082414

Yesterday on the upper Madison, Varney to town. Good north wind, rain, temps in the low 50's. The cold went right through me for some reason. Had a few big fish grab streamers but they cam unbuttoned. Nada on dragging sculpins and little bugs. Hard to believe that there wasn't some sort of nymphing bit going on from the boat, Had that feeling that we should get out and nymph some runs and buckets, but the lack of waders for my dudes and the fact that they were shivering from boat ramp to boat ramp had something to do with that fact. We were all happy to make it to the truck in timely fashion and write off the day as one of those days.
Just wrapped up 4 days with these two guys, one of whom is 85, and though the fishing was weird and spotty, the time on the water was great. I hope I can do that when I'm 85, but the reality is that I will most likely be drunk and stoned if I make it to 85 rather than sitting in a drift boat in the rain on the upper Madison river. Nevertheless, I gained a little more respect for old people the last few days and could only imagine the joy of being out on the river, casting sculpins in my twilight years.
I have the day off today so I'll be hoping that the snow melts in the mountains, that the water temps continue to cool on the lower, blow dry some of my junk, organize my boat bag and man cave, and look forward to getting out on the water a day or two this week. Yeah, there it snowed in the mountains last night.