Don’t worry, you didn’t miss it. There were plenty of bugs out the last couple of days, but no blanket hatch. And not a lot of great fishing with caddis dries. We predict that the bulk of the Mother’s Day caddis hatch has yet to occur. The $10,000 question is, when? The cool weather over the next few days should put things on hold. It’ll start warming up again on Thursday, but the nights are still predicted to be pretty cold. So as to when the water temperatures will get back up to caddis levels, maybe Friday, maybe Saturday…. And there’s the question of clarity. It’s a bit colored-up right now, but as long as we don’t get too much precipitation, it should clear up over the next couple of days.

All that said, I’d plan to get out this weekend. You might see caddis, March Browns, even a few straggling baetis. For caddis dries, Bloom’s Parachute Caddis in dark olive is a great pattern. It rides low, but is still very visible, even in the foam. You’ll probably want to run a caddis emerger as a dropper. For the March Browns, try a size 14 Parachute Adams or, well, a Parachute March Brown. If you’re not fishing to actively rising fish, but still want to prospect with dries, try our Sweetwater McDougall and/or an Everything Emerger. You might find fish looking up even when there aren’t any bugs on the water. A not-too-heavy nymph on a short (18-24″) dropper off of a buoyant dry can also be effective. As for the nymph, there are any number of patterns that might catch the interest of a trout this time of year. But I’ll throw one of my favorites out there – the Anato-May Peacock.

Despite yesterday’s warm temperatures, there was no substantial spike in flows on the Yellowstone or the Lamar. So the water clarity should remain good today. The water temperature at Carter’s Bridge reached 53 yesterday afternoon. Getting awfully close to caddis temps. No reports yet of any numbers of the bugs, but it’s getting close. March Browns are out down low and should be moving upstream. Get a few Sweetwater McDougalls and Bloom’s Parachute Caddis and get out on the river!

The weather looks positively wonderful today, tomorrow, and through the weekend. Some wind in the Livingston area, but it shouldn’t be as bad up in the Paradise Valley. The Yellowstone River has been fishing well, particularly near town. The water’s still very low, but should get at least a bit higher with the warmer weather. Lower altitude snow melt might color up the water a little, but probably not enough to affect the bite. Most fish are still being caught on streamers and nymphs, with some baetis and midge action in the foamy eddies. But…. The water temperature at Carter’s Bridge hit 50 yesterday afternoon. A couple of stray caddis were spotted. The warmer weather could push the temperature over the “magic” 54 degrees. Does that mean that we’re due for swarms of Mother’s Day Caddis over the next few days? I predict not yet. But I could be wrong. Still, it’s time to stock up on dark-bodied caddis patterns. Don’t forget some emergers to drop off of your adult and some pupa patterns to fish before the bugs start emerging. The weather cools down again next week, so the river should stay in good shape for a little while longer. The age-old race between caddis and runoff commences! Don’t forget that March Browns should be showing up soon as well. The big mayflies can bring some nice trout to the surface. Try our exclusive Sweetwater McDougall in a size 14. Get out there while you still can!