Fly Fishing: Better Days Ahead...

Thanks to outfitter Mike Marsh at least the shore lunches were something to write home about...

...cause for two days the fishing, at least for our crew, pretty much sucked. Thursday we fished the Big Hole from East Bank to Dewey (George Grant). Just two trout in the net took high honors...nuff said bout that one, eh? Kind of curious to me since there were bugs galore--salmon flies, golden stones, yellow sallies, pmds, a few caddis to boot. True the river was roaring but the visibility was more than adequate, three feet at least add in mostly cloudy skies and...well hell shoulda been fishin, just weren't is all. There were a lot of boats out and I did not see a fish landed other than the one we landed almost to the takeout...

Next day we pounded the Beav from Henneberry to Grasshopper...little better but not much. Way too many boats, releasing water at the dam had things murkied up a bit but still...

Yesterday was better, way better in my boat, at least Mark did, hooking a decent number and putting all but a couple in the net. Others did OK as well although we guides as is our way kept the actual body count to ourselves...

John on the other hand...

...well you know like a picture says a thousand words...over and out...Chuck

On a way more somber note the Connecticutt guy who flipped his raft last week in the raging Big Hole is still missing and presumed to have drowned, no doubt trapped in one of the many log jams on the lower river...A damn sad tale but one seems to repeat itself all too often. The Big Hole and most other Western Rivers are nasty hombres during runoff...especially no place for rookies or those unfamiliar with the river. Again nuff said...

Fishing Report, Wolves Once Again Ruled Endangered and Other Gems of Interest

Big Hole River Brown

Clark Canyon Reservoir Rainbow

Overall the past seven days fishing has been good; though one day the Big Hole sucked was more than made up for with excellent fishing earlier on the Beaverhead and later, yesterday for example, on the Big Hole. The day Tom caught this hefty rainbow the reservoir was slow but later in the afternoon we floated High Bridge to Henneberry and lost track how many hook-ups.

At times the dry fly action was pretty good but over the long haul it was down and dirty bobber and nymph stuff. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is how the Big Hole is still cranking...over 600 at Maiden Rock the entire period. Yesterday Terry and me rowed our hard boats from Troutfitters to Dewey smacking only a couple rocks and dragging the boat only once the whole way...for sure unheard of for near mid-August. 

On another track the other day good ol' bunny hugger federal Judge Malloy once again cowed-down to his whacko Missoula cum California buds and declared the gray wolf once again an endangered species despite reams of evidence to the contrary. Love 'em, hate 'em or straddle the fence wolves, like every other animal species on the planet...including yes indeedy man his ownself...need a sound management program based on "science" not politics and certainly not founded on the over the edge whims of a bunch of city kids who know far less than squat what the hell goes on in the outside world. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks of course will appeal the ruling...good luck on that one, eh?...meantime, maybe forever, wolves will go on munching down livestock, creating bloody mayhem, or worse wiping out altogether big game populations such as has already occured to the moose in the upper Big Hole...where by the way a few short years ago biologists felt comfortable issuing 25 or more permits annually and now...guess what just two and the local biologist in charge feels even that low number may be too many but...well you know we can't just shut down the season all together...and the beat goes on. 

On another yet far lighter track here's a few enlightening and entertaining quotes from the whacky guitar man his ownself...that would of course be the one and only T. Nugent:

“If you want to save a species, simply decide to eat it. Then it will be managed – like chickens, like turkeys, like deer, like Canadian geese.”

“Look what venison does to a goofy guitar player from Detroit? I’m going to be 54 this year and if I had any more energy I’d scare you. ‘

“Mankind: A quality of life upgrade is available to each and every one of you. It should give you a quality of life upgrade, which means no drugs, no alcohol, no fast food – unless, of course, it’s a mallard.”

“There are hundreds of millions of gun owners in this country, and not one of them will have an accident today. The only misuse of guns comes in environments where there are drugs, alcohol, bad parents, and undisciplined children. Period.”

“Vegetarians are cool. All I eat are vegetarians – except for the occasional mountain lion steak.”

“I don’t partake in assembly-line convenience. I don’t say that killing things is bad while I hire people to kill things for me.”

“If you want your body to be healthier, get off the salmonella, e-coli, mad cow, assembly-line toxic hell train! God I love that statement. What did I just say?”

Eloguently spoken my man, couldn't have said it better myself.

So there you have it folks...until next time.

Guide Wars Heat Up

Dick Moore, one of many repeat clients I've been privileged to befriend over the years, caught this beautiful rainbow on the upper Beaverhead a few days ago. It ate a size 18 split back nymph and was just one of many fine trout he managed to hook over three days while fishing the Beaverhead and Big Hole Rivers. 

A fellow geezer, Dick and me share much the same fishing philosophy as well as a strong interest in photography. As such the talk usually revolves more about the latter and the critters and constantly evolving bankside scenery than the actual fishing. Still Dick manages to take a fair share and every once in awhile a real trophy shows up amongst the many memorable photos on the digital memory card.

As you can see it's been awhile since my last post and since then a lot has changed, especially on the Big Hole. The flow is currently dropping like an anvil in a swamp, to the extent yesterday I had difficulty getting down from Fish Trap to East Bank. Below Deep Creek wasn't  too bad but up above I had to drag the boat a couple times. So that's it for me until next season.

On another track during the interim between posts I've fished the Beaverhead below High Bridge several times. Mostly it's been more a boat ride than a fishing trip between High and Hildreth...but from Hildreth to Pipe Organ the fishing and the bugs have been pretty good. Surprising to me are the number of quality fish down there as compared to other seasons. Hopefully before too long High to Hildreth will once again fill in but until then...

The Big Hole had been on fire of late but the last two afternoons in the canyon the fishing has died, at least for me. Two days ago seemed most were in the same boat but one boat, two gals, seemed to be hooked up every time we passed. Do you suppose it weren't the river what died but... 

Dry Fly Fishing Picking Up

The Big Hole is at last dropping toward more normal flows, while the upper Beaverhead is running as usual for this time of year--high but not too high. As you might expect dry fly fishing is really heating up these past few days.

Three days ago we fished dries right out of the gate on the upper Big Hole and found the trout looking up pretty much all day.

The next day started out pretty cool and as expected the bite was slow but around 11 a.m. pmds started to pop on the upper Beav, followed quickly by a swarm of yellow sallies. Suddenly heads started showing up and down river and anglers able to make the proper pitches were in for a fun afternoon.

Yesterday again started out again chilly and slow but as the morning heated up so too did the sally hatch below High Bridge. From Hildreth Bridge all the way to our take-out at Pipe Organ the sallys continued to pour off and the trout were on them big time. Somewhat curious the pmd hatch down there never really did get going a few here another smattering there was about it.   

Montana Fishing Season Is Now Official

Opening Day in Montana essentially means you can now fish for trout in all those "other" cricks which aren't open year around. Traditionally the "season" opens third Saturday in May (couple days ago) and closes December 1. Lakes and at least large portions of most rivers are, for the most part, open year around. Be sure to check first though since there are numerous exceptions.

Anyway over the course of a typical fishing season I get to see and handle a lot of pretty wild trout. Big wild trout. Little wild trout and every size in between. Few however can top the rainbow Pennsylvania pal, Paul Antolosky fooled last fall. As I recall we guesstimated it an inch or two beyond 20 inches. Regardless the actual size, the best thing is he caught it on a size 24 BWO--psuedocloen for you nitpickers--dry. Doesn't get much better, eh?

Beaverhead Trout: Chunky Colorful Clark Canyon Cuttbow

Clark Canyon continues to give up some really handsome trout and this chunky colorful cuttbow appears to fit the description. Sort of a first for me since I can't ever recall catching a cuttbow in CCR although every now and then one shows up in the upper Beav. A pink-head black jig was the ticket yesterday fooling the cuttbow and several equally colorful and fat rainbows. Briefly I tried stripping a couple midge patterns and the usually reliable Sheep Creek but to no avail. All the trout ate the black jig hung 5 or 6 feet below a bobber. I changed top flies several times just because but the trout weren't interested.

Judging yesterday's crowd at the dam this spring's hot bite is far from secret. But since there are plenty of other mostly empty hotspots scattered about the lake makes you wonder what's so special about the dam area. Bigger trout? I doubt it but who knows maybe the crowd knows something I don't? Regardless I'll continue to seek out the empty spot, take the leavings so to speak. I'll take trout such as this one any day. And if there's not another soul around to show it off, well hell, such is life, eh? 

Beaverhead Trout Report...Sort Of

Amid a haze of swarming midges, surrounded by  loony loons in full courtship mode, at times wailing such even the irritating interstate truck noise is at least temporarily put on hold, no wonder I'm missing more than hooking up. But of course I wouldn't want it otherwise, like who needs a slimy old trout anyways. Actually yesterday afternoon hook-ups were hard to come by...at least for this ol' boy...

About to quit we ran into Bart Doig and Terry Throckmorton with clients in tow...given the client's grins I didn't need ask...but did anyway and both guides admitted to catchin some...In guide speak, at least with those two, that meant only one thing...Chuck you have indeed once again blown it...Terry later hinted a purple jig with a pink head might have worked better than the green and brown jigs I'd been fishing...He also hinted egg patterns were working pretty good all morning, although not so hot this afternoon...Since we didn't get to the lake until mid afternoon that little tidbit didn't hurt the ol' ego half so bad...Oh well, as someone once said fly ain't workin try sumpin else...sounds like sound advice to me, eh?

Beaverhead Trout Report

Saturday marked my first guide trip of the season. We floated the Beaverhead from Pipe Organ to Barretts. The day started off dark and dreary and a light drizzle. Rather  perfect actually and as expected Andrew and Rob were soon hooked up. Browns mostly with a couple small rainbows tossed in for good measure. Most were in the 10-12 inch range but both landed trout in the 15-16 inch range. One Rob got probably would have gone 17 but that's just a guess. It seemed to me like an unusually large number small trout in the river. An observation the Frontier guys totally agreed. Since the bigger browns seem to be in exceptional shape this spring the consensus was the apparent over-abundance of small trout could very well be just temporary...stay tuned.

We started with nymphs and for the most part stuck with them most of the day. Although we tossed a variety streamers below Grasshopper. Didn't do much for the overall body count but did induce a fair number of chases. But other than a few tugs not much came of that idea. For what it's worth a brown cone-head bugger drew the most looks. A size 16 tan soft hackle with a pink/orange head was far and away the star nymph. (I forget the name, sorry). A thin bwo hatch brought a couple tiddlers to the surface, not near consistent enough to even consider switching. There were a few caddis around but again nowhere near enough to get the trout fired up.

Last week I fished the lake twice with mixed results. The first day the lake was nearly dead calm and way too bright for my taste. Thus the fishing was sort of slow. A few tugs, a couple quick long range releases and just one solid hook up. A sizeable brown which I somehow managed to lose right at the beach. The second day was just the opposite, slight breeze, noticable chop, not too bright resulted in takes about every 15 minutes or so and a couple really fat rainbows (see above) on the beach. Obviously in full spawn mode Clark Canyon rainbows at this season are really something to behold...fat, fiesty, colorful and damn happy lookin to my way of thinkin... Small jigs worked best, especially a glitzy dark green job.

Beaverhead/Big Hole River Use Rules to Remain Essentially Unchanged

Awhile back FWP initiated use restrictions on the Beaverhead and Big Hole Rivers. In a nutshell the new rules restricted float outfitting and non-resident float fishing on one section each day of the week on the Big Hole and one section of the Beaverhead on Saturday and another on Sunday. In addition float outfitting was closed from Tash Bridge to Selway Bridge (thru Dillon). Also outfiitters were restricted to however many use days they owned based on previous years use. The rules are in effect from 3rd Saturday in May (Opening Day trout season) thru Labor Day.

The reason was to give residents a chance to escape the increasingly heavy guide boat traffic and to allow citizens the chance for a less chaotic overall river experience.

They came to be known as Citizens' Days and as you might already know or suspect among citizens a rousing success. I suppose there are outfitters and guides out there who are bent but I don't any. As for non-residents most of the complaints I've heard are more along the lines of discrimination abuse and less about the restrictions per se...

In Montana with most things concerning rivers and wildlife and such in due time there is a mandatory review period. FWP goes about the area holding town meetings where everyone is allowed to bitch and moan or rant and rave as the case maybe. In the end usually not much comes of it, the status quo is maintained and life goes on...Essentially as to River Use Rules that is what happened this time around but...

At the time nobody thought much about the lower two miles of the Beaverhead river coming under River Use restrictions. But depending who was doing the interpretation outfitters wanting to access the upper 7 miles of the Jefferson suddenly found themselves in a dilemma. Do I waste a Use Day for two miles of fishing or do I hope the right warden comes along, the one allows floating thru with clients as long as the rods are disassembled...In other words because not all wardens intrepreted the law the same way you just might get a ticket regardless. To avoid the hassle most outfitters simply stopped guiding on the upper Jeff.

Amid numerous complaints FWP is now considering exempting the lower two miles of the Beaverhead from the existing River Use Rules. In the overall scheme of things not such a big deal but I suppose for some yet another example of too many rules, too much hassle, too much government intervention...like hell man, all we wanna do is go fishin'.

Spring Tease

March 1, 50 degrees, no wind to speak of and a brand spankin new fishin license in hand to boot, well hell I'm outta here...gone fishin that is. And wonders of wonders upon arriving at my predetermined spot not another angler in sight...how good is that? Well pretty damn good actually as 2nd or 3rd cast and I'm already hooked tight to what eventually turns out a fat ol' brown trout...not so long, maybe 16-inches but unlike the snaky lookin brown the Ruby gave up the other day this sucker is fat, maybe not high-summer fat but fat enough. Better still unlike his skinny, roll over play dead cousin this one is a real scrapper...

For the next half hour or so hits are fast and furious, alas actual hook-ups are not. Blame it on reactions too long allowed to lay dormant or more likely just another painful reminder Chuck my man you just ain't gettin no younger...blame it on whatever but I just can't seem to get a good hook-set to save my sorry butt.

But like most slumps this one finally ends but...But the trout, another fat brown, is indeed foul hooked--caught by the tail I have a helluva time hauling it close enough to net and then...and then I miss. When seconds later the hook pulls out I almost feel like cheering...really.

Now it is going on 4 p.m. and the shut down is like flipping switch. Not a single bite mind you in the next three runs...Time a call it quits.