Fly Fishing: Fly Friday...Mountain Whitefish

Mountain whitefish aka rocky mountain bonefish; whitey; aw shucks "just" a goddamn whitey; and many other largely unprintable labels. A Montana native; a member of the salmonid family (e.g. trout/salmon), eats our flies, fights good enough the average fisher man really does not "know" what is on the end the line until he sees it; is delicious and so...

Whitefish probably average around 12 inches in the rivers I fish most--Big Hole, Madison, Beaverhead and so on--but many are much larger--18-20 inches even--the state record is over 5 pounds and was caught in the Kootenai River, in case you wondered.

The surest way to catch a whitefish is with small nymphs--16-20--Prince, PT, Hare's ear, midge--but I've caught many on dries--usually during a hatch but not always. I've netted whitefish for guests hooked on just about every sort of fly, a few caught on spinners and, of course, many (mostly geezers but not all) target winter whitefish for smoking and/or grilling with all manner of bait--meal worms and maggots rank high. And you do know the "trick" to keeping said bait from freezing, right? Like a pinch between cheek and gum works like a charm; but then you knew that...Right.

This one does not challenge the state record but a whitefish this size puts a distinct bend in the ol' rod and seems to me that being the precise reason most of us claim brung us to the dance in the first beginning... pray tell then just what the hell is there not like?  

Must be those lovely lips perhaps fit for only suckers or carps...sure don't cut it for us real trout fishers that's for sure...

 As someone once pointed out beauty she is indeed in the eye of the beholdin...or something like that.

Okay, so I failed to sway your vote one way or another; but should you find a dreaded whitey has gobbled your offering please give him the respect he deserves and whatever your feelings whitefish do deserve at least the respect of "trying" to put him back unharmed (or bonked and invited home for dinner) as you wish.

Really whitefish are too good to be bonked and tossed for coon/skunk bait as some I know and have seen of late are obliged. Nasty, nasty and totally over the edge...at least to this ol' boy's way of thinkin...So there you have it...over and out...

Fly Fishing: Fly Friday... MT Fishing Access Field Guide...License Renewal....

One way to beat the crowds is to avoid fishing the famous places at the popular times, e.g. weekends, July and August, just before, during and immediately after the expected arrival of, say, the Big Hole River salmon flies and perhaps all season long should one us nefarious outdoor writers hotspot your pet rivers.

Another way is to download the Montana Field Guide. Featuring over 300 Fishing Access Sites--streams, rivers, and lakes--I mean, hell man, can't be all overrun...Right. FASs provide public access to some surprisingly high quality waters, many of which, remain under the radar of the thundering herd; offering not just great fishing. with at least the chance of relative solitude, as it used to be and should be but places to canoe, raft, bird watch and many even provide good hunting. Do it....http://fwp.mt.gov/fishing/guide/fasGuide.html

On another track March 1st means we need a new fishing license and while you would have to be living under a rock to not have heard by now the new deadline for applying for deer and elk permits is March 15th...I know has not one thing a do with fly chucking but I thought maybe if I just wrote it down, I would not forget...sorry but us geezers can't be too careful when it comes to...well, you know...over and out....

Fly Fishing...The Movie....Montana Wolf Update...

An interesting article on the 2012, 20th Anniversary of the infamous "Movie" which, by any stretch, forever changed the face of what was at the time truly the "Last Best Place" into something...Well, let me just say "different" and leave up to you to decide good, bad or indifferent. That it also changed forever fly fishing as  we once knew it is of course not up for debate. Also hard to debate is the increased interest in fly fishing spurred on all sorts of good stuff for rivers, trout, etc. That it also made a lot of folks rich and famous...well I guess if you are one a them, all well and good...for the rest of us? My vote all things considered...you know, Californication, land grab, today's Bozemans, Missoulas, Kalispells as opposed to PM days...locked gates, constant court fight to repeal the wonderful Montana Stream Access Law by bastards--Kennedy, Lewis, et al wielding more money than God, to say nothing of the State..Traffic on some of our antiquated two-lane roads nothing less than downright friggin' deadly...well all in all, I must vote Not So Hot...but then what do I know? Right.

You can read the article here...http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_b07d873c-6039-11e1-b043-001871e3ce6c.html...by copy and paste into your browser.

Interesting article on the Increase in wolf numbers following the recently ended wolf season; which by all rational thinking is looking more like a failure with each passing day and would seem, assuming the idea is to really bring numbers down to reasonable biological (and not political) limits, another game plan is indeed in order...to read the entire article copy and paste:  http://www.idahopress.com/news/state/montana-wolf-population-up-percent-in/article_e65de121-eaeb-5979-b4b0-104d36e016ec.html