Bitterroot October Flashback

With the snow piling up outside the window and a mountain of winter fly tying ahead, its a fitting moment to savor a flashback to the fall fishing crescendo from just a few weeks ago. With the crisp mornings and balmy afternoons of indian summer came the aggressive hits of autumn brown trout, staking out their turf and showing no quarter to intruders whether real or imitation. Enter flashy white minnow invading said airspace and Kasploosh! Dead to rights minnow, never had a chance.

                                      

Flies & Beer. Period.

Black Keys : Modern Times

Nothing like a little rock n' roll to kick the weekend off in style, and who better than the two-headed blues / rock monster that is the Black Keys to get it done. Everyone has their favorite album from these guys but recently the searing Magic Potion has been my go-to for all fly-tying and tackle cleaning afternoons. Something about a mountain of Marshall amps trying to break all the windows out of a garage that will never get old. . . .

Guides Day Off: Blast from the Past Bass Trip

 

 

 Earlier this summer Outfitter Jed Fitzpatrick( Bitterroot River Guides ) and I found ourselves with a couple of days off in between long stretches of trips. We knew we needed to get away, but the big question still lingered... where are we going to go.  Chasing trout for three months straight can get you stuck in a rut, and with another few months of it still ahead, it was apparent that we needed a change of pace. We kicked around a few different ideas of where we could escape from the confines of our normal trout filled runs, and settled on getting back to our roots with a bass trip. I have known about this water for years, but had never slipped a boat into it. The pull of new water that we knew would be relatively empty was too much for us not to go, and what we found was better than expected.

 Big untouched water chocked full of bass and pike, was a breath of fresh air to a couple of road worn fishing guides. Coolers full of beer, an arsenal of rods that would make any bass pro jealous, and camping gear all loaded up in the boat, we pushed off for an overnighter on the river. We were in for a trip full of feeding. Whether it was us, the fish, or the deer flies everything ate well.     

 

 

 Pushing off the boat ramp Jed and I were into smallmouth and pike right off the get go. While the pike were a little tight lipped to start, the smallmouth bass were very willing to chase streamers and eat crawdad patterns.







Don't forget socks... a buff will almost work as deer fly protection

After a long day on the water, we found a spot on the bank to set up camp and relax for the evening. Sitting there watching the world go by, we enjoyed ice cold cocktails, lied about past fishing trips, and grilled up some fresh fish for dinner.

The next day we started at first light in a backwater that we found the pervious day. The pike and bass were ready to roll right from the start chasing big streamers and reaction baits. After enjoying early success, we kept our party rolling downstream towards the takeout striping streamers along rocky points and weed beds turning bass as we went.








 

cheers