[ARCHIVE] Stillwater River Report 05/20/19

Colder weather reduced the snow melt and dropped the flows. It’s still high with some color. If there are heavy rains this week, flows will spike again. Runoff is likely here to stay. In off color water that’s not too high and dangerous, try nymphing with black, brown and coffee colored rubber leg patterns like girdle bugs and Pat’s rubber legs, as well as similar colored stonefly patterns along with a beadhead trailer fly like a prince nymph, hare’s ear, batman or pheasant tail. If flows climb and clarity worsens, a san juan worm, rubber leg, or black bugger fished on the edge is a good tactic. For streamers in off color water, use a color contrast of darker color patterns like black buggers or the Grinch either dead drifted or stripped. The river is likely to soon run too high and off color and will be best to just stay away from it in those conditions and look for smaller tributaries, tailwaters and lakes.