Solid Autumn Fishing Just About Everywhere

Snake River

BWOs and mahoganies continue to dominate, and October caddis are making their first appearance of the year. Although they are sporadic at best. Other caddis genera/species continue to migrate, making larva imitations very effective. Fishing is most consistent on the lower reaches from Wilson down to Alpine. Surface action starts around 11am most days but kicks into gear around 1:30pm. Submerged structure, riffles, and drop-offs produce early. Seams, eddies, and ledge rock pools join the former in producing in the afternoon. Look for the most intense surface feeding to occur along submerged structure close to banks with slow to moderate currents in the late afternoon hours – after 3:30pm.

Streamers are starting to produce in a way typical of this time of year. Moderately sized patterns are the name of the game. Fish these on floating lines or sinking tips in the INT to 3ips range and target deep runs off of banks, submerged structure, and seams primarily. Definitely vary up your retrieves and alternate (if fishing from watercraft) between downstream mends and upstream mends. Going slow with your line strips outperforms other presentations.

Dry flies – Mary Kays, Will’s Winged Chernobyl, Circus Peanuts, Tent-Wing Caddis, Goddard Caddis, Stimulators, Parachute Extended Body Mahogany Duns and BWOs, CDC Mahogany Duns, Tilt-Wing BWOs, Booty’s Mahogany and BWO Emergers, Films Critics, and Booty’s DL Cripple.

Nymphs – Rabid Squirrels, Duracells, Cyclops, Mercer’s Woven Caddis Pupa, Flashback Pheasant Tails, Military Mayflies, Egan’s Iron Lotus, Spanish Bullets, Lightening Bugs, Perdigons, Booty’s Day-2 Midge Emerger, and Zebra Midges.

Streamers – Craven’s Swim Coach, Mojo Minnows, Goldilocks, Sparkle Yummies, Booty Call Minnows, Coffey’s Sparkle Minnows, Lite Brite Zonkers, Arum’s Lil’ Kim, Craft Fur Clousers, and Kreelux.

South Fork

Flows from Palisades Reservoir are at approximately 2,800cfs. Surface action is good but production is coming primarily on BWO and mahogany dun imitations, both of which are emerging from around 11am until late afternoon, with the post-1:30pm period being most active (although there are days when high-to-low pressure transitions at the beginning of storm cycles when activity is far more persistent from 10am until 2pm). Target banks with slow currents, flats, riffles, seams, and side channels with slow currents. October caddis are around and their imitations can offer some fun dry fly fishing in the same water as BWO/mahogany patterns, as well as parallel drop-offs and submerged structure.

Streamer fishing is going in the right direction with moderately patterns working best when fished on floating lines and sinking tips in the INT to 6ips range. Submerged structure, seams, and troughs are hot targets. Lean in the direction of slow retrieves and throw in pauses in line strips from time to time. If fishing a floating line or INT tip, upstream mends can come in handy.

Dry flies – Tent-Wing Caddis, Stimulator-X, Parachute Extended Body BWOs and Mahogany Duns, Parachute Adams, Glar-a-chute Adams, Comparaduns, Chez’s Bi-Viz, Booty’s DL Cripple, Film Critics, Booty’s Mahogany and BWO Emergers, and CDC Mahoganies.

Nymphs – Duracells, Keller’s Peach Fuzz, Cyclops, Flashback Pheasant Tails, Military Mayflies, Dorsey’s Mercury Baetis, Flashback Serendipities, Devil Jigs, and Perdigons.

Streamers – Rustic Trombones, Goldilocks, Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow, Arum’s Lil’ Kim, Shaka Zulus, Chicklets, Booty Call Minnows, Craft Fur Clousers, and Marabou Muddlers.

Salt River

Good action on all reaches from around noon until 6 pm or so. BWOs and mahoganies continue

to rule the day when there are clouds and precipitation, while both, along with leftover infrequen

PMDs, are around in intermittent fashion on warmer, sunny days. The best action has been in

faster water types throughout the day, including riffles, seams, troughs, and banks. Expect almost

5-1 action nymphs to drier days and near even action on wetter days.

Dry flies – Mary Kays, Will’s Winged Chernobyl, Micro Bruces, Micro Peanuts, Parachute

Adams, Parachute Extended Body BWOs and Mahoganies, AuSable Wullfs, Royal Wulffs,

Booty’s DL Cripple, and Film Critics.

Nymphs – Rabid Squirrels, Keller’s Peach Fuzz, Duracells, Prince Nymphs, Flashback Pheasant

Tails, Military Mayflies, Egan’s Iron Lotus, Lightening Bugs, Rainbow Warriors, Frenchies, and

Perdigons.

Yellowstone National Park

Lewis Lake – Good fishing just about everywhere in the system with lake trout firmly on their spawning beds and browns staging, running, and pooling. Small baitfish imitations are outperforming just about everything else. Production can be steady from 8am until as late as 3pm. Cloud cover can help intensify this production quite a bit.

Yellowstone Lake – Challenging fishing but some days can be more than respectable. Baitfish imitations are the primary way to go. There is far more production on drop-offs compared to flats. Vegetation beds can definitely be worth targeting from the late morning hours – about 10am to noon.

Madison/Firehole Rivers – Fishing remains good in the system with surface feeding experiencing a noticeable uptick from around 11am to 5pm, with 12:30pm to 3pm being the sweet spot. BWOs and midge dominate the scene. Focus primarily on riffles, eddies, and seams, and at times, these appear to be the only waters with consistent action.