When to Come and What To Expect:
Fly Fishing: At the Season Opening
The Yellowstone Fly Fishing season opens the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. This is usually the last weekend in May. That means the ‘May’ fishing season and this section is a short one. If you choose to fish these days early days of the season, the question would be “Where would you fish”.
That is an easy one for us. If there is any stream in the park that is ready to be fished, it will be the Firehole River. There are not a lot of possibilities the last of May. Most of the streams in the park will probably be to cold for good fishing. The Firehole is warmed by the geysers and is a big aid in making it a good place to fish when most of the streams in the park are not fishable. You can probably catch trout on the dry fly from the very first day of the season.
Of course, weather is a big factor but in this case, it is more of a factor as to whether or not you will be able to handle the weather than it is the fish. The rainbows and brown trout in the Firehole will probably care less. A snowy, cold or what you may call a bad weather day will probably be just perfect for them.
Hatches on the Firehole:
Pale Morning Duns and Baetis mayflies should be hatching when the season opens. White Miller caddisflies should start hatching if they are not already hatching. Another smaller caddisfly, the Speckled Peter should also begin to hatch by the first of June if not already hatching when the season opens. It is possible the Little Black Caddis or Mother’s Day hatch could still be in progress although it may have ended. There will be plenty of insect activity and the trout should be feeding on the surface. Some believe the Baetis activity is as good as it ever gets at the first of the season.
Madison River:
The next river to get into the full swing of hatches and great fishing is the Madison River. It receives the warm water from the Firehole River and well as the somewhat warm water from the Gibbon River. The Gibbon will not be as warm as the Firehole, but it has a few geysers that adds some warm water to the flow. Another big reason the fishing in the Madison drainage starts early is the fact that the mountains surrounding its drainage area are at a lower elevation that most of the streams in the park. The snow pack is not as great as it is on some of the other mountains ranges.
The Gibbon River will come into its prime time during the month of June. Of course the lower elevations will be the first to warm up to the point the trout begin to feed well but before the month is over the entire river will be in its prime.
The Upper Yellowstone River below Yellowstone Lake is closed to fishing until July 15. The Larmar drainage including Soda Butte Creek and Slough Creek will still be muddy and cold. It is the run off season for the Yellowstone drainage.
In a nutshell, the best fishing in Yellowstone National Park will be in the Madisondrainage area. The Firehole, Madison and Gibbon Rivers will be top choices for the month.
Copyright 2010 James Marsh