wrote...
Below is a list I got out of a magazine that are suggested for the area.
Any others that I should bring or I should delete from the list?
To answer you question: lots. :-)
Bitch Creek Nymph
Good stonefly pattern, but also consider girdle bugs, George
Anderson's rubber-legged brownstone, Kauffman's, etc.
Brassie
Red and green #12-#16
Brown Wulff
See hatch charts and decide for self.
CDC Rusty Spinner
See above.
PCM Transitional Dunn
PMD? Bring!
CDC Trico Female
Possibly in some waters in the area, but I would consider it a
remote possibility of a minor hatch.
Chernobyl Hopper
Yes
Chernobyl Ant
Yes
Dave's Hopper
Yes, yes and HELL yes. Schroders, foam, et al are needed too. It
will be early in the hopper season so go with smaller flies instead
of larger. Dave's Hoppers look cool, but I like other patterns that
float better personally. Dave's are great for slower moving waters.
Elk Hair Caddis
Definitely.
Electric/Metallic Caddis
Definitely.
Emergent Sparkle Pupa
Definitely.
Flashback Pheasant Tail Nymph
Wouldn't be caught dead without them.
Green Drake Cripple
Uhhhhhhh......
Gulper Special
WTF is that? The name is familiar...
Hair Wing Dunn
See above.
Humpy
Definitely: Yellow and red are good.
Improved Sofa Pillow
DEFINITELY.
Kaufmann's Rubber Leg Stone
YES.
Foam Beetle
Damn straight!
Muddler Minnow
Need you ask? Okay, how about a "hell yes"?????
Parachute Adams
Ask Lou. g
Parachute Ant
Yeah.
Prince Nymph
Yes. Zug Bugs are very good too.
Brown Drake Cripple
If it's brown, it's down. Oh wait, that's hunting season. g
Sculpin Minnow
Sculpins are a large part of the "big fish diet" out here. Bring a
sink tip line too.
Serendipity
Green/olive.
Sparkle Dunn
Yes.
Trico Poly-Wing Spinner
Maybe.
Woolly Bugger
If you are into that kind of thing. ;-)
I have several hatch charts up on the clave webpage, but Harry put a
lot of time and effort based upon his personal experiences fishing
the exact same areas we will be fishing when he listed suggestions
for the Clave Flies at:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?S56E51FC7
Be sure to use the listings in the sidebar to navigate.
Knowing how you like "updates" I thought I would let you know what
is going on right now. The rivers are falling and runoff season has
been coming and going based upon the weather. As it warms, more
snow melts causing the rivers to pick up some color. We haven't had
any snow in the last two weeks or so, but we have been getting a ton
of rain compared to the last couple of years. My yard has been wet
for the last three days and I can't mow my lawn because of the rain
showers. This is very, very good. Not only is the moisture going
directly into the soil, but it is helping the melting snow go into
the rivers/reservoirs. Most of the moisture is going directly into
the ground, but with the amounts we are getting, more will
eventually end up in the rivers. This graph and info is a bit
misleading, but check it out:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv?06043500
The reason why it is misleading is that we still have 47% snowpack
for the Gallatin (the same river/drainage graph as above).
Temperatures have fluctuated quite a bit and we get warm spells
punctuated by cooler, rainy spells. Much of the snowpack has held
on despite the rainfall/warm weather in the valleys. The rains have
caused the water levels to rise, but the snowpacks have actually
increased for the Gallatin in the last week. This could be because
of new snowfall in the high country or a slower melt than normal.
It was actually at 40% 5 days ago and is now at 47% for whatever
reason. The season is basically all over the place and hatches come
and go based upon conditions. It was predicted the salmonfly hatch
would be three weeks early this year, but they haven't shown up yet.
I hope they don't show up too early because I still have some
paperwork to get done before I am ready for the season to start. :-(
I will be doing a float either late this week or early next week
with one of my bosses and a co-worker to check things out on the
Madison and have my Stonefly-dar set at maximum right now. Despite
all of my local contacts, I haven't heard of any stones coming off
locally YET. I am hoping that the weather continues as is and that
the hatch comes off during the normal timeframe for the sake of the
clave. I would LOVE getting you guys into that hatch on the Upper
Madison during the clave. The local rivers have cleared up quite a
bit so instead of going out of town to fish, I plan on really
hammering the local rivers in the near future and I'll keep you guys
posted.
--
Warren
(use troutbum_mt on either yahoo or earthlink to respond via email)