick and I headed to Depuy's today. It was another cool cloudy day and I had hoped to see some baetis. They were few and far between, but we did have very good midge fishing. I brought my boat and we spent a few hours fishing Dicks pond. It was exciting action, sightfishing to aggressively cruising fish. Then, we spent the afternoon on the lower creek. The sun came out and it was beautiful, with good numbers of caddis bouncing around. Here's Patrick, "Damn those midges are hard to see."

5/7/08-Patrick Eisenhaur joined me on the Lower Madison today on a cold rainy day. The baetis hatch was thick and there were also good numbers of march browns. The dry fishing was good and we had a number of good hits on an elk hair caddis. The fish seem as eager as the anglers for the caddis to hatch.

5/4/08- The caddis started hatching on the Yellowstone today in good numbers. Emma and I snuck out for a few casts about 4pm and saw a nice hatch of caddis. Not a blanket hatch, but plenty just the same. The river is rising. Hopefully, we'll get some cold nights to clear it up.

5/3/08- Mr. Tsuji and I drove over to Livingston this morning to check Yellowstone river. The Yellowstone has been rising and a bit muddy the last few days, but should come into shape for the next few days. We didn't see many caddis at Carters Bridge and decided to try Depuys. The midge fishing was great and Mr. Tsuji is a fantastic caster. The fish were cruising and eating midges the whole morning. Great fishing and scenery on this warm sunny day.

5/2/08- We all headed back to the Lower Madison for some more fun today. The morning was snowy with a couple of inches in the boat this morning, then the afternoon the sun came out and it was bright. The baetis once again hatched nicely, but the wind was blowing hard enough to put most of the fish down. We chased them deep with a crayfish pattern.

5/1/08- Mr. Ogura and I floated the Madison. The weather was once again cold with snow flurries. The fishing was good with a nice baetis hatch. We found a few nice risers and the nymphing was solid. Mr. Tsuji and Robert had similar results.

4/30/08- We woke up to 3 inches of fresh snow this morning and headed to Nelson's Spring creek. Mr. Ogura and I were joined by Robert Stewart and Kazumasa Tsuji. It was absolutely beautiful in Paradise Valley today and the morning snow gave way to afternoon sun. There was a decent midge hatch in the morning which kept the fish rising in flat water. After lunch there was a great baetis hatch although it was very short in duration. For an hour or so there were fish rising all over the creek, then the sun came out and the rising really slowed down.

4/29/08- Tetsu Ogura flew in to Bozeman today and we headed straight for the Yellowstone River. To say it was windy would be an understatement. It was howling wind and the River had come up about 3 inches. We saw more caddis, but the wind was blowing them to Big Timber!

4/28/09- Rika and I floated the Yellowstone again today hunting for caddis. We did see a couple of the bugs, but not enough to get the fish too excited on this bright sunny day. Rika did make a fantastic Ramen lunch and we enjoyed the weather and caught a few fish on nymphs. Great day for a picnic as they say.

4/26/08-Today started with a boat full of snow just like yesterday. Rika Kawanishi is here for some early season fishing. We fished the Yellowstone river and it was absolutely beautiful with nice clear water in the river and fresh snow in the mountains. The fish responded well to a heavy baetis hatch and we saw a bunch of march browns...no caddis yet. Rika has fished Montana every spring for the last several years and she has the foam hole fishing mastered! She landed bunches of nice fat rainbows and cutthroats.

4/25/08- It still feels like winter here in Montana. I skied at Bridger Bowl this moringing in a foot of new snow and spent the afternoon on the Yellowstone River with my good friend Tom Harms. The skiing was great. The fishing was also very good with a thick hatch of midges and baetis. Most of the rising fish were in foam holes and the water clarity was perfect! We did get hit by a snowstorm though. Here's Tom wearing a little and some blue wings on the water. We also saw a few march browns and the famed mother's day caddis hatch should be next on the menu.

3/25/08- A carve and cast day today. I started the day on the ridge of Bridger Bowl skiing 4 inches of new snow, then Emma and I headed to the Yellowstone River for the afternoon hatch. The fishing was great with a heavy midge hatch. We even saw a few Baetis! The spring Baetis hatch brings some of the best fishing of the season to the Yellowstone. When the weather cooperates (cloudy and relatively warm), there will be fantastic fishing for the next month. Here's Emma fighting a rainbow. Proving she can chew gum and fish at the same time.

3/17/08- Tom Mountain from Great Britan celebrated St. Patricks day with me on the Yellowstone River. It was snowing and blowing like crazy at my house all morning and I wasn't sure what to expect on the river. Luckily, the snow let up as we launched the boat in the afternoon. We found some really good fishing from 2-5pm with fat and willing rainbows and a few cutthroats. There was still a stoubt wind, but Tom had little trouble with it. We even had some nice dry fly fishing during the midge hatch. It did cool off considerably as the sun sank down on the horizon, it was time to find some green beer.

2/19/08- Emma and I headed out to the Lower Madison this afternoon to enjoy a brilliant Montana day. Not a cloud in the sky and temps in the 40's . Emma used her barbie rod and had great luck (of course her rod came with the fish attached, which may be the Renegade Outfitters idea of the year!). My Scott rod on the other hand did not come with a fish attached and I never got one hooked up. We couldn't have cared less and had a blast with the dogs, played on the ice and saw about 200 elk.

2/15/08- Jeff Hiss is in town to kick off the year again. Jeff started the day skiing at Bridger Bowl, then we headed out to the Madison River to complete the carve and cast day. It was a beautiful sunny day with air temps reaching the 40's while the water was in the mid thirties. The fishing was great. We started and ended with a nymph rig, but had some fantastic dry fly fishing with midges from 4-5pm. The dry fly fishing was highlighted by Jeff going "four for four". He caught four fish in four casts....awsome.

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