It’s hot in SW Montana
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OMG – The weather in Bozeman was awesome! But the fishing sucked!
Too bad Neal didn’t have an epic trip, but he’s right, the weather here in the Bozeman area has been outstanding for the last few weeks. Temps have been a bit higher than normal and we’ve had the occasionally really windy day, but it [the fishing] has been hot.
In between trips to the East coast I’ve spent several days on the Lower Gardner River in the park, fished opening day on Yellowstone Lake and have hit the middle of the East Gallatin at least six times since runoff was over. The East Gallatin dropped a foot and cleared within a week. The warm temps have all sorts of mayflies, caddis and stoneflies popping every morning from about 8AM into mid-afternoon.
The Lower Gardner is still falling but clear and Salmon flies showed up a couple of weeks early. Every morning on the Lower Gardner was lonely, with no other anglers in sight and fish holding in every eddy along the banks.
The East Gallatin is where the action will be for the next few weeks. Good recruitment and strong hatches keep this river loaded with 12-20” fish that respond well to both streamers and dries. I’ve been cycling through the 3 and 4 weight glass rods throwing #14-16 Stimulators and Elk Hair Caddis to rising trout and boy is it fun connect with a hot 14-16” Rainbow on one of these light glass rods. This video is me casting to a pod of rising trout with the 4 wgt SF Winston and a #16 Stimulator. Didn’t land this one, but you can see the prolific rises across the width of the river. http://s527.photobucket.com/albums/cc354/Bozeman_Mike/East%20Gallatin%202012/?action=view¤t=GOPR0120.mp4 This 19” Brown fell to a #10 Bugger on the Orvis Fullflex 6 wgt.
The opener on Yellowstone Lake was ideal, calm winds and warm temps. No Lake Trout on Carrington Island, but that’s tribute to the eradication programs underway.
The Cutts however were large and abundant and responded well to big bunny leeches. http://s527.photobucket.com/albums/cc354/Bozeman_Mike/Yellowstone%202012/?action=view¤t=GOPR0110.mp4
http://s527.photobucket.com/albums/cc354/Bozeman_Mike/Yellowstone%202012/?action=view¤t=GOPR0112.mp4Unfortunately, access to the East Gallatin is limited, even though it’s nearly some 40 miles long. Either a boat or access across private land is required. County road access is limited and doesn’t get you very far into to prime parts of the river. Anyone interested in fishing the East Gallatin when visiting Montana should check out the Milesnick Recreation Company on the MZ Ranch http://www.milesnickrecreation.com/FishingOurStreams.aspx Five miles of access to the rivers plus a couple of spring creeks. Great value for a modest rod fee of $75/50. Anyone visiting Bozeman who might want to try the East Gallatin, let me know and I can lead you in the right direction. I’ll be heading out there tomorrow.
I floated the lower Gallatin (Manhattan to Head Water) Friday, and it was skinny as all get out. Not many more days on that stretch….
Those storms Thursday and yesterday were nice and sure cooled things down for a bit.
Unfortunately the lower mainstem of the Gallatin does get hit hard by irrigation demands. Whereas the East does not get much water pulled out and alot of irrigation water from other sources is returned to the east along with the plentiful spring creeks in the valley. Here’s hoping for a normal summer and fall.
Mike –
When you say the lower Gardner, I assume you’re fishing the stretch from Mammoth Hot Springs to Gardiner, MT? That’s a real neat area thanks to the mountain goats (not to mention the Legionnaire’s Disease), but I wouldn’t have thought of it as offering great fishing. I’ve only fished it because it is right down by Mammoth Hot Springs campsite so it’s an easy evening walk.
Are you just picking up lots of littler fish on dries or are there some trophies in there? I’ve seen a couple cutthroat over 16″ maybe, but never landed any.
PS Great hat in those videos! Is that a Native kayak?
PPS How are you tackling Yellowstone Lake and how big was that fish in the video?
Zach,
The Yellowstone Cutts were consistently in the 17-18” range. No little ones to be found. I was using my 7 wgt XP with a 250 grain 30ft DC tip and #4 Black Bunny leeches tied clouser style. The location is the break between a shallow sandy flat and deeper rocky water. I would guess the depth at the break was about 20’. Put the fly on the bottom, slow retrieve and drag up a cutt. Yes, I was in my Native Ultimate 12.The Lower Gardner – some say it begins at Boiling River, but my Lower Gardner is the last 1 mile + of river from the Rescue Creek trailhead down to the confluence at the Yellowstone.
Mike –
When you say the lower Gardner, … but I wouldn’t have thought of it as offering great fishing. I’ve only fished it because it is right down by Mammoth Hot Springs campsite so it’s an easy evening walk.
ZachMost anglers underestimate this section of the river. In July (actually late June-early July) this is a reliable stretch of Salmon fly water (yesterday, there were adults in the willows and Junipers along the entire stretch). In the Fall, big Browns come up from the Yellowstone. It is high and difficult pocket water this time of year, but the proximity to the Yellowstone ensures a lot of fish inhabit the river and yesterday there were loads of Rainbows, Cutts, CuttBows, Browns,. and Whitefish in the river. The 12” Rainbows and Cutt Bows are the most difficult to land in the fast water because they immediately head downstream for the Yellowstone (especially when fishing with a 3wgt glass rod as I did yesterday). I typically park at the Rescue Creek trailhead, cross the river and walk across the bench to the confluence at dawn. Takes about 15-20 minutes. It takes, as it did yesterday about 5 hours to fish the 1 mile back to the footbridge.
This time of year, you can’t wade across the river, so you are stuck on one side. In the Fall you can fish both sides. This is workout fishing, especially in the early Summer. The banks are steep and rocky or lined with Willows, Roses, Currents or Junipers. You either have to fight through the pocket water or scramble up steep gravely banks sometimes though cactus and other pointy stuff. But the reward is fish in just about every pocket or eddy you can find. This is easy nymphing water with large stonefly nymphs, but the real fun are dries—attractors, hoppers, or as yesterday, big stonefly imitations. Because the river is really clear, it can be buck fever water when you see a 12-14” fish come after your fly out of a deep pocket. The Cutts are the worst because they rise slow and sure. Yesterday, I landed at least 4 Cutts over 14”, a Brown at 15” but missed just as many because I set the fly too soon or too late. Fish in the 8-12” range are common and easy, but the river holds a lot of decent fish.
There is one secret to success on the Lower Gardner, especially when the Salmon flies are abundant as they were yesterday or hoppers as they will be soon. Fish the shady side of the River, the shady runs and pockets carefully. Once the sun hits the water, fish are more reluctant to hit big flies (I was using #4 2” long Stoneflies yesterday). However, in the shade, they charge with abandon.
A lot of causal tourists try and fish the Gardner without much success because they won’t do the work. The stretch in the Canyon above the Rescue Creek bridge is just as good, but the proximity to the road makes it less appealing. Above Boiling River, the fishing is good, but ease of access makes it a crowded place at times. Yesterday, starting a dawn and finishing up at the footbridge about 11:30 AM I didn’t see another angler until I got within a few hundred yards of the bridge. They were all tourists flogging the water in the sun from easy access points with no success that I saw. Yet within the last 100 ft of river with the steep gravelly banks, a couple of dead fall but five great pockets in a row, I caught five fish while the tourists gawked with envy. The Lower Gardner, as I said above is a workout river. When I get back from this road trip to the East coast, I’ll put together a little photo post with Gardner images over the years.
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