May becomes June and that means Summer! Outdoorsmen are warming up for an amazing year.

Mother’s Day Caddis are a fun hatch for trout fishing. The evening hatch along the Madison and Yellowstone River can make you hold your breath for fear of choking on the clouds of bugs. For the fish, caddis becomes what is for dinner. Try fishing a double rig of Caddis dry flies. Make the top fly larger than the bottom one. Goddard Caddis float like a bobber and the x-caddis makes the perfect terminal fly. This double presentation is hard for the trout to resist.

Melting snow will make for waters that are muddy, cold, and high. Eventually the waters will get slower, lower, and warmer. Until then try fishing trashy and flashy flies or spinners. Bait works well since fish have a great sense of smell and an abundance of worms will be washing into the rivers. Hopefully the melting runoff will be slow and steady so that the rivers flow all summer long.

Match the massive hatches as they show up. These magnificent dry fly hatches are influenced by temperature. As the water flows slow, they get warmer and signal the time for hatches to emerge. If trout are feeding on the surface, the rivers are clear enough to fish. Trout must eat so they are masters at finding food year around. The Baetis mayflies emerge late morning until later afternoons. March Browns and other bugs do the same. Caddis arrive most evenings. Continue using a double fly presentation making sure that you get smooth, drag free drifts. Any drag on your flies will result in a trout refusing your tasty imitation morsel! Also use desiccant powder to dry your flies as they become wet. Rinse the fly taken out of a trout’s mouth to remove any saliva. Now use the desiccant fly float powder.

Moisture from the melted snow is a huge part of the season. Farmers have planted their fields and need the rain, melting snow, and irrigation from our full rivers. Homeowners are fertilizing their lawns and preparing their gardens

More Sun and longer days are arriving. Make sure that you consider great polaroid protective eye wear. Sun tan lotion will also keep your skin protected. Trout fishing and outdoor fun can last late in the evening. Fishing the hatch after 10PM will become routine. Campfires will take off the chill after the sun sets.

The Magic of Montana really blossoms this time of the year. Spring/ summer flowers emerge and bloom. The wild critters give birth to offspring and our Montana world comes back to life. This rebirth also enriches us and reenergizes our outdoor spirits and mood.

Make time to play!

Montana Grant

For more Montana Grant, visit his blog at www.montanagrantfishing.com.