We have a 2 day reservation to fish the DePuy Spring Creek in Livingston. This private ranch is located alongside the Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley. The entrance is a “Gone With the Wind” house with tall white columns. 10 slots each day are available along the 3 mile stretch of creek, which has become so popular the days of June and July fill up a year in advance; we met a gentleman who has been coming for 30 years. It is run by the 4th generation of the DePuy family, Darrell is the groundskeeper and manager of the ranch/flyfishing operations; his mother was a DePuy.
1905, the DePuy family moved from Kansas to Livingston where they purchased a small farm on the Yellowstone river in Paradise Valley, supporting the family with farming, sheep and cattle ranching. Over the years, additional property was added to create the current DePuy ranch. During the late 1950’s, Warren DePuy decided to build a fish hatchery on the property. After obtaining ownership of the water rights to a large spring creek that flowed through a portion of the ranch, he bulldozed a diversion to redirect the creek outflow so it could feed the newly-built hatchery, grew it to be one of the largest in the country. When a highway was constructed through the hatchery, the original creek was dredged to add a series of new channels, drops, pools, and runs throughout the ranch, resulting in the world-famous spring creek fishery.
We have exceptional weather and thoroughly enjoy our time on the creek. Spring creeks are challenging to fish as the water is clear and slow flowing, so the trout can see everything you cast, including your line. They are cautious and selective in what they try to eat, so finding the right fly, being stealthy in approaching and casting are critical. This is the first time I felt casting expertise was critical and I realize I need to perfect my stealthiness and accuracy. Fishing spring creeks, unlike other rivers and lakes is watching for “rising fish”, the circles in the water and casting your fly to drift over their head, hoping they open their mouths to take your fly instead of a real bug floating by. The DePuy is only about 50-60 feet wide with a silty mucky bottom that is hard to wade. I don’t venture more than 5 feet from the bank and have to pull up my feet every few minutes else they get more and more stuck! During a slow part of the day, I go to take a break for lunch and wouldn’t you know, the fish decide to eat too! Ray catches 6 while I am gone.
All in all, I managed to hook 3 trout in the 2 days but am not able to land them and they get away. Boy are they strong. Ray catches a total of 14!
We fished practically 8 am to 6 or 7pm – swinging a rod and fly all day (crazy huh?) and fall into bed at night. It is a hard place to leave.
