Rain Rain

It seems like it has been raining for seven months now! I guess it hasn't been that bad, but I'm ready for some 70-80 degree scorchers. 

I bought a buff a couple weeks ago and have hardly got to use it. I just want to be cool like all the other kids. Alright, I'll stop before I get going on the old knuckle upping, bro brah crapheads, that have an attitude that they're doing a client a favor by letting them go fishing with them for the day. I fought the buffs urge for years because that attitude is prevalent amongst the bluff wearers and sporters of visors. The fact is that buffs work really well but do in fact look gay. So I got a pink one. I haven't had enough hair for visors in a decade anyway.

Anyway, its off to the Mo I go again for 5 days. Lots of dirty water around here, but the Madison (both upper and lower) are holding their own around here. Fishing has been good but we need to go ahead and start getting rid of some of the snow in the mountains.

Mo Thoughts

If you follow this blog at all, than you know I've been working up on the Missouri a lot the last few weeks. The great thing about this is that the fishing has been great, the weather not so bad, and I'm fortunate enough to have some terrific anglers to row around with. So, sometimes I feel like super guide but it really has more to do with having some pretty good anglers with me in the boat.

I was thinking about that last night and how we've just been "gettin' em" up there so well that the fish just must be semi-retarded right now. Maybe so, but I was reminded of a trip I did up there about 9 or 10 years ago with some folks that had never fished before. I knew the river pretty well back then, probably more so than any other river at the time. I remember we got a few fish, had a good time, but I also remember hoping to GOD that we didn't hit the boat ramp the same time as everyone else because they were "hammering" the fish that day and we were NOT.

The fish hold in the same spots and eat the same bugs, minor tweaks here and there, but overall I think the biggest part of why we've been getting them so well has more to do with my clients than me. Hopefully none of them read this! I like fishing the MO and the Big Horn with people that I've been fishing with for a few years as they know the "drill" and go to those kinds of places with me more for the catching than the fishing. We always seem to work well together and share the highs and lows of every drift and usually end the day with a sense of the why, where, and how of the whole experience.

The waters around Bozeman are getting pretty chunky once again and it's supposed to warm back up next week so I'd bet that there is going to be some dirty water to be found around here for a couple of weeks at least. The Yellowstone should be gone for a month, the Gallatin at least a few weeks, Jefferson is gone, East Gallatin is gone, small streams are gone and on and on. The Upper Madison should be pretty junky too by the end of next week as Cabin Creek below Hebgen goes along with the West Fork, Indian, Ruby, and more. Hebgen dam releases are scheduled to be around 700 cfs so the majority of the water flowing through the Madison Valley should be coming from these tribs as they begin to do their spring thing. The lower will probably be the best bet, hopefully they'll pump it up to around 3 grand  once Beartrap Creek and Cherry Ck really get going. The MO is good though, the Bighorn not so much.

I'll be back up on the Mo next week, come home night of Sat. June 5 and go to Argentina June 6 -13. I'm going duck shooting and photo taking...I'll let Rick play in the mud for a week around here!

Fishing the Runoff

The runoff from the spring melt finally started a little over a week ago here in SW Montana. It's a little later than usual which should be good for the rivers this summer. This is always a kind of tricky time of year as much of the rivers and streams are in a pretty crappy state. A lot of locals head to the valley lakes looking for post spawners that are getting on the Chironomid hatches. Personally, I prefer moving water so this is the time of year that I try to hit the tailwaters (usually either the Bighorn or the Missouri) in search of clear water and spring flushing flows.

This spring has been different than most in that the runoff has been delayed by cold nights and the weekly snow storm in the mountains. Local rivers like the Yellowstone and Gallatin are both dropping very quickly and shoudl be fishable again in a couple of days but this should only last for a few days and might not happen at all if we see some significant rainfall. But it is certainly worth watching as these rivers fish amazingly well when flows are dropping, especially the Yellowstone.

I've been up on the Missouri quite a bit the last couple of weeks hoping for some flushing flows but being surprised by the bite regardless. Flows have been relatively low (around 4000 cfs +-) for this time of year and the dry fly fishing has been pretty absent the last couple of weeks. Nymph fishing is so good this time of year that I would honestly have a hard time switching to dries anyway unless I were to see pod after pod of rising fish. This could happen this week up there if the weather warms up as there are  a lot of Caddis below the canyon and the water is clearing as the Dearborn drops as a result of the cool nights. This should be short lived too, but who knows for sure.

As far the nymphing goes right now, it's been very good once you find where the fish are holding. They're all over the place but they are concentrated below the riffles and ledges along the deeper seams. Tough to get at wade-fishing but pretty easy from the boat. The fish are hungry, eating well, and not too picky either. I've been fishing just a few patterns and varying the weight depending on depth and water speed, sometimes the flies get more bug specific and I've had to go down in tippet size on bright, calm afternoons but it's been worth messing with as it can go from getting one every few drifts to doubling up on every drift once you get it figured out.

I've got a couple days up there this coming week and all of the following week. If you can get up here May 26-30, I am open those dates for the Missouri and fishing will be about as good as it gets.

Update from the Mo

I've been here in Craig the last couple of days with some guys from Bozeman that bought a two day trip with me and lodging at Cross Currents at the annual Bozeman TU banquet. We donate stuff throughout the year to the chapter meetings and then bump it up a bit for the banquet. I've been fortunate in that everyone that has bought it over the years has been great fun. Money goes to a good cause and we always have fun.

I'm guiding up here the next couple of days and looking forward to it as the last couple of days have been very good. I haven't seen the dry fly fishing that everyone has been talking about but the nymphing has been stellar with the usual bugs. Good number of March Browns, BWO's and a few Caddis as well but just not a ton of fish up which I'll blame more on the wind than anything.

Nice weather in the forecast and all should be good.

Blog has been light...sorry!

I just haven't been in the mood for blogging the last couple of weeks. The weather has been crap and I've been busy with trying to get thing sorted with new employees and the upcoming season.

The weather finally improved a bit yesterday and it looks like we should be seeing warmer temps the rest of the week. It's Mother's Day, the caddis are out in big numbers on the Lower Madison and Yellowstone now. This should do nothing but get better all week long so long as the nights stay cool and keep the river (yellowstone) in shape.

I guided on the Yellowstone on Friday and found it mostly disappointing to be honest. We got fish everywhere we stopped (we were wade-fishing), just not many. Finally found lots of risers later in the day on Caddis, but they were mostly suicidal whities. Saw some March Browns and BWO's too but was always pretty windy we got around those hatches.

I heard it did fish well yesterday though and I assume today too. Had a very good report from the LM and caddis yesterday by one of my guides.

I'm heading to the Missouri for the most part the next few weeks which should be good to excellent. Just hoping for some reasonable weather...55, no wind, light drizzle. Yeah right.