Flyfisher's Guide to Montana...Upgrade

Talked to Chuck Johnson, Wilderness Adventures Press, yesterday about plans to reprint Flyfisher's Guide to Montana (2nd Edition, 2nd, maybe 3rd printing, I forget) this fall. One big change will be inserting color plates and recipes for specialty flies appropriate to Montana waters. A change I had been hoping for ever since we first talked about doing the book. I don't know about you but black and white renditions of colorful trout flies just do not cut it...Anyway I could not be happier to participate and am open to any and all suggestions...bear in mind we won't be including old standbys such as Elk Hair Caddis, Adams and so forth...Flies we will consider include those guarded secret ties you been spanking 'em even your best buddy is clueless. We will of course give credit where credit is due, contact info should you tie commercially and so on...Let me know ASAP as always your intrepid reporter is on sort of a short leash...

Fished upper, upper Big Hole yesterday amid swarms, I mean SWARMS, tricos...rise was already going strong when we hit river around 9 and fish were still madly slurping when we quit for lunch around one...too skinny to float best plan getting wet...sort of refreshing considering the 90 degree heat of late...

Montana Outdoors: Bannack Days...

Last Saturday, a lull in the guide wars, Gale and I along with our PA friends, Paul and Gretchen Rebarchak, spent the morning at Bannack Days. Bannack, the first Territorial Capital of Montana was a wild place by any stretch as is the annual re-enactment...

 Here's Paul doing his best to charm these, ah, soiled ladies. While looks can be deceiving, sorry pal, I came away thinking the ladies were, ah, dare I say it? Not all that impressed...you don't suppose the gray beard...nah!

As you might expect a gunfight soon ensued, drawing a big crowd, of course. In the end the white hats won but trust me the black hats did not go down easy...as the first shots rang out, a couple youngsters sitting nearby...well, to say they flinched is truly an understatement.

Pannin' fer gold, also drew a crowd, as young and old alike were stricken by 'gold fever'...can't say for sure any struck it rich but as you can see weren't from lack of tryin'...

Paul and I struck it rich as we entered the "Montana Morning Coffee" shack and found this lady roasting coffee beans the "old fashioned way"....old fashioned or not this gal (Dillon) brews a mean
CupAJoe...trust me.

Not long after, we struck gold again with a pair a "Indian Tacos" (Dillon)...what else can I say just about a feast such as this...Anyway next time your in town third weekend in July be sure to check out Bannack Days...not much chance a goin' way disappointed...guarandamnteed!

Montana Fly Fishing: Rain Dancing Pays Off...

For quite a spell now a bunch of us have been performing daily rain dances...and quess what? Yesterday the rain gods finally paid off...to the tune a 100 cfs plus bump up in the Big Hole flow...will no doubt put the river off in the short run but with the summer setting up as it is--hot, dry and dusty--best take any and all water offered no matter what does to the fish counts...

We started up high yesterday morning and got chased by a big thunderboomer which dumped big time...taking a gander at the sky we decided our best shot was down river and...were soon socked in an even heavier downpour...Around 1 pm the skies finally cleared and we enjoyed several hours of interesting top water action in one of our pet cricks...nothing like gangbusters still we caught more than enough trout--mostly brookies, a few colorful cutts--to whet our whistles and called it good.

Fly Fishing: River Updates...

No excuses, just been awhile since last post...sorry vow to not let happen again. Anyway Beav is really crankin'...875 out the gate and risin' daily...how far the dam (pun intended) masters intend to take it who knows. One thing sure as hell a lot a water runnin' down a mighty narrow ditch trust me makes of a mighty tiring day on the sticks...Plus you need a lot of river to make a full day of fishing since in many spots stopping the boat is out the question.

Good news is the river is really fishing good, at least most days...caddis, yellow sallies, pmds topside; lightning bugs, lightning bugs and lightning bugs underneath...did I mention lightning bugs? Gold seems to work best but yesterday we spanked 'em pretty good on pearl jobs the only lightning bugs (sorry) left in the shop...sort a tells ya something, eh?

On the other hand the Big Hole continues to drop 639 this morning at Maiden Rock...though actually the last couple days has been in a sort of holding pattern. I rowed Melrose to Brown's couple days ago and touched nary a rock though a couple spots took a bit of ingenious, cat-like moves on the sticks to get down unscathed, ahem, ahem, not to brag you understand. Fishing's been pretty good specially if you harbor no qualms going to the dark side whenever the topside stuff wanes...

I got no such shame and rigged Nick right from the get go with...you guessed it...a pair gold lightning bugs and he beaned trout and a bunch of whitefish all the way the take out...we hauled the last brown trout right into the takeout...much to the chagrin of a bunch drunken Ideeho yahoos who apparently were in the midst of washing down the taste of skunk with yet another few cans a brown vitamins...what a goddamn circus...the curtain call being when the head yahoo backed the trailer BAM! into the aluminum boat and weren't for Nick might still be chasin' it downriver...real entertaining this bunch...oh well...and I might mention also tis damn hot out there, don't forget the sun dope and wide, wide brim noggin' wear...over and out...

Fly Fishing: Big Hole Update...

Big Hole continues to drop "like a rock", dropping below 1000 cfs at Melrose for the first time since early spring. Barring unforeseen heavy rains (don't hold your breath) won't be long until floating a hard boat will be more a matter of bouncing rock to rock, more an adventure in dragging the boat than actual floating. On the plus side topwater action has really come on in the past couple weeks and should remain so over the next couple months or until the river and drought gods conspire to shut things down...alas most observers I've talked to expect some sort of shut down later this summer...at least hoot owl restrictions and maybe worse...best keep our fingers and toes crossed, eh?

With the lower flows browns, especially the big boys and girls are once again starting to show up in the skinniest spots...like fish the weak side...hint, hint...Forecast is for hot and hotter, dry and drier... so best get out early as the lower the water gets the warmer and afternoons the bite will most likely die, die, die....