Fly Fishing: Fly Friday: Cut Glass Fish Art...

Fellow Dillonite and friend Eric Larson is crafting some of the most beautiful cut glass trout art out there. No two trout are exactly alike although (at least those I've seen) are similar to the size of this brown trout--about 21 inches-- framed in a rustic, barn wood frame suitable for hanging--like the trout no two frames are exactly alike although all are crafted of rustic, barn wood. Eric will make just about any trout and, for what it's worth, he recently completed a steelhead that will literally knock your socks off...If you are interested in obtaining one of these treasures click on the link above for further information, pricing and so forth...

Fly Fishing: Fly Friday

Fishing the Big Hole on a beautiful late summer evening...

 

...with trout slurping all up and down this wide flat pool it should have been easy. But in the hour or so before sunset and the inevitable evening chill down the upper Big Hole experiences at this season shut down the rise between us we managed only a few takes; alas even fewer hookups.

With the light almost gone a huge brown dropped down to the tail.  In water barely covering its dorsal, waking beaver like, began terrorizing the smaller trout intent on sucking down the last of the spent mayflies.

Switching quickly to a bugger, each time he came by in range I took aim and pitched in front...twice he actually hit the fly...no, not a take just a collision...like crashed into...Before it ended I probably had 20 chances...you would a thought he might a snagged hisownself and...OK really did want to get my grubby paws on the bastard, mind you just to see how big...Honest injun...Yes I do know snagging trout is illegal, not at all fair, definitely unethical and probably immoral but c'mon now....Can you really blame me? 

The "Last Best River In the Last Best Place" Is Today Even Better...

thanks to Montana's Future Fisheries program. Since 2006 more than 32 miles of the Big Hole River and tributary streams—including Bryant, Swamp, LaMarche, Rock, Big Lake, South Fork Big Swamp, Fishtrap, Berry and Deep creeks—have been or will be restored or protected by the projects.

Projects have included riparian fencing to protect stream banks, stream-channel restoration, and the restoration of riparian areas by planting native grasses and shrubs. In addition, restoration workers installed fish ladders to allow fish passage and constructed additional pools in the river to improve grayling habitat, fashioned hardened cattle crossings, laid pipelines, installed water-measuring devices, and built solar paneled stock-water wells and stock-watering areas. The new stock-watering areas are designed to encourage grazing away from the stream to protect stream-side vegetation and to improve late-summer flows critical for fish survival.

Most of the work is taking place on lands owned by ranchers participating in the nation's largest federally approved Conservation Candidate Agreement with Assurances program. Approved by FWP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services in 2006, the Big Hole River CCAA includes 32 local landowners with 152,139 acres of private land and 6,030 acres of state land enrolled.

For the rest of the story, work that is ongoing all across the state go to http://fwp.mt.gov/habitat/futureFisheries/

A Castin' and A Blastin'...Not necessarily in that order...

Off track sort of is this update of an earlier post dealing with the whacky fisher folk better known as "noodlers"...shouldn't surprise to find the activity alive and well in Okie country, eh?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/09/04/magazine/LOOKcatfish.html?ref=magazine

Gale reminded me today how remiss of late my rantings and ravings so...My excuse being free at last (sort of) from the trials and tribulations of the guide wars we taken advantage to instead kick start the bird season and of course get a little castin' in too. Admittedly the castin' has taken a backseat to the blastin' but hey, been quite a lull in the action for both us and the dogs so like what do you expect. Anyways here are a few shots should serve as proof we ain't exactly been settin' around twiddlin' our you know whats...

Kate might be blind as a proverbial bat but don't think for a moment her nose don't still work...Notice the lead Gale used to get her in the ballpark of this Hun covey...pretty damn nifty I say...

Annie I think approves of sharin' the bird findin' with sister but just to make sure no one gets the wrong idea she is quick to take credit if given the slightest opening...sort of a dog thing, eh?

Annie and your reporter cooling their heels on a really too hot afternoon for chasing Huns...actually we decided enough already upon running into a rattler whilst chasing Huns...nuff said on that nasty subject...

On yet another track there seems to be more "nice" (no this is not a trophy size muley, not by a long shot) bucks (whitetails especially) around than usual so in the interest of honest photojournalism been trying to capture a few as proof...alas most mornings while no problem to see bucks the majority are far beyond range but I'll keep trying and you never know might even get lucky...

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...

Fly Fishing: Salmon Fly Madness....

...Big Hole style.                                    (click photos to enlarge)

Nothing I know of so lights a fire under even the most casual of Big Hole River Rats as news of the long awaited arrival of the insectus gigantus stonefly better known as the Salmon Fly...

Sometime in June the big three-year old nymphs begin crawling ashore and up into the greenery where they shuck their nymphal skins and emerge....

...as adults. After drying their wings the big bugs fly off into the bushes and trees. Mating occurs a day or so later and when conditions are just right the fertile females buzz out over the water crash land on the river, lay their eggs and perish.

...meanwhile hopeful fly chuckers chuck all sorts of god-awful big creations hoping of course to land...

...a gawdawful big brown trout...otherwise known as giganticus browntrouticus...or if you prefer...A By God Goddamn PIG!!!

So there you have it, time is now, place is of course the Big Hole. Start your hunt down below Glen and work up river a few miles each day. Cast your favorite offering, preferably in tight to the bank, drag free or with just the slightest twitch. If at first you don't succeed try and try again...And when you do finally hit paydirt I can hear it all now, "Like shucks weren't nothin to it"...Right? Right...over and out...Chuck