A look at Slough Creek
Photo by Josh Almond

Introduction by Cam Coffin

September is all about terrestrial fishing as the river's aquatic insect life lays somewhat dormant. However, a few of our rivers do have good hatches, and let’s not forget the lakes as well. September is a month when the nights are just a bit chilly, and the chances to fish some unbelievable Baetis hatches grow greater each day. Flexibility is key, though, and streamer fishing can also be good, though this method really depends on the weather and how far along the trout are coming out of Hebgen to spawn. Typically, the streamer fishing really picks up at the end of the month; however, you can take some large trout on all sorts of subsurface flies, and nymph fishing is typically good all month long.

Over the past week we have had several folks come into the shop a bit frustrated about their fishing experience, and most of the time the lack of success has come from fishing a particular body of water at the wrong time of day. The time of day you choose to fish can be just as, if not more, important than the body of water itself. With the cold evenings that we experience throughout the fall, fishing hoppers in the early parts of the day when the water is still cold won't be as productive as fishing the same water with hoppers in the afternoon once things warm up. Seems simple, right?

While this can be simple, several other factors play into this, and one of the biggest is the weather. And not just the weather for that particular day, but the weather from the previous day also can play a role in your determination on what body of water to fish and what time to fish it. With this in mind, this is the time of year that splitting the day between a couple different bodies of water and being flexible makes good sense. For example, the fish are now starting to run from Hebgen up to the Madison in the park, and typically these fish tend to be a more active during early morning or late evening hours on a sunny day, but may remain active throughout the entire day under overcast conditions. On a sunny day, spending a few hours swinging, nymphing or streamer fishing in the morning in the park sections of the Madison, then making your downstream below Quake Lake for a bit of hopper fishing once the water warms in the afternoon will lead towards more success for the entire day.

During an overcast day, fishing the morning hours in the park sections still holds true, and your success in these hours will most likely determine whether you head elsewhere or stick around, since the swinging may stay good all day with cloud cover. Heading downstream in the afternoon to Raynold's or $3 Bridge, or upstream to the Firehole, on a cloudy day you wouldn't expect to see hoppers but rather Baetis, and in some cases, blankets of them! This is just one example, but there are tons of options and combinations of rivers and lakes to choose from during the month of September. Remember, we are always here to help you sort it all out, so stop on in or give us a call whenever you're looking for suggestions!