Additionally, looking at recent DNRC Snowtel data for sites within or adjacent to either the Rock Creek and Stillwater drainages provides mixed messages of what is going on currently and what our summer conditions might be like.

The Upper Yellowstone basin is listed as 89% of normal snow water equivalent….. not all that bad. The Placer Basin site on the hydro-divide (between the East Boulder and West Fork of the Stillwater) shows 98% …. pretty darn good. But then we look to the Cole Creek site (35%), in Willow Creek and the Burnt Mtn site (0%), in Red Lodge Creek, and we come away knowing a couple things. Snow pack above 9,000 feet might be ok to good, lower than 9,000 feet and the snow tappers quickly to nothing…… at least currently. Things can change, but I wouldn’t be the farm on it.

So what’s it mean you ask? Honest answer as usual …. hell if I know, but here’s my best guess. We are entering our wet time of the year. It’s still not to late to add to both the lower and upper elevation snow. But, I’d guess that we’re see a less than average run off event during May and June. Given that we do have a decent amount of white stuff in the high country, hopefully the rivers will be floatable thru late July to mid-August. But if the remainder of the spring is much warmer than normal, all the bets are off.

I put this prognostication out there not to be a weather-person, but rather because folks are calling with these and other questions. So there you have it. One person’s view for what it’s worth. Plan accordingly …. or just wing it and hope for the best.

Here’s Hoping

The real questions is, what does this early melt foretell for the rest of the season? We might be floating earlier than the first of July which is our normal post run-off timeframe. Might we run low on water in the later portions of the summer and fall like last year? Could well happen that way. But there are a lot a variables that will determine late summer flow volumes and water temperatures. Keep your fingers crossed. Take care of the fish and think good thoughts.

And now for some positive reflections. This spring I have seen more mayflies and caddis than I have seen since or before the big flood of ’22. Fish were feeding on them very nicely while the conditions were perfect and before this high and off colored water. Hated to see it end, but very encouraging none the less.

We are still in “recovery mode”, but headed in the right direction I believe. Ya gotta believe in something positive in this world…… because, at the end of the day, anyone can be a pessimists. It takes no talent

And just to prove the point, we offer the following;

Streamer Eater

Emerger Eater

There has been a high amount of sediment/turbidity in the water which apparently results from road reconstruction work taking place in the Johnson Bridge area. Not cool, but a necessary evil and thus the need to adjust tactics. So to that end, I have been stashing the dry droppers and going with double stonefly nymphs down and dirty and a bobber. I know, hard to believe we’d be fishing a bobber in summer but ….. ya gotta do what needs to be done.

And truths be told, I’ve seen more nice fish on the down and dirty as compared the big and floaty dries which makes sense when you think about it. By this time in the year, the fish have seen every conceivable hopper/stonefly/chubby known or imaged by man kind. And they are pretty much over them. If you are willing to chuck the dice and see what happens, go with streamers. That’s when the bigger fish come out to play. You might get spanked, but you might not. Or stick with the dry/dropper and enjoy the scenery.

And where do we go from here? I’m sticking with the wading plan and trying to avoid the cluster of humanity when possible. Early in the morning continues to produce better than when the sun is high and hot. Caddis. size #17 or there abouts abound in the mornings. Small dries, two at a time have caught some dandies and it’s just absolutely beautiful in the early AM as the sun rises over the eastern rims of the one sided canyon. Sometimes and frankly most times, it’s really not about the fish. They are the cherry which resides atop the ice cream. Much like life showing up is 80% of the experience. The other 20% is what ever you want it to be.