On 16-Jun-2008, Jeff wrote:

salmobytes wrote:
Most of Montana's rivers are too high and muddy to fish right now.
And I doubt many have crested yet. It's just now starting get
warm, and there's a ton of snow left up in the mountains yet.

I hiked up the Beartrap Canyon of the Madison Saturday. Left
early, to get out ahead of the unwashed masses. My buddy
Steve and I started off dead drifting sculpins and crayfish
near the bank. The water was high and off color, and that's what
the flyshop said to do. But that didn't work out well.

I eventually switched to a big, heavily weighted open-cell foam
stonefly nymph (a Marshmallow Nymph) followed by a big #10 bead-belly
hair hackle wet fly--what I now like to call a Pott Sticker.
They're my easier-to-tie takeoffs on Franz Pott's most famous
fly, the Sandy Mite.

I absolutely wacked'em. I don't know you you explain it.
Outside of a hatch, I've never seen a simply fly change make
such a difference. I tried fishing the Hair Hackle alone for
a while and didn't do so well. I put the Marshmallow Nymph
back on and wack. There they were. But the funny thing was
they all took the Hair Hackle. The big nymph needed to be
there, it seemed. Maybe it got their attention. But it was
the Hair Hackle they ate.

http://montana-riverboats.com/pottstickers.php

Based on the conditions you experienced, what do you think things will
be like around mid-July?

I have no frame of reference for runoff (that's what nubile nymphets do
here in the South...you know, "Sue Ellen done runoff with that no-good
yankee from New York") conditions and how soon the waters get fishable.
I recall one year in July, Joe and I attempted to fish the upper
Gardner below Fawn Lake and it was raging through much too hard to do
much.

Since I'm coming up from Salt Lake City in mid-July, I guess I have some
other options if the West Yellowstone area will still be blown out.

Anyway, any prognostications based on what you've seen and expect will
be much appreciated...

jeff

We were in West Yellowstone Slidwe Inn - near Hebgen - last week also
fishing the Madison and other places
The Madison was unwadable as was the Henry's Fork and the Box Canyon
I did catch a few from the bank on a bitch creek nymph with a dropper - They
always hit the dropper -
But we did not slay them
It may have been, as suggested previously. the adjusted weight and drift of
the fly with the foam nymph

The Firehiole in the park fished real well w dry flies but the park traffic
is nuts! and I would not go thru it again!!

When we were in Island Park Idaho at the Henry's Fork it snowed w 30 plus
mile per hr wind gusts or more
So it was time to go home
No complaints here as in MT we are always in need of moisture in summer at
least in the 12 yrs we have lived here
Usually by mid July and August we are praying for rain - sadly sometimes
even into mid to late September
Hopefully & happily not so this year.

IMO
Mid to end of July "should" be prime fishing time this year
Good luck

and Salmobytes thanks for the post and congratulations also on a great
fishing day
Mine were great but less productive- again NO complaints
Being out there is always compensation enough for me


Fred