Hi Guys:
I need some help. We are attempting a trip to the Yellowstone area to fish 6/7/08 thru 6/14/08. We would be staying in Cooke City. The plan would be to rent a vehicle and drive to different spots each day. I hear the mayfly and stonefly fishing is great. Our concern is we would not be able to find areas close by to be wadealbe or even fishable due to the run off that early in the season.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx

Dave

We have above average snowpack for the 1st time in several years. This will probably translate into a long and heavy runoff season.
Scheduling your visit for July, if possible, would allow time for things to settle down a bit.

I believe we have something like 70% more snowpack than last year around the Bozeman area as of right now. There may be a prolonged runoff due to the snow, but this is Montana and it is possible that it gets warm real fast and it all comes off way too fast and you will basically miss it all. Pick up a phone book or look online for a few of the local fly shops to talk to people familiar in all areas you would perspectively like to fish. I would probably start with Dan Baileys out of Livingston and maybe ask them to look up some shop #'s for you while you are at it. That way you can speak to someone from these actual drainages that have seen this snow pack and could tell you when to expect the runoff to settle down and maybe delay your trip if needed.

Despite what some want you to believe, ANY of our rivers can be effectively wade fished, you just need to know how to do it and recognize your limitations The Yellowstone is fast and deep that time of year and WILL sweep you away if you wade stupidly. There is always water around to be fished. If it is really terrible you may want to look into hiking into some alpine lakes. If all else fails, there are plenty of nice spring creeks that hold some very nice and finicky trout and these creeks are clear all year long. Some you need to pay as the access to some are privately controlled, but talking with local folks can point you in the direction of a few that aren't.

We are headed to Ennis the last week of June. We like to fish the Madison of course but try to hit Hebgen Lake, Quake Lake, and fish the Henry's Fork and Henry's Lake. We usually go in July but as was mentioned, not much water the last quite a few years. One year some of the rivers were getting closed and they were struggling to keep enough flow to keep temps down in the Madison. Always a great time though, hoping to catch the Salmonfly hatch. You WILL have fun. I have never fished inside the park but hear if you hike a half an hour it can be great.

Mike

I would call Ron and get his input. He runs this Orvis Fly Shop in Cooke City and I've been in there several times..... nice helpful guys.

Beartooth Plateau Lakes are AWESOME fishing, so you might think about asking about which of those close to Cooke City will be ice free. Abundance Lake is one I can think of that should be. Its maybe 20 miles North of Cooke City.

Thanx MTyer,jbarnick, roadking,MakoML:

Unfortunately we are locked into those dates 6/7 thru 6/14 with graduations weddings etc.
The group has decided to stay close to home and do short trips in PA and NY. That ain't all bad.
We will definetly be out next year in July.(That would be our 6th trip)

If any of you come East drop me a PM or email. We can show you some good free stone creeks.

Thanx again for the tips and advice

Dave

Dont worry about closures, especially with those dates. Even in low years closures dont really start happening until late july to early august and even then there is still fishing to be had (most are just afternoon closeures). Last year there was no real stonefly hatch on the Madison below the dam (Beartrap wilderness and downstream) which was unfortunate and the only river that had a decent giant stonefly hatch was the clark fork i believe which was very unpredictable at best (I didn't make it over there to fish it...). Even if the rivers are running high you can still catch fish in the yellowstone with size 8-12 golden stonefly nymph patterns or streamers so long as they are tied garishly enough for the trout to see them. Some of the most fun fishing for me actually occurs late in the summer when the hoppers are around. As long as you can fish around the closures it is a blast fishing the hoppers with the takes that the trout give (think giant stonefly takes but not requiring a hatch).

Introduced my son in law John to the joys of grasshoppers about 5 years ago in Montana. That was almost all he would fish for the rest of the trip! We started calling him "Hopper John"

Mike