[ARCHIVE] Stillwater River Report 4/27/2020

Stillwater 4/27: The river will likely spike and add some color with warmer weather this week. Cooler temperatures and cloudy weather the end of the week should clear things up though. Flows on the lower river are plenty high enough for floating if the clarity is there. It’s always a good option to go above the Rosebud confluence for wade fishing if the lower river is off color. A smattering of March Browns have been appearing and should only get thicker with slightly warmer water temperatures. The same with the caddis. There are scads of caddis nymphs in the rocks just waiting to start to emerge. Fishing a caddis nymph as a trailer fly isn’t a bad idea. Nymphing has been productive with everything from a girdle bug or stonefly pattern, to san juan worms and small beadheads like a red copper john, optic nerve, batman, North Fork Special, Lil’ Spanker or midge patterns taking fish. A beadhead poxyback March Brown nymph should also be fished now. For streamer fishermen, the Grinch is always #1. Tie a nymph of some sort off the back as well. The number one March Brown dry fly pattern is Trina’s Carnage Drake March Brown in size 14. Get out and hit it now as things are not likely to hold up once we get a sustained shot of warm weather, particularly nights, or rains set in.