On The Road Report: Well, Sort of Edition.

billybrown3

I know I promised everybody another installment of OTR but I failed. I failed and I’m sorry. It’s just between getting the shop ship shape for Spring, a phone that doesn’t seem to stop ringing, moving myself into the summer cabin, crappy weather and two couch surfing trout bums over the past few days I just couldn’t manage. It’s really just the combination of the latter two, I blame the hippies and wind. Either way, I was able to make it out with two good buddies of mine Will from Bozeman who just needed an excuse to get off the Gallatin and Bill, guide at large getting in some spring fishing before the season really kicks off . So it’s sort of an On The Road Report, for those two guys at least. Between the three of us we did two pretty similar floats, Mid-Cannon to Pelican and Mid to Mtn. Palace, with two very similar results. Not sure they were the ones any of us expected, but whatever, that’s fishing.

First float was with Will from Mid to Pelican. Looking back on the weather report from that morning and the overall length of the float, it was willbrownambitious. Roughly 11 miles with wind and rain moving in later that afternoon. In hindsight we should have taken out at Prewett Creek. Wind was haneous, to the point that I considered dawning my p.f.d. after one particular gust of wind. Despite the hostile weather later in the day we managed to pull in a few on nymphs and got some great chases and hook ups on streamers. B.W.Os were out for a while before the rain rolled in, but we had a pretty short window to fish to risers podded up in the soft water.

billybrown2Second trip was with Bill from Mid to Mtn. Palace. Lessons learned from the day before we stuck to the shorter float. Lots of wind throughout the canyon but the skies were clear this time. Didn’t see as many baetis as the previous day, likely because of the bluebird conditions. Still saw a few coming to to surface on clusters of midges. I was able to pull a few decent bows’ to the boat on nymphs but Bill stole the show with a pair of back to back Browns on the streamer. Kid hasn’t been in town 24 hours and hangs 40″+ of buttery Missouri River goodness. Probably had a lot to do with the fly though, hand tied by your truly, articulated with just the right amount of flash.

Like I said before, two similar floats with two similar outcomes, and not what we were expecting. Over the course of the two days between the three of us, we got more chases, hits and hookups from big streamers off hard banks and in deep trenches. Coincidence? Maybe, but my thought is that the bigger fish lower in the system are HUNGRY! I’m talking HANGRY, charging out of the depths with a vengeance and just crushing the fly. What I’m getting at is that in might be worth your while to dedicate a day to throwing some big junk and trophy hunting. Ditch the bobber for float or ten and you may surprise yourself. If you do decide to play the streamer game, here’s five for your box I think will drum up some beefcakes. Okay and some dries and nymphs too…

Streamers: Circus Peanut, Sex Dungeon, Cat Toy, Articulated Sparkle Minnow & ZK’s Mercenary.

Nymphs: Tung. Split Case BWO, LGM, Psycho May, BWO Wondernymph & Rainbow Czechs.

Dries:  Q’s Cluster Midge, WCA Trude, Prachute Adams, Buzzballs & Sprout Baetis.

~Cheers, Chewy.

September fishing…

california island

 

Over the past week we have experienced a taste of Autumn.  Temps dropped, with some days not reaching the 50 degree mark.  We got our first snow of the year, and correspondingly our first frost.  Some trees and willows are starting to change colors (I’m not ready for that!): bowhunting, and bird hunting are beginning to enter into the nightly conversations more than going back over the days fishing.

What the weather has done for the fishing is good.  Those gray days we had last week saw Psuedo’s on the surface by the millions, the apperance of a larger, olivish mayfly that I don’t feel confident calling a baetis, and a fair amount of caddis flitting about.

Some of the rising fish are a pain, eating just subsurface.  Your best bet is to throw something at them, but expect for them to ignore it.  Again, find the fish that are showing the cotton white of their mouth and fish to them.  They will be eager to eat your bug with a good presentation.

Folks have been succesful with caddis patterns on those fish that are up and in rhythm.  A purple haze or a parachute adams is also a good choice.

Nymphing has been really good-fish are holding in seams and along rock banks.  I’ve been running a shorter rig, and just about anywhere there’s a fast and soft edge I’ve been finding fish eating.  There is a wide variety of nymph patterns that are productive right now.  Black zebra midges (sometimes red), little green machines, red-headed step child, mat’s autocad, crayfish, the worm, czech nymphs, peep show, olive wd-40’s, etc, etc…

Streamer fishing is an option, not your most productive, but it’ll work if properly commited to.

Caddis eating brown

Caddis eating brown

 

Things are starting to get really good here, light pressure, and great fishing, call now to reserve your room or your guide!  406-235-4350!–Matt

By |2016-10-25T16:16:06-06:00September 14th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

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