Jefferson River Fishing Report 9.14.14 (by FishTales Outfitting LLC)
By angelamontana

Posted: September 15, 2014

FLOWS:

  • Twin Bridges 742 cfs
  • Silver Star 573 cfs
Dan shows off his catch. A beautiful pre-spawn brown sporting his fall colors!

Dan shows off his catch. A beautiful pre-spawn brown sporting his fall colors!

VISIBILITY:

Slightly green but good at 3 feet. Some moss as usual.

CONDITIONS:

The Jefferson River is currently flowing fairly stable and at a great level. The Jefferson River’s brown trout are in their aggressive, pre-spawn stage and the rainbow’s are trying to gain weight, eating hard in preparation for a long winter.

Jack with a healthy Jefferson River rainbow!

Jack with a healthy Jefferson River rainbow!

DRIES: The dry fly bite has been hit and miss. Still some fairly good Trico hatches in the am. We are seeing Beatis in the afternoons and you can expect to find fish rising to them along inside edges and foamy back eddy’s on cloudy days. Hopper/dropper in the afternoon on warm days.

  • Try a Celophane or Poly wing Trico spinner, Parachute Trico Dun size #20-22.
  • Parachute Trico cluster or Griffith’s Gnat size #14-16.
  • Parachute BWO’s, CDC BWO Emerger’s, Purple Haze, Parachute Adams size #18-20.
  • Try a Morrish Hopper, CFO Hopper, Clodhopper, or
  • Panty Dropper Hopper in tan, yellow, pink or peach size #8-12.
Charlie and a nice Jefferson brown!

Charlie and a nice Jefferson brown!

NYMPHING: Nymphing under an indicator with two flies is going to be your best bet if the sun is shining. Concentrate on the riffles and deepest buckets and you’ll find fish. Keep your leader short and mend with a rhythm to make your fly jump and fall a little, like a swimming crawdad.

  • The banks are still littered with Nocturnal Stone Fly shucks so a Pat’s Stone is my go to first fly. Try a Pat’s Stone in brown, olive, tan or black and brown size # 4-10.
  • Crawdad’s are a mainstay for trout on the Jefferson River.
  • Try a Green Goblin, Moss Back, Turkey Back, or Son-of-Crazy Dad in brown, olive and tan size #8-12.

STREAMERS: The streamer bite has been good on cloudy or foul weather days. I like a fast strip and pause technique to get the trout to respond aggressively.

  • Try a JJ Special, Crystal Bugger, Trick or Treat,
  • Zuddler, Zonker. Wooley Sculpin’s,
  • Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow size #4-8
  • Checkout my Top 10 Streamers for SW Montana.

For more information on the Jefferson River and guided fishing on Montana’s Jefferson River please contact Fishtales Outfitting.

fishtales

(Report by Michael Stack – FishTales Outfitting LLC)

New Podcast!

Riley's Meats - Butte Wild Game Processing