Fishing Report for the week of 6/23/2013

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.

Brian and Bridger hooked up

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

406-544-3516

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.