Right now I'm still trying to work everything out for my trip or trips out west this summer. The way things are shaping up, my first trip might be just to Colorado plus the Green in Utah. If everything goes the way we're hoping, we'll be fishing lots of West Slope streams, rivers and lakes for 2-3 weeks give or take in mid to late June. Most of the freestoners will be high from runoff at that time but the tailwaters should fish very well. This time should also give us a chance to target pike before the lakes warm up too much. Also we'll get to see some different hatches compared to what we normally see. I've always wanted to hit the Salmonflies in Colorado and maybe the Cicadas on the Green and with our schedule there's a good chance we'll get lucky this year!
Later on, I'm looking at a possible trip to Yellowstone near the end of July. If it works out, I'll be in that area for around 10 days chasing big browns, rainbows and cutts. As much snow as they have, there might even be a few salmonflies around on the Yellowstone in the Park!
Once again, if anyone has any advice on any of these streams and areas it would be appreciated. In particular, I'm interested in the Green, Yampa, and Colorado rivers in June. Runoff will be a problem but big bugs might make up for the limited wading opportunities!
I really liked this report for montana-- gave me some good ideas for bugs to throw in turbid water (sjw's and yellow yummies):
ReplyDeletehttp://oregonflyfishingblog.com/2009/04/28/early-run-off-in-western-montana/
Also Josh Stanish posted a video on the weekly fly showing a giant prince nymph pattern for high water and salmonflies:
http://www.theweeklyfly.com/index.php/TheWeeklyFly/2009/02/16/josh-stanish-corn-fed-prince-nymph-8-50
lastly its always said around here to try Ralph Cutter's orange and black goblin streamer for spring runoff
Anyways, I've never done well in muddy water but that's the info I've gleaned!
David, we're up in Bozeman and fish Yellowstone and southern Montana rivers aggressively. We put up daily river updates on our blog and would be pleased to help in any way that we can. Give us a yell when your northern trip is getting closer, and we'll help you get on the better (and sometimes) lesser know waters. Mark
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