"It's a game of inches..."

I just returned from fishing my way to eastern Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota.

I enjoy spending time in the turkey woods and on the prairie this time of year. Pasque flowers dot the pine hills and pincushions and phlox litter the prairie floor. The sounds of male sharptail and sage grouse whopping it up on their dancing leks trying to attract females to mate with echo off nearby buttes. It’s a great way to spend some spring time in the woods and on rivers not far from our Yellowstone country home. I do this not because I find fishing or turkey hunting so terribly important, but because I suspect to many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant, and not nearly as much fun!

The turkeys cooperated by coming to our soft-quiet calling from slate, box and mouth calls. Patience was key too, we had to wait it out on a couple big birds who took as much as an hour to travel a short distance to our location.

Taking big trout required patience too, and figuring out what the fish were rising to.

BWO (Baetis) Mayflies.

Midges and Midge shucks.

By doing what the river told us and with careful observation, proper presentation, and the right fly patterns, those with trailing shucks, fish rose to imitations of tiny midge and BWO (Baetis) mayflies. Best dry fly patterns were Zelon and Scotty’s Midges and BWO Sparkle Duns, #20-22. Like my good Colorado friend, talented guide and angler Pat Dorsey says, “It’s a game of inches where everything has to come together. Fooling your opponent is the icing on the cake…”

Nice brown taken on a Zelon Midge #22

If you love Montana’s native and wild trout make sure you are a current member of Montana Trout Unlimited.

This organization is keeping our politicians and appointed officials honest at this critical time in native and wild trout management. There’s been attempts to do away with current stream restoration and native /wild trout enhancements projects within our state. Science is taking a backseat to political agenda. Montana Trout Unlimited is our watchdog. Support them now like you’ve never done before. We cannot afford to compromise what we’ve long fought for. Stay informed, write letters and comment on these proposals. Let’s continue to fight the good fight to protect-restore and enhance all the great work that has been done in the past and into the future to keep Montana’s native and wild trout programs the world’s leader in fisheries management. Support Montana Trout Unlimited today! Thank you.

Big brown taken during BWO emergence with #20 BWO Sparkle Dun.

WINTER MIDGES

I am a luck fly fisherman. I live in Yellowstone Country, and I fish the waters surrounding the Park more the 150 days per year. Most fly fishers are not clued into midge fishing, which is too bad. Year in and year out, midge activity provides the area’s finest dry-fly fishing, and it happens over a longer period of time than any other insect emergence.

Perfect winter midge weather on the Madison River.

The short introduction above is part of an article I’ve written for the April-May 2021 issue of Fly Fisherman Magazine. This article discusses successful strategies for Yellowstone’s longest hatch, winter midges.

Please continue reading my article by subscribing to Fly Fisherman online (subscription link at top of page) or pick one up at your nearest fly fish shop, sporting good store, or grocery store around the country. Or if you prefer, you can download the Fly Fisherman app on your smart phone and subscribe there to receive Fly Fisherman news digitally.

Below are a few photos of fishing Yellowstone’s longest hatch. As always, thank you for your continued interest in Yellowstone Country and Fly Fishing with Craig Mathews. Hope to see you in Yellowstone country!

Sneaking on trout rising to midges.

Madison rainbow trout on Zelon Midge.

Winter midge pupae shucks.

Note shucks on emerging midges.

Spring creek rainbow taking midge pupa in drift.