The Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley has been fishing very well during the last week. Though the river is slightly off-color, levels are great for this time of year (currently 4,250 cfs at Livingston). I've been trying to rest my back after a recent injury, so I've been wading the river lately, not rowing it.
Slower water adjacent to riffles has been holding the most fish, but I've caught some rainbows in the riffles too. BWO's, some small black stoneflies, midges, and a few caddis have been hatching. Before the fish begin rising in the afternoon, I've been fishing the standard springtime Yellowstone River fly tandem: a size 14 attractor nymph (I've been using a Psycho Prince) below a size 10 rubberlegs. And I've caught fish on both flies. The trout appear fat and healthy, and I've seen enough whitefish to believe that they are also doing well. Hopefully, the PKD outbreak that killed so many whitefish a couple years ago is now just a bad memory.
In addition to the great trout fishing, Paradise Valley has been hosting another miracle of nature this week: the annual pronghorn antelope migration. Just like robins and mountain bluebirds, when the pronghorn arrive at our place, I know spring is really here. Last year we were able to watch a female pronghorn give birth in one of our fields. Very cool. We look forward to seeing these animals every year. Our dog, Olive, even enjoys the show. She lays on the porch and just watches the pronghorn from a few feet away. They don't seem to care she's there--probably an insensitive act of fat-shaming from the antelope--but Olive seems to enjoy what we call her antelope t.v. program.
