Spring Creek · Limestone · Montana, US

Paradise Valley Spring Creeks

ArmstrongSpringCreekJanuary2008

The Paradise Valley spring creeks — Armstrong's, DePuy's, and Nelson's — are three private, spring-fed jewels strung along the Yellowstone near Livingston, and they're the closest thing to graduate school that dry-fly fishing offers.

Today · A proper day on the water
Pink Shrimp
Forecast · Today
A proper day on the water
A proper day for it. Work the seams with an upstream nymph, switch to the dry when they show.
90% projected
Today's fly
Pink Shrimp
Pink Shrimp
Conditions on the water · Today
Proxy gauge
Level
Steady
Proxy
via Yellowstone River
Water temp8.4°C
ClarityClear
Weather9°C
WindN 9 km/h
Pressure1019 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

No gauge on this water — conditions are inferred from Yellowstone River. The trend transfers, the absolute level does not.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Cool — slow
8°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water clarity is right today, though insect activity could be better.
Likely species
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 11am

12pm(now) — Western Blue-Winged Olive

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 74%
Also:Black Midge54%
Peak emergence window4 food groups active

Peak activity at 11am — Western Blue-Winged Olive (Western Blue-Winged Olive, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Supporters see the full sub-surface read.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 as a supporter.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Western Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Pale Morning DunHatch
2
3
3
2
TricoHatch
2
3
2
Freshwater ShrimpHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Daily rod-fee, reservation-only private access on all three creeks
  • Catch-and-release ethic; book ahead.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 4
Gallery · 2
  1. ArmstrongSpringCreekJanuary2008
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Paradise Valley spring creeks — Armstrong's, DePuy's, and Nelson's — are three private, spring-fed jewels strung along the Yellowstone near Livingston, and they're the closest thing to graduate school that dry-fly fishing offers. Gin-clear, weed-lined, stable water with big wild rainbows and browns that get a long, hard look at every fly. You pay a daily rod fee and you book ahead, and in return you get glassy currents, PMD and baetis and trico hatches, and fish that will school you politely all day. It's flat-water, fine-tippet, on-your-knees fishing, and people save up for a day on it.

  • Limestone
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 81 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature84 × 28%23.5
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time75 × 13%9.8
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity64 × 12%7.7
Conditions total= 81
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via Yellowstone Riverproxy
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Booking & contacts