Lower Madison Update

The lower, by all accounts (including mine), has been fishing really well the last week-10 days. Mild, cloudy days has made for some really amazing dry fly fishing on midges. Blanket midge hatches have been around most of the day on cloudy days and very heavy during cloudy periods on brighter days. The lower is famous for having oodles of bugs on top with the occasional rising fish but this has not been the case as of late. I had several friends out there yesterday that had very good dry fly fishing just about all day long.

I fished it today with a couple of buddies and we ended up primarily nymphing as it was bright and sunny. One of the guys did get some fish on dries and the other two of us did very well nymphing the buckets. I thought it was going to suck as the weather has been cloudy the last few days and a day like today usually leads to more frustration than anything else this time of year.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back over there for a few hours this weekend if we get the clouds. Crawdads, midges, and worms. They haven't been too picky on the dries either, with Para Adams and Wulffs working fine in size 18's. Pretty crazy so I'd definitely hit it again soon.

Back Home

I just returned from spring break with my family. Christine, my parents, and the two boys had a great vacation. We spent a couple days in Dallas on the front and back end of the trip. And then spent last week at Atlantis on Nassau in the Bahamas. I need a vacation to recover from the vacation! It's amazing how busy kids are!
Atalantis was a blast, great food, great water slides, friendly people, and the kids had a great time.

I did manage to sneak away for a day of Bonefishing - it was the only day that it rained during the trip.
There are a lot of flats around the island and they really don't get that much pressure. Most of the guided trips are one day trips with people staying at the resort, trying to get out for a quick day...like me. There are only a couple guides, plenty of flats, and plenty of fish.

We had terrible weather the one day I fished. Dark skies, intermittent rain, and no wind for the most part. The guides name was Aaron Bain with Secret Soul Outfitters. I've bonefished maybe 10 days and all in Mexico so I'm not an expert, but I get the jist of the program. Conditions were tough for spotting and the lack of any breeze made it nearly impossible to land the fly without a "plop."

Aaron worked very hard to find fish and we ended up getting into some smaller groups later in the day and I landed a few 3-4 pounders. In my experience, flats guides don't like to stay out very late and work too terribly hard, but this guy stuck with it all day. We didn't get off the water until 6:30 and the rian finally had us soaked through. The last fish I caught was at the end of a mile or so push over a flat, about 100 yards from the edge of the flat. I was ready to quit an hour earlier but I figured that I'd stick with it as long as he thought we had a chance. He really was very good and I'd highly recommend taking a day to fish with him the next time you're in Nassau .

The Haps

I've been working in the shop this week, mostly just getting caught up on ordering and returning phone calls. The shop seems to be doing well this winter, I think the weather of late has a lot of folks getting out on the water which is always good for business. We've been selling lots of tying stuff along with flies and terminal tackle.
I am going to Atlantis, a massive resort of Nassau in the Bahamas, with my family next week. Really looking forward to hanging out with the wife, kids, and parents. I'm going to fish just one day so I'm probably a little more excited about that than I should be, especially considering that I just got back from NZ. Oh well, I love to fish...so shoot me.
After that, it's back to work with a little guiding coming up in early April over on the Bighorn. The snowpack is not looking great at this point, but a few heavy spring snows and a wet June should keep everything in good shape. The good news is that most of the reservoirs are pretty full so there should still be plenty of water on the tailwaters and Madison if things don't improve. I'm still much more optimistic about the outlook for the summer than not and really do think things are looking good.

Final Thoughts on NZ 2010

There is something intangible about the entire NZ fly fishing experience that changes everything. I've experienced it for myself as well as having seen it just about everyone that I've gone there with over the years. Sure, the fish are big, the scenery is amazing, people are mostly very friendly, and the water is clean and cold. The fishing will test one's skills and never really seems to cut you a break...maybe once in a blue moon. Nothing comes easy in NZ and maybe that's why I always leave wanting, never satisfied.

Even when you do everything right and do get the fish to eat, you still have to deal with boulders in the water, undercut banks that reach all the way to hell, and the occasional questionable knot. So, regardless of the size of fish it is, any fish in NZ is earned and leaves you wanting the next one.

I've done a lot of fishing in my life and there just isn't anything like backcountry trout fishing in NZ. I'm already planning my 2012 trip.

Heading Home

I fly out tomorrow afternoon, get home Thursday night.
Overall, I had a fantastic trip this year, but the fishing was not as good as usual. I fished some new places, hiked a ton, took some pics, and caught some fish. I'm pretty worn out and looking forward to getting home to my family.
The last few days were spent fishing around Twizel. Tracy fished with me on Sunday, but other than that...I was on my own. The weather continued to be awful with non-stop wind in the 25mph+ range everyday. Still had a great time on the Dobson, Jolly, and Ahuirui but nothing over 6.5 pounds. Cicadas were the fly of choice.