Fishing Report for the week of 5/5/2013

Tue I fished with local angler Bobby and his friend Eric from Salt Lake.  The recent warm weather had Missoula area rivers high and off-color so we headed over the divide to fish the Missouri.  We were greeted by snow falling on the drive over and it was hard to believe I was sweating in my waders the last few days. Bobby had never floated before and while Eric had fished some other western rivers, neither angler had ever been on the Mo.  It was cold outside, but the fish didn't seem to mind and Eric hooked up on the first rainbow of the day before I even had Bobby's rod rigged up.  It took the guys a little while to get used to the light line, small flies, and big rainbows on the Missouri.  There were a couple break offs and a few fish that pulled the hook, but before long those big slabs were hitting my net.  There were at least 4 fish in the 20" inch class and Bobby had big fish honors with a huge bow that went 21" and was so fat it had to be over 5 pounds.  He also caught one of the prettiest rainbows I've ever seen.  The fish had giant, almost dime sized spots on it and they extended through its stomach and lower jaw which is very rare.  Unfortunately it was so cold that the fish slipped out of the net while I was fumbling for the camera.  There was a bitter wind for most of the day with frequent snow squalls and it was so frigid out there that the guys didn't even want to eat lunch.  There was plenty of shaking going on in the boat but we stuck with it and were rewarded  with a bunch of nice fish.  The smallest fish of the day was 15" and most were in the 17-18" range and red hot with lots of jumps and one fish that nearly ran Eric to his backing.  We had several near doubles during the day and a good run in the late afternoon finally produced the double hook-up we were looking for.  The fish were going crazy, the lines were crossed and I handed rods back and forth between the guys while the boat spun around in the end.  How we landed those fish I'm not sure but it was a great way to end the day.  The cold had finally taken its toll and we rowed off for the warmth of the truck and ate lunch on the way home.  It was an incredible wildlife day too, we saw several herds of elk, mule deer, and whitetails along with antelope, a golden eagle, bald eagles, trumpeter swans, a great horned owl, and an osprey grabbing a big rainbow just below the boat.  The weather was a challenge, but I had a great time with Bobby and Eric and hope to get on the water again with them soon.    

Bobby with a nice rainbow

Eric going for a little liquid warmth in the midst of a white-out

A good double to finish off the day....even I was cold at this point!

Thur. I was out with local angler Jim Cote and we set off for the Missouri.  Jim usually tries to spend a couple days on the Mo each spring but this was a one day affair so we hoped the fish were in a good mood.  There were a couple of other boats around at the put-in but I was still able to get on a run I really like and it paid off.  Jim hooked fish on every pass we made and they were all big bows in the 18-19" range with the exception of the first fish that was a spunky 16" female.  After 8 or 9 passes another boat moved in on us and it was time to make our way downstream.  Jim tagged a couple more on our way down to the "bull pen", a well known run that was surprisingly void of anglers.  We worked that run over hard producing another 8 or 9 fish before taking a break for lunch.  It was hard for me to believe that just two days ago I was in this spot with snow piling up in my boat and my anglers were so cold they didn't even want to eat lunch.  For Jim and I it was a little breezy, but sunny and close to 60 out.  After lunch we had the slightest hiccup.  I changed the bugs in anticipation of afternoon hatches and we floated through a run with no strike.  I quickly switched the flies back and Jim was right back on the fish.  It was as good a fishing as you could ask for.  We found fish in every single run the rest of the afternoon and most runs produced multiple trout.  What was truly amazing was the size of fish today.  If I had to peg the average it was a solid 18".  We caught that 16" bow first thing in the morning, had two other fish in the 17" range and then just about every fish the rest of the day was a true 18-19" with 3 or 4 coming in at 20", and the best fish of the day was a big 21.5" bow.  They were all healthy, fought really hard, and a few put on great aerial shows with a bunch of great jumps.  The Missouri right now is like the Disneyland of trout fishing....it's where dreams come true.  I have a feeling Jim and I may be headed back there again before the month is out. 

Big bows putting holes in the river

21 inches of fun

Back to the Mo again on Sat. This time it was with Kent from Missoula and we met his son, Jim over in Craig.  Since it was the weekend I decided to dodge the traffic at the dam and put in down at Wolf Creek. The weather was cloudy and mild, and the day got off to a fast start.  Jim connected on a nice brown right away and the guys came tight on another 6 or 7 fish before we were even on off the flat at Wolf Creek.  There wasn't much boat traffic and we were able to fish every spot I was hoping for, and every run produced solid strikes.  It really doesn't get much better than we experienced today.  Not only did we find nice trout in every good spot, but there were fish coming out of places where I wasn't even expecting it.  We caught fish with the flies just swinging below the boat on anchor, while picking up to recast, and one fish even came on a back cast when Kent stopped his cast and let it drop on the other side of the boat.  Before he could get it over where I wanted it, he had another rainbow on.  Jim really racked up the numbers today in the back of the boat with a load of rainbows in the 14-19" range and Kent held big fish honors with a couple 20" bows,  a fat 21" bow, and a giant 22" rainbow.  There were doubles today and absolute non-stop action.  The only time that the guys weren't on fish was when I was moving the boat between spots.  Once those flies were in the water someone was getting bit within 60 seconds.  Jim and Kent had a great time out on the water, and I was simply blown away at how well the river fished.  

Kent with a big Missouri bow

Jim out wade fishing at lunch

Too many of these this week to count

Run-off is finally starting and with the 70-80 temps they are calling for it should be going full-tilt by mid week.  There won't be much for local options during May, but I'll be hitting a few area lakes and of course heading over to the Missouri every chance I get.  In 15 years I've never seen the fishing on the Mo as good as it is right now.  I have a few open days this month so if you're interested in tangling with a bunch of big rainbows just let me know.

Tight Lines,

Tony Reinhardt

406-544-3516

Spring Time Fishing in the Rockies

The spring skwala season has been going strong since mid-March.  It's been one of the most consistent hatches on record with cooler than average temps that have kept the rivers in shape and the trout looking up.

Bitterroot Cutthroat that fell for a dryfly

Picking off rising trout in a side channel

Double release

The weather has been challenging at times, with a couple of cold fronts that brought snow and lately some big winds.  The last two days have been perfect spring weather and we experienced the best skwala fishing of the season.  Nothing but a single dry fly from start to finish and more trout than we could count.

Play Time

Pheasant hunting on the Rocky Mountain Front

 

It's funny how fishing guides as a whole are largely committed to catch and release angling, and then as soon as the season is over most of them grab some type of weapon and head to the field.  For some it's a release, a change of pace after being in a boat from March through October.  Just like you don't go back to the office for your vacation, guides choose to play in the mountains and praires.  For me it's a truly special time of year.  I love both hunting and fishing and feel priveledged to live in a state where both seasons are long and opportunity is everywhere.

Nice 6x6 bull on public land

Hunting for me is not about trophy animals with big racks.  It's about filling the freezer with the best meat in the world.  Not only is it delicious but I know exactly what happened to it from the moment that critter died to the time it hits the dinner table.  There aren't many cellophane packages at the Reinhardt house from the grocery store.  In fact, we had to lie to my son Thomas when he was younger and tell him that chicken and beef was actually pheasant and elk just to get him to eat it. 

Sunset on the plains
 

The other great thing about hunting season is the opportunity to see gorgeous scenery all over our state.  I'm lucky to be in the outdoors almost every day and while I never tire of the sights on our rivers it is refreshing to be in the beauty of the mountains and the fields for a short while.  There's nothing quite like it.

Fishing Report for the week of 10/28/2012

Mon. I was out with long-time angler Bob Rembert. Bob is in fishing for the week after a quick and successful deer hunt over the weekend. The weather report for this week isn't that awesome so when it looked relatively nice up the Blackfoot this morning I figured we had better jump at the chance or we might not get the opportunity. We floated a stretch of the middle river under cloudy skies and temps in the 40's. Bob didn't waste any time hooking a nice rainbow on his first cast with the nymph rod while I was still rigging up a streamer. After a couple more fish right at the put-in on nymphs we switched to the streamer rod and headed downstream. It was solid streamer fishing with about a grab per run and some of the deeper back eddies producing multiple strikes. It only took about a half hour for Bob to get a slam with a brown, bow, cutt, and bull all coming on the streamer rod. Nothing huge in the morning but a lot of nice fish in the 15-17" range. After lunch Bob hooked a good fish right away and then we watched as a monster bull trout closed in. This fish was solidly in the mid-30" range but he never took a real swing at the fish we had hooked. While we were watching the big boy follow at the front of the boat I noticed 2 or 3 more bullies in the run get excited too. Eventually we landed a great 19" bull trout and it's hard to believe that we had another fish right on his tail thinking of eating him! We continued with streamers for most of the afternoon. Bob stuck a few on nymphs in specific spots, but the streamer was turning enough heads to stick with it. There were other nice cutts, a couple smaller browns, and a great 19" leaping rainbow. It was a perfect Blackfoot streamer day and we hit the takeout in the nick of time. Once the boat was on the trailer it started raining and I was thankful that we got the whole day in without any rain.

Tue. I woke up to an inch of snow in my boat and dense fog in Missoula. Bob and I decided on a lower Bitterroot float and he had a fish landed before I even parked the truck. As soon as we were in the boat he had another brightly colored brown trout on a streamer and it set the tone for the morning. Lots of brown trout and streamer eats in almost every run. The tempeture was tolerable and we were fortunate not to have any wind. Most of the streamer fish were mid-sized from 14-17" and they were aggressively pounding the fly. With the overcast and fog and I was hoping for a big hatch of blue-wings but it never really materialized. We found a few fish up on top in spots and Bob stuck some on dries but they were very snotty and there weren't many of them. We turned to the nymph rod to finish out the day and closed with a nice rainbow right at the take-out. Great fishing on streamers in the morning, fair fishing in the afternoon and extremely lucky with the weather. It started raining again as soon as we got the truck loaded up.

 

 

Wed. it was back to the Bitterroot but today we floated the middle river. The streamer fishing in the morning was interesting. Early on there were a lot of bumps and grabs but few solid hook-ups. When we did connect most of the fish were bows and browns on the smaller side so I think the little guys were active early which resulted in a lot of short strikes. As the morning continued the sun poked out and put a definite damper on the streamer fish so we made the switch to the nymph rod. It was the right move and before long Bob hooked several nice bows and cuttbows, at one point he even had a single double on, with two fish on his line at the same time. One of them got away but we landed the other. After a handful of nymph fish I started to see some bugs coming off so we stopped for lunch. As we were eating the bugs really poured off and we noticed some fish start rising just upstream so Bob got out for a little wade fishing and poked a couple before we set off for the afternoon. There was a mix of mahagonies and blue-wings and we caught fish on both types of patterns. The average size dry fly fish was a little better today too. We pulled into one back eddy and noticed a fish sip on the reverse current tight to the bank. After a couple of casts the fly drifted in perfect and a trout just sucked the bug under the surface. Bob set the hook and I saw a big fish shaking his head under water. I hoped the 5x tippet would hold and after a good fight he had a gorgeous 21" cuttbow in the net. It was a great fish and the good times kept rolling with a couple other spots that were holding rising fish. After some more dry fly fish the day was getting late, the temps cooler and it was time to head home.

 

 

Thur. was a laid back affair. We had a big breakfast and I helped Bob get some stuff done around his place before heading into town to hit the river. The later start convinced me to do a short stretch of the Clark Fork and it was the perfect call. The streamer fishing started off a little slow with only one solid grab in the first few runs, but after changing the fly Bob banged out three classic Clark Fork cuttbows in a row before we pulled into a big riffle to do some nymphing. This is one of the best spots on the Clark Fork and for good reason. I barely moved the boat over the next couple of hours and Bob stuck a pile of big fish on a consistent basis. There were a few smaller ones, but the majority were cuttbows from 15-18" and they were stunningly beautiful with bright white bellies, pink stripes and purples and fuschas in their faces. We stopped to eat lunch there and give the fish a break for a bit. When Bob went back to fishing he must've boated another 6 or 7 before we decided to move on and look for some rising fish since there were a bunch of blue-wings around. Just downstream we found a big pod of fish rising on the edge of a current seam so I dropped anchor and Bob went to work again. The fish were set-up perfectly and when Bob would hook one they would immediately run out into the main river and most jumped several times but the rest of the pod didn't spook so as soon as we landed one we started looking for the next target. Eventually we had poked most all of them and had to move on but it was a lot fun sticking those fish on dries. There were quite a few random risers in the next big slick and we picked off a good number of those as well. Then the hatch started to fade and we only found little fish up top. This time of year there is no real point in forcing the issue, when the fish are done it's time to get off the water so that's exactly what we did. It was a killer day all around. The fishing was great, the weather gave us a little of everything with mostly clouds, a little sun, some snow, some rain, and we also had huge migrations of sand hill cranes flying over us the entire day. It just doesn't get much better.

 

 

With such good fishing yesterday Bob and I decided to do the same float on Fri. The first half of the day was pretty much a carbon copy of Thur. Started out fishing streamers with a few grabs and then switched to nymphs at the riffle and lit them up again. The biggest difference was that today at lunch a little front moved in and the temps dropped and brought a cold breeze as well. That didn't seem to affect the nymphing too much as we continued to hook-up with bright Clark Fork bows and cuttbows but it definitely put a damper on the dry fly fishing. We only saw a handful of blue-wings and the rising fish we did find were eating midges. We were able to find enough rising fish to keep us busy, but between the bitter cold and lack of mayflies Bob and I eventually decided to cut our loses and head for the warm truck. There were still plenty of fish today and not another angler in sight. I always look forward to Bob's trips and they always seem to go by too fast. We'll have bent rods together during Skwalas next spring and some good times around the campfire this winter.

Well, the 2012 season is in the books. Friday was my last day guiding and now I'm onto hunting, traveling, and Mr. Mom duty. Thanks to everyone for making this another great year. In the weeks to come I'll take a look back at some hightlights of this season, and a look ahead at what's up for 2013.

Tight Lines,

Tony Reinhardt

One Fly

Last week I participated in Grizzly Hackle's 12th annual One Fly.  It's a fun event that Dan Shepherd has been putting on for guides and shop employees near the end of each season.  You are drawn for a teammate and a river section and then you must pick only one fly for the day.  If the fish aren't eating it, too bad.  If you break it off then you're out.  You are allowed to measure 8 fish for the day and of those the biggest 6 will count toward your score.  The points are weighted heavily toward the top so an 18" fish is worth considerably more than a 16".  My day started out with a bang when I tagged this guy on my second cast.

 

A 22" brownie right off the bat definitely put me in the game.  Unfortunately I broke my fly off 10 minutes later and my day was over early.  Still it was a great day on the water.  My teammate, Matt had a solid day and finished second, and my trout won big fish for the day.  After sitting in the rowers seat all year it was nice to get up in the bow for a while.

That's Fall Fishing

It happens this time of year.  Look around, it's all over on blogs, facebook, instagram....heck some guy might just walk up to you and show you pics on his iphone.  Big ones, really big ones are being caught on a daily basis in western Montana.  This class of fish is only vulnerable for a short window each season, mid-March to mid-April, June, and again in October.  Those aren't time periods for the fickle, but dedicated anglers are anything but fickle and they're usually the ones hoisting two feet of trout for a grip-n-grin.  Near the end of a long season it's fish like this that keep me in the game.   

Fishing Report for the week of 9/30/2012

Tue. I was out with Dick and Cindi Hayne for our end of the season celebration. The date didn't fall on the end of season this year, but it has become an annual event and is not to be missed. We floated the upper Bitterroot and Cindi started with a single dry and Dick had a hopper/dropper rig on. True to form, Cindi hooked a couple of dicklings (small fish) right out of the gate and then she proceeded to seine the river after that. Dick might have had a couple bumps on the dropper but with Cindi tagging fish in nearly every run it didn't take long to get Dick switched over to a dry too. The morning was mostly smaller fish, but there was a nice mix of cutts, bows, and browns and once we had a couple better fish come for the fly I knew it was time for lunch before the main hatch came off. Lunch on this day is pretty much an event in and of itself, and it grows more extravagent every year. Cindi always prepares lunch for the end of the season float and today we had an absolute feast. She even had menus printed up and there was everything from spinach salad to quiche to wild alaskan salmon and all the side dishes you could ask for. Did I mention the killer champagne and chocolate turtle cake for desert? It's also the longest lunch of the year, but worth every minute. After lunch I was ready for a food coma, but we set off to see if those trout were still looking up. It was a great afternoon of dry fly fishing. The wind kicked up a little and blew some of our bugs away but we were still able to find willing fish in most all of the places I thought they should be. Cindi was gunning most of them down out of the front seat with the best being a couple of 17" trout, one bow and one cutt. Dick pulled his weight out of the back too with a couple of nice browns and a 16" cutt. There were lots of filler fish too from 10-14" and it was just a beautiful day to be on the water. Dick and Cindi are truly great folks and I always look forward to spending time with them.

Wed. was day one with long time clients, Gregg Kimball, David Joyner, Steve Dunleavy and this year they also brought first timer, Larry. I had Gregg and Larry in my boat and I was joined by fellow guide, John Gould. Larry had a few hook-set hiccups early on but Gregg kept us busy with several smaller fish on the dropper before finally coming tight on a big rainbow. After a long fight we had the 19" bow in the net which turned out to be our best fish of the morning. Larry didn't take long to catch on and a couple runs later the guys doubled up on trout and then one of the huge old bull trout starting chasing the fish on the end of our line. He never grabbed one but it was still cool to watch. Tricos were going strong by the time we made it to Munchmore and Larry and Gregg took turns drilling fish in there. It's the best that hole has fished form me in a while and the guys hooked up on a pile of cutthroats. A lot of them were smaller fish but there were at least 8 that went 15+". After that we gave up the spot for Steve and David, and we found more rising fish further downstream. Gregg took another 4 nice cutts before we pulled in for lunch. The afternoon was a mixed bag of hoppers, droppers, and little ants. Larry did well with the dropper connecting with several more great cutts including an 18" brute, and he also hooked a monster brown that ran straight at the boat, jumped and then broke us off. Gregg found most of his fish on the hopper and a couple on the ant as well. He even hooked a bull trout on the hopper in some fast water. I thought for sure it was a big rainbow, but after an epic battle through shallow rocks and boulders it turned out to be a 23" bull trout. It was another great Blackfoot day. The guys caught their share of little trout and really good numbers of quality fish from 15-17" with a few bigger ones as well.

 

 

Thur. my original client had to cancel and I was fortunate that Matt Horn called and was looking to fish for a day. I've had Matt in my boat since the 90's and he can flat out fish, whether it's dries, nymphs, or streamers he's able to fish with whatever the situation calls for and today was mainly dedicated to streamer fishing up the Blackfoot. We met at 0 dark-thirty for a trip up the canyon. The day started well when Matt smacked the first bull trout of the day before I even had the boat completely ready. The streamer action was pretty decent considering the bright sunshine we had and it was long until Matt was into another bull trout about 17", similar to the first one. We worked the streamers hard and found that a fast retrieve got the most attention as there were a number of follows and bumps to go along with a few small cutts and a fat 17 incher. We made it to Munchmore early and after working it through with one streamer I changed the fly and on the next cast Matt experienced quite a memorable moment. He was working the fly and saw a big bull trout just slide over and inhale the bug. Matt stuck him hard, came tight and the fight was on. He was pretty jacked up with being able to see the fish eat the fly and then it came to the surface with big gill rattling head shakes. In all the commotion the fish got wrapped up funny and was a little difficult to land, but the hook held and Matt had his biggest Montana bull trout to the net at 27". That alone would've been enough to make the day a success, but then I blew his mind when we slid over to the foam in Munchmore and he fished tricos to non-stop eating trout. It was so good in there that I even landed two cutties while holding my sandwhich in one hand and the fly rod in the other. We spent a long time in there tormenting those fish and Matt landed a number of 16-17" cutts and a bunch of smaller ones too. After that we found some really nice fish still rising to tricos in the shelf rock and Matt had no problem sticking several more nice, thick cutts on a little dry fly. Then it was back to the streamer for the rest of the canyon with decent success. There were lots of follows, some bumps, and a handful of small to medium sized cutts and bows. With the streamer bite fading I switched Matt over to a hopper/ant combo and he proceeded to light up a bunch of nice fish on dries. It was mostly cutts again from 15-17", just healthy and thick and a great way to finish off an awesome day. We didn't fish a nymph all day and Matt ended up with a big bully, and a grand slam with bulls, bows, cutts, and one brown trout. I always love it when anglers who fish hard and well are rewarded for their efforts because it doesn't always work out that way.

 

 

Fri. I was out with Bitterroot valley regulars, Brian Bachman, Bob Dennis, and Bridger the trout dog. The guys live around Hamilton and were looking to get out of the smoke a little so we floated the lower Bitterroot. We started the day with a hopper/dropper rig and Bob had the hot hand out of the back of the boat. It was a mixed bag of trout and whitefish on the dropper, but Brian couldn't even buy a whitey in the front seat. He finally came alive though and stuck the two biggest dropper fish of the morning with one bow around 15" and the other at 17.5". They had a number of other smaller bows before the tricos started coming off. Once the hatch was going we switched over to a single small dry and took turns casting at risers. Brian didn't waste anytime as he connected on a hot bow with his first cast and then Bob hooked a big 18" bow when it was his shot. The next pod produced good fish for both Brian and Bob and then we set up on a couple of big fish eating tight to a root ball. Again, Brian's first cast connected and the fight was on. After a long battle our best fish of the day came to the net and this bow taped out at 18.5". The guys kept taking turns like that on good fish and they did amazingly well. Those trico fish are hard to feed and they're even harder to hook and land but we only broke off one fish that ran us under a log, and only missed a couple others. Everything else was solid hook-ups, wet nets and big smiles. We finally took a break for lunch and then rigged up with mahagonies for the afternoon. It was solid dry fly fishing even though we didn't see many bugs or actively rising fish. Bob picked off a lot of the best fish in the front seat, but Brian smacked a few too and he also hooked into the biggest fish of the day. It was big, brightly colored rainbow that ate super tight to a log and after a big jump it was running back for cover when it broke off. I was sorry to see the fish get away but I was glad that Brian took his chances with the tippet holding instead of just letting the fish run him into the timber. Not long after that Bob took our only cutthroat of the day in flat calm water and that fish was another fat one that went 17". There were a lot of fish today and a lot of bigger fish too. The weather was beautiful and the river treated us well. It's always a nice day on the water with Bob, Brian and Bridger.

 

 

Sat. was my last day with the Osprey cabin crew, David Joyner, Steve Dunleavy, and Gregg Kimball. They were a man down today so guide, John and I had just three anglers. We launched the boats right at the cabin on the lower Bitterroot so we could shoot at some trico fish that aren't used to being messed with that time of day. Right off the bat David hooked a really big fish that broke the fly off in short order. A few casts after that Gregg got a mid-sized bow on a trico before we slid down on two more toad trout that were sipping tricos. These fish took a few more casts but David finally fooled one and had it briefly hooked up before the fly popped out. Then we found a really big fish just barely sipping tricos tight to the bank in a quiet back eddy. It was Gregg's shot but after a few casts his fly hung up on an overhanging bush so David was in the game. It was a challenging drift but David got the fish to eat the fly a couple of times and we missed him. Usually you only get one chance at fish like this, but today he kept eating and the third time was a charm as David came tight with a good hook-set. The fish rolled up to the surface and when I saw how big it was I thought for sure we'd lose him to the bank side brush. Luckily the fish charged out into the main river and we were eventually able to get the net under him. It was a monster bow at 21.5" and David got him on a little bitty fly and 5x. Gregg was up next and after breaking off a big fish in a slough I put him on a seam with a couple of risers. The first fish was a scrappy 12" bow, but the next one had more meat on his bones and gave Gregg a good fight. It was a heavy 19.5" bow. The trico action pretty much dried up after that and we switched to a hopper/dropper rig. David smacked a mid-sized brown and a 17" bow on the dropper and Gregg had a big one just pound the hopper. After a couple of big jumps we landed another great 18" bow. The guys switched it up after lunch and I had David as a single for the afternoon. We fished a mahagony dry with mixed results. There wasn't much of a hatch in the afternoon so most of the fish we turned on the dry were smaller than the trico fish of the morning. We did find some big boys up eating at the mouth of a spring and David had several eat the fly but we never really connected. Then we decided to do a little pike fishing in a slow stretch of water. We worked our way down a long bank and had two follow the fly but wouldn't commit. We also saw a monster pike probably pushing 20 pounds but I couldn't ever get the boat in the right position to put a really good shot on that fish. As we neared the end of the pike run I saw an old friend rise in a sneaky little spot. I have had folks hook the fish twice earlier this year. Once it broke us off and once we were able to tow it out of the gnarled log jam mess that it lives in. I gave David the set-up with where to cast and what to do once the fish ate the fly and it all went according to script. The fish ate on cue and once David was tight, he got his rod tip in the water and hauled that trout upstream to safety. A short fight later and David had another Bitterroot giant in the net. This cuttbow hit the tape at 20.5" and after a couple pics we sent him back to his little hide-out. We kept at it with the dry fly and had a couple other big eats and a few decent trout to the boat. These guys are always a ton of fun to fish with and I look forward to their trip each year. Their cabin, the Osprey, is right on the banks of the Bitterroot and is available to rent most of the season. It's an awesome place to stay if anyone is looking for a good alternative to a hotel in town.

The past week gave up some great fishing which is to be expected in late Sept. It's hard to believe that it's October already. Our weather doesn't seem like fall yet and I think this is the first year I've made it all the way through Sept. without wearing waders. Change is in the air though, and a cold front is supposed to hit by mid-week. If we're lucky it will come with some rain and put an end to the smoke that's been around for over a month now. One thing is for sure, when it does arrive it will put an end to the already dying hopper fishing but it will ramp up our mayfly hatches. The coming weeks should be dry fly nirvana with mahagonies and blue-wings in the afternoons. I love my job.

Tight Lines,

Tony Reinhardt