What a spring it was. Inconsistent weather, spring runoff, and unpredictable hatches. Sounds like a typical spring fishing season here in Montana. That’s not to say you can’t find fantastic fishing here in the Greater Yellowstone region. There is always something fishing in the area, it just takes some thinking out of the box. From spring snow storms to the first sight of big bugs, here is a review of my spring fishing in the Greater Yellowstone Region.
It took a while for spring to start here in Southwest Montana. While I tried to talk spring into existence by writing my winter recap, I may have been a little early. March seemed just as cold and snowy as January. Continued cold weather and snow lasted well into April. It seemed to rain every day since May 1st. And our higher elevations just recently got snow the week of June 19th.
This made for a great snowpack going into May, but warming temperatures and rain brought spring runoff. We have had what I would assume is a normal runoff for this region. Steadily increasing flows that have hung around to this day as I write this article in mid-June. No floods this year. We are all hoping this precipitation and cooler weather hold on and provide an epic summer of fishing.
I had my fair share of stellar and not-so-stellar days fishing this spring. That’s how the shoulder seasons can go, but I was blessed with some memorable fish. It started with a bang fishing the Skwala hatch on my first camping trip of 2023. A trip that made for some epic dry fly eats and hinted at what’s to be another great year of dry fly fishing.
The high didn’t last long as I was quickly humbled on a few tailwater trips. My yearly spring trip to the Henrys Fork was cold and the river was way behind schedule. Snow filled the boat ramps and instead of casting blue wings dries to rising trout, we bobber fished with few trout to hand.
April was cold and windy. I didn’t let the weather hold me back though by exploring some new water. This rewarded some great streamer fishing and the first blue wing hatches of the season. I also got my first float trip in 2023, though we barely made it to the boat ramp due to a blizzard. The big brown trout eating our streamers made up for the bad weather.
I then took advantage of the great fishing the Madison offers in the spring. March through May is my favorite time on the Madison and always try to make a trip or two out there. I had one or two good days of midge fishing, but other than that streamers and nymphs were in the name of the game. It’s been a blessing developing my skills on one of the most famous and productive trout fisheries in the world.
The famous mothers day caddis hatch was rather disappointing for many this year. Though there were a few good days, inconsistent flows made for less-than-ideal conditions. Many anglers reported lots of bugs but no fish rising to them.
The lakes ended up icing off quicker than I would have expected. By the second week of May, all of the lower-elevation lakes were ready to fish. This is the time of year I switch to our amazing stillwaters. Hebgen showed out this spring and I learned the effectiveness of sinking lines in lakes. I also explored Yellowstone Lake on my pontoon boat. A relatively new fishery for me. It led to a great day on the water resulting in my first few Yellowstone cutthroat of the year.
While I heard reports of busy boat ramps on the rivers with fishable flows, I didn’t have any problems finding a place to fish this spring. I almost had the opposite, being the only car in the parking lot or pullout multiple times. I still believe it is possible to find solitude and great fishing these days, no matter what anyone tells you. It just involves going out of your comfort zone and thinking differently.
Other than a few fish (maybe 3?) on a streamer, I’m proud to say every fish I’ve caught in June has been on a dry fly. Yellowstone Park opened for fishing memorial day weekend and has provided some phenomenal fishing. Higher than normal flows have kept the waters of the western side of the park cool. This made for prolonged hatches and many trout rising.
It’s my goal to spend lots of time in the park this summer, and have already fished five days with my Yellowstone fishing license. I’ve found some amazing dry fly fishing on waters in and out of the park over the last few weeks. The best hatches I’ve experienced so far include blue wing olives, pmds, salmonflies, and green drakes.
I spent the last few days of what is technically spring in this area of the world on the Henrys fork. I’ll just say, it left me speechless.
The longest day of the year has passed and we have made it to what I believe is the best time to fish the Yellowstone Region. Mid-June through the last day of July is lining up to be an amazing stint of fishing. The salmonflies have just begun on a few rivers and a smorgish board of hatches will follow soon. We still have cold, high water that should carry us through July with few issues. Yellowstone itself will only get better as the backcountry melts and opens up.
There is no place in the world I would rather be than the legendary fisheries this region offers. I hope you have had an amazing spring of fishing. I know it’s been full of big fish and fun times for many DIY anglers in the area. Don’t pull up now. It is only getting started. Stay curious and fish hard. The summer season is upon us.
2 thoughts on “Spring Recap 2023”
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Thanks for the support and reading the article! It means a lot John. 🙂
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