Spring 2017

with the Livingston area know that it can be a rather windy
location and there’s nothing more challenging than sight
fishing to selective trout when the wind is blowing upwards
of 20mph. Late winter on the Paradise Valley Spring creeks
isn’t always windy, but knowing how to pick the best day to
plan your trip is crucial to your fishing success.
Warm usually equals windy. While it’s certainly nice to take
advantage of the days that climb above 40 degrees, we’ve
found that these temperatures usually equal the wind speed.
So if it’s 50 degrees outside you’re likely to have 40-50mph
winds. Why? High pressure in the surround-ing mountains,
particularly in Yellowstone National Park can fall drastically
down to the lower pressure, narrow valley floor which acts
like a funnel. In turn this produces the unfavorable fish-ing
winds. Our suggestion is to watch the local forecasts from
the National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Association (NOAA).
They provide excellent, detailed local coverage of weather
and wind forecasts. We’d also recommend not choosing the
first or last day of a warmer series of days. These tend to be
the windier days as the front arrives or as it leaves. Ideally a
string of 4 or 5 days in the 30’s with light snow in the forecast
will give you the best opportunity to test your an-gling skills
on the trout rather than the wind. It will also provide some
overcast skies and in-crease the chances of steady hatches
of midges or mayflies.
Win the Cold War…
Now that you’ve made a best guesstimate on the weather,
being prepared with the right fishing gear will keep you on
the water longer. There’s nothing worse than getting frozen
toes right when the fish start getting active. While the water
temperatures in the Creeks remain relatively constant at
MONTANA FLYFISHING