BZN report

[Brian]

Had a successful trip to Bozeman, Montana last week.  A little warm but lots of water to fish in that area.  Went with two excellent guides, Miles and Ty, out of Bozeman Angler for four days, and my brother in law and I went out on our own the last day.

Floated the Yellowstone on day one.  Yellowstone Cuthroats, Rainbows and Browns, and lots of Whitefish, too.  Day too accessed a private tailwater with a five rod limit; there were four of us.  Lots of Browns and Rainbows.  Couldn't get them to rise to the hoppers, but nymphs worked well.  Day three waded the Upper Madison.  Again, some nice sized fish on nymphs, with lots of juveniles on drys.  Key seemed to be to get it down in the deeper pools.  Nocturnal Stones and Buggers trailing 18-20 beadheads worked well.  Beautiful water, so did the same on days 4 and 5.

Next time I'll probably try to find a little cooler time of the year to visit; June or September, when the temps should yield access to more waters.

Here's a shot of a well worn TPFR hat with a happy camper underneath, along with some others.

[Dave Jamieson]

Great to hear, Brian. Glad the low waters out there this year didn't give you much trouble. I've been going to Paradise Valley for years now and it's always a bit of a crapshoot on timing. Latter half of July, early August is usually a pretty good bet, especially if you want to fish the tribs. I spent six weeks out there back in '08. Runoff was crazy that year and the rivers were just coming down in early August. Tons of float trips had been cancelled all through July, so in August I was catching fish that probably hadn't seen flies yet that year. You just never know.