Montana Fly Fisher

1/27/12

2012-01-27T12:53:00.000-08:00

The wife made it home yesterday and suddenly life is good once again.

Going to go fishing this weekend am I! It's been too long for sure. Winter fishing is one of those things that doesn't always appeal to me like it did back in the day when I could stand in one hole all day long and just bang away at it. Then again, it's been so long since I've fished that I'm ready no matter what the temps or wind do this weekend. Hopefully we'll get some clouds, mid 30's, no wind and I can make a lazy day out of it over on the lower, provided that the flows remain stable that is. Funny thing this year in regards to the flow regimes coming through the dams on the Madison..they've kind of managed it like my 4 year old plays darts.

The End is Near...on a couple fronts

2012-01-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer! My wife is set to return from am month in Antarctica tomorrow afternoon and thus another chapter in the epic tale known as "daddy daycare" is soon to end! I've learned that a 4 year old is a lot of work and I thank God that I don't have to do this all the time! If I had money, I would have a full time live in Swedish nanny and pay her well! I don't think I've ever been so drained in my life, but freedom is fast approaching so I shouldn't complain. It's been good to get the 1-1 time with my son, but I'm good for now.

Onward to things of an angling nature, specifically the status of the Madsion River Rec Planning process. A couple of comments on my part first. I find it ironic that FWP has been able to "find" the personnel and money to put this process into action when all we read about them in the paper is that they are strapped for the revenue required to do their basic responsibilities. Non-resident license sales are the primary source for department funding and that revenue is down. I'm looking forward to paying more for my general fishing license, along with those for my kids and wife.

Anyway, the planning process has been announced and the next step is a series of public "scoping" meetings which are slated for around the region in February. The purpose of these meetings is for the department to get a feel for what the public perception is in regards to their recreational experience on the Madison is generally like. You should go to their website AND learn more about the process, especially if you are a non-resident that spends time on the Madison. According to FWP's data, you are the single largest user group of the Madison River (70% of all users!) and unless you plan on coming to one of these meetings in Feb in Bozeman, Whitehall, Ennis, or West Yellowstone...your opinions will not be heard UNLESS you visit the site and FILL out the public comment form! SO DO THIS as you are the largest user group and there is a BIG risk that you will not be heard!

Just to be clear on that, I am not talking about non-residents on guided trips...I am talking about non-resident anglers fishing on their own. Of course everyone should be represented, but I am most concerned about non-residents not having their opinions heard.

That and the tubers on the lower Madison...I think everyone that spends anytime on the lower in the summer would say that non-angling recreational use of the river and access sites appears to be a significant hindrance to the safety, cleanliness, and overall positive recreational opportunity for other user groups of this stretch of the river. I don't think anyone has any data as to how much non-angling recreational use goes on during this time of year on the LM and it is, in my opinion, one of many "Big Guerrillas" in the room that FWP is going to have to address moving forward.

There is also a call for applications to be appointed to the Citizens Advisory Committee which is largely going to come up with recommendations as to where this plan will ultimately end up. I'm sure there will be a lot of folks submitting applications for this committee (step 2 on the planning process page) and it my sincerest hope that all user groups will be represented fairly. I know there will be plenty of resident anglers, landowners, and commercial users represented but I am worried that the non-resident anglers and non-angling groups will have limited input. Hopefully I am wrong on this.

Anyway, please participate in this process otherwise...who knows where we'll end up.

To new gear

2012-01-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

I recently got a new pair of boots to try out for Orvis on my upcoming trip to NZ. They've been sending me stuff the last few years to demo while in the early stages of development as I seem to be able to destroy anything, which my dad can attest to! Nz is a great place to test boots out as I walk a lot of miles while there and put the boots through he'll. Over the years, I've destroyed 2 pairs of pataguchi and an Orvis pair or two as well, each on a single trip! I had an early version of vibram soles the last trip and one of the soles actually fell off my boot about a half mile from the truck at the end of the last day.

I am checking out this new sole that they're thinking is far superior to vibram so we'll see. I actually have come to like the rubber soles over the last couple of years. They're not as durable as the world would like and they don't offer the traction of felt, but they work well as happy medium and I like them in the boat better than felt. So, here's to innovation and a better world for the fly fisher...I just hope they don't fall apart!

011712

2012-01-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

More winter junk is on the way, been blowing like hell here most of the day and the forecast is for snow snow snow the next couple of days. Looking forward to it for a change!

The new e-newsletter is out and you can check it out online. Be sure to sign up for it on our website if you don't already receive it.

Starting to get jacked about NZ in a few weeks, sure the blog will turn to that direction soon. I like fishin'!

Sprigs and Snow

2012-01-16T14:49:00.000-08:00

Winter is back and it feels good! Some crazy people were heading out this morning when it was 8 degrees, they wanted to know if it would be slushy on the river? Snowed most of yesterday and is looking good for some more the rest of the week. We could use it.

So, I took the youngn' driving around with me yesterday for a bit to see if we could find some ducks to take a few pics. I thought about making him stand by the river while I fished but decided that wouldn't have been appropriate parenting. I like the snow!

The Haps

2012-01-13T14:16:00.000-08:00

Finally starting to see some fruit for the labor of winter website maintenance bullshit as I like to call it. The never ending Grondhog Day phenomena of SEO fun land. Keywords, SEO Titles and Descriptions, phraseology and more all with trying to add more and better content to make the world wide web more efficient.

All of that just to be able to announce a few new guide trip options for 2012, check them out. These are in addition to our standard fare around Bozeman and Missoula. My personal favorite is the trip I like to refer to as my "Dazed and Confused in Central Montana."

011112

2012-01-11T19:01:00.000-08:00

The only fishing I have going on right now is in my head! This daddy daycare thing is a lot of work...makes me appreciate my wife a whole lot more. Who knew how much laundry, groceries, and slobbery a 40 yr old and 4 yr old were capable of? Crazy.

Anyway, I'm a month from heading to NZ and I am getting jacked up! We finished out the back room, have orders placed, and am now working on website stuff and organizing bookings for 2012. Sounds like things have been good on the lower the last week but I'm sure today and tonight's cold weather will put a temporary dampening on that.

The Dudes

2012-01-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

Trouble X 2

I've only been guiding about 10 years now and really started from nothing in terms of experience or a client base. Looking back now, it probably wasn't the best way to go about getting started as it was a slow building process in terms of being able to make a living...and I really had no idea what the hell I was doing in terms of guiding. I'll give myself some credit in terms of being able to fish, teach people how to fish, and row a boat so it wasn't totally like those Holiday Inn Express commercials when I picked my clients up in the morning! In hindsight, I would have been better, quicker if I had someone to learn from and work for.

1 in a 1,000,000

Needless to say, I didn't get much repeat business those first couple of years. My first trip was a classic trip from hell in that it was hot, their were river closures, and I had good anglers. We ended up doing a monster day where we fished Hebgen in the morning, ate lunch at Quake, and then floated Varney to Ennis in the afternoon. The outfitter we were with back then had USFS permits back then by the way. Anyway, I rowed around the Madison Arm chasing gulpers while the two anglers relentlessly cast and cast away the entire morning. I got hooked in the arm twice and they got some whitefish. We got a few in the afternoon on the Madison. What I remember most was the feeling that we all have when we are waking up from a bad dream except that I kept feeling the bad dream just kept going.

Why the F*&% do I let Toby do these things to me?

Now, things are a lot different and it's probably got something to do with me, but it also has to do with the dudes in the boat. Most of my business is now all repeat and referrals and that really makes my job a zillion times easier! So , as I sit here in early 2012 looking ahead, I look forward to seeing the people that have showed me more about rivers, fish, and myself than I could have learned in a lifetime of doing something else. The fish will be there and the rivers will have water, but it really is about that connection between humanity reached through water that makes this a life worth living for me. God knows it's not about the money. If you're looking to book in 2012, I could use that deposit money about now by the way!

Yeah Tom...that's Scott up here on the Blog

For me, it really is about the people, the interaction, and watching someone else squeeze a little more soul into their being when they hook a fish. I've learned so much about life the last several years, thanks to all that sign up for the insanity every year, I can't wait to see you all again.

"How long you been guiding?" Oh, since I about 2 minutes ago was my response.

I got some great news the other day when Pete, the 86 yr. old from Cali called me up and...after calling me a yardbird and hillbilly...booked me for another 10 days in August. I used to dread that phone call but now it's one of the highlights of the year for me as I kind of get what he's trying to do and feel a privileged to be a part of it. He just wants to fish for the rest of his life.

The Original Yardbird

I've been really fortunate to have developed some wonderful friendships over the years. Yeah, on the front side of the relationship it's all about how many fish will we catch, how big will they be, where will we go, how long will we fish, and blah blah blah. After a trip or two though, I think we all appreciate that the "meat" of the trip are all the little things throughout the day. That transition of emotion when expectations become reality and we all realize, at the same time, that there actually is a big f'in fish on that line. It's a good life I live.

Even the British can do this!

The fish

2012-01-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

winner winner chicken dinner on Thompson Creek at the MZ

2011 was a challenging year in terms of water conditions...understatement. It was the first year in awhile that I didn't see anything over 24" to the boat, but probably landed more 23" fish than I ever have before. Not sure which one was actually the biggest, honestly it was one that my client dropped right while I was getting ready to make the click and he had already landed one over 23" that day.

The biggest trout I saw all year was hooked up by one of our clients that was fishing with Rick on the Blackfoot. Rick was just ahead of me going down a run and his angler hooked an enormous Brown that we all got a really good look at. It was every bit of 8lbs, maybe more. It was SO big that I told my client to get his rig out of the water even though we were 50' behind them. Anyway, he had it on for awhile and it just came unbuttoned. Craziest part of that day was that I had floated the same stretch just a few days earlier and managed to boat maybe 5 fish, but this day the fish were going ape shit for zonkers and we landed over 80 fish between the 3 boats and both boats landed Bull, Cutties, Brook, Brown, Bows, and the mighty whitey with a few fish landed in the 22-23 range.

Take Out fish on the Blackfoot after a Crazy Day

What could've been is what keeps us coming back. I'll never forget my first truly big fish and the heartache that came when I lost it. I was maybe 10 or 12 and my grandparents took me to our family lake house in East Texas one weekend. We were having some work done on the boat dock and there were a bunch of rednecks working away and yammerring along. I threw a huge willow bladed, double hook, white spinner bait out and WHAM! Had the fish for awhile but I was standing on a cement retaining wall and the water was about 3-4 feet down from the top. I got the fish to the base of the wall and then the guys realized that I actually had something big on. They were hollering at me to wait a second but I tried to hoist the fish up the wall with the rod. The bass was a 7-8 pound fish and it's mouth was so big I was terrified to stick my hand down and grab it. But, as I didn't want to look like a puss, I decided to try to do it my way rather than wait for help. Needless to say, the line snapped about an inch from the top of the wall and as one of the guys was reaching to grab it. 30 years later and I still have that sick feeling when I think about that fish swimming around with a 3/8 oz double bladed, double hook spinnerbait in it's mouth. Nah, I'm sick because I lost the fish...I should bass fish more.

When to Quit

2012-01-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

I like guiding fly fishers...which is a good thing as that's pretty much what I do. Winter time is kind of the lull in between the storms for me. On one hand, I'm glad to not be guiding right now, but on the...I miss it and can't wait for spring to get here. I think I actually enjoy guiding more than fishing which is a crazy statement in itself if you know me at all as I really like to fish. Anyway trying to think of something to talk about today and not much comes to mind in terms of motivating me for a big dump of verbiage at this time.

However, as this is a new year, I've spent the last month or so thinking about last year. It was a memorable year for many reasons and maybe I'll rattle all the things off at sometime but I wanted to share the most memorable quote of the year. It's not really pc and might not be funny outside of the conversation but here it is by a guide that used to guide a lot but has moved onto other things in life on why he chose to quit guiding (and he was/is a helluva guide by all accounts). "Toby, I just got tired of watching fat white guys desecrate the sport I love."

I guess I'll quit when that day comes for me too as all I have to do is look in the reflection on the water to see that happen every time I wet a line.

010312

2012-01-03T17:59:00.000-08:00

Attended another meeting today in Ennis regarding the upcoming Madison River Mgmt Plan. Things are still very early in the process...in fact the process really hasn't started yet. I don't really want to get up on the soapbox tonight, so let's save that discussion for another day.

Starting to wonder about whether or not the snow will ever come this year. Amazing to me how we all know that weatherman aren't too reliable just a few days out, yet we'll put a lot of stock into their hemispheric climactic predictions 6 months out. They're all looney, but at least they give us something to talk about.

The lower looks good to me, going to try to get over there for a few hours one day this week. Flows are higher than normal this time of year...another soapbox topic best saved for another day...but all the ice is gone, clarity is perfect, and it's been windier than crap. Midging should get going good on the first overcast day and is probably alright in the mid-day shadows right now. I've been worked over there enough this time of year on sunny days so I'll hold my breath for some clouds and get over there next chance I get.

123011

2011-12-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

Here we are on the eve of NY eve. Christine is making her way to Antarctica as I write this and I'm settling into another 30 day installment of "Daddy Daycare." So, probably not too much fishing in my immediate future but I'm looking forward to 2012 and the adventures to come.

The first of which is a few weeks travelling and fishing in NZ. When it comes to fishing vacations and wild trout, there's no place I'd rather be! So, I've started tying flies for the trip and plotting the intricacies of the where and when's of the trip. Can't wait!

In the meantime, the back room at the shop is almost finished, should have carpet in by next Wednesday. Will be great to finally be down with that project that will give us a break room, receiving area, office space, and storage! We're going to paint and put new flooring in the shop at some point this winter too. We're also expanding our inventory for 2012, so we have to make room for it by getting some new fixtures and doing some rearrangements. Kind of fun stuff/

Our guide biz has been rocking the last few years and it's already time to get things lined up with reservations and the whole booking process. We're already booked up a couple of week sin July and August and it looks like I'll be back up on the Missouri in May and June. I think I'm getting a new boat in 2012 as well.

So, lots to keep me busy while the wife is away!

Happy New Year!

1228

2011-12-28T16:49:00.000-08:00

Back from Christmas in Ohio, which was a great family adventure enjoyed by all involved...especially the kids. I typically get away for a day of Steelheading somewhere back there this time of year but this trip was shorter than normal and family was the name of the game. I did, however, get away for a day of trout fishing with some clients that live in the area.

They are members of a trout club called Rockwell Springs near Sandusky, OH. It was a new experience for me to say the least. Any trout fishing is good fishing in my book and every experience has it's own place. This place is best described as "Country Club" trout fishing. Manicured lawns, perfect meanders, gin clear water, proper walking paths and golf cart paths with plenty of walking bridges. Crocs are all the wading gear needed here. The fish are mostly stocked and managed as a put and take fishery although they do have some catch and release sections that had some pretty nice-sized fish. Complete with bar, clubhouse, and cottages, this place is straight out of the old field and stream stories of "proper trout fishing."

That said, the folks were very nice and their isn't an air of pretentiousness to the lot. Just good ol' trout fishing in a private setting that is geared for the family and catching some trout in a an area of the country where that isn't so easy to do.

The fishing was pretty typical in that the creek is loaded with fish that are hard as hell to catch the proper way of matching the hatch. Throw a little bugger on and it becomes a little easier. When you first walk up to the creek though and see 50-100 fish in every pool, the first thing that comes to mind is something along the lines of "they'll never let me back in here after they see what I'm going to do these fish." An hour later I'm tying 6x on to a 12' leader and digging deep for something with a satin black bead on it. Humble Pie gratis some 12" stockers!

Anyway, it ended up being a good day, great to see the folks I was fishing with, and we ended up getting enough trout to feel like we are the superior race. Great to be home!

1221

2011-12-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, the way I figure it...I have about 2.25 minutes until my ambien kicks in...actually I'm on Lunesat now which sells for $100 a month vs $8.00 for generic ambien. Worst $100 I ever spent!

Anyway, off to Ohio tomorrow to spend Christmas with Christine's family. Always hard to be away from my oldest son and parents on Christmas, but it's also hard to be in more than one place at the same time! Merry Christmas to everyone if I don't get online again for a few days!

Now that that's out of the way....had an interetsing chat today with a retired FWP fisheries biologist. Talked about a lot of things and he had some great insight into how the department is managed. One thing that came across was the obvious point that the Madison, as a fishery, has been hurting for several years, especially the Brown Trout populations. The other point that came along with this was the lack of attention that the current biologist is giving to the biological/ecological factors that could be driving the fish popualtion issues.

You know, stuff like how do the flow regimes, spring scouring, fall scouring, water temps and quality actually impact the fishery. Shock, count, analyze data, report up the ladder, summer break, shock, count, analyze date, report up the latter and maybe make a regulation change every other year is about the extent of the current fishery management.

Kind of scary when you stop and think that we're talking about the river that was "saved" by some very controversial biologists back in the 70's that went against the grain to get hatchery fish out of the system and catch and release instituted. That was crazy talk back then, but they did the research, collected the data, and made changes. Unfortunatley today we're at the state where we have oodles of technology and well over a century of trout management in these fisheries yet it seems like we don't have the folks that can get past the bureaucracy and politics enough to objectively get their feet wet and take a look at the how and why of the problem. Just my opinion here.

Another crazy bit of trivia I picked up was from a study they did some time ago - I'm guessing 20-30 yrs ago - on a mark/recapture study. They had two brown trout that were tagged on the Ruby, just below the reservoir, and recaptured the following fall in the Beartrap on the Madison! These 2 fish were anomalies, but it happened! Got me wondering what effect the water we've had the last 2 years could have on population dispersal within that system! Interesting stuff that we should know more about.

Last little factoid is the Pike situation on the lower Gallatin and Missouri. We've known about them for 10yrs now and there have been no efforts by FWP to go out and get them out of these systems which are very important trout habitats. We've all known they are there and that their effects could be devastating on the trout in these fisheries. Other than a few signs at some put, ins there has been very little done here as well.

Things to mull over and hopefully get a few folks to be more proactive with some of this stuff. Everyone is aways quick to give FWP praise as they are a good agency with the public interest at heart. The fact is that they aren't getting it done when it comes to resource management of out wild trout rivers. Why I don't know!

121911

2011-12-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

Finished my outfitter logs today and sent the packet in to the MBO. Did the Madison stuff last week, so most of my year's end minutia is officially over, just in time for the Holidays! The V-Room should be finished by the first of Jan, the rest of the shop by late Jan. It's good to be done with most of these projects that always seem to take up way more time and space than I think they do when I tell people what I do in the off-season.

2011 was a great year for us, despite the crazy water conditions. Our retail sales hung in there with very modest growth and our guide business was up by double digit percentage. Needless to say, I felt like I was just going on automatic for most of the season, as did everyone else that works with me. We just kept rolling with the water and our clients rolled along with us until thing settled down in August.

We did more trips on the Missouri and Madison than most years and less on the Yellowstone. We ended up booking some trips on new water too, mostly around Missoula. I had a very thick stack of client logs to sift through, decipher, and organize this year. Took me about a few hours a day for a week to get it all lined up. I hope somebody does something useful with all that information, otherwise I would rate it is another colossal waste of time that we can chalk up to govt. regulation!

Anyway, I have a lot of great memories from this past year. The biggest highlight for me was finding a couple of new spots that had both water and fish with a lack of other folks. I was talking to someone the other day about guiding and explaining the way we feel after 10-12 days in a row. Goes something like wake up too early...feel like crap and hate the fact that the sun comes up 3 hours after it sets...chug coffee and wish you had a cigarette but you know that is wrong so you just grit your teeth and inhale the coffee fumes...hitch up the boat...go get gas...go get lunches....get to the shop only to remember that you forgot to get ice...go get ice and realize that the trailer lights are out...work on the trailer lights with duct tap because the electrical tape is wet and in the bottom of the boat...back to the shop to grab some bugs, pick up clients and out...realize the wind is worse than you thought but better over there than here so you go anyway...call the shuttle in, talk football, politics, and maybe even some religion on the drive over just to set the tone for the trip....as you get closer to the put-in you realize that everyone else has the same idea so you change the shuttle and go to plan b...do the drill of boat, rig, and client rigging...back boat up hating life...do the walk from rig to boat...sit down in the rower seat, pull up the anchor rope, crack a joke, pull on the oars and suddenly it all feels like it is supposed to once again and life is good. It's amazing how good that water makes you feel, almost seems like everything in between is just filler.

1218

2011-12-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

Finally got out on the water for a few hours today. Ended up on some private ground along the EG as every bridge had a few rigs as there were lots of folks out enjoying the day. Found some fish eating nymphs in the deeper, slow water...right where they should be this time of year. Nice, relaxing day on the stream.

12/15

2011-12-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

The lightness of the blog has to do with absence of piscatorial imagery in my life as of late. The weather has finally broke a little and it looks like the rivers have less floating ice and the anchor ice is gone for the most part. The lower looked really good yesterday but I had no time to stop and fish.

I've been living the fly shop dream though. Getting some new fly tying stuff in and wrappin' up the print marketing stuff for next year. The beloved V Room is finally getting it's face lift including paint and some flooring by year's end. Tinkering with the shop layout, ordering some new fixtures, and getting ready for the spring already.

I don't know if I'll ever get to fish again at this stage!

1208

2011-12-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

Made the trek to missoula this evening as my wife has a speech to give. Matty and I are going to find somewhere to get steaks and eggs for breakie.

Just around here tomorrow, should get back to bozo land by late afternoon.

Rivers look equally cold and slushy around here.

Coldness

2011-12-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

Cold day today, good for doing some shop work. The rivers are full of slush and anchor ice right now. I was surprised at how bad it looked on the lower yesterday and even more surprised when folks come in the hope to say they're going to go fish for a few hours on the Gallatin or Madison. I wonder what they think to themselves once they get rigged up, make it down to the water and start to cast only to realize that they're so much floating ice that there is no way to even get the flies wet. I've spent plenty of days on the water when the weather is well below freezing, maybe I'm just smarter than that now?

I fished for Lake Erie steelhead around Christmas one year on a day when the temps hovered around 20. I'd fished in much colder weather out west but never in that type of humidity and cold! The river was full of anchor ice and we'd have to break the ice not only off the guides, but off the leader and flies as well. I remember actually having a solid chunk of ice between the two flies several times and thinking that my chances were going to be limited that day as the flies were even frozen underwater to the point that I was drifting little ice-balls instead of bugs. We did catch 3 fish that day though. We're heading back that way for Christmas and I might go back to that little river for a day just so long as it's over 30 out.

Some things never change...

2011-12-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

Was down in Ennis today at a FOAM meeting to discuss the impending beginning of a proposed River Recreation Management Plan. Overall a good meeting to get everyone kind of headed in the same direction. I had a lot of thoughts along the way, but one thing that I really liked to hear was that apparently there are a lot of other folks that have similar sentiments regarding Region 3 FWP. I always thought I was the only one that didn't think they were very good at their job...ahh the joys of feeling a part of something!

SO, that got me thinking about some things I may or may not have thought or said about them over the years. Well, if you search FWP on my blog, there is plenty to keep you bus for a night or two. Anyway, there will be more from me on this...but here's a little rant that I went on in 2008 about our state's beloved F&G agency. I think I'd be through the alphabet and on to Roman Numerals if I started adding where I left off.

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks is still on my not favorite list. If you don't know, here's a quick rundown of my bad experiences over the years. You can get details by asking me if you want more. A) 2000 - I had to pay in excess of $5000 to sell fishing licenses. B) FWP Employee told one of competitors about some company secrets, thus ruining any competitive advantage and my relationship with that competitor. C) Established a ludicrous use management protocal on the Beaverhead in Big Hole that seems to have derived from a Butte 3rd grade class getting wild with a pin the tail on the donkey game. D) Decided non-resident can't fish from a boat on certain days on the previous rivers, even though they pay more for a license to fish than residents. E) If they do patrol for fishing violations I don't see them (out of 300 + days on the water the last 2 years I have not seen a warden check an angler) (AMMENDED 12/07/11 to say that I have seen folks get checked a few times a year in '09 and '10, once in '11). F) Management of rivers is largley based on perception and not facts. G) There seems to be an overall misunderstanding of trout biology and evolution...I think that they use a resource guide from Alabama's trout management guide. H)The whole shooting incident with my employees and outfitters form Ennis - apparently if you poach, shoot at deer withbirdshot in the middle of the river, don't wear orange, and get caught...you only get a $50 fine I) They take water temperatures in the hottest part of the streambed...the part where fish don't live...3 inch puddles with no current or shade J) Apparenlty the lower Madison is too far a drive for an easy bust of violators K) $100 access fees imposed in 2007 have yielded absolutley nothing...we pay more (which we should) but get nothing out of it L)New for 2008 is senior citizens get free licenses, they've always been glad to pay the $8 before and contribute to the "management" of the resource( repealed and the folks are back to being happy to pay their minimal fee) K) New for 2008 is theMadison River Use Fee...apparently BLM has jurisdiction over our use on rivers which is supposedly public domain ) once below the high-water mark...so much for that whole stream access law, plus the revenue generated (70-90 grand) is going to be used to fund 2 new positions to administer the program (what great minds we have in charge of this process!) Anyway, I'm sure there's more to come aboutFWP. My negative experiences aside, the employees of the agency are good, hard-working people. The policies and rules that come out just baffle me sometimes because I know these folks have better ideas than what we see.

1205

2011-12-05T05:48:00.000-08:00

Frosty morning today here in the ol' Gallatin Valley. Spent the weekend doing family stuff like going to the Christmas Stroll, buying a Christmas tree, and hanging some lights outside. Also squeezed in a few hours of football.

Need to go fishing! Things have been busy around the shop with the minutia like closing out years' end outfitting paperwork, wrapping up orders, and working on marketing materials. I haven't trout fished in MT since late October and it's killin' me! Might just have to call in sick one day soon if it ever warms back up on a day that I can get away.

I'm attending a meeting in Ennis tomorrow to get educated on the impending changes to how the Madison is regulated. It's being hosted by FOAM, so if you are a guide or outfitter that works on the Madison...please show up too...it's important!

Off to Missoula later in the week for a day of chasing hippies around with my 4 year old. My wife is giving a lecture about something microbial at UM, so Matty and I decided to tag along for the day.

Home

2011-11-30T06:49:00.000-08:00

Back in the real world once again following a great family holiday spent down south with my family. Highlights of the trip included taking in the Cowboys game at the new stadium with my two boys and dad. Spending time with everyone, including my 85 year old grandma. Deciding whether or not to slaughter 4 little pigs my dad trapped we opted to let them live to destroy more shit as neither of us could bring ourselves to whacking them!), Quail shooting over dogs, and watching my older son take a break from gaming on the Ipad to get jacked up by catching some bass on spinnerbaits.

Home now for awhile and back to strategizing and attending to all the necessities involved with running a seasonal business. People are fishing quite a lot right now and it sounds like the bite hasn't been too bad on nymphs around here. I'm anxious to get out for a few hours sometime soon. I love winter nymphing and the solitude that usually isn't too hard to find.

Holiday Newsletter

2011-11-29T11:52:00.001-08:00

'Tis the season in which there is always a reason...to buy a bunch of stuff for the angler in your world...or even better...yourself. Give lots of love to your local retailers this holiday season! We've got some deals online for the holidays so check 'em out, buy early, buy often! Check' em out in our newest edition of the e-news

2011-11-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

Hanging out down on my parent's ranch near Meridian, Tx. this weekend with the family. Got some bass yesterday, no ducks this morning, and a few hogs in the pig pen. The kids all took off with the my mom and wife to some wildlife park today. Dad and I are to do some bird hunting this afternoon. Catch and release hog hunting?

Captive Pigs

Free Pigs

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T17:11:00.000-08:00

My sons at the Cowboys game...my wife kept dancing in the background

After an uneventful day yesterday that started around 4:30 am mountain time, the family and I made it to Dallas to spend the Holiday weekend with family. Fantastic turkey day today spent with my parents, wife, kids, grandma, aunt and uncle. Dad took me and my 2 sons to the Cowboys game this afternoon and what a great time it was. Hopefully you had a great Thanksgiving too and we all remember what it is that really matters!

1120

2011-11-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

Weather around here has been better for football watching than hunting or fishing this weekend. We're supposed to a get a little relief later in the week, but I'll be in Texas for Thanksgiving with the family. Planning on doing some Bass fishing and duck hunting down there though. Also going to the Cowboys game on Turkey Day with my dad and sons.

Starting to wrap up all the preseason orders and finishing up all my end of year outfitting paperwork. Visions of NZ are starting to fill the head at nights...February can't come soon enough.

Regulation Shmegulation

2011-11-16T19:37:00.000-08:00

U snooze u lose.

And then there is the fact that FWP is going to begin the process of determining how to go about creating a whole new management program on the Madison. This will have to do with things like limiting both commercial and recreational usage on the river. The general public or average angler most likely won't be affected from this new program, but businesses like mine and non-resident anglers will most likely have their usage restricted in some way. It's all "on the table" right now as things are in the very early stages, but something is going to change.

The problem with this is not in the end result as there can hardly be any doubt that the Madison can be crowded. The problem is that it's a big river and the commercial congestion is centered around Lyon's Bridge for most of the year. So, let's say 15 miles of the river. The upper river is usually the first thing to clear in the spring so it sees a lot of use throughout it's course for the first 2-3 weeks of dropping water. Other than those two events though, it really isn't too crowded. I'm on that river a lot and there is very little commercial traffic from Macatee to Ennis Lake after salmonflies. Sure, there is the odd day when it is but more times than not you can expect to have most of the river to yourself or a handful of boats at most on most days.

Also, save the game warden in Ennis, there is virtually no visible enforcement of the current commercial use regulations that are in place. Outfitters contribute about $70000 to the Madison river every year through the BLM's implementation of the current SRP that is in place. That number is a few years old but I imagine that it is somewhere in that ballpark today. Essentially what happened is that the BLM decided that they had the right to 3% of the gross income of all commercial operations that take part on their land. This is not unique to the Madison and I think that most commercial users feel a little bit of pride in knowing that they are contributing directly to the resource....if you consider paying administrative costs and paving a few boat ramps the resource that is. Unless they are planning on raising fees another 3-5%, I don't see how they will possibly be able to effectively administer this developing plan

My problem with that program has always centered around the fact that our stream access laws provide for recreational opportunities in between the high water marks and the stream access laws apply to commercial usage as well. I've always felt that a boat launching fee would be much more appropriate as that's the only part of the trip we actually use the govt land. The rest of the time - the majority of the trip - is spent on our beloved highway system, county roads, and all the glorious water that we are all entitled to use per our state's stream access law which has been withheld legislature after legislature and even a US Supreme Court case. In addition, we already pay a $100 fee to FWP for use of their fishing access sites.

It all sounds like chump change until one starts to realize that 10 years ago, a guided fishing trip cost roughly $300 a day. If you rely on the free market influences (fuel prices amongst others), there has been a significant increase in costs to run a trip in that time of year. Throw on the increases in fees (a voluntary tax) and hours that it takes to administer the paperwork and increased insurance obligation and you're talking another 20%. However, the market sets it's own price and now we are sitting at around $450 for that same day of guided fishing. I'm kind of going by the seat of my pants here but the jist of the situation is that the neither of the primary users of the resource have benefited from this increase in govt. fees. The commercial operator pays more expense which gets passed along to the consumer and the govt adds no value to that relationship and the resource it regulates which in this case is ultimately the experience that a guide and guest has on the river. Whoa nelly...that's heavy.

So...occupy this! It's great to be an American where I can express my sentiment and take advantage of one of the things that the govt was actually put in place to protect...my right to free speech. As always...I could be wrong. More to come on the Madison situation and I encourage everyone to keep an eye out for public meetings whether you are for or against more regulation, it's important that your opinion is heard so that your interests will be considered while developing this plan.

Changes will happen in how most of us use the Madison River. Commercial users are deeply tied to this resource in ways that far transcend the almighty dollar. At the end of the day, everyone of us does this guiding thing because we all want to recreate that "ahhah" moment we had many years ago for the folks that we take out. Very few outfitters make enough money to worry about their tax brackets, the occupation is a means to a stable state of mind for most of us, not the bank.

Things that make you go hmmm

2011-11-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a little something I saw on my recent bird hunting trip up to Chinook. Leaves the mind to wonder, does it not?

1114

2011-11-14T13:42:00.000-08:00

It's windier than hell around Bozeman today, glad I'm not in a drift boat today. It's been blowing like hell for a few days just about everywhere around here and we're supposed to get some snow. Looking forward to winter for a change.
One of my favorite times of year to fish, just don't do it as often as I'd like. The lower Madison, on a mild winter day, can be as good a place and time to fish as anywhere, ever. There can be some people out there, but if you can work a few buckets well, it usually pays off. As for right now though, most of the browns are in mid spawn and I know myself well enough to know that I have a hard time resisting the temptation to go redd raiding...so I just don't go.

1112

2011-11-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

Cold front made its way to Chinook today but we didn't get the show that they got in Bozeman. Bird dogs are worn out so we hunted a lot easier today and didn't find as many birds. But, we did get a few, developed some nice blisters, and glad that I'm not a bird dog. Pike lakes are all frozen.

111111

2011-11-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

Great day up here near Havre. Little brezzy and mid 50's today but it's supposed to cool down tomorrow, maybe bring some moisture too. Dogs and us are all worn out after a mid-day death march trying to find the last bird.

1110

2011-11-10T20:18:00.000-08:00

Made the trek up to the high line this afternoon and checked into the lovely Chinook Motor Inn. Was tempted to stop and hit the casino in Box Elder but somehow resisted the urge. Pheasant hunting the next couple of days, maybe try for some Pike too.

1109

2011-11-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

Sounds like fishing has been alright the last few days on the Madison but the word is that the dry fly thing has been very good on the Yellowstone. Lots of midges and fish up on them. I prefer - especially this time of year - the cerebral numbness that comes with a bobber to the mental masturbation that accompanies steady risers and little dry flies. Don't matter though, I aint' fishing this week, gonna go shoot some birds up the high line instead.

Angling Heros - Vol 1

2011-11-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

Defintley a boring week for me around the shop as things have officially slowed down and I'm stuck in the ordering mode. Won't whine about it too much as I guess there are lots of folks that wouldn't mind trading places with me right now. But, a quick escape for me, as for you...is the blog and the inner working of that thing which I call my brain and which my wife swears does not exist.

Anyway, I have a lot of "heroes, " many of whom have nothing to do with angling and their praise and stories have no relevance to this audience. But, there are a ton of anglers out there that I do have a lot of respect for and that have made a lasting imprint on me and all things that I perceive in angling. So, I thought I'd start mentioning them from time to time here and a little story about what it was that they did that made an impact on me. I'll try to do one of these once a month or so.

I grew up in Dallas - not my fault - and spent most weekends on or around Cedar Creek Lake in east Texas. Countless hours of my time were wasted during the week spent in a small, all boys Catholic school (Cistercian Preperatory School) while my mind was on the Bass that inhabited Cedar Creek Lake. I probably didn't fish as much as I think I did, but I remember always wanting to be fishing rather than be sitting in school. Of course, this changed my sophomore year when I realized girls were nice. Some of the best memories I have of being "young" though were fishing with my dad on Cedar Creek and Lake Fork in east Texas.

Lake Fork was a "new" lake back then, managed and designed with trophy bass fishing as a primary goal. It's a very classic Bass lake with countless coves and bays with lillypads and standing trees, making for an overwhelming abundance of holding water for Bass. Dad took me fishing there a few times and we used a local guide there named Richard McCarty.

This was my first exposure to a fishing guide and he probably inspired me more so than anyone to actually want to be a fishing guide. He was probably in his early 30's at the time and was driven by fish like few I've ever met. We'd meet him for breakfast at some little marina ("the minnow bucket?" in the pre-dawn hours and usually fish until near dark. Unlike trout guides, the bass guides there would run the trolling motor and fish at the front of the boat. Kind of bizarre in my mind now, but seemed normal at the time. Anyway, the guy was as fishy a person I've ever met and he knew where and how to catch bass.

We went out with him several times over the years and he taught me persistence, to look for patterns, and that you don't need to worry about how to get a fish out of heavy cover until you hook 'em. Though my dad and I fished the lake a few times on our own, we never had the success that we had with Richard and the value of a good guide was instilled in me at an early age.

The largest bass I've ever actually held was this one that went just shy of 10 lbs. I've caught some 7-8 pound fish, but nothing like this behemoth. In the years since, fish like this are far more common than they were in in the mid 80's and hopefully I'll get the chance to get one of these on my own before I go the way of the Dodo. Richard actually caught this fish from the front of the boat, but I was just as thrilled to hold the fish and get my picture taken with it as I would have been if I caught it myself.

Funny how that is. There was a time when I could have cared less to take a picture of someone else's fish and would have been flat out pissed if they caught more or bigger fish than I. The last several years though, I'm just as happy to watch someone else catch a fish as I am to catch one myself. Maybe Richard taught me that too, we just didn't know it 'til now.

Don't know if he still guides or not, but he probably should. I know he's got an archery store in east Texas and is well known in that sport.

1107

2011-11-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

The Monday grind is here. Slowly working my way through orders for next year, scouring through the fly catalogs with hopes of finding something truly new while making sure I don't forget the essentials. Never ceases t amaze me at how many patterns are out there and that we carry. Yet, someone is always looking for that one we don't carry or they've been carrying around in their box for 8 years and suddenly lost the last one this morning on the Gallatin.

Seems trivial until you're that guy. Like this summer when we were railing fish on the Zics up on the MO and we were all down to the last 2 or 3 on day 2 of a 5 day trip. Times like that will test a friendship amongst guides. There's that unwritten code that we all understand that it's nothing personal, but no I'm not going to give you anymore of these. At the same time, if you're motivated enough to sneak into my truck at night or do a swithceroo on my foam patch when I'm not looking....well then you've earned that fly and I won't take it personal either.

So, even though we all know that there's not much difference between a copper bead and a brass bead when ti comes to adorning a Prince nymph...the reality can be all the difference. As a flyshop owner, I'm always picking flies for the 99%, but really try hard to not make that 1% feel so overlooked too. The line is not quite as distinct as those folks in NYC claim when it comes to flies that work and don't work.

1104

2011-11-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

The weekend is just around the corner...like I need a weekend to take a break from work right now! We're supposed to get some weather tomorrow so probably best that I'm not fishing anyway.
If I were to fish this weekend...I'd probably brave the cold and deal with some ice on the guides and hit the Madison in the park (along with a lot of other folks). Always one of my favorite things to do and I never did get the chance to make it this year. Some good fish to be had if you can make it one last time.
Nothing beats swinging a big soft hackle through those runs when the weather is right for it. If not...an egg will do the trick just fine. Enjoy if you can.

Also, check out the latest issue of Catch when you get a chance. It's an online fishing photo mag. I coerced them into using one of my images which is the lead in the colors of fly fishing photo essay" section.

Thoughts on Steel

2011-11-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

Steelheading has never really been “my thing” as all of my experiences up to this point has been characterized by countless hours spent standing in an unknown river searching for something that either is or isn’t there. I’ve heard the stories, seen the DVD’s, and had given it an honest crack. So, when some friends asked if I wanted to join them on their annual trip to BC for Pacific Steelhead, I said “hell yeah.”

Any great fly fishing adventure is more about the experiences in between the trudge and the tug so I’m always up for something new. There was little doubt that this trip would deliver on the trudge side of things. After 2 days of driving in which we crossed the never ending northern plains well into Alberta and a seemingly endless string of mountain passes through the Canadian Rockies, we ended up in some little logging town closer to Alaska than Vancouver.

Steelhead are anadromous, move from one piece of holding water to another as they make their way to wherever it is that they’ve come so far to do their duty to the continuation of their diminishing species. Oblivious to hatches, they are only there to spawn, after which they ride the high water of next spring back to the Pacific for another year or two of doing whatever they do until the next time they decide to give it another go. To say that they’re not like any trout I know would be an understatement. It’s the chance encounter with one of these amazing Salmonids that has given purpose and focus to many a lost soul on their way to becoming what we affectionately call a “Steelheader.”

This trip was my chance to see not only the fish, but also the infectious obsession that “Steelheaders” are best known for. The tug is their drug and in it’s pursuit, all other priorities seem trivial at best. Black or purple is a much more important concern than a hotel reservation. Being the first in a run far outweighs the significance of bringing lunch or grabbing breakfast. Remembering that wallet full of heads sits much higher on the list than double checking the gas tank.

Many a diehard Steelheader has spent day after day swinging flies through countless runs without a pull, knowing that as each fruitless swing is finished they are that closer to their next hook-up. I’ve given it a few tries over the years and I was of the opinion that this is one fish that I’m not meant to catch. So I figured I’d take the camera, make a few casts here and there while enjoying the various moments along the way to wherever it was that we were all headed.

The rivers we fished were all beautiful in their own ways with towering conifers coming right down to the river’s edge seemingly everywhere we anchored the jet boat. Spey fishing was not an option, but the rule. With no formal lessons in my background, it didn’t take me long to figure out that a Skagit line is a good thing and that my routine would go something like “duck, chuck, swing, step, and repeat.” I’d like to say that my skill set improved after a few days, but the reality is my aching muscles just got used to the movements after awhile and ibuprofen really is the miracle drug! Though I won’t be asked to do any guest spey casting appearances anytime soon, I still managed to marry my fly with the mouth of several truly wild steelhead in the course of a few day’s fishing. The other anglers managed to make that event happen more often than I, so I’d say that they were eating pretty well if that term can ever be applied to these fish.

The “thing” I’ve come to appreciate more and more every year is that I just enjoy fishing in cold, clean water. I’m just as happy to prowl the banks of a small stream, row down a big western river, or stand in frigid water hour after hour. When a fish is on the other end of my line, there is a sense of completion to the cycle that starts all over again once it is released.

There are countless moments in between the first cast and the tug, all of which have their own significance in making the “bigger picture” just a little more clear. If I know anything about fishing for Pacific Steelhead, it’s best characterized by an abundance of “in-between moments.” But, when that remarkable fish comes to hand along with it the realization that this animal has survived countless hardships only to eat this size 2 leach with a chartreuse head, there is an unmistakable feeling that we are all connected. I’ll be back there next year.

11-01

2011-11-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

Made it home around 5:30 this afternoon. Herman Cain is kind of screwed. Newt maybe making a late run. Perry is a bit of a ham. Some plane landed in Poland with no landing gear. The Hendricks motorsports guys plan crash landed in FL with no injuries. Michael Jackson's doc likes strippers. Pretty much listened to these stories being played over and over again all day.

Feels more like winter around here. Think I need to get out and do some fishing at some point this week. I've had some unique angling opportunities this year and still find there's no place like home. 2011 is the year in which I landed my first truly wild steelhead and permit, both of which are memories that I'll hold tight for the rest of my life. At the end of all my trips this year though, I've looked forward to coming home more than the desire to stay away. There is still so much water here that I'm yet to fish and it's hard to beat that feeling that comes along with trout fishing in SW MT.

Way Home

2011-10-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

Left BC early this am to start the trek home, made it to Canmore tonight, should get back to the Bozone by tomorrow evening. It's been awhile since I've done a marathon drive and XM makes it a lot more interesting while allowing me the opportunity to hear minute by minute news developments. Also, apparently I need to get into gold, drink some smoothies to lose weight, plus viagra is only $3 a pill...proof that radio advertising works!.

Trip went well, got a lot of photos and caught my first pacific steelhead. I ended up getting 5 steelhead, but other than one big sum bitch, they others 4 were in the 22-24" range. Strainer and Curt each got some nice fish too and they have another week up there. Weather as great, will wrap it up later, but it was good. I'm looking forward to getting home and getting back to work.

Day 3 BC

2011-10-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Day 3 in BC was everything that the promise of western steelhead brings. Good water and some nice fish. We ended up in someplace a long way away from where we are staying, alone on a beautiful river. Strainer got 5 and I ended up with 2 to hand. Curt landed 2 the day before and I had 1 that day. Books have been written about the mental games that you play when swinging flies for steelhead. Cast after cast of nothingness and the shear joy that comes along with the tug when it happens.

So, mission accomplished for me. No license today, just the camera and hanging out on the river with friends. Heading home on Monday.

Day one CA

2011-10-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

We ended up making up to the “holy water” of western Steelhead fishing after about 22 hours of driving from Bozeman. Steelhead fishing, specifically Pacific steelhead, is characterized by hours and hours of nothingness accompanied by cast after cast of nothingness. Kind of like fishing the upper Madison, except the steelhead is going to be little bigger and a lot stronger than anything you’re likely to find on the Madison. Anyway, so here I sit, waiting for the sun to come up.

Yesterday was a mini-mess in getting started, as we didn’t have a place to stay for the next several days, needed to get licenses, and some gas before we headed out. So we didn’t get onto the water until around noon. River looked in good shape to me and we had reports that there have been some grabby fish. I’m here more to try to take some pics than catch fish, but I really want to get just one of these MF’s and do it “properly.”

I’ve made a few trips to the Clearwater over the years but those days were before the started seeing the big runs of the last several years. I’ve hooked one western Steelhead for about a nano second in my life. I’ve caught sea run Rainbows in Chile, and Great Lakes Steelhead, but the fish here are the real deal. They swim a long way up these rivers to get it on and then go back to the ocean to eat for another year to several years before they come back to their birthplace. I’d like to just meet one on their terms. After that, eggs.

We stuck 4 yesterday, lost them all and I was not involved in any of those altercations. I did bang a Dolly and the drainer put the hurting on a 14” Rainbow. I gave into the draw of the two handers yesterday so hopefully the fish gods will throw me a bone and some good shots to go with the game.

2011-10-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

Woohoo, made it up to wherever the hell we are about 8:30 tonight from Canmore last night. Beautiful drive for most of the day and things warmed up the further NW we went. Fishing tomorrow. Long drive to the holy land!

More Work

2011-10-25T04:28:00.000-07:00

In Canmore this morning as we work our way to the holy water of NW BC. Heading up with the Drainer and another dude, and then meeting some other folks later in the week. I think we are aiming for somewhere around Smithers, but as I am only driving...I have no idea where we are actually going. A map probably would have been useful.

Anyway, picked knucklehead up in Craig yesterday and we finally hit the road around 1:30, made it here around 10:00 last night and we have 12-14 hr day ahead of us. Probably much longer as I hope to get some photos along the way. The drive was fine other than the fact that I'm towing a little red jetboat that wobbles at about 72mph, so it's slow going. We were planning on getting to Banff but we ran into some ice on the roads last night so decided to get off the road before we wrecked as I was distracted listening to the Rangers game.

So, I'm looking forward to seeing some new country today and the drive ahead. Fishing trips are always kind of fun. Unfortunately for me...it's all work.

The End My Friend

2011-10-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Last trip today. Where did it all go? Is it really already almost November? Seems like just yesterday I was driving around BFE looking for some clean water and hoping for hoppers. Ok, no it really doesn't. It's been a long season and I'm looking forward to not rowing a boat for awhile. Looking forward to doing some fishing, photo taking, family time and shop time. Any trips I do the rest of the year will hopefully be from foot and not for a few weeks.

Was a great day to end the season though with one of my longest "tenured" clients on one of my favorite stretches of river around here. The bite was so/so but we landed one really nice fish, lost some good ones, got some ok ones and some dinks too. Swung some streamers with little love but the nymphing kept it interesting and gave us a enough of a tug to make it good day overall. Yeah the fishing was ok, but the day was great and made for a great way to wrap things up.

Start packing and sorting crap tomorrow, heading to BC on Monday morning.

1020

2011-10-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

Back from the Bighorn and doing some catch up work around the shop today. The horn was surprisingly good despite the water being off-color and having to battle grass and weeds on just about every drift. Best part was the lack of other anglers which made it possible to get into some relatively clean riffles and have some great wade fishing. While I'm all about the row around, it was nice to not have to do that all day on the river.

Seemed like the fish were just eating pretty well as mixing up flies didn't seem to really matter too much. I did do pretty well on a little wondernymph in the riffles in the afternoons, but other than that...just worms and sowbugs.

1018

2011-10-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

Made my way over to the horn yesterday, got the chance to go our and fish for a couple of hours all by lonesome. No boat, no camera, just fishing. Fish were eating well and it as beautiful afternoon all alone at 3-mile. Fished a bunch of different bugs and got fish on everything so I think that they were just eating pretty well. The river is off color and pretty weedy, but it's fishing well and there are a lot less people around here than many other places right now.

Guided today and found plenty of fish on the eat between 3 Mile and Bighorn. The wade fishing in the riffles is really good right now, the boat fishing was so/so. Got fish on worms, sowbugs, and some little bug I picked up at the Bighorn Trout shop. Some little tan pseudo nymph that they ate real well later in the day. Things slowed down around 5 or so, but other that, it was pretty good so long as we could keep the flies clean.

What did I learn today? Fishing is better than golf. 3 AB's is a lot of weight. I am dependent on my cell phone. The Bighorn is a pretty good place to be right now.

What would I do?

2011-10-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

I'm lamenting the fact that I can't go and fish the next few days and feel like I've been tied down to the desk for far too long already. That cortisone shot was magical and now I want to go throw a line...pain free. But, Christine is out of town foe the weekend and I'm on daddy daycare duty X 2. My life is so difficult...no one knows my pain! O.k. I'm kidding...it's pretty good.

Been ordering bugs like crazy the last couple of days. Found some pretty cool new patterns that should be very solid in the bins next year. We rearranged our bass/pike/saltwater/steelhead/salmon stuff which had the added benefit of freeing up a whole lot of bin space so I've been pecking away, trying to find some weaknesses in our selection and adding to it more. I'm a long way from being done, but I did wrap up the biggest of the orders today so that is one less thing to worry about.

So, I've got some family time coming my way this weekend with the boys. Getting some stuff organized for the horn next week. Looking for weedless worms mostly.

If I was fishing this weekend where would I go? Early rise and go fight the crowds on the Madison in YNP would be first option. Wade fish around Varney. Bucket bounce on the lower. Swing junk below Big Timber. All good full day options. If I only had a couple hours to kill...probably a couple holes on the lower would be the first choice but the EG has been fishing well and that would probably win out in the end. Actually, come to think of it...I'd go throw streamers on the Jeff up around Twin Bridges.

And another

2011-10-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Had the day off today so Neuman and I headed to the upper to see if we could find some glory. Should have known better. Nymphing was slow but we did find some fish and I ended up losing a very nice fish and getting a few on streamers. Pitching 250 gr depth charge with some articulated junk and some split, slow swing but fish are finally getting interested.

Back to playing with spreadsheets tomorrow and getting fly orders sorted back in the V-room. Less and less folks around now, amazing how fast the season went by. I went and got a cortisone shot the day before yesterday to help me out with tendinitis in my elbow. Should have done that awhile ago as it is amazing how much better I feel. Today was the first day that I was able to actually fish for more than a few minutes without being in pain. Pain free is awesome!

109

2011-10-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

Almost done for the year in terms of guiding. Wrapped up the last run of several days yesterday on the upper Madison and found some good fish starting to eat little pink flies pretty well. Fall like conditions seem to be improving things around here.

Day before yesterday on the lower was not very good but we had rising water to deal with which definitely made for a tougher bite. Couple that with an inexperienced angler and a crapload of floating weeds and the chances for success weren't great.

Have a lot of minutia to attend to this week and then head over to the Bighorn next week for the grand finale. Looks like I'm heading to BC at the end of the month to try for some steelhead somewhere around Simthers. Expect to do more photography than fishing up there.

108

2011-10-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

Lower Madison today and it was a wee bit tough. Increased dam flows started yesterday and the river was steadily in the rise today. Odd for this time of year to see trees and shrubbery floating down the river. So, just a few fish but a good attitude and time was had by all. Should be good once things settle over there. Upper tomorrow and then that's about it...just a few days on the bighorn next week.

107

2011-10-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

Another day of fall has come and gone. A fresh dusting of snow in the mountains and the need for gloves and a hat were welcome reminders that the so called Indian Summer is over. All good things must come to an end and it was great to get some decent fish today to eat bugs that they ought to be eating this time of year. Things seemed more familiar the last couple of days than the last few weeks.

Fished the "black ops" section of the Madison today. How gay does that sound? One of the guys yesterday got a text from a guy that was fishing the "black ops" section of the Beaverhead yesterday. Cracked me up and sent me off on a bit of a head tangent last night. I was wondering how long I could go before calling something the "black ops" section of a river...made it a day.

Anyway, had a good day today with a pretty steady bite on the upper Madison. Fish were eating stoneflies and pink flies. Something seems to have finally switched on as we saw some browns with good colors and got a dozen fish or so in the 16-19" range.

On a non-angling note and lesson for the day...I learned about black cats and cardinals today. BAM doesn't necessarily mean bam. Neoprene waist high waders can be sexy. Teal is still a fashionable color. Gink turns orange after 6 years of sitting in a closet. The Dead made zingers at one point. Duct tape does not work well in rain and is absolutely worthless when it comes to trying to repair a winston. Great day with a good dude.

106

2011-10-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

Down over there today, found some fish on the eat but mostly smaller fish. Wind picked up in the afternoon and made for a tough go later in the day. All in all, good day though. Feels like fall is here, supposed to get some snow in the mountains tonight.

Upper tomorrow. Feeling optimistic? Hardly. Hopeful? Always.

Guys I fished with today just came over from someplace else in the state. Had some good talking about how they do things over there and the "I'm pretty cool because I'm a fishing guide" thing is to be found other places as well. The egos in this business/lifestyle can be a little overwhelming, even embarrassing to watch at times. I'm as guilty as the next when it comes to talking egos, but come on dude...we're just some fishing guides trying to teach folks a thing or two and catch some fish.

One thing I've learned is that I really am not as important as I think I am. The world isn't going to end if the fish don't bite and I'm not the one that makes them bite. There's a whole lot of room in the middle of those two ends of the spectrum, plenty for me to stay in the middle.

105

2011-10-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

The season is winding down and a long with that will be a wind down on the blog for awhile. I'll still update it a few times a week, but my daily discipline will probably be less consistent than it has for awhile. I enjoy the blog and know that quite a few others enjoy reading it so it's not going away anytime soon...I just don't think I can keep it up at the pace it's been going. I have a lot of gobbly goop in my brain and this has worked well as an outlet over the years. I wonder how much money my parents could have saved on shrink fees if only blogging was around back in the day!

Fished the stone today with Steven and John down low. Day was mostly, partly sunny, with the clouds settling in late afternoon. So, same old story as it seemed more like hopper weather than streamer weather but we mostly fished nymphs and found some trout and lots of honkies. But, the weather is now here and things should get streamerlicous very soon. Plan on working it hard tomorrow and maybe look for some heads along the way. We'll see what the wind man brings us to determine the game plan....but hoping to find some chasers in the am.

Steven caught a rainbow today that had some type of nylon netting material around the fish,. At first glance it looked like partt of somebodies net, but it may have been a type of gill net someone was using in the river. The material had actually cut well into the fish and had been there awhile as the wound was starting to heal around the net. The cut on the fish looked very similar to that of what sometimes happens to a whitefish when other people foul hook them in the gut and then rip them across the current, only there was netting hanging out. Never seen that before and I've seen come crazy shit! One winter, I caught 2 rainbows on the Missouri by the swivel of a bait hook that they had swallowed. But never seen netting growing out of a fish.

Better Day

2011-10-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

Very different day today than yesterday....thank God! The bite was good for most of the day, nothing huge but a dozen or so 12-16" and another 10 or so smaller. Didn't have to work it too hard either. Had some wind, but everything was good in the end.

Around 3 or so I went to my happy spot where I can hardly believe that I actually do this for a living, I had flashbacks of yesterday though and came back to reality. I have no idea what happened yesterday and that's probably the most maddening of it all. Wasn't just me though, so that helps a bit. Just hard to deal with when you have good anglers, no the bugs, and where the fish are. Ahhhh...move on I say!

In the shop tomorrow and then going to get after it through the weekend and then just a few more days on the books.

Pink Boat is Here

2011-10-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

Another Sunday come and gone on the upper Madison. Lyons - Pal, 20 boats, 15-25 mph wind, good anglers, 3 fish. Awesome. Fished little bugs, bug bugs, sculpins, even threw some dries. It just wasn't right today and I don't know why. Some days you're the hammer, some day you're the nail.

October is breast cancer awareness month and I have the Pink Boat for the week. Was thinking about trying to raise some money through some sort of trout pledge but after today...I'm probably doing more harm than good. It's a much bigger and heavier boat than I'm used to so I won't be taking it back out unless the wind settles...So, hopefully later in the week will do the trick.

We raised something like $2500-$3000 in the Pink Boat just a few days. All the money we raise with the boat goes directly to the Susan G. Komen foundation of MT and is all used to fight breast cancer. It's an insidious disease that has impacted my life directly through the loss of Carol Foreman, my mother in-law. I know it's affected lots of folks that read this and that I have the pleasure of fishing with during the year as well. So, keep it in mind as I'll be throwing a pitch out to you all in the next day or two and ask that you please join me in donating to the cause..."throw some dough...and I'll row!" It's late, I'm tired and that's the best I got tonight!

A little blurb about what's to come

2011-09-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

We’ve been stuck in a lingering “Indian Summer” here in southwest Montana, which has just added to the irregularity of the 2011 season. Things started off later than usual thanks to heavy snow last winter only to be followed by one the wettest springs on record. Anglers and guides across the region were scrambling around parts unknown in search of fishable water throughout most of June and July only to be treated with some of the best late season water conditions we’ve ever seen. The season is starting to wind down and it looks like we will finish up the season on more familiar ground so long as the weatherman is reasonably correct with his latest forecast.

Fall is a time of transition, which can make for some real boom or bust days on the water around here. So much is changing that it is impossible to make accurate predictions as to where the best chances for success can be found. The Brown trout are becoming more aggressive as they start to move into spawning areas and “pair-up” for what lies ahead. Cold nights cool the water and bring a return of hatching insects, which become more important to feeding trout than their steady diet of hoppers and ants over the last month or so. And then there is the return of quietness on just about all the waters in the region and Montana looks more and more like we all envision it to be.

The forecast looking ahead is for some cooler, unsettled weather characterized by mild days and cool nights with a little moisture along the way. As the weather becomes more like fall and less like summer, we’ll soon see the trout chasing streamers early and late just about everyday with intermittent periods of rising to small Mayflies in between.

Locals and seasoned travelling angler already know that October in Montana is one of the last best kept secrets of western trout fishing. While some folks might be out chasing feathers and fur, I’ll be looking on the Madison and Yellowstone…looking for gold!

Anticipation

2011-09-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

It's been great to have a few days off now and not even think about being on the water! That said, looking forward to getting back after it in a few days and the forecast is for some fall like conditions. The weather has been amazing the last few weeks, but I've felt like I've been on the sidelines just waiting for the right play to be called before going into the "2 minute drill." Clouds, rain, coldness...that's what I've been waiting for. I should go back to some of my posts in June of this year and I bet I can find one in which I was begging for sunshine and a wader-free day.

Fish can have their ant and hoppers...I'm ready to fish some zonkers and articulated junk with hopes of connecting with something that would best be described as Leviathan. Dry flies are great fun, but they're really meant for summer, spring creeks, and New Zealand. So, I'm getting the Depth Charge lines back out, making sure I have some sinking leaders and plenty of 12-18 lbs tippet just in case it all comes together.

Nothing is more exciting about this fishing stuff than the anticipation. Whether it's the night before a big trip, the drift down to a rising fish, the next cast, or the next fish, anticipation is what makes all those moments in between so interesting. So, the anticipation of what is coming in the next couple of weeks reminds me of why it never hurts to make a few practice casts.

09/28

2011-09-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

Spent the day getting organized and sorted after a long season and several years of stuffing unopened mail in various drawers and boxes. Little cooler today and it looks like we are supposed to get some fall like conditions coming our way next week.

Wrapping up the fly count in the next couple of days and starting to compare spreadsheets and throwing darts at the various catalogs. I am yet to see any revolutionary new patterns for next year but who knows. I was wrapping up some more fly shots for the website today as well and it's amazing to me how many patterns we actually have in the shop. Silver lightning bugs...mmmm good.

Felt like I should put something up today so that yesterday's pic isn't front and center 2 days in a row.

Content

2011-09-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

This blog thing is a pain in the ass sometimes. I have nothing of sustenance to add to anyone's lives today in terms of angling knowledge or experience. Don't really even have too much to complain about, except that it is too hot for this time of year.

I've been relishing the fact that I now have an office it what has been affectionately nicknamed the "V Room." The name comes from one of the many artifacts left over by the Tattoo guys that used to occupy the space. Had to buy a new laptop and get a network installed so the computers can talk to each other at work. Should make life much easier for everyone, plus I now have a place in the world in which I can hide. Going through years of unopened statements, insurance notices, licensing crap, etc. and filing them away in file folders...crazy what a little space does.

Might get out for a fish on the Gallatin tomorrow afternoon. Need to reshoot an image I took a year ago as people "in the know" really dig it, but say the angler should be wearing a vest...poor neuman and the slippery slope he has to walk.

So, as I don't have too much value to add, here's a pic I posted a year or two ago that I took while taking the kids trick or treating in some little town in Ohio. Before you look and get mad at me for making you look...I apologize as it does show poor judgement on my part and has nothing to do with anything that anyone could ever hope to gain from reading the blog...except a laugh or two and who couldn't use that?

Looking Ahead

2011-09-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

Getting caught up around the shop today which actually means supervising the guys as they count away on the fly inventory. Critical part of the biz as we take a complete physical inventory, compare it to last years count, add what we ordered to that and use the differences to predict orders for 2012. Plus have to figure out which pattern get to go to fly hell to make room for new patterns.

Weather continues to be off the hook nice for this time of year. Will be on the water a couple of days this week and most of next week, and hoping for some cloudy weather to get the streamer bite going strong.

I will be heading over to the Bighorn for two days in October (18-19) and am looking to book a few days over there on the front side of that trip if anyone is interested in some fall fishing over there with me. Available dates would be Oct 14-17, $400/day. I usually have folks stay at the Absaraka Fishing Bear Cabins near Ft. Smith and they do have some availability at this time (around $150/night per cabin).

And another

2011-09-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

Had a rare day off the water and out of the shop today. Watched my son play soccer and was glad to not be rowing a boat when the wind picked up this afternoon. Also, got annihilated in my Fantasy Football...how do Rivers, Turner, Greene, McCluster, Clark, and Burlenson combine for like 25 points? My highest scorer was the kicker for the Texans.

Plan on being in the shop most of the week working on preseasons and looking at our sales for the year. This summer was the busiest we've ever had both in terms of sales and trips and will wonder what could've been if we had good conditions and weather in May and June.

The weather has been insane the last week and not quite sure what to make of it, think the fish are in the same boat. Just when they start getting excited about Pseudos and BWO's, it's back to hoppers and ants. I'm ready for some fall like weather, just not snow...not yet anyway.

Hot

2011-09-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

Another Indian summer day here in SW Montana has come and gone. Think it's supposed to be like this for awhile though, probably should try fishing hoppers again but it's fall...damn it.

Fished Valley Garden to ELake today and found it slow for the most part with the occasional bucket holding some fish on the eat. Tis the time of year though that more and more fish tend to move in there so chances are I'll be back sooner rather than later

My disdain for the pontoon boat crowd was once again reinforced. Nothing personal against them but folks just don't seem to have brains when using them. Why do the uber pontoon crowds dudes have to park their truck right up to the boat ramp, unload everything on the ramp, get rigged, move their truck, and then go? Isn't the whole idea to be self sufficient and highly mobile? Few things in the water world are more irritating than boat ramp slugs. Get in, get out. No need to primp on the ramp. I want to be on their side but it's just been too painful for too long. One bad apple....

Going, going....

2011-09-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Arrived down there today with neuman and found the river to be a dirty mess. Plan B'd it up and had a good time, caught some fish, got some pics, and found the source of dirt...an excavator playing in the middle of the river.

Big pet peeve of mine there is the crowds. I've been fishing it for awhile now and am about at the point of talking about the good ol' days. Now they're putting a new boat ramp in so that it will be easier for more people to fish down there. But in the meantime, they're driving heavy equipment around the river bottom so you might not want to go below that one place...there are no fish below there anyway.

That stretch of river is/has been one of the best low population fisheries for years now, but I imagine that things will change as more and more anglers hit it. Biggest fish of the year the last 4 years has come out of there for me, wonder if that will ever be again...probably not as I find myself fishing it less and less and the crowds get more and more.

Not Bad

2011-09-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

One of the beauties of being a fishing guide is the degree to which generalities are acceptable. Personally , I thrive on the use of descriptions like "not bad, "ok", "sort of", "almost", "possibly", and "probably". Pin me down to make a statement that implies commitment and the closest you're likely to get is "I think so."

So, on the upper again today and the fishing was "not bad." If you didn't know me or are just stumbling upon this post...you might think that means "good." However, if you do follow this a bit and know how I feel about the upper...than you are safe to assume that "not bad" is closer to "ok" than "shit", but still a long way from "awesome." Trying to decide if you should go up there or not...it' not bad is as close as I can get in terms of a recommendation.

Want something useful? Shit on dries today. Shit morning. Little bugs after lunch, some small fish and a few decent ones. Very streaky. By little bugs, I mean a SH pheasant tail and a little green machine (both 18's) on 5x 4 feet below the bobber. A #1 Dinsmore about 10" above the first fly (dropper tied off the eye). Later in the day, had a good grab going for awhile on pearl zonkers with a silver lightning bug (18). Nymphed the slots more so than the pockets and it worked well enough to make the day a "not bad" day in the end. Pretty good relative to some days, in my opinion, I think.

Ups to the Upper

2011-09-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

Steven and I headed up to the upper for a bit of exploration this afternoon and found some fish that were bigger than a hot dog and had spots on them. Hard to believe, but it's true. Now it was a long way from being good but just as far away from being bad too. Got a couple fish to eat worms but mostly we found fish rising behind rocks and in seams to small attractor patterns like humpies and wulffs.

My windshield was completely covered in bug splats coming home and, after further inspection, it was discovered that they were flying ants. There were some BWO's out, along with a surprising number of caddis and it seemed like some fish were just looking up for a change over there.

Seems like things have been erratic around here the last couple of weeks as cold nights and shorter days bring the bugs back out and the fish make the switch from hoppers back to aquatic bugs. We're just a cloudy day away from having some very good fishing just about everywhere. I think that fish are spookier this time of year on sunny days as the angle of the sun sets a little bit lower than just a few weeks ago. I've noticed (from fishing in NZ) that fish become exponentially more spooky later in the day once the sun starts to drop a bit. Makes sense as shadows are longer, profiles more pronounced, and movement is easier to pick up in the sidelight. Just a thought.

She's calling you Tom...the upper Madison that is..."give it to me one more time..."

Looking Ahead

2011-09-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

Good to be home and spend a day in the shop fro a change. Most of it, however, was spent sitting in the office looking at bank accounts, e-mails, and some new product for next year. Starting the process of taking a look at everything for the year and making plans for next year already.

Back on the water around here for the next few days and looking forward to it. Hell, I might even enjoy the upper Madison again. Seeing and fishing new water is always great, but there's nothing like being on our home waters...something that's easy to take for granted. I grew up spending a lot of time on a pretty good-sized lake in Texas and I'm sure I could go back there 20 years later and find the same coves and underwater humps I obsessed over what seems a lifetime ago now. One thing I never forget is the good days, conditions, and places.

The upper generally starts to fish well again this time of year with the cooler nights getting the BWO's and random larger Mayflies active. Overcast days usually make for a good streamer bite up there this time of year and don;t forget about the oft-overlooked worm bite. Always a frustrating day to be had up there, but you it's better than whacking whities on the Yellowstone all day.

Back in da Bozone

2011-09-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

22" Bull Trout

Back home this afternoon after a week around Missoula and it feels like Fall has finally arrived. I returned home via Craig as I had to return a borrowed raft and pick up the old 911 to return to storage, so it ended up being a long day on the road. Nothing too eventful other than I hit a pheasant rooster going over a pass outside of Lincoln...can't believe it didn't put my windshield over the limit (I do have pheasant feathers stuck in the satellite receiver though)

All in all it was a good trip over there, 4 days with one group and 3 with another. Weather started in the 90's a week ago and was in the low 50's yesterday. Probably explains why we had a couple slow days mid-trip. Fished some new water and lots of dry/dropper rigs for a change.

In a nutshell...3 days on on the lower Clark Fork one of which was pretty good on rising fish eating Hecuba's the other 2 days were spotty and inconsistent. 3 days on the Blackfoot, one on the lower was good on dries and worms, on in the canyon sucked and one in the canyon was very good (yesterday). One day on the Bitterroot was good on dry/droppers and hoppers. Of course, as always, there was lots of stuff in between that made it all very fun for everyone involved.

A few firsts for me as well. First Squawfish. First time I lost a trailer on the highway. First time on the lower CF, lower Blackfoot, and Bitterroot. First time I've been pulled over and asked if I was drinking or doing some "other stuff" in a long long time. First time I've found a mechanic to work on a trailer after 5. First time I've caught Brown, Brook, Rainbow, Bull, Cutthroat, and Whitefish in one day.

I'm sure more will trickle in over the next few days as I go through some of the pics and get caught up. Hard to imagine how difficult things can be without internet for a well. I had to improvise with my fantasy football and virtually ignored the blog, facebook, and website for a week.

Uno Mas in Missoula

2011-09-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

One more day here around Missoula and then back to the Bozone. Clark Fork yesterday was slow but good enough to be ok on dries. Bitterroot today was good on dry/dropper in the morning and hopper/dropper in the afternoon.Been fun around here, but ready to get home.

Getting Caught Up...kinda

2011-09-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Been over in Missoula the last 4 days guiding around here. I've had little Internet access, thus my delays in keeping updates.. Anyway, I'm here and that's that. Fished the Blackfoot and Clark Fork with a couple of great ladies. Fishing was ok a couple of days and crap a couple of others. Like the CF a lot through. Lots of bugs right now.
Adding value to this experience... Missoula is a big city. There are fires over here and the air is smoky. There are too many people riding bikes here. The police are mean here. Hellgate Conoco is the best gas station around. Ambien comes in different shapes here. Volcano Tacos taste the same. Fishing guide s here wear Chaco's and have beards. Magnetic trailer lights work. You can never have enough duct tape. Hecuba is not a country in central America. Pink worms work better than anything else. Mayflies are purple here.
Anyway, I've got a few more days over here and then head home.

9/10

2011-09-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Where to start?

I recall that 10 years ago today I was guiding on the Missouri and had my first real life experience with black fly pupa. Something I had always mistaken before as Trico nymphs. I remember standing with a client along a seam with an endless parade of gentle noses picking up spinners for hours and hours that morning. We occasionally got one to eat our fly and the fish were good fish. I remember Rick taking one of the guys below an island at lunch and casting a leech to a cruising fish and catching it. I remember that I didn't get home until well after dark that night.

My father called me the next morning and asked me if I was watching TV, which I wasn't as I was exhausted from the long day before. He told me that he thought we might be under attack and that something awful was happening. I remember know that shot of adrenaline and hair standing up on my back when he told me these things. I turned on the TV just as the first tower began to fall and I've never been the same.

I can't imagine the heartache of all those people that lost loved ones and acquaintances that day. I was/am so far removed from the whole event yet felt as if it was happening to my friends and neighbors. I think about those people almost everyday. The only thing they did that day was go to work. I don't know that any of us will be the same or better as a result of 9/11 or that there were any real lessons to be learned by us. Everyone has their own connection to that horrific day and mine is certainly much less dramatic than many, many folks.

It did get me to ask a lot of questions about my life and the important things in the following months. Perhaps, I have become a little less open-minded and tolerant as a result. Maybe this is part of the explanation for the political polarity of today. One thing that did certainly happen for me as a result was a re-evaluation of the shortness and finite nature of life.

Tomorrow is a day of remembrance for everyone affected by 9/11, which is pretty much all of us. Not only Americans, but pretty much everyone that craves freedom and has any love for humanity.

I feel like I should say some other niceties, but the fact is that I hate those MF's that did this to us. I'm glad that we got Bin Laden, hope we get the rest of them. I hope they stand trial in NYC someday. I'm about to go to a dark place now so I'll stop the rant.

Amazing how insignificant a trout's rise seems in comparison now; yet I remember the joy of 9/10 as much as the sorrow of 9/11. I hope to never witness anything like 9/11 again.

And on and on

2011-09-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

On the downhill side of things now with about 20 days or so left for the year and pretty much all with regulars so things are looking rosy from here on out. One more day here and then head up to Missoula for the next 8 days of working and exploring over there with a couple of great groups

Hopefully the bite will improve here soon as things have been tougher this past week. By tougher I mean not necessarily easy, even for a good angler. Sometimes the bite just slows down, doesn't mean stops, just isn't what it was. I always find that transition times of year can make for more variability day to day and even during a day in terms of fish feeding behavior. Just because they were eating hoppers with reckless abandon two days ago doesn't mean that's the thing for today. I find that you need to think outside the box (worms) a bit this time of year...I just haven't figured out how far to date.

Was on the lower today with a good guy that possessed average skills and he was tickled with the day. I thought it should have been better, but then I stop and realize that he landed about 10, lost that many (a couple of good fish), and missed a few too. I don't know what's wrong with that day, just thought it should have been better. But hey, got some fish, didn't see anyone else, and had a stunner of a day...

Also, saw 3 otters just up from the spot they parked Red October. I've never seen otters in that part of the river. Otters are amazing animals in that they always seem to be right at home whenever you see them, but you hardly ever see them.

Back to Work

2011-09-08T19:59:00.001-07:00

I've had a few days off in a row now and am feeling all refreshed and ready for the last push. Hopefully the bite will be better than it has been the last few days. It hasn't been bad, but would have thought it would have been better. Actually, the East Gallatin was pretty good this morning with little nymphs. Tricos out but the fish never really got on them...at least by noon that is.

Back at it tomorrow and looking forward to it.

Slow and Low

2011-09-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

Headed down towards Columbus today for a little payback for the slow day on Sunday with the family, Fish won again today...what can I say? Sporadic and half-hearted hopper bite here and there with some whitey love on nymphs.

Shooting for an ez day tomorrow with some wading on the Gallatin, fishing dries. The Gallatin, especially up in the canyon is probably the best, least utilized river in the area on my part. Don't know why I never think about going there, maybe it's the highway, maybe it's the rafters. Either way, it really is a helluva great rive to have just a few blocks from the shop.

More to It than the Tug

2011-09-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

What an amazing day to be out on a river here in SW Montana. The weather was amazing and the bite was so so, but still better than most places. We had the river to ourselves and bobbed along at a nice leisurely pace.

Got the chance to fish with one or my mentors in life and enjoyed the whole thing. We've been fishing together about 9 years now in New Zealand and this was the first time we've been able to make it work here. Amazing to think how much my life has changed in the last 9 years and how different the world has become in that same time.

I'm thankful for the path I've chosen and all the happy souls I've encountered along the way. Don't know how many people can look back on their life and say they got to do what they loved. If you're not...do something else. Life is short and we only get one chance at it. Don't waste it away doing some bs you hate or going home to someone that makes your life hell. There is a difference between living life and dying slowly. Choose life.

The real Labor Day

2011-09-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

Did a little shop time this morning and then ran out to the Gallatin with John and Jimmy to mess around with my new underwater photo gear while they tried to catch some fish. Lots of bugs out but little fish activity this afternoon. John swore it was ez two days ago. The canyon looked good though and it was nice to be on a river without a rod or worrying about somebody with a rod trying to make it bend.

Getting things ready for a few off days now ahead of me with an old friend from way down under. Selwyn has been guiding me in NZ pretty much on every trip I've taken down there. I could gush about him for awhile, but I figure I'll have a better sense of it all in a few days so I will restrain myself. Should get some fishing in nevertheless.

Labor Day Sunday

2011-09-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

We've had a messed up scheduling scenario for the last and next few days which has made for some unexpected free time on my end for the next few days. Kind of sucks as I had an invite to go do some bird hunting at an uber cool place with PRO Outfitters and some Orvis folks. Had to turn it down a month ago as I was supposed to be working. But, alas I have a a few days off and am looking forward to it.

Floated down low on the stone today with the family, and about 30 other families too. Lots of folks turned out for the Reedpoint Sheep Drive this weekend. Anyway, had a nice day with a so so bite on hoppers, they liked it better twitched than drifted today. Sometimes they definitely like those hoppers moving. Other thing was that there were bugs out, like PMD's or those little yellow drakes that we see in the early fall. I hadn't seen any real bugs in so long I was kind of dumbfounded by their presence and felt like we probably could've gotten the fish better if we nymphed, but my wife likes dries so I don't push it too much.

Futile Endeavors

2011-09-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

The lower was slower today. I'm blaming it on a settled high pressure system. Had a good bite the first hour or so, but things quickly slowed down once the sun got up. Good anglers but the fish were tough to find for most of the day. Ended up losing a few good fish and getting a handful of dinks.

Days like this make you stop and think hmmm? Why? I've had such good fishing for a long time now, so I was probably due.

Still had a good day with some great guys. Lots of laughs and they got to drink some beer in the sunshine. "Honey Badger don't care"...look it up on U-tube if you haven't seen it. I'm here to add value and dimensionality to the less serious side of life at times too.

First Frost and Caviar

2011-09-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

Another great day here in SW Montana despite a stiffy from the west. The high winds made for a quicker than normal float, but the fish were eating well enough to keep everyone happy. Cawdad season is the best season. Frost on my boat this morning and ended the day with whitefish eggs aplenty.

What else? I've been feeling the burnout begin, but have a few days off coming up next week and then head over to Missoula for a week of guiding over there. There are many days this time of year when I have to remind myself that I could be sitting in traffic on my way to work in Dallas right now. Instead...I'm here in Montana, getting paid to take folks fishing on some of the best trout waters anywhere in the world. Sure, it can be a challenge and feel more like work than not work...but it's a pretty damn good job when I stop and think about it.

It's a whole lot better though when I put my nicotine patch on! I was stressing out this morning about 11 and realized I had no nicotine and the closets source was 30 miles and several hours away. Been there once before this year and it wasn't pretty! So, I did a quick dig through my rower seat box with the hope of finding a leftover patch to no avail. However, I did find a can snus from last year with one packet left in it. Yeah, I though about it for about 1/3 of a second and put it in...whew...life was good again. Not to worry though, it was just for emergencies and I'm not going back down tobacco road.

Was so windy today that the boat was going way way faster than the water at one point with a fish hooked up. So, I'm trying to navigate around some boulders in 4 inches of water without loosing the fish, boat, or anglers when the rainbow on the other end jumps. He came out of the water about 3 feet and landed smack dab in the middle of one of the boulders I was trying to avoid! He slid right off but we all were happy to not be that fish at that moment!

Peace Out

2011-09-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

Had some weather move in yesterday and settle in last night making for a partly cloudy day, slight breeze, and high in the 60's! Got to wear the new zip up waders and try for some better fish on the lower Madison with a father/son team. Had a bite that was good for most of the day, a bit spotty here and there but good fish overall, we only got a few that were smaller than 14" and landed several in the 17-20 range dragging streamers and crayfish.

Nice cool weather kind of got things looking and feeling good on the lower today. No tubers, only a couple other boats, and very few weeds to speak of...relatively speaking that is.

Nymphing Today

2011-08-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

Yellerstone today down around Big Timber. Cloudy, windy, a little rain so not the best conditions for hopper fishing. Nymphing with golden stones did well enough given the conditions. More whitefish today than thus far this year but primarily rainbows.

I have little or no more value to add to the digital experience today so I am signing off!

Upper...what do you think?

2011-08-30T18:32:00.000-07:00

Felt the "love" this morning and along with that came that unmistakable call of the upper Madison. Today was to be the day when all bets were off and fish would impale themselves on anything we threw at them. But then again...it is the upper Madison and reality set in before we got to Macatee.

I always like being the first one to the boat ramp but I don't know that's such a good sign at the end of August at Macatee around 9:30 in the morning. Ended up being another boat putting in there though and they knew what they were doing...4 people all wearing waders piling into a RO Deville with out of state plates.

The dinks were eating little dries just fine but we had helluva time getting anything to eat nymphs and it was windy enough that dries were a little bit of a challenge. We ended up squeaking a decent day out of it once I cut all the accessories off some foam hoppers and added a split shot and an indicator. They ate that alright.

That was kind of serendipitous as Charlie wrote a blog post on our website about fishing drowned hoppers today. I haven't done that in several years, but I used to all the time, my favorite rig was a big MFC foam hopper with a Henry's Fork hopper about 2 feet below with a size 6 split shot on it's nose. Deadly at times but in recent years I've become more of a one dry guy, opting for the nymph rig when I want to nymph. I do have some scruples.

One More Day Off

2011-08-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

Had another day off today and am back at it for a week or so tomorrow. It has been great to have some time off; got to spend a couple of days on the water with both family and friends. Strange how worn out I was 4 days ago and now I feel like it's been a whole year since I guided last.

Anyway, headed to the Jeff today with Jones and John for a nice easy day with very low expectations. She did not disappoint! We got our obligatory 7 fish and headed for the ramp to beat the incoming storm. It is a strange river that Jefferson...he must have been a crap president!

Saw a black bear sow and 2 cubs that got hit by a car on I-90 near Baker Creek this morning. It was pretty sad and it got my mind wondering a little about why I feel bad for animals that get hit by vehicles. On one hand, you've got the whole survival of the fittest thing going on but on the other hand, dodging cars really isn't part of their genetic makeup.

Not to sound too fuzzy...but sometimes I wonder if maybe I take that survival of the fittest attitude as a work around to the guilt for the way we've kind of messed up the natural world. Hardly a day goes by during which I'm not amazed by the fact that Lewis and Clark came through this relatively unsettled and pristine countryside less than 200 years ago. I wonder if they had any idea how quickly things would change?

Ok Ok...I'll stop. The bear should have looked both ways and should not have been walking in between Belgrade and Manhattan on the interstate with her kids!

October Guide Trip Special

2011-08-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

Fall generally starts sometime in September here in southwest Montana, some years as early as August or as late as Thanksgiving! 2011 has been a very different year for us in that the season started so late as a result of heavy spring rains and a protracted spring melt. As a result, we’ve seen some of the best late season water conditions in almost 20 years and expect these conditions to continue well past the first snows of the year.

Brown trout start to change their patterns and habits in early October as they “pair up” and move into their spawning areas. One of the highlights during this period of transition is their aggressiveness towards other fish, which translates into some ferocious streamer bites when the conditions all come together. It’s a unique experience and one that we get to see both wading and floating on just about all the waters we fish throughout the year.

In addition to the classic fall streamer fishing, October can provide great fishing on both dries and nymphs as aquatic insects regain their prominence in the diets of trout in the region. As the terrestrial insects such as hoppers, ants, and beetles become less available to feeding trout, we see a shift in trout patterns that are more centered on the various hatches that take place with the cooler water temperatures and shorter days.

Along with the great fishing during the fall, it is the lack of crowds and changing landscape around the rivers that really makes for a special time of year. Bugling elk can often be heard in the distance on a crisp October morning and the air just seems to be alive as everything starts to get ready for the long winter ahead. Active fish, uncrowded waters, and the amazing landscape surrounding it all…who could ask for more!

October really is a great time of year to be on the water in Montana, and we hope that you can make it out here in 2011 as we’re not likely to see conditions like this again for awhile.

Book 3 or more days with Fins & Feathers for October 2011 and get a reduced guide rate of $375. Purchase any of our various packages and save $225 (double occupancy) off the published rate. Make your reservations by calling the shop at 1-877-790-5303 or send us an e-mail, please mention the “October Guide Trip Special” when making your booking.

The Future

2011-08-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a few days off right now with my family. We did a quick run down the lower Madison this morning, found a few fish and few laughs along the way. Heading over to Fairmont Hot Springs for the night.

Matty, my younger son takes this fishing business pretty serious right now. The shot above is just before he gives his mother a layout for the day and just what he expects of her fishing. The pic below was accompanied by some mutterings by him as he net this fish for his mom. It sounded like he was saying something like "finally, one you can't lose!"

No more pee on my waders?

2011-08-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

I blew out my second pair of Sonic Seam waders back in June after about 40 days of hard use. The first pair lasted about the same and I was greatly disappointed to have a repeat. Granted, I am particularly hard on gear and do not take care of the stuff I use the most. If it passes my test...it's probably really well made.

If I get 40 days out of a pair of waders, most folks will get several years and I feel pretty confident with that statement. There's always the exception to the rule, but I really do tend to tear things up pretty quickly.

Anyway, the wader design is very cool. They are the most comfortable waders I've ever owned and pack into a tiny ball, ideal for travel. Orvis has had very few issues with the seams or waders in general, so they've put me on the field test list for the newest version which is still up in the air as to whether they will work or not and even ever be put into production.

I just received the zip-up version of the sonic weld waders and opened the package up today. They look good, but I've got a long way to go before I give them the "Toby Approved" stamp. One thing is for sure...I drink a lot of coffee and piss about 8 times a morning so the zipper will sure make that an easier task! Honestly though, I've worm waders enough this year so I'd prefer to hold off on them for another 2 months or so.

Initial thoughts are that I much prefer the gravel guards and suspenders in this version to the standard version. Maybe too many pockets and a little too similar in look to something a stormtrooper would wear in the swamps of Dagobah. Other than that, looks good at first glimpse.

Hoppers, Hammers, and Ninjas

2011-08-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

Back on the Yellowstone today with slightly different conditions than we've seen in awhile...cloudy. Decent nymph bite in the morning and switched to hoppers later in the day. Did much better with a grand hopper today than the standard Moorish that I've been fishing.

I've been trying to stay ahead of all the other boats and it's been paying off as I've been finding plenty of dumb and hungry fish, glad I'm not number 10 going down through most of the water. Especially a day like today when they really weren't eating as well as they have been. I think being the first down a bank makes a big difference when less fish are eating.

Have tomorrow off and plan on doing some shop time as well as errands that are long overdue. Things like trailer lights, oil changes, boat cleaning, balance checkbook, pay bills, get a license plate for my trailer (it's been gone for a couple of weeks now), new guide stickers, photos, e-mail newsletter, and work on the October guide schedule.

I might even try to sleep in a little bit. Today's sunrise was really pretty and I hope that I'm not awake long enough to see it go down!

Uno Mas

2011-08-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a long stretch this run and the day after tomorrow will bring a much needed break in the madness of the season. I think I've had one day off in the last 30 something or so. Not one to complain about the work though as I need to do as much of it as I can. But, I am looking forward to having a few days off!

Fished the Yellowstone today down around Big Timber and found it to be very good just about all day. Things slowed down a little after 2:30 or so, but was still pretty solid. Nymphed this morning and fished hoppers after lunch. They were eating today. Strange how some days they seem to eat more than others. The water is finally what could be called summer clear but flows are still enough to have plenty of water in the riffles and shallow flats. No weeds at all, which it usually has plenty of by this time of the year.

Tenkara Timmy was on his game today and got them good on hoppers with the ol' cane pole. I tried to stay ahead of the other boats and it seemed to work as we found lots of hungry fish that just seemed like they wanted to eat a small piece of tan foam really bad.

Back down that way again tomorrow and hope it fishes as well one more day.

Updated Daily

2011-08-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Lower Madison today with a pretty steady bite all day on crayfish and little bugs. As things warm up, the fish are concentrated more and more and more in the buckets and runs. Still some tubers out and there is some floating grass later in the day as well, but it's still manageable.

I have no tidbits of wisdom to offer today. Life is good, fishing is good, and I feel good.

The Ninja's Return

2011-08-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

Spent the last 2 days pretty much just working hoppers for the vast majority of the days. Always nice when you can fish big dries and the fish come eat them. Hopper fishing has been good to very good for me for about 10 days now. Today's bite was good on the Yellowstone.

Fishing with The Hawaiian Hammer and his sidekick Tenkara Timmy the next few days. If you don't know what Tenkara is...read about it online or attend their conclave this weekend in West Yellowstone.

It's a telescopic graphite rod fished withe a butt section to tippet configuration. The typical rig has a braided leader type material as the butt section in 8-12 foot lengths with a few feet of tippet. There is no reel in Tenkara fishing as the style was developed for small streams with small fish. It's basically a glorified dapping technique. I would have thought there is very little practical application for around here but it definitely accomplishes one thing that every fly angler should try to do everyday on the water. Namely, it makes for some fun on the river.

It really is an ideal technique for fishing everything from small streams up to something say the size of the Gallatin from shore. We've been messing with it from a drift boat the last couple of days and a few days last year too. The hardest thing to deal with from the boat has been landing the fish as there is a tendency to have a longer leader than you can really deal with minus a reel. Today, the ninja master used a shorter leader and everything worked great and the 10-16" fish eating hoppers were a blast on the rod.

Anyway, fishing is all about the fun and although Tenkara fishing is not the end all or be all. Actually, it's hardly anything at all if you want the honest truth. But, as with all things it's something different that can add some flavor to the day and usually catch some fish too.

Bullwinkle and Friends

2011-08-21T19:07:00.000-07:00

Made the weekly trek to the Jefferson today with exceedingly low expectations in place. Boats everywhere so we ended up on one of my less favorite pieces of water and found the fish to be on their typical behavior of randomly eating some bugs here and there. One fish on a nymph and everything else was on hoppers, so all in all not a bad day at all for the Jeff.

We did get some great sights of a bull moose lying in the river and a turkey vulture trying to figure out how to steal an osprey's dinner.

Heading to the stone tomorrow for some numbers and hopefully some size too. I've got a lot of fish on the Yellowstone so far this year, really haven't had a bad day over there as of yet. Probably tomorrow. Anyway, I've had all good days over there but just one fish over 20" so far. Tomorrow is that day, looking forward to it.

Weed Free

2011-08-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

Had a good day on the lower Madison today which was much needed by me as I've been running hard for awhile now and needed an easy day, close to home. We've been getting these "mini" cool fronts that have been coming through keeping the daytime temps in the 80's and nights down around 40. Not only is this great to be out in, but that little cool down keeps those fish active on the lower. Never had any tuber issues today and the weeds really weren't too bad even later in the day.

Wrapped up with an old dude I've been fishing with for many years yesterday. We've had an interesting relationship over the years and stuff gets said and done throughout the day that is pretty unbelievable. Every year is his last year, but he always seems to make it through the winter and back to Montana. He's 85 now and drives out from California to fish for a month or so around the region. Some years, I've prayed that it was his last, but the last few years have been different and I have to say that I hope he makes it out again next year. I misread him for several years and have come to appreciate that he is the quintessential fisherman that has loved to fish all his life.

One of the things that I've come to appreciate this year is that I see shit everyday that you just can't make up! From hopper orgies, to boats pinned on bridges, to an amazing array of tangles, to those quiet moments working a fish or a run. This last week, I was fortunate enough to see an angler that loves to fish well...not for show or bragging rights but just for the hope of the tug and sight of a wild trout going this way and that.

Horn Hopper Hos U Nose

2011-08-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

Volumes could be written about the last 3 days of guiding around SW Montana. The fishing was essentially ridiculous at times and a little too good at others. Did the Yellowstone on Wednesday and found fish happy to eat a hopper all day. The Big Horn the last 2 days where they ate worms in the a.m. and hoppers in the p.m.

Ahh, but is the lessons in life that come to one with subtlety that are the meat of life. Those came too and will be shared at a later date.
So , sticking to things of a more frivolous nature as I am exhausted and have little interest in bearing the true essence of my humanity at this time...I have identified the root of the hopper plague in the photos below. The second one is a "hopper trois." I tried to capture some of these whore hoppers and bring them with me to release along the lower, but they all died along the way. Filthy critters.

Camped out on the Big Horn and did a little night photo of the moon rising too.

Back to the Murdison or Yellerstone tomorrow.

Small Rant

2011-08-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

And another day gone by. Started off with some dirtier than expected water and a cold morning. The bite was slow early and steadily improved throughout the day. Worms.

Had some more thinking time today and mostly thought about how too many people can really ruin a good thing. Probably shouldn't complain about too many folks as I only add fuel to the fire. It's a simple biological issue and F&G should do something in terms of regulating use, both commercial and recreational.

There are some places that simply do not have the fish numbers to handle a bunch of guide boats and recreational floaters several days a week. Usually this is self limiting as you just kind of learn that if you are behind a bunch of other boats, fishing is going to suck. But, people have plans and they aren't always going to change their plans just because there are other people there. The problem that I've seen is that the few fish that are there are getting thumped on pretty good. It's not like some places where we have several thousand fish per mile. The places that I'm talking about only have 300 or so per mile, if that. When they're on, it's easy fishing but realize that it's the same fish being caught everyday. Throw some foul hooks, broken flies, fights that go on too long, natural mortality, and so on and suddenly things don't look so good.

I've seen one of my favorite fisheries slowly deteriorate over the years and I think it correlates to pressure. Maybe I'm wrong but nobody really knows why, but the little data that is there supports a decreasing fish population. So, this is why lies are sometimes a good thing. The angling world is full of treasures to be hunted and found on your own. We live in a place full of some crazy good trout waters on the Yellowstone, Madison, Gallatin, Jefferson, and more. These are the obvious gems that should keep an angler busy for a lifetime. When you do stumble on something special, maybe keeping it to yourself isn't always a bad thing.

On that note, I'm heading over to the Big Horn tomorrow for a couple of days. Shhh, it's on the down low and I don't want the word to get out about hoppers over there yet.

Thinking Thoughts

2011-08-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

I've been out of Ambien the last two nights...rough. Got me some more though so everything is rosy, plan on taking one in a bit and crashing out early. Seems like I've been busier than hell since April 15 trying to make enough money to pay my taxes for 2009 by October of 2010. At least I've been having a great time doing it!

Was thinking about things today in between fish on the Jefferson...so there was plenty of thinking. I've guided on 13 different rivers/streams so far this year and know that there will be at least 4 more added to that list within the next month. How cool is that? Many guides spend their whole career and certainly years on just one river or stretch of river. It's the diversity of the water, bugs, and fish that keeps it all interesting to me...not to mention the folks. Always the folks that save the day.

Honestly, I'd do it for free if I could AND I was entitled to bitch and moan all I wanted. I'd stick a needle in my eye if I had to look at the same water everyday. I think I'd rather be a mold inspector for the Detroit projects than a fishing guide limited to just the upper Madison. That would suck, the upper madison thing.

Ok now, did a little time on the Jefferson today up from Whitehall. One of my favorite stretches of rivers that I don't know too well. Always seem to do alright to good up there and see a moose or two along the way. That would describe my day today. Started of nymphing and got a little love on some crayfish things and then switched to a small yellow hopper that did the trick for most of the day. Didn't crush them, but had enough going on so that we could have ended up with 20 or so in the boat.

I called a fellow guide, nice guy - Greg Bricker - along the drive for some help with the Jeff as he probably fished it as much as anyone I know. He's always good about giving me a heads up and whats up in a 35 second phone call and it is appreciated. Many guides lie and bullshit all the time - I am 70/30 - and it's always good to have a few really good guide contacts to get the straight poop from when in a pinch. Greg is a boy supermodel for SIMMS and went out on his own this year as a fishing outfitter. I am mentioning him today because it ended up being he and I as the only 2 boats on the river today and I felt kind of bad as I called him on m y way over there to try to figure out the where, what , and when of how to catch some fish over there today. Anyway, he hooked me up and did it with a smile so I thought I'd shoot him a plug as a good guy and guide because he is both of those things!

Just another day in paradise

2011-08-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

This was perhaps the oldest, nastiest cutthroat I've ever seen. But hey, he ate a dry fly so what's not to love about it? Fish were on Spruce Moths this morning on the Yellowstone and we could barely keep them off the hook for a couple of hours. Once things warmed up, we had no interest in the hopper so went back to nymphing and picked up enough to round out the day.

I've really been finding fish in the riffles the last couple of days for what it's worth. The water through town isn't seeing as much pressure as above and below and is starting to fish pretty well.

Not sure that you're supposed to jump off bridges but I guess this one at HWY 89 is pretty safe if you're into that kind of thing.

Guiding a Guide

2011-08-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

Had the chance to guide one of my guides and his father today. I've been fishing with them for 6 years now and he's in his 4 th year working for Fins & Feathers. Always a treat for me as his dad and I ride him all day and then he and I gang up on his dad. Today though, the bite was pretty good just about all day, so we really didn't have too much picking on anyone in terms of messing up the catching.

Steven dad is British and works in Poland. He's always got some great British lingo going on to make the day interesting. One year, the key phrase was getting on a "sticky wicket"...some cricket analogy to when you're in a pickle. Today, I learned that one of my favorite words comes from the phrase "fornicating under the consent of the king!" Who knew?

Ouch

Anyway, besides that, the day was interesting enough as we had a decent hopper bite in the morning but it dies off around 11 or so. We switched to 2 stonefly nymphs, concentrated on the riffles and never looked back. Nothing big but lots of 12-16" fish pretty much all day.

Stone Hoppers & FTW

2011-08-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

Fished down by Big Timber today with a late start to allow for recovery sleep from yesterday and hopes of finding fish eating hoppers once things warmed up. Got some much needed sleep and plenty of fish eating hoppers, so everything worked out perfectly.

The bite was good in faster water like riffles and pocket water banks, with a few fish coming out of deeper water. It should only get better as conditions continue to improve.

Tidbit of the day came from an old dude RV camping at Otter Creek. He suggested that I not step on the head of the rattlesnake he just killed. The snake head was in the water just next to the boat ramp with it's tongue sticking out. Apparently the still have venom in them, even when they're dead. Good to know.

different day

2011-08-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

Long day today in search of rising trout for some video footage. We're kind of in between hatches around here right now and we were looking for some steady risers. Tried to get some spring creeks lined up the last few weeks but nothing seemed to work out, so in the end it was up to the MO we go. Left town at 6 and just got back home at 12:30 tonight. Some triocs in the morning and found dome rising fish until noon, were able to get the footage they wanted so all was well. We stuck around up there until dark, hoping for some late evening madness. There were lots of fish coming up but we couldn't get it sorted out, no idea why we couldn't get 'em. Tried lots of PMD's and Caddis over them but they just kept on eating everything except out flies. Fun day and I did get the chance to fish with Tom Rosenbauer who is as good a guy and he is angler.

Upper Madison is OK

2011-08-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Spent the day in the beautiful Madison Valley surrounded by the awe inspiring peaks of the Madison Range on one side and the subtle splendor of the Gravelly Range behind us. This remarkable landscape would be truly breathtaking if not for the 50 miles of ditch water running right through the heart of it! Yes, I fished the upper today and it was "as advertised."

Truth be told, it wasn't too bad. Nymphed most of the day and found some fish here and there, enough so that it ended alright. Had a few refusals on hoppers by some decent fish and saw lots of dinkers coming up to take a look. Steady enough bite to keep everyone interested an hopeful.

Looking for rising fish tomorrow for this video thing some guys are shooting. Been a challenge in that the only real rise we have right now is on Tricos and they are just getting started on the EG. Tried to get some no name spring creeks lined up, but everything fell through at the 11th hour. So, it's off to the other glorified irrigation ditch in between Helena and Great Falls in search of steady risers. Hopefully it all works out as its rainy and windier than crap here right now!

Whitefish Rock

Missing Tom

2011-08-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

The bite was a bit tough today but we found enough fish and a few very nice ones along the way. Good day to be on the water. No complaints here today.

There are plenty of nameless places and I'm always happy to share them with folks. Honestly, the pond at the mall is really fishing well...I have no idea what it's called.