September 2010
Not much has changed on the Stone over the last couple of days. Baetis and dry flies on the gray days and nymphs when the sun shines.
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Summer in S.W. Montana this year wasn't exactly a barn burner like the fly fishing community had predicted. Late winter and early spring snow filled our mountains with sufficient moisture to keep our rivers full of water for the up coming summer months. But, as it turned out, the precipitation kept coming and left us with inconsistent river conditions for much of the summer. Also, this year was supposed to be the year of the grasshopper, with swarms of the late summer gobs of protein....
Just got back from a five day trip camped out on the Missouri with "The Bloody Mary Gang" a group of fine gentlemen anglers who make the commitment every september to get together for a week of serious fishing, cigars, and a lot of laughs. It is also a strict morning ritual to mix up a batch of bloody mary's at the boat launch hence the name of the crew. I being the youngest (by about thirty years) and newest member to be included in this tradition look forward to hanging with...
I was supposed to do a half day trip on the lower Madison today, but due to the wet weather forecast, I ended up with the day off. I saw very little insect activity when I put in, but with the cloud cover, I thought a Baetis nymph off the back of a crawdad might be an appropriate bug. Five minutes on the water and two casts... Bingo. A fat brown on a #18 fly.
A beautiful partly cloudy day on the stone with very little wind and very few boats what more could you ask for, how about some awesome dry fly action as well? Started out the day dead drifting sculpins trailed by small flashy bead heads and were into fish within the first thirty seconds right out of the gate. Had awesome clients Kate and Kirsti from Canada warmed up on a few trout and whiteys on subsurface bugs so when 11am rolled around and the baetis began hatching we were...
The Bozeman Angler crew shut down the shop at noon yesterday and we headed to the Lower Madison for an afternoon of goofing off. The fishing was a little slow, but we managed to find a few Rainbows eating small bead heads and crawfish patterns. About half way into the float my wife Sarah made a cast out to the middle of the river and stuck this pig on a #14 Lightning Bug.
Yesterday I fished the Yellowstone with my old boss, Glen Blackwood, from Great Lakes Fly Fishing Co., and good friend and bamboo rod collector Tom Clark. It was one of those rare wind free, no clouds, early September day in the Paradise Valley with no other fisherman in site. We hit the water at about 11:30am and the guys started beating the water with wood rods and grass hoppers. The trout were a little more willing to eat the big bugs early in the...