Bozeman

Hunting:

Next hunting seasons coming up….

• Pheasants Saturday October 12th
• General Antelope Saturday October 12th
• General Deer and Elk Saturday October 26th

Come in and check out our deals on all your hunting needs.

Make sure you check for wolf and bear closures in your targeted hunting units.

Region 3 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will host a non-trapper pet release workshop at its headquarters in Bozeman (1400 S. 19th Ave.) on Wednesday, October 2 from 6-7 p.m. The goal of the workshop will be to provide basic information about trapping, tips to avoid traps, and demonstrations on the operation of common traps with the option of hands-on practice.

Fishing:

Raining now and rain in the future forecast. Please be careful and make sure you are paying attention to the weather and especially the lightning when you are out.

UMR. Smaller dries like caddis flies and baetis are working on over cast days but the best option is nymphing and streamers.

LMR The time restriction has been lifted so the river is open all day. Streamer and nymph fishing is the way to go.

Yellowstone- Nymphing with rubber legs (black with olive legs and coffee with olive legs) and bed heads and streamer fishing

Gallatin River-. Ants on top and caddis and moth patterns are still effective on overcast days. Small nymph patterns are pulling in the most fish.

Great nymphs to use are san juan worms, copper bob green, red attractor, rainbow warrior, hare’s ear, prince nymph flashback, and MRE’s.

Butte

Hunting:

Upland game bird season including grouse and turkey, opened Sept. 1. Archery season hunting for deer, elk, antelope, black bear, wolf and mountain lion opened Sept. 7. The bighorn sheep archery season began Sept. 5.

Fishing:

Back country lake fishing has been exceptional in 5W Montana. Cutthroat Golden Trout, and Native Grayling are just a few of the Trophies you will encounter. SW Montana sports hundreds of areas lakes for your exploration and fishing adventures.

Terrestrials are a good fly to share when fishing these lakes as crickets, ants, bees, and grasshoppers are making good food. Due to the higher elevation, these lakes typically hatch aquatic insects later in the season when snows have melted and unless begin to warm. Small caddies flies, damsel flies, and Humpies tend to draw stink from trout inhabiting these lakes.

On the local scene, Maggots seem to be drawing the bigger Trout from Georgetown Lake this week, Glo hooks and other vertical jigs tipped with a maggot have been very effective.

The BigHole has slowed somewhat this week. Dark Olive or Brown Stonefly Nymphs fished in Divide Canyon have drawn the Brown Trout to fade. Smaller Caddis and Purple Haze Parachutes are effective means Jerry Creek access for Rainbows and Smaller brown Trout.

The Beaverhead River has been good fishing for all anglers. Panther Martin, Mepps, Rappala’s are good choices for spin fishing. Live grasshoppers , crickets, or night crawlers are excellent bait choices.

Recent rain in southwest Montana have cooled water temperatures and brought water levels up improve fishing conditions everywhere.

(Report by Ryan Corwin – Bob Ward and Sons; Cover photo: thefrogwater.com)