If you have read my content over the last few months, you may know by now that fall is my favorite season to fish in the Yellowstone Region. The hillsides fill with yellow and orange hues, migratory fish move through the river systems, and bull elk come down from the high country. This fall was no different, as I experienced unbelievable fishing and breathtaking views. In this blog post, I recap this fall fishing season, including my most productive flies, what I learned, and what left me curious. I hope you enjoy the blog post and had a lovely fall yourself.
A Beautiful Fall of Fly Fishing
I moved to Bozeman in 2018 and have had six autumns in the region. This fall was the most beautiful one I have experienced. So often, we get a mid-October snowstorm that drops a foot of snow and knocks all the leaves off the trees. Temperatures in the single digits usually accompany these fall storms. While these storms are beautiful, they cut short the most beautiful time of year.
This year was different. The weather was beautiful and has remained that way through mid-November. The leaves stayed on the trees, making for stunning views throughout the region. Temperatures have remained more than bearable and sometimes too warm for good fall fishing. While all of us diehard anglers look for the scuzzy weather days to kickstart the baetis action or move migratory fish, it is hard to complain about sunshine this late into the year. This autumn seemed to last longer than any I’ve had in Montana, and I am so grateful for such a gorgeous fall fishing season.
Sunrises On The River
My favorite way to fish in the fall is hunting streamers at dawn. I welcome the cool mornings after a hot summer and enjoy the solitude of fishing before the sun comes up. While the fishing can be hit or miss, the sunrise on the river is why I do it. Nothing is more beautiful and peaceful than watching the sky turn orange and feeling the sun warm the air. The sunrise fishing was epic this fall as I caught many trout before other anglers made it out on the water. It also made for some unforgettable mornings on the water with beautiful pictures. Many of my days fishing this fall started with a walk in the dark.
Fall Stillwater Fly Fishing
Stillwater fishing is another one of my favorites in the fall. The water temperatures cool after a hot summer, and the trout feed heavily before the ice covers the lake. I was able to fish a few lakes this fall with varying amounts of success. Stripping minnows and leeches put plenty of fish to hand as I spent more time using an intermediate line than in years past. Feeling the thump of a fish eating your fly in the open water is addicting and something I hope to do more of in years to come.
A couple of days fishing these lakes will have me dreaming of returning all winter long as I tie flies to be better prepared for next year. They provided some of the best fishing this fall, and I highly recommend the lakes if you want big trout and some solitude.
Fall is for Brown Trout
This fall season was incredible for me, especially for brown trout. I hope for one beautiful brown each fall and this year, it seemed as if I lucked into one every weekend. We all dream of brown trout in the fall (though the rainbows are fun too) because of the captivating colors they develop as they prepare to spawn. This fall did not disappoint.
Even the few hours I snuck some fishing in on my wedding weekend, I tied into fish that we all look for all season long. I don’t know what it was this fall, but the stars aligned many days for me. I am incredibly grateful for the beautiful trout in this region and the diverse fisheries we have to chase them in. There is plenty to go around for all of us anglers, and I hope you found the brown trout you dream of every fall.
Yellowstone Steelhead
If you know me, you know I love chasing the migratory fish that run into the Madison River from Hebgen Lake. This fishery is special to me for a variety of reasons. The lovely views, hard-fighting fish, and unique character of the Madison as a freestone make it one of my favorite places to cast a fly.
This type of fishing is the closest thing to steelhead fishing that we have in Montana. These fish act a lot like steelhead. They are active during low light hours and often eat a swung fly. Many anglers use trout spey techniques to fool these fish. The rainbows fight as hard as any trout I have ever hooked into, and the browns always seem to find a way to shake the hook.
I spent many days this fall chasing these fish in Yellowstone National Park. The weather did not make it easy, as the sun put many fish down by mid-morning. The hot, sunny weather persisted through October. The best days to fish this river are the cloudy, low-pressure days. Many fish move through the system on these stormy days. However, the fish eventually moved into the system, and I was able to catch them on streamers, nymphs, and even dry flies. Yes, these migratory fish eat dry flies just like any other trout.
Many anglers stay away from this fishery because of the angler pressure it experiences, especially during the last two weeks of October. However, with the right mindset, one can have a fabulous day on this river no matter how busy. The beauty and history of the Madison make it worth a day’s fishing, whether the fish are biting or not. It’s as close as we can get to steelheading in the Yellowstone region, and I am all for it.
Explore New Water
The last thing I’ll add before going into my fall fishing setup is a reminder to explore new water. If you are lucky enough to live in or near the Yellowstone region, you know how many places there are to explore with a fly rod.
My goal this year was to fish twelve fisheries that were entirely new to me. After this fall, I have officially fished thirteen. Exploring new water is what this pursuit is all about and something I advocate for with The Curious Angler. With increased angler pressure in the region and a world of fly fishing opportunities to explore, we should take it upon ourselves to fish new water and find our own special fishery.
Get out there and explore new water. It may not end up with a fish to hand, but you will always come away with a memorable story.
My Setup
Unlike last fall, I fished primarily subsurface this fall fishing season. The majority of my days started with a streamer as I hunted for big trout in the early morning hours. Depending on the weather, I often switched to a bobber nymph rig as the sun came out and the fish stopped chasing streamers.
I have been fishing a mono rig for most of my streamer fishing the past few seasons. This technique has benefits such as a better connection to your fly, easier to move the fly with the rod tip, and the ability to fish undercut banks better than a fly line. The mono rig consists of 30ft (ish) of 20-30lb monofilament. I then attach a tippet ring and a few feet of 2x tippet to which I attach the fly. I prefer to cast a fly line, but learning a new technique has been fun. I fish this setup on my 10.5 ft Echo Shadow 2 4wt.
My bobber nymphing setup is nothing special. I use a standard taper leader of 9ft 3x, attaching two nymphs by the eye of the hook. I prefer fluorocarbon tippet when nymphing and ensure my flies are on the bottom. I use weighted flies or split shots to keep the flies where the fish are nymphing. My go-to bobber stick is a 9ft Sage Pulse 6wt.
This fall, I had a blast testing flies on the educated trout in the Yellowstone Region. A few flies I have fished for years continued to produce, such as a girdle bug, jig bugger, and bruised balanced leech. Though a few flies new to me produced very well, which included the bouface leech and Rickards stillwater minnow. Here are a few of the flies that worked best for me this fall.
What I Learned
A few things come to mind when reflecting on what I learned this fall. The fact that some rainbow trout spawn in the fall, the importance of crayfish in a trout’s diet, and how early brown trout begin to migrate to their spawning rivers (sometimes as early as late August).
However, what stood out to me and what I spent the most time on was how different hooks performed on the water. Hooking and losing fish is inevitable in fly fishing, especially when using barbless hooks. Knowing this, I was still having trouble landing fish on specific hooks. After losing a few fish that could have been some of the biggest brown trout I have ever caught, I set out to change how I tie my streamer patterns and the hooks I use.
The fly I use the most in the fall is a heavy jig wooly bugger that emulates a sculpin or crayfish. Historically, I have tied it on a size one Ahrex 90-degree jig hook, and it has performed relatively well. With that said, I have had some concerns. I felt the long hook shank, heavy bead, and condensed hook gap led to more fish shaking the hook. It is common for large, long shank hooks to come free as the trout twists and turns, especially with a heavy bead.
I wanted to solve this problem but keep the same length of fly. I decided to tie an articulated fly with a similar jig hook as the front hook and a smaller shank hook as the back. I cut the hook off the front jig hook to keep the fly a single hook for fishing in Yellowstone and the fish’s health. These changes gave my jig buggers a slightly different profile, more movement, and a stickier hook than before.
The difference was night and day. I was able to hook and land many more fish after making the change, fishing with much more confidence.
This is a lesson in understanding how every piece of gear we use plays into a successful day on the water. As do-it-yourself anglers, we want all the factors in our favor, especially when targeting large trout. The hooks I use are one of the most critical items in my arsenal, and I encourage you to give your hooks the same priority.
What Left Me Curious?
Should certain rivers or sections of rivers/lakes be closed during the trout spawning season?
Spawning closures are a topic I pondered this fall and want to learn more about. What goes into determining if a river or section should be closed to spawning, and why isn’t it done more often? How do spawning closures impact the trout populations, fish health, or overall fishing for the angler?
Fishing during a trout spawning season can sometimes feel weird and messy on the river. Some redds are apparent, and it is easy to see if fish are on them, but some are not. I wonder if there are many more redds in some rivers than we can see, and we are fishing over them and justifying it since we can’t see them. Should these areas that trout consistently use to spawn be closed for a short period? I don’t know, but I catch myself wishing they were sometimes.
I am not against fishing for trout during their spawning season (read my article on spawning here), but I would like to learn more about how management views this topic. I can’t help but wonder why there aren’t more closures on certain sections of rivers known for high spawning activity to protect the trout during this time. If it is open, it will get fished. It’s as simple as that.
I don’t know if this would help the population, but it would at least take some responsibility and trust from anglers and make it a law we all must abide by. I know plenty of fisheries that shut down during the spawn here in the West and wonder what goes into deciding which ones remain open. I think fishing closures provide a healthy break from angling pressure when fisheries close, whether for spawning or not. I will not name the few fisheries I have in mind, but I wish certain rivers were entirely closed to allow for the trout to spawn and provide a break from any angler pressure.
