Bitterroot River Cleanup this Saturday!

Hey fellow Bitterrooters,  if you aren't already booked this weekend I would encourage you to participate in the annual Bitterroot River Cleanup.  This is a great chance to give something back to the river that has given us so much.

Check out the link to the Bitterroot Water Forum for more details.  http://www.brwaterforum.org/Pages/Events.aspx  If you aren't familiar with the good folks at the Bitterroot Water Forum please check them out.  They are an awesome organization that plans and implements numerous stream restoration projects throughout the drainage including the river cleanup.  This is from their website "BRWF is a community driven non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the traditions of agriculture, community and recreation by protecting, enhancing and restoring the Bitterroot Watershed through on the ground restoration projects and watershed education."

Cleanup is from 10am-4pm.  Afterwards at Angler's Roost there is a Barbeque and party from 4-7pm, with live music!

 Email brwaterforum@bitterroot.net or call Heather at 375-2272 to get more information or RSVP to volunteer! 

It's waiting for you. 

Sometimes You Get it Right

Most of the time I don't. 

The majority of my excursions up and down the many braids and side channels of the Bitterroot have me coming back empty handed.  Once in a while you find a few willing fish.  Sometimes maybe even a big one.

If you are really lucky, they eat dry flies.  Sometimes you really get it right.

Skinny water hopper eater.

Today happened to be one of those days.  A little research (don't you love Google Earth?), a few miles in the boat, and another on foot got me into some nice looking water.  Don't get me wrong, I've done this many times before with less than stellar results. 

Today however, the trout wanted the hopper, by happens stance I had one they wanted.  And a few of those fish happened to be respectable.

Bitterroot Brown - A Handful of Gold

Now the Bitterroot is my home river, but in no way do I have it figured out.  It's a fickle mistress as many folks will tell you, more so than many rivers around our area.  Today however the fish were up, and just about every cast in the right spot got bit.  Not sure why, water temps? weather?

Nothin' but Bow'

 Later in the day I floated past another side channel headed off from the main river.  Not much water, but enough?  Enough for a big brown?  Maybe, just maybe.  Chances are it will be a nature walk, but you never know.

Sometimes you get it right. 

Peace.

Why I love Cutthroats

Around here if you want to catch a trout you have a few options.  Not just water, but species to.  Browns, rainbows, brookies, and the natives, cutthroats and bulls.  I love each one for different reasons, but this time of year I really love cutthroats, why?

1.  Cutties love the dry fly.
2.  Cutties love the dry fly.

Royal Trude meets Westslope Cutthroat.

3.  Cutties also love the streamer.

Bugger meets Westslope Cutthroat.

4.  They are beautiful fish, that live in beautiful places

Cutts don't live in ugly places.

5.  There's nothing like catching native fish in their native water.

Not all small stream fish are small.

 
Do you love Cutthroats?  

About to send one back home.

Adios until next time.

Signs of Fall - Hecubas

It's that time again.  It hit me today.  The sun had that look to it, the wind had a little bite tonight.  The forecast calls for lows into the 30's.  Fall, it's on it's way.

The beginning of the sweet season is almost here.  What triggers that thought is different for everyone.  Is it the shorter days, the need for a jacket in the morning, elk bugling, birds headed south, Hunting season, the start of school, football season?

For the angler, the fall fishing shift begins subtly.  Water temps start to drop, the streamer bite begins heating up, and are fall bugs begin to appear.

One of the first of the "Fall" bugs at least in my mind is the Hecuba.  A relative of the venerable Green Drake, Hecubas begin to show themselves just as we start the slow shift into fall fishing mode.  These big mayflies, though rarely numerous, never the less make an impression on the trout, and for me signal the time to start stocking the boxes for the fall mahogany, baetis, and october caddis hatches, as well as load up on the streamers...

It's almost here, I'm ready.  Come on fall.

Hecuba Dun (i think).

      

From the Sky - Tenkara

Tenkara, have you tried it?

Tenkara (Which translates "from heaven" or "from the skies") is the traditional Japanese method of fly fishing which incorporates a long flexible rod with a fixed line on the end, and no reel.  The first time I heard of Tenkara was when I first met Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon flies.  Craig told me about this amazing new way of fishing, at first I was skeptical but I ordered a rod anyway.

My first rod was a 12ft. Iwana from Tenkara USA.  Yes you heard it right, it's 12ft. long.  By the way if you are at all interested in Tenkara, please check out Tenkara USA they have all of the information and gear you will ever need. 

The Tenkara method is hundreds of years old which has given it time to prove it's effectiveness.  When I unpacked my rod I didn't know what I was getting into, as soon as I fished it, I knew.  The long rod (and keeping the tip high), allows you to fish pocket water like you never thought possible.  There's no more mending, dragging flies, tricky drifts.  Nothing is off limits, you can hit ever pocket, every seam.  Sound like fun?

 If you enjoy fishing small water, give Tenkara a try, I can guarantee you will be glad you did.  Enjoy the pics from a few recent Tenkara outings on one of my favorites waters.  

Who Needs a Reel?

Beautiful Native

A Favorite Water.  A Favorite Way to Fish.

 

Insert Shameless Plug:  Tenkara USA's rods are awesome!

After just one time out on my favorite creek fishing Tenkara, my 3 weight western rod has been collecting a lot of dust.  You'd think a long rod would make fishing tight water more difficult, that's what I thought.  Truth be told it's exactly the opposite once you get used to the length of the rod.         

Westslope Perfection

Chuck's Trude in Action

The End

Carp and Browns

Carp and Browns, no it's not a new breakfast item at McDonald's, although I might be on to something here.  Carp and Brown Trout were the subject of a recent day of fishing in Central Montana.  I must say the fishing was fantastic and if you guessed the number of anglers I saw in a 14 hour day of fishing to be zero, well then you would be correct. 

To start things off right, a day of prairie fly fishing begins with some morning carp action down on the lower Missouri, and by lower I mean lower.  On this morning, several 10-15lb. carp were found tailing in one of my favorite side channels, and I was fortunate to convince one to eat my black bugger.  I started actively pursuing carp several years ago and I gotta say, they are a blast to fish for.  It's the combination of super technical sight fishing, the real possibility of hooking a fish over 20 lbs., and the sheer brute force and power these fish display once hooked that have me coming back for more again, and again.  If you want to have an idea of what a carp pulls like, hook your 8 weight to the back of a diesel truck, it's about like that.

The Bum's Bonefish

 What I love about fishing the lower Mo is that you never know what you might conjure up from the depths in a days fishing.  Carp, bass, walleye, trout, catfish, the list goes on.  I once saw a 10 year old kid hauling a 30 plus inch pike down Front street in Fort Benton.  Below are two wierd interesting species.

Goldeye a Montana Native

A Freshwater Drum I Believe

The afternoon shifted to a little known and very spring creekish stream out in the middle of a hay field.  A few friends keyed me into this creek and the amazing hopper action that occurs every August.  

It did not disappoint.  Several hours and many shredded hoppers later, I had landed several browns over 16 inches and a few pushing 20.  Not bad from a creek no wider than a kitchen table, I'll take it. 

Great Hopper Habitat, I Think Yes! 

One of Many

 

Not bad Central Montana, not bad at all. 

    
 I'm back in the west now.  Remember folks there's lots of fish to be had east of the mountains for those willing to look.  Anyone up for a road trip?
  

The Big Sky

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post and even longer since I've last been fishing.  Such is what happens during harvest season.  After 2 weeks of straight work I have a little break so expect some fishy related postings soon. 

Until then...

I never got what they meant by "Big Sky State" until I took a trip over to Central Montana.  After the first sunset it hit me, oh yeah, that's what they mean.  In the Western part of the state sure we have mountains, but it is nice to get a break from them once in a while and head east to the prairie.  Here you won't find many tourist traps, luxury resorts, or crazy folks in a hurry to get to a National Park.  No, here all you will find are family farms and truly good people, Salt of the Earth type folks. 

The prairie has it's own beauty albeit a different sort of beauty than the peaks of the Rockies.  Every August I make my annual pilgrimage over here to get refreshed and renewed, and do a little fishing, crowds not included.

Only "Big Sky" pics today.  Enjoy.