With a bit of smirk and confidence (and certainly with some sighs of relief), I TOLD YOU!!
With many cold days and wet weathers throughout May, our headwater ranges = Yellowstone Park and surrounding mountains = received more than fair amount of moisture. BETTER LATER THAN NEVER!!
This is what I was trying to explain to guide trip inquiries and audience at fly-fishing expos in spring. Snow accumulation during the winter months can be a good indicator to estimate the summer flow but it's merely one out of many factors.
Yellowstone River's runoff peaked around 20,000 cfs through last week. This number is quite average of a runoff, ie, very good!! Without the aforementioned late spring moisture, it would have been around 13,000 cfs as a peak and we would be floating and fishing the river right on Fathers' Day weekend. Soon salmonfly hatches would follow..... This may sound too good but only so in June and part July........ This scenario has happened on this river during my career. Now with the current runoff values, the Yellowstone would come down and turn "fishable green" in early July. This is also good! It could be around 4th of July. May be around 10th. I'm happy to repeat this is also good!!
So those of you who were worried about Yellowstone River's summer flows, no more worries. Go ahead and start booking float trips!!
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