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: Photo...Porn...

Big Spring Creek (Lewistown, MT) has been a favorite ever since the first time we fished it way back when. The photo is more recent, shot during our marathon two year odyssey desperate to at least wet a line in as many of the dozens of creeks, rivers and lakes we planned to include in Flyfisher's Guide to Montana. I can't remember what or how many we caught or did not catch that day but the highlight was all the wonderful stream improvement work ongoing. Successful changes such as these only serve to make great cricks even greater fishing-wise but fish and catch rates aside healing old wounds is just downright good for everything and every one...sort a like chicken soup for the soul...

The blue-winged olive hatch is among the best hatches at Big Spring Creek. Generally speaking the hatch comes off in March and April and then again in October and November. A couple sizes bigger in the spring, like #18-20s; the fall hatch is more like #22-24s. While I can't prove it bwos like pmds are trout candy and whenever the tiny bugs are around you can almost bet the farm trout are keying on them; at least some of the trout most of the time. Though it takes a keen and practiced eye sometimes to figure out just which stage the trout are relishing at any given moment...nymph, emerger, cripple, dun...and of course not all the trout are in tune to the same items and naturally trout being trout are apt to switch gears without notice. The good news is no matter how it all turns out all fun...Right? Right... 

Label this shot Gale captured high in the Beartooths: Yee intrepid reporter doin' his thing...in this case, as opposed to gittin' 'er done. Although it pains the ol' boy to confess, truth is the trout in this here pond done kicked my butt...Of the dozens slurping and swirling every direction, mad for some little itty bitty no-seeums I landed...oh maybe three or four...What's wrong with that you say? Well, nothing really just the trout were but a wee bit bigger than the nearly invisible hatch....OK maybe not that small but you get my drift, I'm sure...

 Not long after shooting this one at Cliff Lake in the Gravellys a whole herd of rainbows moved in almost on the beach, cruising around in plain sight, merrily picking off hatching callibaetis; an easy cast in any direction. Feeding with reckless abandon I think would about cover it.  Okay, we did not eat skunk but the licking those hungry trout put on us...But then as Gale said, Who cares about a slimy ol' trout when you're finnin' around immersed in all that wonderful blue water and a white sand beach besides...Hard to argue, eh?