PerfectDrift

Thanks Phil, Is it correct then that flip side of this is that its going to take a very long time to draw down TRL from the 927' levels that its currently at?

Fished the catch and release area Thurs night from 4-7 and did well (by my standards). This was obviously before the last batch of rain but I really liked the conditions through the area. Good flow, very wadable (maybe a foot high), and although "off" color by RR standards it wasn't dirty just more cloudy. Fished a jig head egg that Jeremy Hunt ties and when I had the depth right which added additionaly weight to this already weighted fly so that it was ticking the bottom I could almost be assured of a hit for a good period of time. The problem is telling the difference between bottom and strike and if you guess wrong here you will be in a tree real quick. I was trying to due more of a wrist mend up stream on the strike which was resulting in less good sets for me (landed about 7 and missed that many in about an hour). When the egg turned off I fished a SJ worm (brown) and they liked that well also (about another 7). Probably third was the olive bh wooly that I was drifting and picked up a couple. I fished the worm as a trailer for a while behind a Y2K and didn't get anything on the Y2K but it might have gathered enough attention for them to turn onto the worm. Tried a midge trailer for awhile and didn't get any takers on that. Fished both 5X and 6X flouro on the main fly and tried a little 7X on some trailers but don't necessarily think it was needed.

What time does the lodge start selling the daily tags? I can't find that on any of the Mo State info. Thank you. Eric

Tim, Thanks for your constant help. What time does the park open to buy permits (just to confirm a person needs a permit in the catch and release zone during the regular season even if they carry a mo license and trout stamp)? Fishing doesn't start until 8:00 a.m. correct? Thank you. Eric

Fished the area for the first time last year and stayed in Big Sky. Very quick access to the Gallatin. Also drove to Livingston and took a guided float down the Yellowstone. Fished the Madison and Boulder while there also. Obviously the scenery is second to none but my favorite river to fish was the Gallatin. The fish were nice sized, fought hard, and weren't overly picky. I did not enjoy wading the Madison at all. It's about 100 miles of ripple that just didn't suite my eye or fishing. The Yellowstone offered some nice fish but I think almost requires a guide. We went in the timeframe you mention and do to the heat and drought they were forcing river restrictions so no fishing after two in the afternoon on the Madison and 'Stone. Gallatin was open all day.

Thanks Phil. Would have been nice to meet you. We enjoyed our stay and thank you for the opportunity to stay at such a reasonable price. All this water should make for great spring fishing and overall health of the fishery (just wish we didn't have it on our trip:). Take care.

Loaded up Thursday night for a trip to Lilley's with a full day of fishing planned on Friday. Left under frigid conditions from Kansas City with the promise of a nicer day Friday. Went with a couple old fraternity buddies so there was plenty of bulls...er stories flying on the way down. Good trip down and checked into our clean comfortable surroundings at Lilley's. The two other travelers were in hopes of getting some fly fishing experience. I had contacted Jeremy Hunt, who I had purshased some flies from before, to get a couple others for the day. Jeremy spent way more time with us the next morning than he had to and made some recommendations. I tied 4 rods with flies and droppers outside the room which took awhile for a guy that struggles tieing droppers and then doing it with steadily numbing hands. We finally headed up from Lilley's in the boat about 8:45 and it was cold. My two buddies both former college football players didn't look quite so tough on the way up huddled in balls with watery eyes. Finally to the fishing. In all honestly it was tough for us. With four generators running we landed 11 fish on this cold windy day. As Jeremy had predicted the San Juan worm, red, was the fly of the day as we tied that as our dropper below several differnt attractor patterns. We did not catch any on the attractors, maybe not deep enough?, but did land fish on a pink jig and a large bead head scud also. Not much traffic on the water. Tended to have our best stretch starting at the cable away from the chutes and working that bank down. The best fish was a 16" rainbow on the worm. We stayed on the river straight through until 5:00 before calling it a day. We donated several flies just trying to run three fisherman on the boat with that much water running really worked us hard. The trip back brought snow just north of Springfield which made for a long trip home but it was a safe one. Thanks for the forum.

I buddy and I are coming down to Lilley's tonight for the first time and I have a couple questions after scouring this great board. I have fished Taney once, floating it with a guide. We have done most of our fishing at the Norfork and White so understand about released water but Taney seems like a little different ballgame. - Night fishing? are there fly fishing night opportunities at or around the resort, either on the dock or wadable? Not looking to 'slay' them but want a fighting chance. Why do people start at midnight vs. 9 or 10 at night? Not wanting to stay up too late and thought about throwing a line in upon arrival. - Boating? I will be fly fishing and my buddy spin (working on conversion). Looks like most fly fishing takes place in wadable areas below the dam. Is this personal preferance, resource (boat) limitations, or just significantly better than other parts of the lake. What is the prime boatable area up and down from the resort? I am sure I can get these answered in the morning at the shop but trying to get framed in prior to arriving, that I am itching to get out of the office and on the road:) Thanks for your help and all the great info on the site.