While it is currently snowing as I write this blog post, it is safe to say we are finally seeing spring fishing conditions on many of the famous waters here in the Yellowstone region. If you live in the area, you know it has been a cold, snowy winter compared to the past few. This made for less-than-ideal fishing conditions many days over the last few months but should lead to some amazing water conditions this summer. Here is a recap of the 2023 winter fishing season from my perspective
While I love fly fishing in the winter, I did not get out as much this winter as in previous years. This is due to learning a new job, studying for exams, unforeseen family troubles, and many days the weather made for unfishable conditions. That being said, I still got out my fair share of days and had a mix of epic and not-so-epic days.
In November and December, I spent many days on the ice rather than the river. I am not that passionate when it comes to ice fishing, but I do appreciate the change of pace and newness it brings after a full summer with a fly rod.
This ice season was special to me, as I had some amazing days of fishing and bonded with new and old friends. Many of the lakes iced up quickly due to cold temperatures, which allowed for some great first ice fishing. The highlight of the winter was catching my personal best trout in this region of the world, a 26-inch cutthroat-rainbow hybrid through the ice. Truly a special fish and a memorable day. The ice got thick by late December, and the motivation to go out with my hand auger dwindled. I put away the ice fishing gear and switched back to the fly rod.
I spent my time on the local tailwaters between days of ice fishing. We had a few stints of extremely cold weather which made for some intense ice jams in our freestone streams (even sections of our tailwaters at times). I remember many days looking to fish for a few hours in the afternoon but coming straight home due to ice floating down the river. Maybe I had forgotten how much of a problem this is but was very surprised at the number of times I left the river without rigging a rod up. Despite the rough winter, it was amazing to get out on the water to find solitude and a river teeming with life.
This winter was mainly a nymphing game for me, as I only had a few days with good enough weather to find rising fish. I usually use euro nymphing techniques in the winter, but due to the wind and urge for something new, I often found myself fishing a bobber.
I did have a few epic days on midge hatches, which may be my favorite hatch to fish in this area. I say that now, but don’t be surprised when you talk to me in mid-June and I tell you it’s the green drakes, or in August when I say it’s the hoppers. I just love what’s fishing and when I can fool them on a dry fly.
As March rolled around, we got a slight relief from the cold, and the water temperature began to warm. This got everybody away from the vise and out fishing for a few days. It made for some amazing late winter fishing conditions and I filled the net with a few quality fish on dry flies and streamers. One of the few times of year Montana offers stellar dry fly fishing with few crowds.
Though higher flows than last year, the Missouri River produced some amazing nymphing conditions and I had a few stellar days out there over the winter. The Madison is always a good bet, and as water temperatures warmed the midge hatches were in full force. This provided excellent dry fly fishing and I had a blast headhunting trout rising to midge clusters. I also explored some sections of water I had never fished and was surprised at the size of the fish found.
My goal for 2023 is to get out of my comfort zone and explore some new areas. This winter I got out and explored two new streams or sections of the river I’d never fished. This yielded some great fishing and was just is so fun for me to go into the unknown and find success.
I’d say the fishing pressure in the region was average based on my experiences. Winter is rarely that busy, and I enjoy the solitude. I never felt crowded or like I couldn’t find a spot to fish this winter. Many of the anglers I’m surrounded by experienced solid fishing this winter as well, though the weather made it hard on all of us. Post-holing through a few feet of snow just to fish at 20 – 30 mph is obviously not ideal. I know there were plenty of days I opted to stay in and tie flies rather than bear the wind, and I’m sure other anglers felt the same way. Summer will be here eventually…
Snow Pack
This winter has left us with promising snowpack levels for this upcoming fishing season here in the Greater Yellowstone Area. With the last few years being hot and dry, this is exciting for all traveling to and living in the area. Current snow water equivalent (SWE) percentages are well over 100% in the Madison, Gallatin, Yellowstone, and Henrys Fork watersheds.
While we don’t have a full picture of what water levels will look like (April, May, and June are very important), we expect many reservoirs to fill and provide colder water conditions than in previous years.
With the colder weather and snow we have seen, it is lining up to be a weird spring and summer. At least compared to the last few years. I am expecting everything fishing-wise is going to be a tad later than in previous years. We are already seeing this for our spring hatches and many of our lakes still have a ways to go before we can get out there to fish ice off. It will be interesting to see how runoff plays out this year. We hope to get a constant warming and steady melt into the summer, but you never know. Another year of flooding would be the worst case.
Like many anglers, I am getting anxious for these spring/summer fishing conditions to come into full swing, but I’m also grateful for the winter we have had.
My Setup This Winter
I explored the mono rig this winter, which has recently become a hot topic. Check out the TroutBitten blog as he goes into great detail about the effectiveness of this setup.
My nymphing setups consisted of 15ft to 20ft of 10lb maxima chameleon to 3 ft of sighter line. From there, I did a few feet of 4 or 5x tippet based on water depth to two nymphs, one tied on the tag of a surgeon’s knot above the point fly. My top nymphs this winter included the olive bullet, pink frenchie, pats rubberlegs, and three-dollar dip. I mainly used my 10.5 foot 4wt Echo Shadow 2. I put an indicator on this setup when the wind was strong.
The dry fly setup I used was simple. A standard 9ft 3x leader with a few feet of 4 and or 5x attached. My leader length fishing midge hatches is usually in the 10ft to 14ft range. This was fished on my 5wt Orvis Helios 3f with a Scientific Angler Trout taper fly line. The only midge pattern I fished this winter was a griffiths knat in size 16 or 18, and it was not suprising how effective it was
I did not fish streamers much this winter, but I used my Echo Shadow 2 and a long monofilament leader when I did. I experimented with a 30ft mono rig consisting of 20 pound maxima ultragreen to 5 feet of 2x tippet. I attached a variety of jig wooly bugger patterns and jigged them through the deep runs. It was very effective when I gave it a try.
What I Learned This Winter
While I learned many things this winter, I found the key takeaway from this winter season was the versatility of my 10.5 foot 4wt.
I used this rod almost exclusively this winter and discovered the many situations it provides value on the water. While I have always used euro-nymphing techniques with it, I had rarely fished a bobber on this rod. The added length made it easy to keep a connection to my indicator and follow it through the run allowing a drag-free drift. I was then tighter to my flies so my hook sets were more effective and came tight to fish more often. When casting across multiple currents seems, I could keep my line off the water or easily mend if I needed to keep the drift. This was a game changer when it came to nymphing rivers like the Madison or Gallatin.
I also used this rod for streamer fishing, which I never would have guessed I’d be doing when I purchased it. This long rod combined with a mono rig casts medium-sized streamers with great accuracy. Putting my flies in tough-to-reach places and using the long rod to move the fly put many quality fish into the net.
I also used it for jigging streamers, which has been popularized by many competition anglers in recent years. This was perfect for those slow, deep runs trout congregate in the winter.
As the summer gets closer, I am excited to explore this rod’s versatility with dry flies and dry dropper setups.
What Left Me Curious This Winter
How many fish is enough? I pondered this question many times this winter.
The trout congregate in the winter, so if you find one you can usually find many. I had a few days where I caught my fair share of fish and hit a crossroads where I asked myself if I kept fishing or move on.
The difference was the threshold for when I felt satisfied was much lower this winter. This created confusion in my head with one side saying I should make the best of the day off and catch more fish, and the other side being satisfied with the couple of trout I was blessed with and move on to new water or go home. Overall, the need to catch as many fish as possible dwindled this last winter and I began to enjoy the way I caught them more than ever.
I know we are all in different stages of our fly fishing journey and have different perspectives on the sport. I’m sure I’ll still have days when I enjoy and feel no guilt catching as many fish as I possibly can. This winter was different for me though, and I wondered what made me feel this way.
Some days I almost felt guilty, as I wondered if I was taking advantage of low winter levels to catch all the fish in one run. Am I, combined with other anglers, putting excess pressure on these fish when they are relatively vulnerable? Probably not, but I couldn’t help but have these thoughts this winter.
These thoughts led to me getting off the river earlier, fishing many runs for less time than I could have, and being satisfied with the overall experience rather than the fish caught. Honestly a very relieving experience compared to some days I’ve had in recent years.
Have you ever felt this way? Maybe I am overthinking it but I have been curious about this topic lately and wondering where it comes from. I’d love to hear your input.
I hope your winter fishing adventures yielded some great fish, and I know we are both as ready as ever for another summer season in one of the fishiest places on earth. Stay curious fellow anglers and have a great spring on the river!
