Hopper Bite Just Gets Better!

Emily caught some nice fish on her first day of fly fishing!

Fish on the Yellowstone are hammering the hopper. The girls out fished

Julie caught two like this, plus a bunch of smaller trout!

the guys in my boat two days in a row.

Dry Fly Fishing on the Yellowstone!

Tucker ripped some brown trout lips yesterday!

Look at that huge Yellowstoner hanging from that 19 inch brown!

The hopper bite was excellent on the Yellowstone yesterday. Fish were chowing down a peach colored Yellowstoner. (That’s a big foam rubber leggy thing.) There were also fish rising on the flats and along the banks. Unusual on a hot, sunny day in August. We caught a couple on a #16 yellow parachute where we saw rising fish. No real hatch, just fish eating dead stuff in the surface film. A #14 pheasant tail dropper worked well until late afternoon, then it was all about the hopper!

Yellowstone is Clear

Last week’s rain turned the Yellowstone into a muddy mess, leaving the Stillwater as the only option for float fishing. All that is behind us, now! The ‘Stone cleared enough to fish yesterday and continued to clear throughout the day. Nymph fishing was good, hopper fishing was fair and the streamer bite was slow. The Stillwater is fishing well on small dry flies and nymphs. The hopper bite is spotty. With the return of cooler weather next week, look for more tricos, yellow duns and caddis to compliment the hopper bite.

First fish on a fly rod for all three of these happy anglers this week!

Pouring rain all day? No problem! The fish are already wet.

Hoppers in the Rain

The last few days of cool, wet weather offered some good fishing on the Stillwater and Yellowstone. Fish were eating both the hopper and bead head dropper with gusto. Smaller hopper patterns are working best. A royal Madam X or Parahopper are the best bets. Standard fare, like Pheasant Tails and Prince Nymphs are producing. Today was tough on the Yellowstone. Higher barometric pressure and sun had the fish off their feed. As the hotter weather sets in and stabilizes, the hopper bite should stabilize as well. There are some tricos around on the Yellowstone, for you dry fly specialists. Pods of fish are rising in the foam and current  lines in the mornings.

Nice Stillwater brown on the Madam X.

Beautiful four foot bullsnake on the Stillwater. Amazing animal.

Cool on Rock Creek

It’s August and the heat is on. Hopper fishing is good on the Yellowstone. Morning and afternoon are very active, slow when the sun is at zenith. On the hottest days of summer, Rock Creek and other small mountain streams are the place to be! Good fishing, shade and cool water. Fish are eating small hopper patterns and elk hair caddis on top. The Copper John in size 16 is very productive.

Nice fat Brookie at an undisclosed location on Rock Creek today.