[ARCHIVE] Yellowstone River Report 5/11/2020

Yellowstone 5/11: The river has still been running off color through Columbus. Colder weather has brought clearer water up river, so there may be a window of fishing to be had before runoff is here to stay. If there’s a foot or so of visibility on the edges, it’s enough to fish. Most anglers have been streamer fishing. The Grinch allowed to sink and stripped slow has been the ticket. Trail a beadhead nymph of some sort off the back as well. For nymphing, try a Pat’s rubber leg, girdle bug, pepperoni yuk bug or dark stonefly pattern with a smaller beadhead nymph like a poxyback march brown, hare’s ear, prince, batman, optic nerve, or pheasant tail, midge or Lil’ Spanker as a dropper. March Browns have been showing up most afternoons if it’s not too windy. Don’t hesitate to throw a dry fly in likely water or on the clearer edges even if there’s no apparent activity. A purple haze, march brown, small stimulator or jack cabe with a caddis pupa nymph dropped off the back is a good setup. The river is unlikely to completely clear up from here on out, but if fish can see them to key in on them, anglers should be able to get fish to eat the Caddis.