In the beginning of September Dan Greene and Jeremy scored some huge fish with their own tied Sculpin patterns. That was the beginning of our September fishing adventures.

We have seen a lot the first half of September, from gorgeous chamber of commerce days to a substantial snow storm, and great fishing … Lots of great fishing and some challenging fishing. It’s been a bonanza for fishermen of all ages and skill levels, from seasoned veterans to young daughters on first fishing trips with their father.

We enjoyed a number of friends who came by and chatted flies, shopped, and fished. It’s an awesome time of year to be on the river. Fishing has been mostly a meat and potatoes pattern for the fall, with most action coming on streamers, mostly sculpin patterns in black and olive trailed with small nymphs, including Lightning Bugs, Delektable Little Spankers, Prince Nymphs and a variety of Caddis and mayfly patterns, among others.

The weather has played a big part on the action. Streamers being best during overcast conditions. There also continues to be dry-fly action, with some fish being taken on Hopper patterns, but more consistently with Parachute Adams, Purple Haze/Craze, and Renegades in larger sizes. Fish in front of rocks, behind rocks, in the fast water, and in the slack water. Put movement on your streamers and sink them low. Make sure your dry flies float and you’ll do fine.

Twitching the dries can be good as the trout like to be teased. For the big fish hunters out there, big articulated streamers have been catching some nice fish. The Delektable crew have been tying some pretty dramatic articulated streamers. You should stop by and check some of the patterns out.

To be more specific about the past couple weeks, some days have been really good for some and challenging for others switching back and forth from day to day. There have been days when nothing has worked at all and you could get skunked, there have been days when nothing works all day and then you get one really nice one at the end that makes it all worth it, and then there are the days when you can’t keep fish off the end of your line. Isn’t that what fishing is all about?

But then again, that is usually the tempo during late August and early September. Here at Beartooth Flyfishing we have had boats going out almost every day with all of the above results. No matter how good you are on the stick, some days the Madison will put you on the short bus to school. We have had an epic dry fly stretch here the past few weeks with caddis, ants and hoppers.

The Purple Haze along with good ole Adams has been killer lately in sizes 10, 12, 16, and 18. Funny yes, for some the big sizes were better and for others the smaller ones were better. There have also been some big October caddis flying around down near town. So, if you are down that way you’ll want to throw some bigger caddis patterns underneath for sure but maybe on top also.

PMX’s with the Delektable Limejuice would be a great hopper-dropper combo with the nymph being the Caddis Nymph. The ant bite has been off and on as it usually is. Some really nice fish have been caught on the size 16 and 18 Delektable ant in red and black. The Chubby Chernobyl has been a very good attractor as well as a great fly for the fish to eat still too. The best color has been the royal, but the tan ones have been turning and pulling some nice ones too.

Try a few different small sizes of the chubby if you can. We have started tying some of our own with Mr. Delektable’s direction. Streamers have been working as usual here.

As we get into late September and October you will start to see those browns turning darker and pairing as they move a little to go up and spawn. Your basic colors are olive, black and white, but don’t be scared to throw some different than normal streamer colors at them. Of course the Delektable Double Screamer has been good in Black and Olive, a favorite for this time of year. Some of our crew personally like the olive/brown/yellow combo lately. The Sculpin streamer called Trevor has been a hot pattern these past couple weeks so far with a number of guides enabling the catch of the most and biggest fish. He comes in olive, black and natural here at the shop.

The Zonker in Copper with Natural has continued to be good insurance fished on a dead drift or with a bit of action but always with a nymph below it imitating either a Caddis Nymph or with a prince or a PT. Have fun fishing!

The Delektable Crew

 These past few weeks have been pretty good here on the river with the Fully Wild groups and the Girls Gone Wild groups. We have gone through a whole bunch of bugs since the last report.

The spruce moths and nocturnal stones were a minute ago but still get a fish to come up every now and then if ya twitch it and tease ‘em just so :). We now have hoppers and flying ants in the mix of caddis and various mayflies. Some of the patterns that are working for hoppers are the Brown and Tan and Brown and Yellow Fat Albert sizes 12 and 14. The flying ant is working in red and in black.

Our favorite patterns here of course are Dan’s Delektable Flying Ant in both of those colors. Purple Haze and Adams dries in sizes 16 and 18 have been good for the spinnerfall in the late afternoon and/or evening. Beetles and different terrestrial patterns have been working for others when nothing else seems to be working.

In the nymph world caddis case patterns seem to be ruling the ruling the roost. Green Delektable Spankers size 14 have been a real good one for some while just plain pheasant tail case patterns have been working others. The Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear nymph has just been HOT lately in sizes 14 and 16. Dan’s Delektable Little Spankers in almost all colors have been working well to in the 14, 16 and 18. Lighting Bugs are still getting people some nice fish as well as Shop Vac style flies such as the 3 Dollar Dip.

This past weekend on Saturday and Sunday the weather was really good if you love to fish streamers in the rain and nasty weather. Some nice fish were caught on some bigger articulated sculpin patterns by some people we know around here. Black, Olive and Yellow/Brown/Olive are some hot colors that got some beautiful fish very recently. It is thought by some or most that August is the slowest month for fishing around here, but I encourage everyone to think outside the fly bin and try something you haven’t ever tried/tied before and you might be surprised :).

Yellow jackets, mice, and yes, even frogs have been working in August to pull some beauts out of their comfort zone. Well, that’s it for now from the ol’ Tooth! Happy fishing!!!

DanG

This past month we had a fun little in-shop employee challenge to see who could catch the biggest fish during the course of the month. Check out our crew!!! What this did, most of all though, was get everyone out on the river a little more than they usually are. There were many fish caught and there are lots of great pictures to see from our crew. This July worked out perfect with ALL the bugs hatching during the stretch of the month, even the nocturnal stones started working at the end. It was an awesome July! The salmonfly hatch was really good and almost all the big fish that were caught were on the big dry. The bugs we got to see this month were as follows: Salmonflies, Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, Bomber Caddis, Caddis of all sizes and colors, PMDs, Callibeatis, Green Drakes, Hoppers, Ants, Crane Flies, Epeorous, Spinners, Flavolinias,  and Nocturnal Stones!!! And there are some I missed I’m sure, but the point is, there were lots and lots of bugs! The streamer in the middle of the salmon fly hatch was outstanding also. John Gardner came in on top with the biggest fish of the month measuring 22 inches brown and also a nice 20 inch brown, followed by Dan Greene with a 21.5 inch brown and two 21 inch browns. Not far behind were Daniel Johansen and Hannah Holst with some really nice 21 and 20 inch browns. The deal was you had to get a picture of it and measure it with another person or a picture of it against your rod if you were alone. We also let in a special guest, Jim Dawson, with the biggest fish of the month, a 24.5 inch brown and a 23.5 inch rainbow sweeping the scores!!! See you in again in September Jim! All in all, the month of July was just killer! We hope you had a great month also and we hope to see you all in the shop this month!!!

Happy fishing!!! Beartooth crew

The fishing remains good. The hatches continue to be Caddis of several sizes and varieties, Mayflies, PMD’s, Sally’s, and a few reports of Spruce Moths and Hoppers. The rusty PMD’s and Flavs are a regular thing.  The nymph action has become smaller in size lately. The fish are still eating the dries but seem to like the nymphs more regularly.

Mice are still not

working well on the  Madison, but world-record sized sculpin patterns have caught some big fish! (See Pictures for Confirmation) Small caddis and PMD nymphs have owned the game on the river for the most part, however. Pearl lightning bugs, flashback pheasant tails, shop-vacs, soft hackle hare’s ears in sizes #14-#18 have been working well. Of course, the fish change their food preferences from day to day and even hour to hour, so it’s helpful to stay on top of these changes.

If you were looking to fish larger dries during the day, the Fat Albert (Yellow/Red Thread) in #12 and #14 have risen lots of fish in the last week and caught several nice ones. Other dry options would be a parachute adams in gray, purple haze, and of course, the Delektable Halo Caddis!

Dry Fly action has been better in the evening as more and more bugs tend to come off in the afternoon. More importantly, it is high summer and absolutely beautiful in the Madison Valley.

The water is warm, wet-wading season is in full force, but make sure to wear your sunscreen and keep ice in your cooler! Nobody likes a warm beer…. Happy Fishing!

 John and Nancy