Montana Outdoors: Dry and Warm Winter

...so far; makes for easy sleddin' and a few surprises along the way.

Apparently this beaver is enjoying the string of 40 degree plus afternoons as much as we are; you know sort a like munching lunch on the deck and catchin a few rays in the bargain...Now if wind the gods would just take a break...

Wonder if this young mule deer buck realizes by now he'd more than likely be belly deep in snow...belly deep in grass, end a January...c'mon.

OK, no secret bald eagles go to housekeeping early but January...no way...like Gale says, probably not settin' just restin'...I'll buy that...

Might be near 50 above in the p.m but as you can see in the a.m. at least up Browne's Bridge on the Big Hole still a might chilly...

Ice and a bit a snow in the shady spots along Moose Creek in the Humbug Spires but out where the sun shines...I rest my case.

Fly Fishing: Fly Friday

The Black Magic is one of many spinoffs of the venerable Chernobyl Ant...What the trout think is of course more than I know? But if I was a hungry trout...well I'd be hard pressed to let a buggy lookin' critter such as it is pass by...And probably that's all there is to it...Another one of those imponderables just is...

In my boat, as an attractor patterns go the Black Magic ranks right up there with the Wulffs, Purple Haze, Stimis, PMXs, Gypsy Kings and all the rest. Some days it really is "magic" especially anytime the light dims--early mornings, storm clouds rolling in, darkness falling--but there are days particularly on the upper Big Hole when trout gobble it all day long, bright sun, high cloudless sky be damned...

Such a day last summer serves as prime example...Two older, as in more ancient than even your intrepid reporter, N.C. gentlemen scoffed as I rigged their leaders with Magics...John Robert actually guffawed quite nasty like I might adds...."Sam I told ya'll we shoulda canceled soon as Al pawned us off on Chuck here...In all my days ain't never seen a guide tie on a stupider lookin' bug and two of 'em mind!!!"

Fast forward now to lunchtime...See the pair of Magics, one bears no legs and most of the wing is missing; the other minus a pair legs, just a few wisps of wing hair remains and half the foam body is flat out gone! What you thinkin' now Bro? Chuck you are the MAN! No less a friggin' genius...I rest my case.

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?

The Only Dry You'll Ever Need

Novelist and sporting writer, Thomas McGuane, described it as “gray and funky and a great salesman.” Gray? Certainly. Funky? Perhaps. But as a salesman—considering its number one ranking among commercial dry fly patterns now stands at an unprecedented 87 years and counting—albeit these days the parachute style is all the rage. But style aside, day in day out, as dry flies go, the Adams has few peers.

Asked to explain its origins, Michigan fly-tier, Len Halladay, wrote: The first Adams I made (1922) was handed to Mr. Adams, who was fishing a small pond in front of my house, to try on the Boardman (River) that evening. When he came back next morning, he wanted to know what I called it. He said it was a “knock-out” and I said we would call it the Adams, since he made the first good catch on it. The rest is, as they say, history.

Most anglers I think would agree the best thing about the Adams in a pinch it mimics a wide range of insects—close enough anyway. A trait that makes it one of the best searching patterns out there. Adams himself is said to have thought it best imitated an ant. Almost magically it becomes a caddis, a midge, a pmd, a baetis and well, just about whatever. In the backcountry it just may be the only dry fly you’ll ever need. Asked to name his three favorite hatches, Art Bivens, veteran Montana guide, replied with a sly grin, “Baetis, golden stone and Adams.”