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Late Summer Float Trips

Posted on January 23rd, 2024

Late summer is a prime period for larger trout on dry flies. This one (like most) ate a grasshopper imitation in fast water.

Late Summer Float Trips: Introduction

Late summer begins when rivers drop from the edges of the bushes and get slower. In the meantime, rivers turn crystal clear rather than green and aquatic insect hatches diminish, but terrestrial insects such as grasshoppers and ants begin blowing into the water in greater and greater numbers.

Some rivers get too low and in some cases too warm, but others become less challenging to fish, particularly in terms of the accuracy of casts required. While not quite so consistent as early summer, this period often offers easier fishing from a technical standpoint, and certainly offers slower-paced fishing, since flows are now low and slow enough to pick targets apart rather than blowing by.

For anglers who want to target larger fish on dry flies, as well as numbers on dries and small nymphs, this is a great period.

Late summer sees excellent cutthroat trout fishing with dry flies.

Late Summer Float Trips: Quick Facts

• Best Waters: The Yellowstone and Stillwater are by far the best rivers in our operations area at this time, and the two on which we do the vast majority of our guiding. The upper Missouri between Three Forks and Townsend can also be very good, though the quarry there are mostly carp rather than trout.
• Three Top Reasons to Come in Late Summer: 1.) The terrestrial dry fly fishing is great 2.) The fishing if not necessarily the catching is easier at this time than earlier in the summer, and 3.) Larger fish (on average) are more interested in dry flies than they were earlier.
• Three Top Reasons to Avoid Late Summer: 1.) During dry years, late summer is when we have fishing restrictions due to warm water temperatures and the greatest potential for forest fires, 2.) Crowds are still high, and 3.) “Match-the-hatch” fishing is limited.
• Perfect Clients: Clients who love dry fly fishing, but prefer the slightly slower pace the lower water present during this period gives to trips.
• What Late Summer Does Best: Late summer generally produces excellent dry/dropper fishing for fish that average a bit bigger than they do earlier in the summer, albeit with less consistency of weather and water conditions and therefore less consistent fishing.

Late Summer Float Trips: The Details

As the rivers drop, clear, and warm, and as aquatic insect hatches begin to decline, conditions transition into what we consider “late summer.” This is a gradual change and isn’t clear-cut. This period begins sometime in late July or early August, depending on the previous winter’s snowpack, how this snow melts, and summer weather.

The fishing during this period is similar to early summer, but it’s a little less frenetic, a little easier for beginners in terms of technique, and the fish start getting a touch spookier. While the fishing is a little harder overall than it is earlier in the summer, it remains quite good unless water temperatures get too high, and the slower pace of the fishing coupled with the better chances of big fish on dry flies make this another favorite period for many of our clients, and many visiting anglers in general.

There are two key drivers to the float fishing at this time: terrestrial insects and water conditions.

The terrestrial insects, mostly meaning ants and grasshoppers, are usually the most important dry flies in late summer and are a lot of fun for most anglers to fish. The big numbers of fish usually come on ants (or occasionally small aquatic insects or nymphs), while the big trout tend to come on the larger grasshoppers.

The fish aren’t quite as eager to wallop dries at this time as they are a few weeks earlier, so anglers need to up their game a bit for success, but when anglers get it right, this is often the time that produces the most action on dries, simply because the fishing is a bit slower-paced than earlier in the summer and so it’s easier to hit more of the holding water.

Grasshoppers often get chewed apart in late summer. Yes, pink is often THE color.

The reason the fishing has a slower pace during this period is streamflow. All rivers drop through the summer. The only question is how much they drop. If they drop too much, especially if the weather is hot and dry, they get too warm. Sometimes this means the afternoon fishing is poor. Sometimes this means that rivers are closed after 2:00PM. These are called “hoot owl” closures, and they’re getting more and more common due to global warming.

Certain rivers within our operations area are now almost always closed for part of late summer, chief among them the lower Madison and the Jefferson, but these are poor choices anyway. The real problems happen when water temperatures begin spiking over 70 degrees on the Yellowstone or Stillwater. It’s unusual for these rivers to endure hoot owl restrictions, but low water and high temperatures do lead to some tough fishing, usually in early-mid August, particularly in shallow areas of Paradise Valley and east of Livingston on the Yellowstone or after 2:00PM on the lower Stillwater.

Because of the potential for water temperature issues in mid-late afternoon, visitors looking to come in late summer must understand the risk of having to start early or cut trips short if temps are too warm. Also note that the Boulder River is never high enough for float trips during this period. This is a tiny river, so once it gets low, even a kayak would have trouble getting down it, much less a fishing raft. For similar fishing as the Boulder provides, the Stillwater River is very good unless it’s too warm.

If water temperatures are okay, as they usually are on our preferred rivers (the Yellowstone and Stillwater), fishing techniques resemble those of early summer: dries, dry/dropper, and “drifting and dragging” streamers. The flies themselves change a bit, since as noted the terrestrials are the hot bugs most of the time. The fish begin moving off the banks somewhat, so we seldom “bang banks” in late summer like we do earlier. Other than these minor changes, anglers who like the sound of early summer will like late summer well, too.

Beginners will like late summer better. Since casts need not be as accurate and the currents are slower, beginners typically do better on late summer river floats than they do in early summer.

Full-day and half-day floats are available at this time. Because of the potential for water temperature problems, it’s conceivable we might need to meet for full-day trips as early as 5:00AM, though this is rare. Unlike early summer, there’s usually little point for half-day trips meeting late in the afternoon. In fact, we’ll usually run half-day trips in the mornings during this period unless we’re in the midst of a cool spell.

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Early Summer Float Trips

Posted on January 23rd, 2024

The Boulder River is a prime destination in early summer.

Early Summer Float Trips: Introduction and Quick Facts

Between the middle of June and early July, runoff recedes and the high season begins. The next month or so finds rivers still running high and fast, but clear. Insect hatches are abundant, including the famous Salmonfly, and the trout are eager to eat after a month or more of high, muddy water.

This time of year typically offers the best caddis, stonefly, and attractor dry fly fishing of the season, especially for experienced clients able to hit small targets along the bank while the boat is jetting downriver in the high flows. This period is also a decent time for big fish on floats, especially for clients interested in fishing big nymphs and streamers.

Since the fishing and weather and water conditions are great at this time, it’s little wonder that this is the absolute peak season for float fishing in the region.

Early summer is an excellent time to target larger brown trout on big nymphs and dead-drifted streamer flies.

• Best Waters: The Yellowstone and Boulder are our favorite float rivers at this time, and with these nearby fisheries all in their prime, we seldom run float trips elsewhere in early summer.
• Three Top Reasons to Come in Early Summer: 1.) This is peak large dry fly time on all rivers, 2.) This time of year offers the most consistent float fishing, if not always the best fishing, and 3.) this period offers the most consistent weather and water conditions of the year.
• Three Top Reasons to Avoid Early Summer: 1.) This is the most crowded time of year, 2.) The fishing is very fast-paced and requires accurate casting, which may be a plus or a minus depending on perspective, and 3.) Late summer and early fall are better for large fish on dry flies, though early summer is better on subsurface flies.
• Perfect Clients: Clients with at least some fly fishing experience who enjoy fast-paced fishing and like to rack up the numbers rather than try to sight-fish or otherwise “hunt” a few big fish (though a few big fish are possible in early summer). Really, early summer is great for all clients except those who want a lazy day and those who can’t stand to see any other anglers on the water.
• What Early Summer Does Best: Early summer provides the best attractor, caddis, and stonefly dry fly and dry-dropper fishing of the season; it’s also a good time for big trout using a few techniques and in a few places, though not generally on dries.

Early Summer Float Trips: The Fishing

Sometime between the middle of June (following dry winters) and early July (following wet winters), freestone rivers begin dropping out of the spring melt. This happens earlier on the Jefferson, Upper Madison, and Boulder, later on the Yellowstone and the lower end of the Stillwater. Just as the water gets a foot or eighteen inches of visibility, usually while the rivers are still up in the bushes and the current is raging, the fish and trout stream insects on which the fish feed go bananas and probably the most consistent fishing of the year begins.

The Yellowstone, Boulder, and Stillwater are our favorite haunts at this time. The upper Madison is also good. In fact, every river in the region is good at least at the beginning of early summer, though some get too warm by mid-July.

All rivers see their most-varied aquatic insect hatches of the year at this time. Many rivers see brief hatches of the fabled Salmonfly (giant black stonefly) for a week or so, but all possess good populations of smaller stoneflies and several species of caddisflies. Some mayflies also hatch on float rivers, especially in slow areas and on the Missouri. This smorgasboard means that attractor patterns are often better than imitations of one specific insect at this time. With so much to choose from, the fish often don’t get particular for any one thing.

River flows remain high through early summer, often at least grazing the willow bushes and grass throughout this period. Heavy aquatic insect hatches coupled with high flows mean the fish are pushed close to the banks in search of food and to stay out of the current, at least the fish looking to feed on the surface rather than on nymphs and baitfish hiding in the rocks. Therefore, much of the fishing involves making short, accurate casts to shallow water, within a few feet of shore, or right behind midriver rocks that break the surface and therefore cushion the current.

Overall, we have three preferred techniques while guiding at this time. By far our favorite when the fish are cooperative is to fish only dry flies. These might match the various insects that are hatching, large and small, but more often we like to fish various attractors, especially a couple “caddis-like” patterns our outfitter personally developed. Whatever the dry fly, not only is it more fun to see fish rise, but it’s also easier to avoid hanging up in the bushes or the shallow rocks when the fly (or flies) are on the surface and visible.

If the fish aren’t rising well but are doing so occasionally, we will hang a nymph or emerger under a dry. Usually this is a small attractor nymph, a big stonefly, or a caddis pupa.

Our final preferred technique at this time is “drifting and dragging” streamer and nymph combinations. This is indicator nymphing using a streamer pattern with a nymph as a “second chance” fly. Of these three techniques, the last produces the largest fish, while in the right conditions the “dry or die” method produces the most fish.

Early summer fishing gets two thumbs up.

This is a wonderful period for experienced anglers who like fast-paced dry fly fishing. The fishing is fast-paced because of the current speed. The slow spots where the trout hold are small, and no matter how hard the guide rows back upstream, most of the time anglers get only one crack at each spot. This is why early summer can be hard for total beginners. Except when floating a few gentle stretches of the Yellowstone within Paradise Valley, the current speed, the small targets, and the many hangups (bushes in the water and rocks) can be frustrating for rookies. That said, rookies who understand things will be fast and furious can still do well, especially when we’re sticking to nymphs. Some of the largest fish that we saw in 2020 were caught by beginner or novice clients in early summer.

Because of the high water that makes wading difficult and also pushes the fish to the same places we’d be standing when wade-fishing, almost all fishing at this time is done from the boat. There are a few areas we might pull into and drop anchor to hit a little harder, and many more we might back into for a few casts, but otherwise almost all fishing in early summer is done while the boat is moving.

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Float Trips in Late Spring

Posted on January 23rd, 2024

Late spring is prime time on the lower Madison River.

Late Spring Float Trips: Introduction

Late spring, here meaning from the beginning of the heavy spring melt in the first or second week of May through its conclusion in late June or early July, is prime time for trout fishing in many parts of the United States. In the Rockies, it’s not. This is particularly true for anglers who want to float free-flowing rivers like the Yellowstone, Boulder, and Stillwater rather than those right below dams, like the Lower Madison and Missouri.

The issue is the spring melt that raises all area rivers and turns most into raging brown chocolate milkshakes for at least a few weeks. During this timeframe, river float trips turn to tailwaters: the Madison and Missouri Rivers. These rivers downstream of dams stay clear. Therefore all that the high water they experience does is flush lots of insects and other foods into the drift for the trout to gorge on. In contrast to other rivers, tailwater rivers offer great float fishing at this time.

There’s one other factor that can influence fishing in late spring: runoff breaks. Runoff breaks are periods of cool or cold and usually dry weather that pause the spring runoff for a day or two at a time on freestone rivers, particularly the Yellowstone upstream from Livingston and the Boulder.

When a runoff break occurs, the trout in freestone rivers go bananas, feeding heavily on stonefly nymphs and streamers. If you happen to be here in May or the first three weeks of June when flows are dropping and water clarity is 18 inches or more, fishing on freestones can be better than it is almost any other time of year. You just can’t plan for these breaks, because they’re utterly dependent on day-to-day weather.

This brown came on the Yellowstone River during a runoff break around June 20, 2019, right before the river blew out again. The Yellowstone did not drop into fishable shape for good until July 7 that year.

Other good guided trip options this time of year are our power boat trips and private lake trips. As a matter of fact, this is the one period when these alternative trips are definitely better choices than float trips if you want to fish from a boat. That said, for many anglers nothing can compete with drifting down a river on a boat propelled by oars. Read on for info on where and how we do it through most of May and June.

Late Spring Float Trips: Quick Facts and General Information

• Best Waters: The top rivers in late spring are the lower and upper Madison and the Missouri downstream of Holter Dam. The Jefferson can be good some years late in this period, and during cold spells the Boulder and Yellowstone can be amazing. These cold spells can’t be planned for and the fishing only lasts a day or two at a time, though.
• Three Top Reasons to Come in Late Spring: 1.) You are eager to fish the lower Madison River, 2.) You are eager to fish the Missouri River when it fishes “easiest,” if not “best,” or 3.) This is when you can come, and you would rather float a river than a lake or take a walk trip.
• Three Top Reasons to Avoid Late Spring: 1.) Most rivers are too high and muddy to float, particularly the Yellowstone and Stillwater, 2.) Crowds are high on the rivers that are floatable, and 3.) Except during hatches, dry fly fishing is poor.
• Perfect Clients: Clients of any skill level who are coming at this time of year and would rather float-fish a river than fish a river from a power boat or fish a lake.
• What Late Spring Does Best: Provides the best fishing of the season on the lower Madison and Missouri Rivers.

May and some portion of June is runoff season in Montana, when the high mountain snow melts at last and turns every river, stream, creek, trickle, and rivulet that isn’t immediately downstream of a large dam into a raging chocolate brown torrent full of sticks, logs, and debris up to and including dead livestock and game animals. Sometimes this period even extends into early July, though with the effects of global warming this happens less and less often.

Needless to say, this is not the time to float freestone rivers, as rivers that aren’t protected by dams are known. It’s not that the fishing is so-so. It’s that the rivers are dangerous to even float, much less fish.

There are a few rivers that remain good at this time within our operations area. The Lower and to a lesser extent the Upper Madison are closest to Livingston. The Missouri River downstream of Holter Dam near Craig and Wolf Creek, Montana is further afield, but probably the best overall option. In fact this is usually the best period on the Missouri overall, provided anglers are willing to fish deep with nymphs to rack up the numbers if the trout aren’t rising. The crowds that swarm the “MO” at this time attest to the quality of the fishing.

This Lower Madison rainbow trout ate a caddis pupa suspended beneath a dry. This is one of the larger fish you can expect from the Lower Madison using this technique rather than fishing deep with crayfish or imitations of other large food items.

Our primary float trip option in late spring is the Lower Madison River, which is located about 30 minutes from Bozeman, about an hour from Livingston. We also run a few trips on the Upper Madison and multi-day trips on the Missouri, most of the latter with repeat clients.

Crowds on all rivers low and clear enough to float in late spring are generally high. There’s just no getting around it. Lots of people come to Montana expecting everything to be good in May and early June, as it is in many other parts of the country, and they are all clustered onto fewer rivers than usual. The Missouri gets hit hard, in particular.

Late Spring Float Trips on the Lower Madison

On the Lower Madison, most large trout get caught on streamers, crayfish imitations, and San Juan Worms. Sometimes the highest numbers of trout also take these flies, but the Lower Maddy is an insect factory by mid-late May and most days see good insect hatches from sometime in mid-late morning through evening.

Caddis hatches in particular often blanket the river, as the photo below can attest. There can also be several species of mayflies as well as stoneflies. Because of all the bugs, we typically have clients fish dries and dry-dropper combos when feasible. The best dry and dry-dropper fishing here occurs when cloud cover is heavy. The Lower Madison is a shallow stretch of river, so the fish often don’t rise when the sun’s bright for fear of ospreys and eagles.

Vast numbers of caddisflies on the Lower Madison.

Most rising trout on the Lower Madison run small. The fish above was a very good rainbow for the dry-dropper technique. Most fish caught this way except during ideal weather conditions will run smaller. Small browns and rainbows are most common, but there are also good numbers of westslope cutthroat now, a new addition to the Lower Madison in the past few years. Like all cutthroat trout, these westslopes like to rise. They average a bit larger than most of the rainbows and browns we see rising. The fish below is a good example.

Half-day and full-day trips are available on the Lower Madison, and both trip types make a good deal of sense. Full-day trips allow us to get out in front of the crowds, while half-days will allow us to slot in well behind everybody to “match the hatch” on the upper end of the Lower Madison most guides are well past when the fish start rising. The Lower Madison tends to be crowded, but we can shed a lot of these crowds by getting out in front of them or staying on late.

We often fish quite slowly on Lower Madison floats, especially when the trout start rising. There are many good riffles and islands where the guide can stop the boat to let anglers work to pods of rising fish, and anglers so inclined also have the opportunity to get out and wade fish good spots. In general, we’ll fish a longer float and move faster when fish aren’t likely to rise, and fish slow and methodical when the weather and water conditions look conducive to hatches.

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Average westslope cutthroat from the Lower Madison. The numbers of these native trout are increasing due to a successful reintroduction effort.