Every year beginning in September fly fishermen from all over the country start to show up in West Yellowstone, Mt. to begin their assault on the upper fourteen miles or so of the Madison River located mostly within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. They are drawn there by the migration of brown and rainbow trout making their way from their summer home in Hebgen Lake to their spawning grounds in the Gibbon, Firehole and upper Madison Rivers. Most of the fish will range in size from 16 to 18 inches but there will be a fair number of trout in the 19 to 22 inch category and a few really big ones that will top 24+ inches. Every year a couple of lucky fishermen manage to catch a true fish of a lifetime that measure in the vicinity of 30 inches. The largest I have ever heard of caught was a big old male brown trout that measured in at 32 inches. It’s the opportunity to catch one of these beauties that really fuels the mania that is fall fishing on the Madison in YNP.
Many of these fishermen will be fishing streamers using techniques learned from steelheaders. There will be plenty of guys using big nymphs on full sinking lines. And, over the past couple of years, I have started to see a few spey guys and some Czech nymphers too. The fish start to show up in the river as early as late August and fishermen will pursue them throughout October and into early November when the park closes. All this is great fun and adds a late season boost to the fly shops, motels, restaurants and saloons of West Yellowstone. Myself, I like to chase these fall runners in a much different way. I prefer to pursue these fish with dry flies. Any overcast day during this time of the year will find me heading into the park in search of late season baetis hatches and rising fish. Many of the fish running up from the lake will feed freely on these sometimes prolific fall hatches. I believe that these fish are well programmed to feed on the surface because they are exposed to some great hatches out in Hebgen Lake. Midges, callibaetis, damsels and dragons, PMD’s, tricos and prolific ant hatches are at one time or another available to the fish that inhabit the lake. So, when they move up into the Madison in the fall, if they are exposed to a good baetis hatch they will take full advantage of the situation. The great thing I have found over the years is that almost all of the fisherman on the river in the fall are chasing fish using techniques that crowd them into a handful of spots along the river leaving large sections of the river empty and available without crowding for myself and a few others who choose to take advantage of some great late season dry fly fishing. I’m talking about challenging dry fly fishing for quality fish. These fish have been pursued all season so they are battle tested veterans that are not easy to fool. For the most part you have to bring your A game when you are after these fish. You have to be able to make accurate casts with long leaders tapered down to fine tippets with, size 20 to 24, adult baetis imitations. And, most of the time, this has to be accomplished in less than ideal weather conditions. The challenges will be great but the rewards will be well worth the effort. There have been many a late season day when I have caught more and bigger fish than my streamer/nymph fishing friends who overlooked the obvious and continued to pound the water with subsurface techniques while there were quality fish rising all around them.
Tags: Fall Fly Fishing in Yellowstone National Park, Fly Fishing in Yellowstone National Park
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