MARCH MADNESS: Missoula, Montana Style

Bitterroot River Bracket

Fly fishing with big dries is happening around Missoula right now.  Some watch March Madness on TV, getting all worked up about their $20 office pool.  Others witness March Madness live, on the rivers of western Montana.

Missoula, Montana Fly Fishing Report for 3/18/2012



Scott's Dry Fly Brownie

The 2012 fishing season has finally arrived! It seems that our mild winter has been agreeable with the trout and, our fishing went from not much of anything to game on overnight.

On Wed. I got out with former guide and long time friend, Scott Timothy. We put in on the middle Bitterroot and the river was in great shape, clear with a decent flow. Scott was on fish right away with a dry/dropper rig and landed a couple nice bows righ across from the boat ramp. It wasn't long before Scott got his first dry fly eat on a Skwala, and then I landed my first Bitterroot trout of the year on a dry fly. We found a few rising fish just after lunch and I fooled a couple mid-size cuttbows on a blue-wing olive. Our fishing was solid all day with most of the fish coming on a dropper, but enough action on the dry to keep things interesting. Scott and I didn't fish too hard, it was just nice to be back on the water again with some decent weather as well.

Steve's 19.5" Bow

Logjam Rainbow

 Thur. was my first guide day of the year and I headed to the Osprey cabin on the lower Bitterroot to pick up 1/4 of the LaMosca club, Steve Duvall and his buddy Tom. I fished several years with Steve but this was to be my first float with Tom. Unfortunately Tom had to bail out and head back to NY, literally at the last minute. We had the boat in the water and I was rigging rods when Tom finally reached someone who could change his flight. We were lucky to get my shuttle driver to rush down and take Tom back to the cabin so he could make the flight. I'm glad it all worked out, but it was a shame that Tom missed the first really good dry fly day of the season. Steve had a couple dry fly eats right at the put-in and the action stayed steady all day. With stuck with a Swkala/dropper rig for most of our fishing and the ratio was probably 40/60, but there were a few spots where we ran a single dry and found fish. The trout are still holding in the slow water and virtually every little soft spot and back eddy we pulled into produced a fish or two. We caught some small fish, but our average was around 14", and we landed five trout that were 18" or better with the biggest at 19.5". One of the highlights of the day was a little foam spot that was surrounded by downed trees and branches. I told Steve to cast in there just for fun, knowing there was virtually no chance of landing a fish in that tangled mess. Steve came tight on a fish and I was hollering to try to horse him out of there and then I saw the fish on the surface. It was a big bow and I figured we were screwed, but Steve managed to keep him out of the wood and after making sure we wouldn't flip the boat I jammed it into a tight slot in the log jam. It was an impossible situation but we managed to land the 18.5" bow and keep from dying at the same time. The weather was perfect today, mostly cloudy mid-50's and calm. Steve caught a pile of fish and I look forward to seeing him and the rest of the boys later this fall.

Rainbow on a Skwala Dry

Fri. was my first of two days with Ryan Jack. Ryan typically comes out in the summer with his Dad, but he's getting married in about a month so he contacted me to see if there was any spring fishing to be had. I told him about the Skwala hatch and he jumped on the opportunity. It rained most of Thur. night and I was dreading pulling up the streamflows on the computer Fri. morning. Sure enough, the Bitterroot was coming up hard at Darby. I really wanted to put Ryan on some good fishing, after all this would be his last trip as a single man and I didn't want it to be a dud. I honestly didn't know what to do, I thought about running over to the Missouri for good nymph fishing, floating the lower Root where the river wasn't rising as bad, but in the end I went with my gut and we headed back to the middle Bitterroot where the fishing and bug life has been the best. The river was definitely up, but I breathed a sight of relief when we hooked our first fish within sight of the boat ramp. The morning fishing was decent as we found fish in the best water on a dry/dropper rig. The weather improved after lunch and the fish turned on as well. Again, slow water, back eddies, and inside bends were all consistent producers. For the first time this year we found a couple spots where fish were actively eating Skwala dries and we switched over to a straight dry in those spots and tagged some nice fish. Ryan landed browns, bows, and cutts with five or six in the 18-19" range. We had a good number of dry fly eats, but the ol' dirt snake is still pretty hard to beat. The worm produced consistently in most all the spots we put it in the afternoon. The fishing slowed down around 5 and we managed to find a couple more fish in the last hour before we got off the river. We had a great day, and I was even more amazed when I got home and saw that the river was rising hard all day long. The Bitterroot is typically a cold mistress on a rising tide but we managed to beat the odds and put a bunch of nice fish in the boat.

Ryan's 20" Bow

Sat. dawned cold and wet and I wondered if the river was looking to get even with us today. The upper river had nearly doubled in volume over the last 24 hours and I figured we would be in for a challenging day. We went a little further upstream today to try to find the best water for the conditions. It was cold and raining at the put-in and I wasn't sure what would be tougher, finding fish or just staying warm. The river had lost quite a bit of clarity and was definitely running harder than yesterday. After fishing a couple spots with a dry/dropper set-up I knew we needed the nymph rig for today. We made the switch and a couple runs later Ryan was tight to a 18" cuttbow. Another cutt came a short while later and I was a little more optomistic about our chances. The conditions were much worse today, but at lunch we had more fish in the boat than yesterday. Ryan was seining the river and no fish was safe, he even managed to tag a whitefish and the ultra-selective sucker. Our biggest failure came at lunch when we couldn't manage to get a fire going. Not even the "special sauce" floatant could help us get a flame going in those cold and wet conditions. Fortunately the rain tapered off and the temp came up just enough to make things borderline comfortable. We drilled a bunch of nice fish in the run where we ate lunch and the fishing was consistently solid all afternoon. We focused on specific water types and there weren't many spots that didn't produce. The dry fly fishing never materialized but it was hard to argue with a bent rod most of the time. Again we saw a mix of fish with a 17" brown and several bows and cutts in the 17"-18" range, and late in the day Ryan boated the first 20" bow of the season. The river seems really healthy this year. The proof is two great days of fishing despite conditions that could have easily produced catches in the single digits. Ryan is always fun to fish with and I'm glad that the Skwala hatch treated him well. I look forward to seeing him later this summer with his Dad.

We've dried out a little and the forecast for the next few days is cool with temps in the 40's. The river has levelled off and is back on the drop. We should be back to dry fly fishing in a couple days and the higher flows have shuffled the fish and there should be some big trout holding in vulnerable lies over the next week. It's great being back on the water. There's nothing quite like watching big trout eat big dry flies after a long, cold winter!

Tight Lines!

Missouri Road Trip Video

Missouri on a sunny Feb. day

Finally got all the footage put together from our great trip to the Missouri last month.  This is my first attempt at video editing and the audio isn't quite right.  You may have to crank the sound up on your computer.
Click here for video

Storm's a Comin'

Storm clouds on the Root

Our first batch of nice weather finally made it to western Montana.  It was sunny and over 50 today with more mild weather on the way.  It's enough to make a guy itch to go fishing if I didn't already know better.  The spring Skwala hatch is the most anticipated event of the fishing season for those in the know.  Along with it comes a heavy dose of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. 


The Good is that it's the first and possibly the best big bug fishing of the year.  There's not much better than watching big trout gobble dry flies after a long, cold winter and if you know the river, the hatch cycle, and the weather you can stay on solid fishing from mid-March all the way till the river blows in late April or May.  


The Bad is that this hatch has gained in popularity over the years and it's no secret anymore.  The best fishing and heaviest pressure is on certain sections of the Bitterroot forcing anglers and guides to adjust their strategies.  Instead of just fishing the best water at the best time of day you have to get creative with access and use a few other tricks to avoid the traffic.  


The Ugly is what is about to take place in the Bitterroot valley over the next 10 days or so.  With the recent good weather every cabin fever afflicted angler within a couple hundred miles is headed to the river.  Locals, guys from Washington, and MT plates from out East will all be spotted at access areas in the coming days.  It plays out like this almost every year.  Unfortunately, the fishing is just not that good yet.  It's ugly (and a little funny) because it turns into a crowded river with anglers hoping against hope for a fish to eat their dry and it's just not going to happen, at least not very often.  The downside is the increased pressure clues the fish into the fact that the game is on again.  The upside is that a bunch of frustrated anglers who showed up too early go home whining about the Skwala hatch saying that it doesn't exist and is just a bunch of b.s. put out by fly shops and guides to make money.  The crowds clear out and leave a less congested river for the rest of us.

Here's to the start of the of 2012 season.  There are a few fish to find right now, but things should really get rolling in another 10 days or so.....till then I'm steering clear of the storm.    

Grip-N-Grins: How to make your fly fishing pictures worthy of the wall

You waited all year for your fly fishing trip, picked up some new gear and had one of your best trips ever.  You caught some awesome fish and were amazed by their beauty.  Your fishing partner or guide snapped some pics of the better fish and now you can't wait to get home to show friends and family.  You checked the photos on that ridiculously tiny LCD screen on the back of the camera and they looked just fine.  But when you get home and pull them up on the computer the best fish of the trip ends up looking like this.

Yep, that 20+" bow that you were going to brag about is hardly worth showing.  Your buddies may really believe you about the fish's size, but you're never going to get the reaction you want with a photo like this and it's definitely not going up in your office.  This photo is an extreme example with several major flaws, but even small miscues or one bad element can ruin an otherwise great photo.  Catching a trophy trout is hard to do, but getting that bruiser to the net is only half the battle.  There's a lot going on when a big fish is landed and you're getting ready for the photo-op.

All too often I see folks just grab the fish anyway they can, one maybe two shots are taken and that's it.  When I land a photo worthy fish the first thing I do is get the hook out and then get them back in the water. The biggest priority is the welfare of the trout so make sure the fish remains in the water as much as possible.  That way if things go sideways trying to get the pic the the fish can be quickly and easily released.  Once the hook is out I start thinking about composition, can I get the sun at my back?, sunglasses off, hat tilted slightly up.  Then it's time to get your hands wet and get ready for the shot.  While this is going on the photographer should be framing the shot.  Don't wait till your buddy is holding the trout to raise the camera up.  Get the camera where you want it so when the angler holds the fish they come into the frame.  Don't be shy to give orders at this point.  You don't want the fish out of water long so make the shots count.  As the photographer you want to fill the frame with the angler and the trout, after all they are the stars of this production.  Don't be afraid to use the zoom, or better yet, get the camera closer to the subjects since the zoom tends to compress the image.  What you want to avoid is a pic like the last image above, a bunch of scenery and what looks to be a guy holding a small trout (it's a 22" bullie by the way even though it looks 16").  Get in as close as possible so you have the fish and the anglers head and shoulders.  The other thing to keep in mind as the photographer is to shoot as many pics as you can.  Point and shoot cameras have a delay between when you press the shutter and when the pic is actually taken so you're likely to get a different image than the one you saw when you pressed the button.  Usually the pic snaps when the fish is moving or the angler has a weird expression on their face so shoot as many as possible, you can always delete later.

As the angler it's your job to make the fish look good and keep from looking stupid remember to smile.  It's important to take a second and think about things.  First of all, relax, the fish seem to be much more cooperative with someone who is relaxed than a tense angler trying to put the death grip on them.  Keep the net below the fish so it's no big deal if it slips out of your hands.  Rule #1 is keep your fingers off the front of the fish.  People want to see the pretty trout not your big sausage fingers like the second photo above.  Cradle the fish with your fingers under the fins and your thumbs up near its back for balance.  Make sure to show the entire side of the fish to the camera.  Rule #2 is hold the fish up and out.  The first photo above shows an angler holding the trout down and off to the side.  That's a big disservice to an otherwise big, colorful rainbow.  Try to get the fish up at least shoulder high and extend your arms toward the camera without locking them straight out.  Your photos will look unnatural and gimmicky if you hold your arms all the way out, a slight bend in the elbows works great.  Straight on photos are just fine, but a little angle on the fish with the head toward the camera looks even better.

Fish photos are like anything else in life, put a little thought into it and things are likely to turn out for the better.  Don't hesitate to practice on fish that may not be "trophies".  While those photos won't end up on your wall, you will be able to see the things that work well and those that don't so when that once in a lifetime fish does make it to the net you'll end up with a picture worthy of the moment.

Road Trip: Fly fishing the Missouri in February

Hooked up at Eagle Rock

Well, it finally happened. Cabin fever got the best of me and I had to get out of the house for some fishing. Usually it's a steelhead trip to Idaho this time of year, but the conditions have been miserable over there so I joined up with friends Jason and John for a road trip to the Missouri. I pulled my boat and Jason towed his killer trailer over to Craig. If you've ever been over to the Mo' then you know there's not a lot in the way of services and there's even less in the winter. Unless you're content to sleep on the floor of Joe's Bar or Headhunters Flyshop then you had better bring your own accommodations. 

Jason with a Big Streamer Bow

We arrived in Craig around 3 p.m. on Fri. afternoon and after catching up with the guys at the fly shop and setting up the trailer in the campground we headed up to put the boat in below Holter dam. It was fairly nice weather, partly cloudy, no wind and 40. The nymph fishing was nothing short of spectacular. After an hour or so of non-stop action on nymphs we decided to slide downstream and look for some rising fish. Dry flies in Feb????? When the conditions are right there can be some great, but technical dry fly fishing for big pods of sippers on midges. As soon as the sun slipped behind the ridge we had an inside bend that was covered in rising trout for over 100 yards. It was a great scene, but it was by no means easy pickings. The fish were very selective but Jason and John were both able to connect with nice rainbows on dry flies.

On the Hunt for Meat Eaters

Day two was cooler and breezier. Since Sat. is typically the busiest day on the Mo' we decided to float below Craig to avoid other anglers. It was also an opportunity to check out the winter streamer fishing. It's hard for me to believe that these fish will move for a streamer in 34 degree water, but they will. Slow water was key and a slow swing/strip was the retrieve that they wanted. We didnt' see the numbers of fish that we hooked up by the dam on nymphs but I thought we did really well considering the conditions. We landed over 20 fish on the big bugs, most were rainbows from 15-20" but once we got below the mouth of the Dearborn we boated 4 or 5 browns up to 19".  Of course, Sat. night is big in Craig, MT so after dinner we headed over to Joe's Bar for some pool, some lies, and a few drinks with the boys from Headhunters.

Bugger Brown Trout

 

Sun. started warm and calm, but the wind kicked up in the late morning and cold hands were part of the day. We headed back up to float the dam to Craig knowing that we would have good nymphing and hoping to find some dry fly fishing. We parked the boat in one spot up by the dam and the fishing was insane. The kind of stuff you really don't want to describe because most people won't believe you. It's the first time I've ever seen a quadruple! John and I doubled up on nice rainbows. We netted both of them, got the hooks out and before Jason could release them, John and I were doubled up again. It was quite a sight to see 4 big Mo' rainbows in the net at the same time. We probably could've stayed in that spot and caught fish all day long but we decided to move downstream. The wind never really let up and the temp never got to 40 so our dry fly prospects didn't happen, but the nymphing remained good until the cold wind had us rowing for the take out around 5.

Nice Double with Mr. Double Up Himself

It's so nice to have a river like the Missouri only 2 hours away. Any time of year that a trout fix is in order we can just roll over Rodgers Pass and a bent rod is only a cast and a good mend away. I shot a lot of video over there as well and hope to have something up later this week.

 

Most of the 2012 season is already booked. If you haven't made your fishing plans yet this year you should consider doing so as soon as possible. Skwalas are only a few short weeks away and I can't wait to start throwing big dries on the Bitterroot this March.

Oops! Montana Fly Fishing Pics Gone Awry



As a fly fishing guide I take lots of fish photos each year.  The majority are classic grip n' grin poses due to sheer necessity.  When you have a cold, wet, slimy, uncooperative model you often take the quickest and most reliable photo possible.

Creative and artistic shots are great, but trout are a challenge to deal with even for experienced anglers and despite my personal desire to get the best photos, I have to keep in mind that trout much prefer being in the water and I try to get them back there quickly.  As a result I have hundreds of the same photo; tightly cropped angler holding trout a.k.a the "grip n' grin".

It's the easiest pose for both angler and fish and it usually goes something like this:  Net the fish and remove the hook, put the trout back in the water in the net while the camera comes out, position the angler and frame the shot, bring the net to the angler and have them get their hands wet, get both hands behind and under the trout lifting it up, snap several frames while keeping the net under the fish just in case, put the trout back in the net for the release.  If all goes well the whole process takes less than a minute and the trout is only out of the water for 15 seconds or so.

As you can see by the photos, all doesn't always go well.  Trout have the uncanny knack of springing into action as soon as the shutter is pressed.  These are some of my favorite shots.  I love the expressions on the anglers' faces and seeing the trout in motion.  It's also why I bring a big net, makes the slimy buggers easier to catch when they're jumping around. 

Next week we'll take a look at the do's and don'ts for good fish pictures and some alternatives to the classic grip n' grin.