Spring is definitely here! Throughout the late winter and early spring the Yellowstone was fishing well one day and tough as hell the next. The midge and baetis provided many afternoons of great dry fly action though. The streamer fishing proved to be the most inconsistent, but with the cold water temps of early spring that is to be expected.
A few days ago the Yellowstone, as well as all the freestone rivers and streams, began to come up from low elevation snow melt. A few days of air temps in the low 70's really got things going. The good news is that the long range forecast is for a cool down and more precipitation. This will cut off the first stage run-off and stabilize the rivers.
All this can mean only one thing for the Yellowstone River: The caddis are coming! There have been a few spotted already, but the main event will be here soon, most agree by the end of April.
The Big Horn has been fishing extremely well all winter and early spring. The baetis are in full swing and the evening midge action has been epic. The flow is at 2,000 cfs and is expected to stay there for the foreseeable future. This is a very good time of the year to hit the Horn.