PAY THE MAN!
AUGUST 2024
UPDATED 8/22/2024
I hope everyone is having a great start to the school year just as we are having a great start to the hopper season. The hopper bite has been progressively getting better all over the river. I’ve been throwing hopper-dropper, hopper to an ant, or just a single hopper all by its lonesome. The fish are all over the place this time of year. My advice is to really focus on reading the water and finding a seam that is deeper or moving slower and throw that thing in there! Also, try it all. Try the #14 hopper, try the #10, try the yellow, the tan, the pink, etc. They are all working, you just gotta keep with it and good things will come your way. P.S. Don’t forget to hold your mouth right.
The valley and the town of Ennis are in great shape this week. The city itself is still cranking along with folks driving to Yellowstone National Park or to the Madison. Restaurants and bars are open everyday with live music on the weekends. Our fly shop is open everyday as well! With the rain last week the valley has cleared up and has had little to no smoke and the mountains are glistening. With the cooler temperatures from all the storms last week the river has also dropped with flows out of Hebgen at 883 CFS causing Kirby to run at 976 CFS and Cameron 1130 CFS. It’s getting shallow out there, but we are still running hard boats and rafts all over the river.
As always our shop in downtown Ennis is stocked to the brim with flies so don't be afraid to swing by and check them out for yourself. Also feel free to swing by the shop for a more in-depth and up to date fishing report or general fishing advice. Just a reminder as well it is now barbless hooks only from Varney bridge to the Lake so pinch those barbs. Enjoy the warm weather this weekend and be safe out there!
Streamers: Dolly Lama, Lil Kim, Screamer, Trevor, Dungeons, Peanut Envy, Sir Sticks A Lot.
Dry Flies: Thunder Grass Hopper Mcknight Goldenrod, CFO Mini Ant Brown, Edible Emerger Olive, Missing Link Caddis, Dornan's Water Walker Royal, Dornan's Water Walker Pink.
Nymphs: Pat's Rubber Legs Olive, Yellow Spots, TBH Jiggy Duracell Brown, Jig Formerly Known as Prince, Olsen's Hare's Ear Blowtorch, #4 Rubber Leg Black, #16 Gold Lightning Bug, Chartreuse French Dip, CDC Hustler.
- MTS Guide Nicko Opinsky
