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Hebgen Lake Fishing Report The Hebgen Lake fishing report is an annual report on what you can expect each year. As a primer to the Hebgen Lake fishing report be sure to review our Outside Yellowstone Directory - Hebgen Lake for equipment and techniques. This report is up-to-date on what's happening with one of the finest dry fly lakes in the world. (For more in-depth information on fly fishing Hebgen Lake go to Hebgen Lake in our Outside Yellowstone Directory) Recent years, due to dam repairs, have reduced winter lake levels dramatically. This has eliminated vast areas of winter nurturing habitat for many of the aquatic entomology. As a result, many of the epic Callibaetis spinner falls that was once common on a typical summer day, is now meager in comparison. The winter lake levels during 2015-2016 were not as severe. There were far more spinners, however, after many years of absent spinners, it usually takes a few years for the younger generation trout to become conditioned (gulpers) again. The last 5 years or so, I've also witnessed an influx of novice and guided fly fishers turn what was "the world's greatest dry fly lake" into just another bobber lake. Judging how most of the western rivers are now fished, it seems this trend is here to stay. If you are into the bobbering scene (you know if you are), then no need to continue reading the following babble. If you're an experienced angler, a little inside tip, nobody is impressed on how many fish you caught (indicator fishing), it's how you caught it. It's a Skillset thing. In other words, two fish on the single dry fly is far more impressive than six fish blind cast bobbering. The better Fly shops and guides would never tell you this, they work hard and need to make a living and have more empathy than me. Midges Now let's go to the midge report. As soon as the huge Chironomid emergence begins the fish become very active. These post spawn rainbows are feeding in less than 1 foot of water all along the north shore of the lake however if it's a low snowpack year and they raise the levels, the beds will be too far out and deep to fish. As always, 20" rainbows and browns are common. Midge adults and pupas are the patterns of choice. The fish feed throughout the lake. Midge emergence begins around 10:30 am and working trout start to pod up. Chasing these pods are best accomplished from a boat (with an onboard electric) or pontoon. If you find fish consistently rising then go with a Midge Emerger dry fly pattern. Keep your casts ahead of and in front of the fish. You must quarter your cast to the incoming fish. Casting from behind or even from the side of the fish is futile. If your cast is 1 foot off target, they will not go out of their way. The early season chironomid is a size 12 then by July they can be down to a size 20 in the main body of the lake (in the arms, the midges are usually a #16). When the fish get selective in a size 20, it's usually over open water (20 plus feet) it is here where you can use long leaders and 6x tippets. Be careful on the take, in fact, don't strike - more on this technique later. The main body of the lake is best during the spring. Your best access is either the north shore or west shore of the lake. Rise forms will begin around 9:00 am and last until early afternoon on any calm day and will begin again around 7:30 PM till dark. On calm, overcast, rainy days you can cast to pods of rising fish all day but be prepared to chase them down. During the hot summer months, if it is foggy and/or drizzly, a size 18 or 20 midge emerger is absolutely deadly and there is no need to cast further than you can see. June Callibaetis If you do your homework you'll have about 4 hrs of Callibaetis Emerger action. This is the one and only time of year where the trout are the least selective especially if it's overcast, drizzle or a bit of chop. On sunny days, is when it gets difficult. When you encounter a Callibaetis emergence, cloudy or sunny, you must have patience. These fish are not Gulpers. Again Gulpers are either midge adult/emerger or mayfly spinner feeders. Obviously, you must lead your cast however, it is a little difficult to predict the trouts rhythm if they only rise once. If you're fishing flat water, you must leave your dry fly Emerger on the surface and lift your rod tip very slow or retrieve your line just enough to create the slightest ripple wake. Where most fly fishers fail is casting too much. Nobody's around to see how far you can cast, nor does anyone care. If you must impress yourself, do it on your lawn at home. If you want to catch trout taking Callibaetis Emergers, quit playing fly fishing "Whackamo" and leave your damn fly "on the water" until you have a guality target. Why is this important? These trout are feeding on random Emergers with abandon...no rhythm. The good news is you don't have to be as accurate as later in the season. Again leave the fly on the water and these fish will eventually find it, if you have a clean target, go for it. Remember Callibaetis Emerger feeders are looking for active bugs so give it a nudge. For anglers that prefer to employ the dry/dropper technique, you will find more success in the Grayling Arm. The Callibaetis nymphs are more active for a longer duration in the Grayling Arm and casting distance and accuracy is not as critical with this method. July Callibaetis and Tricos By mid-July, along with Callibaetis, the first of the Trico clouds appear. These two super hatches will continue right on through September. Along with spring midges, the Tricos train Hebgen Lake fish how to become gulpers. The Tricos give the early bird anglers a reason to arrive early on the lake. When fishing the Trico hatch, the fish tend to be very selective. Tippet is not the problem (5x will work fine), as long as the fish see the fly first. Your casting has to be "dead on" and your fly pattern has to be a perfect match. The most important thing to remember when fish are rising all about you is to place a good cast ahead of the fish or pod and leave it. Try not to flock shoot or flail away. This just educates the fish that are already educated enough from pelicans and other birds of prey. Always try to be stealthy when casting and picking up your cast - don't water spray right over working fish. Using the correct Trico pattern is even more important than Midge or Callibaetis patterns. Usually, with a Callibaetis pattern, the fish can be further away due to the larger fly pattern plus the fish have a larger window to see that pattern. All this provides for 2 or at most 3 (cringing!) false casts however with Trico feeding fish, the patterns are much smaller (size 18-20) so you must get a lot closer, stay low and be very accurate. The problem will be, at such a close range, you cannot make many false casts without spooking the fish, remember all it takes is to spook an individual fish and the whole pod is gone. So choose or tie a Trico pattern that does not soak up a lot of water and requires minimal casts. Use good floatant. Hebgen trout generally do not prefer Trico spinners. They prefer duns or spent adults with upright wings. August - Mid September Gulpers is too general a term. It doesn't explain what the fish are taking. Nose sippers are on spinners or duns. Aggressive takes are on emergers. Tailers are on subsurface nymphs, One-timers are taking emergers or subsurface nymphs and head and tailers can be on both nymphs and duns and those fish are opportunistic and easier to catch. While on the subject of rise forms, try to pick out consistent rising fish - fish that rise more than twice are usually in a solid feeding pattern. If you can, make a longer cast (60' plus feet) and really lead them. If their timing is off and miss your fly, you'll be able to get another shot at them as long as you let them pass and you pick up without spooking them. This is why a longer cast is so much fun because you get multiple shots at good working fish. On the other hand, staying low and waiting for the fish to get within an accurate casting range is always the safest and practical way to catching these fish but it's not as challenging. I see far too many anglers that are impatient and cast way too much (I've been guilty a time or two). There are times when the fish are in such a frenzy or there are so many targets that it doesn't matter but usually all you're doing is spooking pods of fish and that can get quite frustrating. Recommended patterns in chronological emergence: Midges - Midge pupa's,
Hebgen Midge Emerger
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