All the Buzz

Fishing the famous spring caddis hatch.

If you took a poll of fly fishermen in southwest Montana, asking what their favorite hatches are, you would hear stories of giant salmonflies that even the most wary brown trout can’t resist, or accounts of rainbow trout rising from crystal-clear water to smash hoppers on the Yellowstone. While all that can be plenty enjoyable, there’s one hatch that will constantly be mentioned, though maybe not on top of the list: the Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch. Indeed, it’s a sight to see, and quite frequently will make the river boil with trout taking big leaps to snatch bugs out of the air.

As the sun gets higher and water temperatures start to rise in the spring, caddis start to move along the river bottom. Then, once the river consistently reaches 50 degrees every afternoon, the bugs begin to pop. This typically happens around the first few weeks of May, depending on how warm the spring has been. During peak hatch, clouds of caddis are so prolific that they seem at times to block out the sun. Even opening your mouth can be a dangerous task.

Look for fish concentrated around the banks, as the adult caddis rest on tree branches and other tall grasses during the day.

While all of our local rivers have caddis hatches, the Yellowstone and the Madison are the best producers. On the Yellowstone, however, May is also the beginning of the low-elevation snow melt, and without a dam to control clarity, timing your trip is important. Check with a local fly shop for river conditions before heading out. Conversely, on the lower Madison, water temps and clarity are relatively constant, making the hatch more predictable. The Madison is also a relatively shallow river, making it easier to walk and wade than the Yellowstone. Additionally, there’s an ample amount of public land bordering the river, providing a chance to get away from other people.

On both rivers, you can catch fish on caddis imitations throughout the day, but the best time to find risers is in the evening—specifically the last two hours of daylight. Look for fish concentrated around the banks, as the adult caddis rest on tree branches and other tall grasses during the day. As sunset approaches, the bugs fly to the water’s edge to lay their eggs—but are often gobbled by hungry trout in the process. A favorite evening fly setup is a dark olive or black elk-hair caddis, with an emerger tied off the back. Just be careful, though, or you might become one of the crazy few who would rather fish Mother’s Day Caddis than the famed salmonfly hatch of southwest Montana.

Cody Ristau is an avid outdoor enthusiast. He has spent the last ten years in the Gallatin Valley, and spends most of his free time bird hunting with his two labs or on the river casting a line.