What a bittersweet time of year. It is beautiful to see the leaves changing colors and feel the brisk morning air, though it means the end of another summer fishing season here in the Greater Yellowstone Region (GYE). I realized this last weekend when wet-wading in Yellowstone. The air temperature that morning was 37 degrees. I tend to stretch the wet-wading season out as long as I can, but I was shivering by mid-morning.
A few people have asked me how my summer of fishing was in the last few days. I can’t quite come up with an answer that satisfies how good of a summer it was fishing-wise. Not just because of the fish I caught, but the people I fished with and the memories we made.
The long winters make you grateful for the few months of wet wading and foam bugs. This summer was no exception and had a few unique characteristics that made it one of my favorite summers since moving to Montana. From epic hatches to oddly cool weather, here is a summer fishing recap from my perspective.
Summer Fishing Recap
Summer seemed to take a while to start here in southwest Montana and the GYE. We experienced cool weather throughout June and consistent precipitation that seemed to last all summer. I remember shivering while waiting for the green drake hatch to start, wondering why I didn’t bring waders. Again, stretching wet wading season as long as possible.
My summer was focused on dry fly fishing and it started with great mayfly hatches. The early season blue wing olives, green drakes, and pale morning duns were stellar because of the cloudy weather we experienced. This is when I caught some of the most beautiful brown trout of the summer. Because of the cool weather, the mayfly hatches lasted much later into the summer than in previous years. No one was complaining.
I missed many of the great stonefly hatches we had during early summer. While I had a few good days on salmonflies, I didn’t chase the hatch this year. I don’t regret it as I had great dry fly fishing on other hatches, but what amazing bugs they are to witness. Every year I tie up my stonefly boxes thinking I tied my flies too big, only to realize I don’t have any flies big enough.
If you read my recap for the spring article, I mentioned the next few months of summer were going to be epic. Let me tell you in hindsight, they were even better. Water temperatures stayed cool and flows remained elevated going through July. This made for plentiful hatches, fat fish, and many happy fishermen.
July brought warm weather and the backcountry began to enter its prime season. I spent a few days camping in the backcountry with a great fishing buddy of mine. Looking back on the summer, this was my favorite trip of the year. I highly recommend planning a backpack fishing trip each summer to take a few days to yourself out of cell service.
The weather began to dry throughout July and we entered our prime summer season. With so many blue ribbon fisheries in the area fishing at their best, choosing a location for a weekend fishing trip was hard. My goal was to explore new water this summer and spent many days exploring Yellowstone National Park.
With a diversity of fly fishing opportunities, stellar sight fishing, native fish, and abundant wildlife, Yellowstone is everything I look for in my fly fishing trips. I spent a total of 17 days fishing the park’s famous and not-so-famous waters. Words, videos, or pictures can’t show or describe how amazing of a summer I had fishing in the park. Experiencing some of the incredible fisheries and hatches that I have been reading about all winter long.
What stood out when fishing in the park this summer was the bug life. The diversity of insects on the water was astounding. This made for some challenging yet unbelievable sight-fishing opportunities for the park’s native fish. I’m grateful for the time I got to spend in the park this summer, but I’ve only scratched the surface of the many fishing opportunities it offers.
The end of July brought some of our warmest weather of the summer. While it was an unusually cool summer here in the Greater Yellowstone Region, we did see a few hot spells. With this came our first hoot-howl restrictions of the summer. It was time to get on the river early, watch water temperatures, and practice your best fish handling practices.
This can be a tough time of year to fish. However great fishing remains if you find cool water and get creative. I spent this time venturing to the high country fishing the alpine lakes and small streams we have in the area. Small stream fishing is a rewarding and relaxing experience. My desire for a 3wt grew as I realized how much fun I have on these fisheries.
Fortunately, hoot owl restrictions were not as big of a problem as they have been the last few years. While most rivers experienced high water temperatures, they did not last long. Both the anglers and the fish were happy with the cool summer temperatures and beautiful afternoon storms.
The first week of August brought some of the coolest weather I’d seen in the summer months. We had a few rainstorms and cool weather with highs in the 60’s. Surprising for that time of year. As you can imagine, it made for some epic fishing. The amount of big fish pictures I saw during this time was absurd. It made for my personal best Westslope cutthroat.
As August went on into September, we got the splendid late-season dry fly fishing you can expect in this area. Hoppers, beetles, and ants put many quality fish to the net. The hopper fishing was some of the best I’ve experienced landing many of my biggest fish during this time. This stellar terrestrial fishing lasted well into September as we had some beautiful weather.
I spent my late summer throughout Yellowstone, Eastern Idaho, and Wyoming casting hoppers to native cutthroat trout. Wyoming was stunning. I spent four days exploring it with my fiance and fishing aside, had an unbelievable time.
A few other highlights of the summer included my biggest golden trout to date, a few new fishing buddies to share the river with, and a few after-work trips that exceeded my expectations. Not to mention the amazing views, wildlife, and friends that made these trips so much more special.
There are just too many stories and talking points from this summer to fit in one article. The many fishless days over the years learning this region of the world are beginning to pay off, and I caught some unbelievable fish this summer. But most importantly, I shared great memories on the water with inspiring people. I appreciate the many anglers I got to share the water with this summer, as they truly made it one to remember.
I also want to give thanks to you for taking the time to read an article of mine or consume some of the content I’ve shared over the summer. This was my first summer running this blog and I still don’t know what I am doing. Just learning as I go and enjoying the process of documenting this period of my life. I hope you have enjoyed it as well.
Now, are you as excited about fall fishing as I am? We will have plenty of time to rest when the snow falls. Until then, let’s keep the momentum rolling.
My Setup This Summer
This summer was one I committed to fishing dry flies. Excluding lake fishing, I can count the amount of fish I caught on nymphs or streamers between June and mid-September on one hand.
The Orvis Helio 5wt 3F was my go-to rod for dry flies this summer. I used two reels paired with different floating lines for different scenarios. My Orvis Hydros reel had a 5wt Scientific Anglers Trout taper fly line. I used this line when fishing long leaders to spooky trout, or when I planned to fish small dry flies.
My Lamson Remix had a 5wt Scientific Anglers Infinity Taper. This line casts like a dream on the Helios 3F and I highly recommend it as an all-around line. I used this line for my dry-dropper fishing, specifically during stonefly hatches or when prospecting with a hopper. The line is a half-size heavy which turns over bigger flies much easier than my trout taper line. This combo gave me great versatility when dry-fly fishing this summer.
My leaders rarely went under 9 feet long, with my average leader length in the 10 ft to 12 ft range. I continued to play with my dry fly leaders throughout the summer and have a lot to learn in this area. However, I seemed to air on the longer side and believe it significantly improved my presentation. I hope to improve my skills with longer leaders (15ft+) in the future as I came across a few scenarios that required a stealthier presentation.
Below are a few pictures of my most productive dry flies this summer. I fished a few new patterns this year and it paid off. It’s funny how your go-to flies of previous years slowly vanish as you continually look for the next new fly. I’d be happy to tie a few of them up for you this winter, just let me know.
What Did I Learn?
Fly fishing means so much more to me than catching fish. Part of the fun is to learn new techniques and develop as an angler to ultimately catch more fish. But this summer, I realized how minor the fish catching is in why I enjoy fly fishing and what motivates me to do it.
In a year that has been particularly hard for me and my family, fishing kept me sane. I realized the reason I strived to fish any chance I got this summer wasn’t because I wanted to catch fish, but to free myself of some of the pain and voices in my head. Healthy or not, fishing was more of an escape this summer than it ever has been. I’m grateful to have a passion that is so consuming and freeing at the same time.
I also love being in nature, and fishing is my excuse to do so. I remember many times this summer taking a break from fishing and sitting on the bank. Trout not only live in some beautiful places but very diverse ecosystems with so much going on. I enjoyed taking a break to take in the views, inspect the bugs, feel the sun, and be present in some of the best trout country in the world.
Fishing meant something different to me this summer, and I know the reason I fish will evolve as life does. Whatever it may be, it will never be solely about catching the fish.
What Left Me Curious?
I had multiple anglers mention to me that the average fish size this summer was bigger than they have experienced the last few years. I’m curious why that could be, and if it is a good thing or not.
Many factors could be at play. My first suspicion is the cool, high flows we experienced this summer made for ideal trout habitat and abundant hatches. Tons of food in the water and a longer feeding window due to cool water temperatures may be contributing factors. I also wonder how big of a role winter flows played in this equation. Or maybe there were fewer fish per mile this year and more food to go around for the fish. There could be many reasons why anglers saw this trend this year and the answer depends on the river.
Anglers are happy when they are catching bigger fish, but is this a good thing? This trend seemed to be more prevalent in certain watersheds, a few to name would be the Yellowstone River, Big Hole River, and the rivers throughout Eastern Idaho. These watersheds have been dealing with water quality issues or flooding in the past few years. This has had an impact on the fish populations and spawning success. The big fish may be surviving, but how is the younger age class of trout doing?
This has been on my mind as I know a higher concentration of big fish in a system is not necessarily a great sign for our rivers. I’m interested to hear if you experienced the same trend or something different. Feel free to share your insights or opinions on this topic.
