Report By Craig Mathews

Like we said above, the Henry's Fork has fished "like the old days, like the 1980's". Green and brown drakes are still emerging as are PMD's. A few species of caddis are coming off and ant times are here now too. The RxR Ranch has been awesome and so has the lower river. Spud farmers will begin needing irrigation water below Ashton, Idaho and with the warming air temps the lower river near Ashton will slow but the upper river will continue to fish well.

The Madison below Earthquake Lake has insects like giant, golden and little yellow stoneflies, caddis, PMD's and BWO's coming off now. Look for green drakes this week and next. Pick up any branch of small log in the river and you will find several green drake nymphs ready to emerge at any moment. Caddis like Hydropsyche and Little Black (Glossosoma sp) are coming off as are Rhyacophila sp. So be ready with #16 olive and tan X2 as well as Iris in tan, olive and amber. Nick's Sunken Stones in golden and giant will serve you well when you come upon salmon and golden stones all along the river. Evening caddis fishing is upon us now too so have big Amber Iris and X Caddis. This activity will go on for the next month or longer so be prepared.

The Gallatin has fished very well both in and out of the Park. Salmon and golden stones will emerge this week and move upstream to the Park line in the next 2 weeks. Look for green drakes and PMD's in selected spots as well as late day caddis and little yellow stones. This river is our "sleeper bet of the week".

I look for the Gardner River to break loose this weekend. Check in with Park's Fly Shop in Gardiner then make the drive and fish salmon and golden stones!

Both Grebe and Wolf Lake should be fished now for grayling and rainbows. Damsels and Callibaetis mayflies are the rule, so have Sparrows and C. B. Nymphs and Sparkle Duns as well as a canister of bear spray.

Elk and Hidden Lakes should be fished. On Elk you can have fine fishing during damsel fly times and on Hidden look for C. Baetis emergences daily from 10 to noon.

If you want to take lakers and big browns make the trek into Shoshone Lake and be ready for some very good surface action during caddis emergences. For those not wanting to make a big hike but looking to catch some fine fish look no further than the shoreline of Lewis Lake for big browns looking for caddis in the late day. While you are there you might want to look at the Snake River near the south entrance.

Small streams like Lava, Straight and Solfatara Creeks should be looked at now too. Small waters around West Yellowstone include Grayling Creek and the West Fork of the Madison for starters.

Stop by for a discussion on Tenkara fishing and a bit of instruction to get you going! You will thank me time and time again for the intro to this great method of simple fly-fishing. I almost forget to mention that Hebgen Lake is "on fire" now according to our guides! Best flies on request.