Mon. was the first day out for the season with Brian and Bridger the trout dog. We decided to float the Bitterroot around Hamilton and it was a good choice considering we hooked up on 3 trout in the first ten minutes of the day. Brian was throwing a dry/dropper rig and all the action was on the dropper in the morning and it was steady. Every spot that I thought was holding fish produced a solid strike. Late in the morning we got out of the boat to wade fish a spot where a small stream enters the river. There were PMDs and yellow sallies coming off and fish were rising at the confluence so I rigged up a double dry outfit. We spent over an hour in that spot and stuck some nice rising fish. Most were bows and cutts in the 12-16" range that came to the PMD but after the first few trout Brian came tight on a serious fish and the fight was on. After a long battle, the best fish of the day came to the net. It was a big, thick cuttbow and we were too far away from the boat to grab the tape measure, but it was a solid 20" fish that might've gone 21". It was back to the dry/dropper after that spot and the nymph continued to dig up nice fish. Late in the day we gave it a shot with straight dry flies and connected with a few smaller trout, but there just weren't enough bugs to get the bigger fish looking up so we went back to the dropper and poked a few more before hitting the takeout. The weather was glorious and Brian started his season off with a bunch of nice fish and Bridger was there the whole time looking on, and licking the occasional trout before release.
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| Brian and Bridger hooked up |
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| Big dryfly cuttbow |
Tue. I was out with Bitterroot valley locals, Jim and Dick for a float on the upper Bitterroot. Big thunderstorms were in the forecast for the afternoon so we didn't want to stray too far from home. It took a whole 45 seconds for Jim to hook the first fish of the day and we were off to the races from there. Both guys started with dry/dropper rigs and while most of the action was definitely on the dropper, there were some really nice fish coming up on the dry as well. Dick went with a single dry in the afternoon and raised a bunch of fish in the right water, and Jim stuck with the dry/dropper with about a 50/50 mix on top and underneath. There were a bunch of cutthroat in 12-15" range with some bows and brownies, and a number of bigger fish up to 17.5". Late in the day the storms did move in but we were lucky to avoid a direct hit and fished through most of it. Another great day on the Bitterroot.
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| Tight lines in the storm |
Wed. was the first of three days with longtime anglers and friends, Penny and Dianne. These ladies have a knack for catching big fish no matter the conditions and I always look forward to their trips. Coming from sunny SoCal they weren't too excited about the cool, cloudy, and rainy weather but I knew those clouds could bring some great fishing. We set off for the Blackfoot to see how many salmonflies were still kicking around in the canyon. Dry/dropper rigs produced some nice fish for us in the North Fork and after hitting the main river Dianne tagged a great brown trout on the nymph. There were some other nice fish in the morning before we pulled over out of the wind for lunch. It was cool and wet with not many stoneflies on the move but we still made the switch to straight flies for the canyon. I just have to fish dries through the canyon this time of year. A giant trout can gobble your salmonfly at anytime and they live in water too shallow to fish a dropper. It didn't take long for that decision to pay off when Penny stuck a wide 20" cuttbow on a big dry. We caught fish at a modest pace through the canyon and I was thinking it was just a little to cold and wet for a good dry fly day when I noticed my first green drake on the water. A half hour later the Blackfoot absolutely lit up with fish crushing dries all over the river. The gals had a bunch of doubles and more big fat cutthroat than we could keep track of. Big fish were on the prowl too with a number of slabs at 18" and over. It was a long, cold day and the ladies were happy to see the warm truck,p but it was well worth it with lots of bent rods and tight lines.
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| Salmonfly cuttbow |
Thur. the Bitterroot seemed to be the best play so we headed up toward Hamilton under cloudy skies. Dry/dropper rigs were the name of the game early, and the first run produced a nice cutthroat on the nymph. It was good early, mainly on the dropper with mostly cutts and cuttbows until we pulled the boat up a side channel for some wade fishing. Once we got out of the boat Penny was set up in a great run and stuck a number of nice fish and Dianne went a little further up the channel and poked a couple of good cutts. After lunch Penny set off for her new favorite spot again, and Dianne and I loaded up to wade fish further up the channel. Dianne smoked 6 or 7 nice trout on foot with both the dry and dropper while Penny absolutely wailed on fish in her little hole including the biggest fish of the day. It was a cuttbow at 20+" that no one else saw, but Penny's seen enough big trout that I trust her judgement. After that Dianne poked a couple more on dry flies and I even stuck a fish before we got back in the boat and headed downstream. The fishing continued on at a constant pace and then we started to notice some rising fish and switched to a double dry rig. The dry flies didn't disappoint as we boated several more nice fish on the homestretch to the boat ramp. There was no shortage of fish today with plenty in the 14'16" range and a few bigger and smaller. The weather was just about perfect, mostly cloudy and warm, and the ladies had a great time.
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| Unbeatable colors |
Fri. was the trout day that we all dream about. From the rowers seat I get to experience a few truly special days each season. Have you ever wondered what it looks like to see over 100 trout eat a dry fly in a day? Even though flows were a little low I decided to take the gals to upper Rock Creek since they had such a great time there last year. We fished a single dry fly all day and the biggest gap between strikes might have been 5 minutes. In the morning we set off with golden stones and the river fished at a good pace. Most of the good water produced strikes although there were a lot of smaller fish early in the day. As the day progressed we started to get a few more hatches and eventually we switched over to green drakes and that's when things started to get really exciting. Fish started showing up all over the river and the average trout was much better than the typical average on Rock Creek. The afternoon was filled with a lot of cutts and browns in the 13-16" range and Dianne even managed to land a brook trout for a grand slam with four species in one day. Some of the runs in the afternoon were simply loaded with rising trout and I had to do little more than drop the anchor while the ladies picked off the heads. For a while it was absolutely silly as I was releasing fish as fast as I could and another would appear boatside with a fly in it's mouth. There were more doubles than I could count and more fish than I could imagine today. I was so happy for Penny and Dianne. They take fly fishing very seriously and it was good to see that their efforts were rewarded. They floated into the take out with another double on the line for a perfect ending to a tremendous day. We had an awesome three days together with a bunch of fish and some really nice trout. I look forward to seeing them again in August.
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| Wading Rock Creek |
Sat. was a day off from fishing, but it was also the much anticipated wedding of Marcelo and Constance. I've known Marcelo for years and I'm quite certain that he's found the perfect match with Constance. I'm just a little worried about how he'll handle it when she starts out fishing him.
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| Montana wedding done right....in a barn, on a creek |
Sun. I was out with fellow guide, Robert, for a two boat deal with Dick and Martha, and Mike and Nancy. We had donated the trip to the Greater Ravalli Foundation and Dick was the winning bidder on a package that also included dinner at the Cote residence.We floated a great stretch of the Bitterroot and got off to a fast start when Mike found a fish on the first bank with a dry fly. The fish were definitely looking up early, but it was mostly smaller trout so I rigged Nancy up with a dropper in a side channel and she was quickly tight to a thick 16" cutt. It was a nice morning with a good number of fish to the boat and the dry fly fishing just continued to get better as the day progressed. After lunch I had Dick and Martha in the boat and the action improved as a PMD hatch started coming off. At one point I dropped Dick off to wade fish a long side channel while Martha and I jumped in the boat to fish and pick him up at the bottom of the channel. Martha tagged a couple quality cutthroat on a PMD cripple and Dick had a ball wade fishing with a bunch of fish coming out of some gorgeous water. Once we were all back together again I started noticing some Green Drakes coming off and when I saw fish exploding in the next good run I knew the fishing was about to get ridiculous. The rest of the afternoon was simply amazing. Just about every spot where you thought a fish should be, there was one and they were good trout in the 13-16" range. Martha and Dick had a bunch of doubles in the afternoon and there were a couple spots where I just sat anchored and they tagged multiple rising fish. It was another one of those special days on the water with a crew of wonderful folks. Just to give you an idea of how good it was, at the end of the day Mike said it was his best Bitterroot day ever and he's been fishing the river for over 15 years! To top it all off we had an amazing meal at the Cote's. Jim and Becky are incredible hosts and it was the perfect end to an unbelievable day.
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| Bitterroot side channel |
It was a stellar week of fishing with lots of bugs out there. This is usually stonefly time, but the weather has had the mayflies coming off strong and PMDs and Green Drakes have produced some of the best angling of the year. I can't wait to see what next week brings.
Tight Lines,
Tony Reinhardt
