Every year...about now...we start to get reports of the early arrival of the Mother's Day Caddis Hatch. Every once in awhile the report comes from a reputable source, but more times than not, this reputable source seems to have been in the only spot at the exact time when some of the bugs appeared and flew away not to be seen again for a few more days. Well, today was the day this year, but I imagine that there should be some bugs moving around pretty good in the next few days on the Yellowstone. Who knows, we may even get to fish the hatch for a few days too.
Historically, the Mother's Day Caddis hatch happens around Mother's Day...hence the name. Typiaclly it begins within a day or so of the first signifcant onslought of early run-off, thus ruining the water conditions until July. The drought of the last several years has given us several opportunities to get on the water and have several weeks of amazing conditions. This is ATYPICAL, not the norm, isn't normal...you get the idea. So, what I've learned is to really enjoy every day that I get to fish the hatch becuase it's not somthing that happens every year. If I get the chance, you can bet on seeing me on the river as it really is an amazing time of year.
I fished the Lower Madison yesterday, just a short trip in the afternoon, with marginal success. The river was quite a bit dirtier than just two days ago. I'm talking a foot of visibility and chocolate milk in color. Nevertheless, we got some fish near the banks on Clouser Cray's and San Jauns. The fish have been eating much better over there the last 4-5 days and the Caddis should be showing up over there any day now as well.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Gray Drakes
We fished the Yellowstone below Big Timber yesterday. The cold nights of a few days ago brought the water back around, clearing things just long enough for some good conditions. We saw lots of Gray Drake spinners and some March Brown Duns but no fish eating on top. We shoudld see caddis in a week or so if history proves true.
The weather was beautiful, no one else was on the water and the fishing was pretty good. Rick and I each got a nice fish that would go 21-23 inches and a handful of nice fish plus lots of smaller fish. The Bow River Bugger worked pretty well and the worm turned some fish too. Not going to say too much more, but the fishing was good.
The weather was beautiful, no one else was on the water and the fishing was pretty good. Rick and I each got a nice fish that would go 21-23 inches and a handful of nice fish plus lots of smaller fish. The Bow River Bugger worked pretty well and the worm turned some fish too. Not going to say too much more, but the fishing was good.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Mudville, USA
Well, things are really spooky right now around the region. It seems like this happens every year, so I shouldn't worry. The Big Hole, Jefferson, Yellowstone, Gallatin, and who know what else are all dirty and fluctuating wildly in flows. Lots of rains, warm temperatures, and valley precip ahs all contributed to bring some of these rivers up a bit ahead of schedule plus brought some mud. The winds of last week stirred Ennis Lake up a ton, thus the Lower Madison is dirty as well. Dirty (like 1-2 feet of vis) isn't neccessarily bad, in fact I've had some phenomenal days playing in dirty water. However, this hasn't been the case so far this year.
I fished the Lower Madison today for a few hours with a product guy from Orvis. We barley touched any fish (3 to be precise) and I felt like we should have gotten some more. Ever since it got some color to it, it just hasn't been fishing as well. The fish should be eating crayfish and golden stones/ San Juans. The Caddis are a couple weeks away, so they should also be eating Mangies and Cased Caddis patterns, but the water is pretty dirty for the smaller flies today. Anyway, frustrtation is as bad as frustration is. That's my thought for the day. NZ is only about 10 months away!
I fished the Lower Madison today for a few hours with a product guy from Orvis. We barley touched any fish (3 to be precise) and I felt like we should have gotten some more. Ever since it got some color to it, it just hasn't been fishing as well. The fish should be eating crayfish and golden stones/ San Juans. The Caddis are a couple weeks away, so they should also be eating Mangies and Cased Caddis patterns, but the water is pretty dirty for the smaller flies today. Anyway, frustrtation is as bad as frustration is. That's my thought for the day. NZ is only about 10 months away!
Friday, April 14, 2006
Windy Moore
Had a girlfriend in high school named Wendy Moore. Hadn't thought of her too much in a long time, but breezy days always bring her to mind! The last few days have been more windy than not, hence these are the days of Wendy Moore!
Fished up around Story Ditch on the Madison on Wednesday. It was way windy, but I caught some fish and had a good time running the dogs. Picked up fish on the coffee and black girdle bug, a few on eggs, none on smaller nymphs. The river around there moves along pretty quick, but is more shallow than deep. I fished the banls by walking down the river about 15-20 feet from the bank. Fish were holding tight and mostly came out of the pockets behind the rocks. Saw several redds with fish on them and one redd had two massive rainbows on it. FIshing was good, casting was a wee bit tricky.
Fished up around Story Ditch on the Madison on Wednesday. It was way windy, but I caught some fish and had a good time running the dogs. Picked up fish on the coffee and black girdle bug, a few on eggs, none on smaller nymphs. The river around there moves along pretty quick, but is more shallow than deep. I fished the banls by walking down the river about 15-20 feet from the bank. Fish were holding tight and mostly came out of the pockets behind the rocks. Saw several redds with fish on them and one redd had two massive rainbows on it. FIshing was good, casting was a wee bit tricky.
Monday, April 10, 2006
A Monday
I've had a lot going on latley including classes for the MBA, web design, inventory management, and, of course, a little fishing. This in addition to making plans for my 2007 trip to NZ and taking care of the dogs with the wife is away. Whihc reminds me that I better clean the house on Thursday as she comes home Friday and I don't want a repeat of our last reunion! I'm not the cleanest person in the world and I''ll leave it at that!
I fished the Yellowstone yesterday for the first time this year. We've had a bunch of precip. over the last week, so the river has had some color to it. We still picked up some fish, but did best when we got out of the boat and poked around below the riffles. There were some Baetis coming off and fish rising in the foam lines and back-eddies but we didn't feel the need to mess with them...there'll be plenty of that soon enough. The river can fish very well when it's that greenish gray but we really didn't work too hard at it, instead soaked in the sun and enjoyed the views of Paradise Valley with half-hearted attempts at working the fish over. I used a balloon indicator and liked it, going to do that more as it is easy to cast (except in the wind), super sensitive, and can handle lots of weight.
This Monday, like last Monday, brought great frustration with it when I tried to order some reels from the big O. They are out of 5-6 weight reels in all of the popular models (Mid-Arbors, Barstocks, Battenkill Discs, and CFO's). This is the reuslt of a promotion they were running which included a free Wonderline with the purchase of any reel. What genius! I mean who needs to buy a new fly line when they buy a new reel! For a $300 million company, they have got to have one of the worst marketing departments money can buy. They consistently put together these stupid promos that do nothing other than reduce margin with no regard to their ability to fulfill demand at full price. It sounds like a good deal until you're the customer looking for a new reel for the next month and you are willing to buy one at full price, plus the fly line. Stupid stupid stupid! Furthermore, they ask me to give them exclusivity in my shop in exchange for a few points in margin. The least they could do is supply their products, hell I'll even pay for the damn things. They are amaizingly inefficient in planning, marketing, and distribution! Maybe they should be taking classes on supply-chain management, or better yet, maybe I should offer some consulting services to them instead!
I fished the Yellowstone yesterday for the first time this year. We've had a bunch of precip. over the last week, so the river has had some color to it. We still picked up some fish, but did best when we got out of the boat and poked around below the riffles. There were some Baetis coming off and fish rising in the foam lines and back-eddies but we didn't feel the need to mess with them...there'll be plenty of that soon enough. The river can fish very well when it's that greenish gray but we really didn't work too hard at it, instead soaked in the sun and enjoyed the views of Paradise Valley with half-hearted attempts at working the fish over. I used a balloon indicator and liked it, going to do that more as it is easy to cast (except in the wind), super sensitive, and can handle lots of weight.
This Monday, like last Monday, brought great frustration with it when I tried to order some reels from the big O. They are out of 5-6 weight reels in all of the popular models (Mid-Arbors, Barstocks, Battenkill Discs, and CFO's). This is the reuslt of a promotion they were running which included a free Wonderline with the purchase of any reel. What genius! I mean who needs to buy a new fly line when they buy a new reel! For a $300 million company, they have got to have one of the worst marketing departments money can buy. They consistently put together these stupid promos that do nothing other than reduce margin with no regard to their ability to fulfill demand at full price. It sounds like a good deal until you're the customer looking for a new reel for the next month and you are willing to buy one at full price, plus the fly line. Stupid stupid stupid! Furthermore, they ask me to give them exclusivity in my shop in exchange for a few points in margin. The least they could do is supply their products, hell I'll even pay for the damn things. They are amaizingly inefficient in planning, marketing, and distribution! Maybe they should be taking classes on supply-chain management, or better yet, maybe I should offer some consulting services to them instead!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Spring is Here
The last week has been very pleasnat with temps in the 50's and 60's during the day and high 20's at night. This makes for great daytime weather, yet keeps the snow in the mountains for just a bit longer. The high snow-pack levels this year are encouraging an optimistic outlook to summer water conditions and a pessimistic outlook on May and June.
I was out on the lower Madison yesterday and was surpirses to see the river had a bit of that milky green to it. Not sure if Ennis Lake is turning over or if some of the tribs in the Beartrap are dumping in the dirt. Anyway, there was a change in the conditions and the fish reacted so. I couldn't get them to eat anything but an egg pattern, so I don't know if it was the conditions or that their behavior might be changing. I'm sure that there are plenty of Bows in full spawn now, so they may be worrying more about that than eating for the next week or so. It's a sad day when I have to use an egg to catch a fish!
I was out on the lower Madison yesterday and was surpirses to see the river had a bit of that milky green to it. Not sure if Ennis Lake is turning over or if some of the tribs in the Beartrap are dumping in the dirt. Anyway, there was a change in the conditions and the fish reacted so. I couldn't get them to eat anything but an egg pattern, so I don't know if it was the conditions or that their behavior might be changing. I'm sure that there are plenty of Bows in full spawn now, so they may be worrying more about that than eating for the next week or so. It's a sad day when I have to use an egg to catch a fish!