Rainy Day Throwback Thursday

Time for a timely flashback to the early summer days of Gortex, big water, and big brownies. Something about the scuzzy weather makes those toothy predators move around and hit the kill switch. I love it. When the fly gets engulfed not by a feisty 12" Rainbow but a hulking termanator Brown trout, your heart is liable to skip a beat. You'll feel it even through all the warm layers raingear, trust me. We are still a few weeks away from the final flush of autumn gold hitting the net with regularity, something I look forward to every season. You can always count on a Montana season starting and ending with a heart-pounding moment thanks to these stealthy killers.

Back to the present : Big high heat of mid-summer has us seeking shade these days. Kinda stomping on the trout bite. Add the ever-present smokey haze from area forest fires and you have the definition of Dog Days. We know its coming every year but it still comes as a shock, when the fish become sluggish, line-shy (you mean a Cutthroat can become line-shy??) and spooky to those casts that land in a heap. The promise of summer rain will keep us going though. No doubt about it there is something powerful about a summer cell building out in the Wilderness and hitting after dark, lightning and rain coming in sheets. Cooling down the river and heating up the bite. Keeping these fish happy. Maybe this weekend? Forecast looking more and more that way. Sunday is looking the wettest. And we are over due : By my observation is has been 28 days since we had meaningful precip. Too long, Momma Nature, too long.

The hoot owl restriction for our river have been lifted from Tucker Crossing to Missoula. The Blackfoot is open again as well and should stay open the rest of the year. The upper Bitterroot has been seeing most of our local pressure as it is holding cold and offering at least consistency. Much better for angling options than last season when the closure hit July 3rd and was from the confluence of the forks all the way down. West side of the state is holding strong, dodging bullets from fire and giving up some nice fish to those determined few. As far as the upper river and the WF last season our flows were awesome right up until the gates were closed Oct 1st. We have a touch more water than same time last season so we will see how long the tap stays open.

Blackfoot Weekend

The ol Blackfoot is a favorite of many Missoulians and world famous for the obvious reason. With the story of The Movie being based on the Blackfoot and it's surrounding communities it's a kind of fertile crescent for the flyfishing industry whether we like to admit it or not. I have often scoffed at this famous river for being home to too damm many inner-tubers and, well, not enough consistent, large dry fly fish to warrant the hype. Well, by golly I might be a' changing my mind after floating there last week. With some repeat clients in tow and a new river on the brain we headed north at first light to give the old Blackfoot a try.

Every now and then during a guide season a river shows up and delivers on its reputation, lock stock and barrel with cutties flying everywhere. Scenery, weather, big fish, and solitude all come together into a perfect storm. A little jaunt up north to bull trout country was a welcome break from the usual stretches of familiar water.  Good fishing or not you can only row the same river so many days in a row before the crankiness sets in. The "guide glaze" from a month straight on the river is something we all fight. Tho we didn't tangle with any Bullies chasing our cutthroat to the net we gave them every opportunity, hooking into a bushel of nice trout all on the dry. Just enough of them, in fact, to make me wonder if I should stop on my seasonal drives to the Missouri for more than just a beer break at Trixies.

Summer Fire Season: Fire On The Mountain

Big fire rolling through the national forest outside of Hamilton today. Roaring Lion Fire is the latest reminder of how hot and dry our forests are and how fast one can blow up on you. Starting at 2pm yesterday and growing to over 2,000 acres in five hours is just amazing. I have a front row seat from my house watching helicopters bomb it, dipping low in the foothills to refill buckets and circle back for another pass. The highway is a constant flow of emergency vehicles and fire equipment. Last night the glow reached all the way through the foothills around Ward Mountain. All of Goat Mountain ablaze. I'm praying for my friends whose homes are in danger right now and my friends and family fighting this blaze. Be safe up there Brothers! The darker more dangerous side of living in the rocky mountain west is coming home big time right now.


Check out Inciweb for the latest:

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4913/

Evening View From Homestead

Mid-Summer Fishing Report : Scott Week Edition

Time for your Mid July Fishing Report, brought to you by a guides day off the river and (mostly) ice cold mountain water in the form of Bitterroot IPA. Nom nom nom. Another beautiful week in the sunny, cold-watered Bitterroot valley searching for those elusive wild salmonids. Fishing is getting trickier but the savy are none the less rising to the occasion. There is a little more water flowing down the Fork' this week making all of us anglers very happy. The fish as well. Despite some rumors to the contrary the middle river all the way to Hamilton is still fishing quite well. Hoppers, ants, beetles, and the ubiquitous quigly are the ammo of choice. Avoid the crowds and find yourself some solitude this summer : Go high up into a mountain stream or go low at first light.

This past week some of my favorite Montana visitors were in town, Patrick and John, for a few days floating the river looking for the top water bite. John & Pat have been seasonal Montanas' for longer than I have lived here and this was my eighth year getting to show them some cool fishing spots. We have been to the Big Hole, Missouri, and all over the Bitterroot together these past several seasons. These are the kind of boys that put you at ease immediately and you know you're in for a good string of days. On top of their easy-going demeanor they can really fish too, putting the fly where it needs to be and hook-setting like champs. We saw some excellent fish over this past week thanks to these two skills, making this trip one for the record books. In addition to the fish we saw a bunch of young bucks roaming the shorelines with the waxing moon, raptors of all sorts, and finally a moose this time which is the first season in awhile. As is tradition there were a few oat sodas, lots of sneaky dry flies, "streamer gun", and a hair-raising rowing moment or two. We threw down riverside grilling, checked all the sneaky willow spots on the main river, and finished off the trip with a visit to The Rock to hang some gifts in a tree way up on the West Fork. Some emotional highs and lows for sure with this trip for sure while the river keeps on flowing. All in a seasons pilgrimage to Montana, one which we will me making together same time same place next season.

Until next year gents, thanks for all the good times! Love and Regards from Montana.


" Why do I come to Montana? Because I have a whole week named after me!" John

Happy Fourth O' July : Sunburned Shirts

Independence day. Happy Birthday, Merica'. July 4th is my favorite summer holiday, because it has fireworks. And who doesn't love setting off fireworks ? (responsibly or otherwise). Hide the dogs inside if they are of the skittish kind and give all the kids sparklers. Add time in the shade having a cold one with the good people and a BBQ , well there just ain't much better than that. Gather around with your favorite people and toast to the great Red White and Blue!!!

As for the fishing : Another day, another amazing dryfly haul from lower Bitterroot. West side Montana. Gotta be here to believe it, truly one of the better summers in years for consistent hatch activity and large trout. From the Forks all the way down to Stevensville fish are eating on top. Don't have to be a master at the fly-flicking trade to git it done right now. Just gotta be in the water and drift long enough for a fish to find it. Save the droppers and nymph rigs for August dog days, keep the faith that the fish will eat the dry and they will.

HIT LEADERS:

* #14 PMD Thorax
* #10 BRG Green Drake Para
* #16 Deer Hear Ant
* #8 Rastaman Golden
* #8 Foam Hopper (pink, tan, yellow, or even boysenberry why not )

Double Power Eagle

And now for some chill summer backyard tunes. . ..

Drake Days : Summertime Rolls

Summer Solstice has come in Montana. A brief pause cosmic in our parabola through the fishing season. A change of weather from blustery rain-logged mornings to the high cloudless heat of July, and a change in hatches to go along with it. Fishing remains the same: consistent, sometimes very good sometimes spectacular. Old and young, novice and expert alike are putting the wood to some very nice trout lately on the Bitterroot and Blackfoot. Salmonflies are still very much a thing on the Blackfoot canyon as the traffic and fish tales can attest. Keep the orange #4's on for a little while longer. Around the lower Root' there are stirrings of another famous hatch but of the sleeker mayfly persuasion. Green Drakes on the menu and the fish are loving it!

Why do Mayflies stir the flyfisher soul as they do? Why do we long for the bewitching hour of mid-day for the first sings of an emergence? Sure the stoneflies have their adherents (myself being one of them of course) but stately mayfly sailboats drifting down to eager trout is what summer dreams are made of. The PMD's are here of course, as they are state-wide right now, but intermixed are the big bugs : Two, three, four at a time in a particular run then not for a mile. I imagine Green Drakes to think they are F16's but find out the hard that they handle more like Sikorsky heliocopters. Barely holding it together with the whole flying thing they find their way into the water often and the fish take notice. Flicking the big mayfly can pay large dividends even without seeing lots of them. The fish know. They know.. . .


Recipe for BRG Green Drake :

Tiemco 100, #10
Olive Dun Uni
Wing : Nat' Elk Hair wing, tied parachute or thorax
Tail : Moose Mane dyed drk. Brown
Body : 1/2 haresear , 1/2 med. olive (both MT Fly Co.)
Hackle : Grizzly, and lots to float this damm giant thing

And Now, Let There Be Rock

Fathers Day Fishing Report

Today is Fathers Day. We Marauders are all taking a day off the river this fine Sunday to gather for some BBQ-ing, golf watching, and long overdue family time. Summer Solstice and full moon happening tomorrow which makes this seem like an appropriate time to pause and reflect on the important things. Family. Freedom. Flyfishing. These days getting the Dads out on the boat is reserved more and more for preseason bundled-up missions down the low river looking for the first dry fly eat of the year. Summertime funtime sandel floats are a rare event that we can manage to pull off only occasionally. This year we pulled off one such mid June half-day shot through the town stretch, throwing a grill and a few Rainbows down to mark the seasonal turn into summer. We had a great roll yesterday with the old men showing us how its done with a bunch of nice fish eating on top. Next fathers day will include a stop at Hamilton golf course for good measure. It is Open week after all and the golfing and flyfishing persuasion is really one in the same.

(U.S. Open Bulletin : My money is riding on a late come-from-behind win for Dustin Johnson)

Dryfly Primetime Reduex
Basic "what to expect" report is as follows. Big dry flies continue to be the float-fishing ammo of choice. BUT. When there are pods take that damm foam floaty thing off and flick an imitative sneaky mayfly at them. Pretend you're a predator, not just a be-speckled rod waver.  The Pale Morning Dun is the ruler of the early summer trout diet and our afternoon hatches have been very good this year. Anything yellow in a # 14 should get the job done, nothing to techie this early in the year for us. Sleeper bite in the afternoons is the smaller Bitterroot Goldens. Fish a #10 or #12 down-wing pattern (foam, trude, parachute, etc.) as a searching fly when the fish don't seem to be keyed on anything in particular. There are a lot of these bugs flying around this year and the fish chew them with conviction, more so (I feel) even than their larger and more famous Californica cousins. Its godamm gorgeous out there right now, all the Stones' are out rolling in droves right now, bring your best flybox and find the daily favorite!