Fresh Emigrant Fishing Reports

The Yellowstone River is all anout the grasshoppers now that most of the big summer hatches are over. Aftetnoon temps are still in the high 80’s and thats keeping those hoppers happy and hoppering! Plop your hopper tight to the bank fishing fast seams , grassy banks and large downed cottonwoods. Make your hopper hot the water with a splashy plop as its one of the triggers for hopper hungry trout. Put some twitches in yoyr drift for the same reason. We like a mid to large hopper in tan , peach, purple so we can hang a dropper of the bend of the hook. Panty Dropper, CFO Ant, Skippy hopper, Streambank hopper im sizes # 6-10. Some productive droppers have been Psycho may in brown, Two Bit Hooker, Beadhead pheasant tail. So Get your fly tight to the banl and twitch it! Hang on!

The Yellowstone is fishing great even with the high summer temperatures. We’re starting to see the first hopper grabs but its not quite there. The Stoneflies are done and the hopper fishing is just getting going but we expect that to change soon. Right now our best fishing has been drifting streamers under an indicator with a small nymph behind it. Using some downstream mends and twitches to keep the streamer swimming with some drag on it. Big browns fall victim to this tactic regularly being the carnivores they are. Rabbit sculpins in natural and olive with a #16-20 beadhead nymph running 15” behind has been the hot ticket. Soft hackles are a great nymph patterns along with pheasant tails and caddis.

The much awaited hopper bite is happening on the mighty Yellowstone and the big fish are looking up! We’ve been starting early when the fish are more active and to beat the afternoon heat. Inside edges and riffles are holding lots of trout that are at the table waiting for a grasshopper aka double bacon cheeseburger float over. Our favorite dry flies; Chubby, Stream bank hopper, Amy’s Ant, Triple Decker, Morish Hopper