June 17, 2010 - Coming around......
Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 6:49AM It's 31 degrees wth light snow falling this morning in West Yellowstone. The forecast calls for 48 degrees and a 60% chance of showers. We saw the sun for a few short days in the last week. It was a much needed break in an otherwise monsoon-like spring. Waters across the area are coming down and fishing options are improving everyday.
Flows coming in and out of Hebgen Lake have quieted down this week, and the braintrust in charge of the outflows have brought the river down to 1400cfs. The reservoir sits at 98.7%. Inflows remain around 1850cfs. We'll see what the forecasted rains do to inflows. Hopefully, we won't see another bump. The river has been at the same flow for two days now, and some consistentcy would sure help the fishing.
The clarity of the water below Quake Lake is a very fishable "glacial-green". The West Fork is still putting some brown water into the flow, but it's effects are minimal.
P-Man and I floated from Lyons to the access formerly known as Windy (now visible from space). We fished the standard muddy water rigs....rubberlegs, worms, yellow streamers. Fish seemed to be in the usual high-water spots, and we managed to fool a few of them. If flows stay consistent for a few days, the fishing could get pretty good.
In other news, dry fly fishing on the Firehole and the Madison in the park has been good. Pmd and baetis hatches have been reliable and productive on the Firehole. I spent some fun days up there with Seth and Brad...Thanks, Guys. Salmonflies and AM spinner falls on the Madison are slowly becoming a factor. I've spent several mornings looking for Grey Drake spinners here as well, but one or two is all we've seen so far.
Nationally acclaimed and regoinally adored H-Fork icon, John Hudgens reports that Dry Fly fishing is "really coming around" on the Henry's Fork. The lower river is slowly dropping (2400cfs below Ashton), fish are finally looking for PMD's and Green Drakes are imminent. This weekend is the annual Railroad Ranch opener. Winter flows out of Island Park Reservoir were strong again this year. That should bode well for the ranch. It still hasn't been publicized well, but the fishing in the Ranch is slowly getting better. Don't get me wrong, it's not like the glory days. But, there's a good chance at seeing multiple targets and strong hatches with little or no other anglers around. Not bad.