Western Drifters Outfitters

Montana Fly Fishing June Gear Up

2009-06-12T13:22:00.005-06:00

Hello folks and welcome to Western Drifters Flyfishing Outfitters June Gear Up. In our 25th Year of flyfishing Montana waters and our 18th season of outfitting, we welcome the opportunity to show you our favorite waters and fly fishing spots on various rivers, creeks and lakes.

Lately we have been splitting our time between private spring creeks and lakes in the Paradise Valley and the Missouri River at Craig, MT. June through early July on the Missouri is hard to beat. Early June starts with outstanding nymph fishing transitioning into great caddis and PMD fishing as the month progresses. Great scenery, hot rainbows and big browns make for a great fishing trip.

Early July through September finds us back in Yellowstone country with lots of options. Salmon flies on the Yelly and Madison, floating smaller scenic and fishy tributaries and spring creeks on fire with PMD's finally moving to hopper fishing on the big rivers again. October brings back mayfly hatches to almost all of Montana's waters.

Western Drifters 18th Season is on! We would look forward to helping you arrange your Montana Fly Fishing Experience. We can give you options for lodging from your basic hotel to elegant river side lodging. We employ seasoned, professional guides who are committed to meeting your needs and providing an enjoyable experience.

Once again we are off to the rivers to "Fly Fish the Best of the West" and we would love to have you come along! Feel free to contact us at westerndrifters@gmail.com or call Tony direct at (406) 223-7364 for rates and availability. Call soon as we are booking daily and good luck fishing!

2009 Season

2009-02-02T15:39:00.013-07:00

Hello and welcome to the 2009 edition of the Western Drifters Blog. First of all thanks to every one that helped make '08 another great season of fishing, laughs and memories.

Lots of traveling to the Missouri and Madison in June and July gave way to finally fishing the Boulder and Yellowstone in July and August. An overall great season with some old friends

and of course some new ones.

The '08 season saw a lot of young people and children enjoying the opportunity to learn about flyfishing and catch trout. With a lot of decrease in youth involvement in outdoor sports, we at Western Drifters encourage you to take a kid hunting, fishing,hiking, skiing etc.

Here are a couple of tips that will help insure a quaility experience.
First pick a time or place that will insure success. This may mean paying to fish at a fish farm for the younger ones, or picking a good hatch period or even hiring a guide. I know that last line sounds like a pitch, but often a youngster will respond to someone other than Dad or Mom when it comes to learning something new or even listening to intense instruction for the older ones. I cannot tell you how much of a difference it made having someone else teach my children to ski and how much faster they learned when I wasn't instructing. Keep an eye on the time and have snacks. Small doses will help keep the interest up and food or their favorite snack and drinks are huge. Finally, no pressure. The "out of doors" is a varied and distracting place at times. What started out as a fishing trip may very well turn into a frog catching trip or just an exploration. So when Jr. starts using his Snoopy rod as a weed wacker hand him a stick and stand back. Of course, you will be safe and it won't always be a smashing success, but sometimes it will. Plus what you thought was a complete flop just might turn out to be the "memory" that lasts.
Looking forward to more fishing and fun with you all. We at Western Drifters can provide for your Montana fishing experience no matter the time of year that you can visit. Drop us a line at tony@westerndrifters.com or call at (406) 222-7364. We would love to see you in our 18th season of Fishing the Best in the West!

Most Asked Question

2008-02-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hello and thank you for viewing the Western Drifters Blog. Remember, you can contact us at tony@westerndrifters.com. It is early February and the skiing is fantastic. This means we should have a good water year and quality fishing. Even though it is winter, it is time to start thinking of fishing. (I know this because I have been having fishing dreams lately) :)

In my line of work I get a lot of questions, most pertaining to fishing and some not. However, probably the most asked question is:

When is the best time to come fishing in Montana?

Now the "wiseacre" answer would be "Any time you can get here!". Truth is, there are many "right" answers to that question. Here is my take on the "BEST" times to fish Montana waters. (I have omitted Nov-Feb as they are extremely weather dependent here. Most of our trips this time of year are from folks who find themselves in Big Sky Country hunting or skiing and want a little fishing thrown in).

PRE-RUNOFF/MARCH/APRIL/MAY
The general best time to show up in Yellowstone Country pre-runoff is the last two weeks of April to the first week of May. Our hatches on the Yellowstone and surrounding rivers are building to a crescendo with the famed Mothers Day Caddis Hatch coming right before runoff (Yellowstone and Lower Madison). Because of the ever unpredictable weather/runoff it is a good idea to be flexible. A good backup are the Spring Creeks of Paradise Valley and there are a few private lakes to choose from as well.

MAY/JUNE
May brings high water to most of the states' freestone streams and rivers. This is when we hit the tailwaters. The nymph fishing in May is typically excellent on the Missouri (our favorite Montana tailwater) as well as the popular Bighorn River. We are still fishing the private waters as well. The last week of May through June marks what we consider to be the "BEST" time to fish the Missouri. The great fishing results from a wave of insects (PMD's and caddis), rising water temps and hungry rainbows in need of a big meal to accomodate their rising metabolism. This can be truly "EPIC" fishing. Rising fish, incredible nymph fishing and, if you could bring yourself to remove the dry fly, some great streamer action as well. June on the Mo, hard to beat!

JULY/AUGUST
As The first week of July hits, the water temps on the Missouri start to climb. By the middle of the month the action takes on a more average tone. This is when we turn our attention back to the Longest Free Flowing River in the United States. The Yellowstone River. Sometime towards the last week of June and the first week of July the river clears. It is high and teeming with stoneflies. This is the big bug, the Salmon Fly. What a lot of anglers don't realize is that this is the start of the most varied hatch period of the year. No less than four sizes of stonefly blend into three sizes of caddis that blur into three different mayflies. This time of year is also great because we have many different rivers to fish, including the Madison, Boulder and Stillwater. All this plus the Spring Creeks are going off with PMD mayflies. Mid July typically marks the start of the good fishing in Yellowstone Nat'l Park (YNP). July hatches fade into August hopper and terrestial fishing on the big rivers and YNP. THIS is why July and August are the "Best" time to be on the Yellowstone and surrounding waters.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
September finds us still hanging around the Greater Yellowstone area. YNP is still fishing and some of the wade fishing on mountain creeks cools us on hot afternoons. The hopper fishing fades into a combo of terrestrial/mayfly hatches in late Sept. The waters all over the state are cooling and hatches are starting up again. During late September and October we split our time between the Yellowstone Area and the Missouri. Again, if you can clip off the dry flies and nymphs, you can have some great streamer fishing.

These are general guidelines as weather and other things can effect all fishing. However, in writing this we have come to the conclusion that the "wiseacre" answer is indeed correct. It seems that good fishing blends from one river to the next seemlessly throughout the year, so the best time to come truly is whenever you can! We are confident at Western Drifters that despite the time of year, we can show you a quality fishing experience and catch you at least a fish or two and probably more. Please contact us at (406) 222-7364 or tony@westerndrifters.com with questions or to book for the 2008 season and feel free to leave a comment concerning this blog.

Summer Fishing

2007-06-20T14:49:00.000-06:00

Greetings from Big Sky country and Western Drifters Fly Fishing Outfitters. This is the summer fishing report starting on 6/21. We are eagerly awaiting the famed emergence of the Salmon Fly on the Yellowstone River near Livingston, MT. The fly fishing on the Yellowstone is gearing up and we are seeing no less than 3-4 sizes of caddis, 3-4 sizes of stoneflies and mayflies as well. The fish are happy and eating well. Flows are low and the water is very clear so the dry fly fishing is excellent. Attractor dries and dropper rigs are deadly right now. It is hard to tie on a streamer right now with the dry fly being so effective. However, if a fly fisherman can effectively work a streamer or girdle bug it could pay off with the fish of the year even lifetime. (rumours of a 30" fish are floating around).
The Madison around Ennis, MT is very low and a little difficult to float. The Salmon Flies are out and on any given day the fishing is good. Large dries and attractors as well as black and gold girdle bugs should be effective. This hatch bring the fly fishers from all over so expect company.
Our(Western Drifters)very favorite tailwater, The Missouri at Craig, MT is fishing very good as well with caddis and PMD's for dry flyfishing and pheasant tails and caddis pupae for nymphs.
This is the time of year when it is hard to flyfish on any of our creeks and rivers without having good fun and possibly great fly fishing.
The Spring Creeks in Paradise Valley south of Livingston are starting to fish well with PMD's coming off at 11:00 a.m. on most days.
If you are a fly fishing enthusiast and need some help figuring out where to go or are interested in getting together with one of our professional fly fishing guides feel free to contact us at tony@westerndriters.com. All of our guides are knowledgeable, courteous and are excellent fly fishermen themselves.
Get out and enjoy some of the best fishing of the year and we at Western Drifters wish you good fishing and lots of fun!

2007-05-10T16:39:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome to the first update on the Western Drifters blog. We have just finished the 2007 version of the famed "Mothers Day Caddis Hatch". Due to an unusually early start to the runoff (a 70 year record high for that time of year) the hatch was short lived and somewhat spotty. Having said that many fisherman experienced great fishing with nymphs and dries. Only a couple of days included the "carpet of caddis flies". So many insects that wading fisherman had caddis in their shorts and floating fisherman's open sodas became "protein drinks".
Now is the time that we are scrambling a bit to find clear and fishable water. However, we are not without options. The world renowned spring creeks in Paradise Valley are always a fun and challenging option as are a few of the area lakes.
One of our favorite road trips is to the Missouri River below Holter Dam at Wolf Creek, MT. The fishing for hot rainbows and large browns will continue to get better as we progress towards summer.
Another excellent spot and a veritable fish factory is the Bighon River below Yellowtail Dam at Fort Smith, MT.
Until the runoff starts to subside, the local feeder creeks open (3rd weekend of may) and Yellowstone Nat'l Park fishing opens, these are the waters that we fish. Not a bad time to get some yard work done as well. (that's what Ive been told).
If you need info about guided trips on any waters mentioned feel free to contact Tony@westerndrifters.com. We would enjoy the opportunity to show you the waters and environments that we love.

Welcome to Western Drifters Outfitters

2007-02-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

Livingston, Montana has become known as the "Mecca" of fly-fishing, thanks to the movie released in the 1990s entitled "A River Runs Through It". With the beautiful scenery, serene setttings and abundance of trout, it truly is a memorable fishing experience.

Fishing with Western Drifters Outfitters will only enhance your fishing trip. Tony hires the best available guides and provides a delicious, satisfying lunch for all full day trips. Check with us for the updated prices.

Visit this site regularly for updates from Tony on his thoughts or his latest fishing expedition.

Sign up for our email list for other updates as well.

We sincerely appreciate you visiting us and look forward to seeing you as together we fish the best of the west.

Sincerely,

Tony and Karilee