090415

Lower Madison yesterday. Bite was alright, floating weeds sucked. Fish were eating black fly pupa and zirdles early, girdles and lightning bugs later. Weeds sucked and it was really weedy. I had about 20 pounds of river grass in my boat at one point and another 20 on my anchor rope. Still, we got enough fish to make it a good day and a few nice ones too. River could use some water.
Got me to thinking today that right now all we have is lower rivers as none of them are what one might consider normal. Everything is lower.
Slipped away today to some less frequented, lower water where moose sightings and a handful of fish is typically a solid day. Got some fish nymphing lightning bugs but mostly battled the north wind. Had a decent streamer grab going for awhile.
I slipped away for a few casts at lunch with the new Sage Bolt 9" 7 wt I loaded with a Rio Outbound I/F. I really liked the rod, fast yet loads nice and deep with that heavy line on it. Got a 16" brown right off the bat and headed down where I had some more room to cast, to see how it did with a lot of line moving. The biggest fish that I have personally caught in several years destroyed the streamer and I hollered for my clients to bring a camera down to where I was. In a rare combination of luck and angling skill, I actually landed the fish for a change. Taped out closer to 25" than 24" and kind of made my day. I decided that I really like that Sage Bolt...