[ARCHIVE] Stillwater River Reports 08/26/19

The river continues to fish well, with suitable flows for floating below the Rosebud confluence. The upper river above Absarokee is bony and will be a tough float and is recommended to be tackled only by experienced oarsmen. For the wade fisherman, head up above Absarokee where it’s much easier access. With cooler mornings, fishing usually picks up by mid to late morning and on into the afternoon. Nymphing is a good way to go early, or use a long dropper with a beadhead nymph like a pheasant tail, copper john, batman, or prince nymph off of a searching dry fly pattern like a Jack Cabe, PMX, Stimulator, or Purple Haze. By late morning, fish are looking to eat the small dry fly on top. Smaller dries like a PMD, Caddis or purple are working well in the afternoon. Look to fish smaller hopper patterns too like a Fat Frank, Yeti, or Yellowstoner or Schroeder’s in peach, pink, grape, tan or olive body colors.