Category — Montana Snow Pack and Precipitation

Decent weather, plenty of water, lots of Caddis, a river full of big fish and I had the worst run of the summer. People who know the river will no doubt wonder about about my fishing abilities, and indeed I am too. It may take weeks to get my game back on. Nothing like a little humility to put you in your place.

We were catching fish but it wasn’t stellar by any means. The fish we caught were typical Missouri trout- big, burly brawlers- they were just not coming to hook easy.

Most of the fishing was nymphing, caddis emergers and pupa patterns size #18 and smaller. We also used a San Juan with a Zebra midge dropper which fooled this one.

The Tricos were coming on but we didn’t see the pods going for them like we did at this time last year. But it looked like they were just starting and there are a LOT of Caddis around to keep them busy in the meantime.

For diversions we fished for Walleye at night. The Missouri just below the dam and Holter Lake have Walleye up to several pounds. While we didn’t catch any big ones we had fun going after them and caught several nice Rainbows as well on the lake side of the dam.

And even a Carp that proved to be a worthy opponent. So, all in all, lots of fish were caught, unfortunately not enough of the Trout variety.

Not all the education came along the river at the expense of persnickety trout. While escaping a cloudburst and camp cooking doldrums we retreated to the Oasis Bar and Cafe in Wolf Creek for an easy meal and refreshments. Our waitress reeled off a list of tap brews and last on the list was something new, unique, a very distinguished sounding concoction- Pigs Ass Porter. With a name like that, we had to give it a go and I must say that it was very good. It was with great restraint that I didn’t go for a good wallow.

And finally, the place where fishing daydreams begin- and end.

One of the few real natives left in the state of Montana. Personally, I’d rather catch Rainbows or Browns but they are a pretty trout. This one was fooled by an Olive Snowshoe Hare Emerger, #16.

We fished one of the smaller rivers in northwest Montana this week. Flows were normal but dropping fast. Temperatures are climbing too so we’ll see what happens. Most of the fish caught were on #16-18 Nymphs. Not a lot hatches going on. I did hear that the Clark Fork was seeing some decent hatches so go figure.
One week to go before we hit the mighty Mo’!

After the fourth of July fly fishing orgy I am home grounded this weekend by commitments and yard work that the kids (who were off fishing) should have done this week. The worse part about the yard is that I can’t really jump them about it because I am just as bad, if not worse, when it comes to mowing and weed whacking.

This all leads to a lot of daydreaming, the occasional rock thumping me on the shins after being thrown into orbit by the weed whacker brings me unfortunately back to reality. Of course one of those out of body experiences involves the “one that got away”. Its useless to even say how big, how long he was on, what he even was because everyones been there and no one will believe you anyway. You get the usual smiles, some people will give you the benefit of the doubt and say, “oh really- no kidding, wow, and finally- to bad”. They know you probably added a couple inches to the length, a couple minutes to the battle because they do the same thing. In the end its just you and what we’ve come to refer to as the “ghost”. All I can say is that I hooked up with the biggest Rainbow I’ve ever had on the end my line. I might have made the eight count with him before he headed downriver leaving me shell shell shocked and unable to settle down enough to rig up again for ten minutes.

Ruminations aside, waters are subsiding and clearing. The upper Clark Fork at Warm Springs was as clear as it gets Friday. I did not go home through Missoula so I did not see it that low. The Blackfoot is still a bit high but looks like it won’t be long till it comes into shape. The streams at the upper ends of all the drainages I saw were clear but still a bit high. The Flathead river is dropping and clearing and should be in fine shape for the Federation of Fly Fishers conclave in Whitefish, Montana, July 24-26. If you are in this part of the country be sure to check it out and stop in at Lakestream to get up to date on local conditions or hire a guide. Lakestream as well as Arend’s Cast and Gas (Arend’s also guides the Flathead) in Columbia Falls can set you up for fishing the Blackfeet Reservation Lakes also.

I will unfortunately probably miss the FFF conclave but I will fortunately be out fishing, hopefully the Missouri and beyond. Probably rivers and lakes in the southwestern part of the state. Ten days and no weed whackers in sight!

of waking up on your vacation in June and seeing this. Imagine that its supposed to last for most of your week off. Welcome to my nightmare.

I’m sure the tourists think its a novelty (except the guy thats two days out in Yellowstone or a day in on the Smith) but personally, I think it sucks. I am having some serious doubts about the cataclysmic global warming theory, unless its interspersed with mini ice ages.

This weather pattern is starting to look an awful lot like 1993. The weather was great- for three weeks in August.