Yellowstone Angler reported that late August on the Yellowstone is essentially a game of chess played with drift boats and foam bugs. Carter’s is cruising along at 2,180 CFS with water temps swinging from 62.8 to 69.4 degrees, which means the fish are active—provided you’re willing to play the clarity game.
If you are pointing the truck upstream, you might want to reconsider your launch point. As the shop crew noted, “The river is more or less dirty from Gardiner to Pine and starting to get dirty above Carter’s.” Things clear up a bit downstream, though: “89 looked pretty green this morning but probably safest to float somewhere even further down low.” Find that green water, keep your eyes glued to the bank, and don’t be afraid to put a few extra miles on the boat trailer.
Subsurface junkies have plenty of options with heavy Tungsten Buggerlegs, Blow Torches, and Perdigons slicing through the off-color water. But if you insist on looking at a floating bug, you don’t have to give up entirely: “Hoppers haven’t been crazy, but we’re starting to see more and more hopper eats out there.” Add ants, spruce moths, and nocturnal stones to that roster, and you’ve got a recipe for convincing a stubborn bank-hugger to look up.
If heavy artillery is your weapon of choice, keep those Silk Kitties and Sex Dungeons handy. The pre-fall transition is officially underway, the streamer bite is waking up, and the late-summer brown trout are ready to scrap.
You can find Yellowstone Angler at 5256 US Highway 89 South in Livingston, MT, and you can reach them at 406-222-7130.
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