DePuy's Spring Creek, Paradise Valley, Montana

T

Tiogadog

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You only turn 40 once, therefore I am taking the family to Yellowstone this summer. In addition to the normal tourist activities and sightseeing (which I am very much looking forward to), I will have six days of unencumbered (childless) days to fish.

My buddy and I have plans to fish the Madison, the Henry's Fork, and some other small park streams. We were also able to book a day on DePuy's. Normally, I am adverse to paying for stream access, but in this case I am making an exception.

We will be going during the height of tourist season (first week of July).

Has anyone fished this spring creek before or any of the other Paradise Vallley spring creeks?

Any other thoughts (streams, must stop food places, sights) on the area would be appreciated.

T
 
I fished Armstrongs many times before they closed it--
my favorite memory was watching Joe Brooks and his wife Mary fishing it-he was a true dry fly expert ...he caught about 10 to 1 over the others...about like watching Ed Shenk nymphing on the breeches one day---
if you are into technical fishing and going during the dog days those spring creeks are interesting but not nearly in the same league with the Letort in my opinion.
Lived in Bozeman for 30 years,so speaking from vast experience if you can hold off until mid Sept. do so-but first week or two of July pretty good but will depend on snow pack if its hot,hot hot fishing[last of the salmon flies] or slowing down and wish for rain time...check out the Lamar...


 
Where are you staying? There's a lot of miles in between the Paradise Valley and the Madison/Henry's Fork....makes for a possibly longer than expected commute in the morning/evenings. Especially if you're there at peak tourist time, even more traffic to contend with.

IIRC, it was about 2hrs+ for the drive from Old Faithful/the Firehole to where I was staying just outside of Gardiner.

If you're staying in West Yellowstone, you're close to the HF/Madison/Gallatin...but then you're looking at a pretty decent haul if you want to get up on the Lamar or Slough Creek, another possible 2hr commute (but the scenery sure is nice along the way, other than the bison jams...)
 
We are staying in Gardiner for part of the time and West Yellowstone the other time. Driving distance is not an issue. My buddy and I enjoy car time and have basically spent many a summer crossing states in search of fish.

Most of our commuting will be during periods of low activity.

Actually looking forward to my first bison or grizzly jam...it is the subsequent ones that will be annoying


 
Actually looking forward to my first bison or grizzly jam...it is the subsequent ones that will be annoying

hah, yeah....you'll get jaded quick.
 
Try east river road along Yellowstone river between Miner and Emigrant.
This road is on the opposite side of the river than the highway. Had a terrific day there last year in late June. The road is high enough above the river to check out good spots to fish. I used a big chubby with a prince nymph dropper. You can pull over at pulloffs and scamble down the banks.

Have not fished the spring creeks but I have fished the pipe where the creek enters the Yellowstone. (free)

Incidentally, a past member of PAFF (flybop- Don) took me on an all day float on my 40th birthday for free in 2009. Ha! I floated the Yellowstone 3-4 times.

Try Chico hot springs (Paradise Valley) for a frosty one and a hot soak after a days fishing. Nowhere as busy with traffic and people as Gardiner. Very nearby , 10 minutes.

Old Saloon in Emigrant not bad for food and drinks.

Also, if your headed to the Henry's Fork go to the Grub Steak mountain market for sandwiches. The guides get their clients lunches there. Or Pond's lodge for brews and pizza.

The Madison and Henrys Fork are about 45 minutes apart. I tromped around there last summer for 4 months.

Hope there is a big snowpack , because if runoff is later, the first week of July would be good. Good luck


 
Tiogadog wrote:
You only turn 40 once, therefore I am taking the family to Yellowstone this summer. In addition to the normal tourist activities and sightseeing (which I am very much looking forward to), I will have six days of unencumbered (childless) days to fish.

My buddy and I have plans to fish the Madison, the Henry's Fork, and some other small park streams. We were also able to book a day on DePuy's. Normally, I am adverse to paying for stream access, but in this case I am making an exception.

We will be going during the height of tourist season (first week of July).

Has anyone fished this spring creek before or any of the other Paradise Vallley spring creeks?

Any other thoughts (streams, must stop food places, sights) on the area would be appreciated.

T

Some great info in all the posts above.

I've fished both Armstong and DePuys spring creeks. DePuys is nice. Plenty of fish and the stream is not effected by runoff. I usually fishes pretty well all year round.

The stream itself reminds me a lot of some of the PA spring creeks. The one difference is the fish seem to come easier, just like most of the streams and rivers out there.

Terrestrials work well there (beetles and ants). I would expect PMD's and Baetis hatches, all types of caddis, midges and sculpins for baitfish.

Sweetwater fly shop is right near the entrance to DePuys (just north/towards Livingston). I would check in with them about flies to use and info on Depuys when you get there.

Have a great trip.
 
Drive out and up Mill Creek Rd. across the river from Emigrant up past the campground (1/2 hrs of dirt Rd) for some great small stream no one around cuttie fishing. Bring bear spray.
 
I fished one of these spring creeks many years ago. Can't remember which.

But I really didn't enjoy it much. It was heavily fished and running through a ranch so kind of beat up.

I'd much rather fish backcountry streams. There are endless numbers of these in Yellowstone and other public lands.





 
I spend the entire summer on the Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley a few miles upriver from Depuy's. Although I drive by it dozens of times every summer, I've never fished it, or any of the Paradise Valley Spring Creeks for that matter. Just too cheap to pay the fee to fish them, I guess, when there are already too many other places to fish in that part of the world for free.

However, that being said, the most comprehensive information about Depuy's that I'm aware of is a series of articles that Tom Travis wrote for Fly Anglers Online in 2013. I believe Tom still resides in Livingston, has been a long time guide there, and has fished and guided on Depuy's for years. If you go the FOAL website, do a search for "Tom Travis Depuy's" and you will find these articles and more detailed info on Depuy's than you'd ever need.

A couple other bits of info related to your trip. The beginning of July is right on the cusp of being the perfect timing, in my opinion, or it could be too early in the season for the best fishing, depending on where you plan to be and fish. I would suggest that you monitor the local fly shop's fishing reports covering the streams and watersheds you plan to fish from now until your departure dates, and be prepared to adjust your plans accordingly, if needed. There are a number of these area fly shops, but 2 in particular are Parks Fly Shop in Gardiner, and Blue Ribbon Fly Shop in West Yellowstone.

The Madison and Henry's Fork should fish well in early July, but keep in mind that a number of places inside Yellowstone Park do not open until mid-July. The Yellowstone River downstream from Gardiner (including its tributaries, such as Mill Creek, previously mentioned) is unfishable at the beginning of July in a normal snowpack year, but could be fishing great then depending on the snowpack - as of this morning, the snowpack in the Upper Yellowstone watershed (which is basically everything upriver from Livingston) was 83% of normal.

One other thing to keep in mind, in driving into and through the Park, is road construction. Gardiner was pretty torn up last summer, and I believe it will also be this summer, and the road from Mammouth to Norris also had major construction last summer, and will still have some this summer. I know you said you are looking forward to getting into a buffalo jam, but I wouldn't think you'd want to spend most of your vacation stuck in traffic jams -- talk to the locals about road conditions before heading out and across YNP. Normally, you can minimize travel delays by heading out very early, plus see more wildlife, or taking an alternate route. (If you want to act like a tourist, and gawk at buffalo, please pull off the road so us locals who are on our way to go fishing somewhere don't get held up!)

In any case, I'm sure you will have a ball.

John



 
Thanks for all of the information folks. And please feel free to keep it coming.

We are very flexible about our fishing itinerary and will be monitoring conditions. My friend who is fishing with me goes to Montana multiple times a year and is pretty familiar with most areas of the state.

We are actually flying in to Colorado and caravaning to Yellowstone. This will allow us to separate from families and head out in search of trout.

 
Buzz is the guy to see about DePuys. His shop is about 8' x 12', right on DePuys and he is a piece of work.

http://springcreekspecialists.com/

Check out his sign!!!!!

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11846734_880366325332229_6918378855953552118_n.jpg?oh=0b11e0844777fe0cab5a1ba829bb69a0&oe=56FF958D
 
I fished it the last few years with success increasing each year as I've figured it out.

It looks like you'll be getting there during prime PMD time (I'll be there a week or so before you).

I haven't been there for the main PMD hatch before but I luckily caught a hatch on a cloudy, rainy day last August and it was great. I used a CDC emerger with a a lot of success on the stream's browns, rainbows and cutthroats. The fly shops mentioned are a good place to start.

I strongly suggest a longer leader (12'to 15') but I didn't find a need to go below 5X. The fish see a lot of fishermen. What I did find personally and talking to other fishermen is that a downstream presentation worked much better than an upstream one. It my have to do with the sometimes competing currents. Find a feeding lane, get up above it and drift your fly down to the fish.

At the risk of sounding obvious, it's very tempting to flock shoot but pick out a single riser instead.

If you have to use something other than a PMD, then size 20 midges work well. I've used a soft hackle midge for that.

Have fun!
 
Great thread -- I am going to Emigrant for ~4 days of fishing.

Has anyone fished six mile creek? I have 2 days where we're going to be DIY'ing it; was looking for recommendations for small stream cutthroat waters.
 
forget the cutts-you will be disappointed with their fight-go for their much more interesting relatives-bows-those mountains are full of small streams which get very little attention,have lots of fish but hold off until sept. if you can-its the best of the best times to be there.start up high and work your way down to the valleys-
 
I'm going mid August. 16th through the 21st. I have 2 days to fish on my own.

I was thinking of spending 1 day on Mill creek. Can you recommend any other blue lines you think I should scope out?

Please PM me if you don't want to blow up any other unknown streams.
 
Fished Mill in 2009 with Flybop and it was terrible. Really low. I would bet some years it doesn't even make to the Yellowstone. Who knows , small sample size. You could try the Shields - small river not really a blue tho. My time spend out there was native trout hunting. I didn't go up the tribs up stone. Boulder and Stillwater - again rivers but very remote and less peeps. In any event- any direction would be pretty awesome right now. Excited for you guys. Caught a Yellowstone slam last year in about 3 hours. Rainbow, brown, cut bow,whitefish, Yellowstone cutty. Have a blast.
 
lots of creeks don't reach the river in irrigating season-
 
if you are a night fisherman you can do VERY well on the madison from cameron up to Quake lake in august--surprising how many fish there are even right at campgrounds-just don't wake the dudes up-lol
I am talking 30,40 fish night-no whoppers but better than the small waters.
 
mellowluke wrote:
I'm going mid August. 16th through the 21st. I have 2 days to fish on my own.

I was thinking of spending 1 day on Mill creek. Can you recommend any other blue lines you think I should scope out?

Please PM me if you don't want to blow up any other unknown streams.

this months Flyfishing and FlyTying Journal has an extensive article on tribs of the famous rivers - little firehole, iron spring creek, buffalo creek, Pebble creek, ampitheatre creek etc.

 
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