After stopping by the shop at 7:30 AM to pick up an unusually bright-eyed and bushy tailed Ty Holloway, Ty,  Lloyd and I headed down Highway 20 to float Box Canyon on the Henry’s Fork. I felt extra lucky to be able to tag along this time. Usually I am the one that gets left behind on these sorts of trips due to my lack of rowing skills…I am plagued with a “nemo fin” that inhibits my “digging” while on the oars.  I grew up fishing the area around West Yellowstone but surprisingly enough this was my first fishing experience in Idaho, and I was excited to satisfy the itch I had to scratch this one off my list of things to do this summer.  The morning looked promising: blue skies, warming temps and relatively little amounts of air displacement. We got to the boat ramp, suited up in our Simms G3 waders, rigged up with rubber legs and various dropper nymphs and pushed off quickly, excited to seduce some trout. 

We pulled over at the first bend (approximately 200 yards from the put in) to give Lloyd a rest from his arduous task of rowing so we could all fish. For those of you who are like me and have never fished the Box you will be just as surprised as I was at how much BB tin shot it takes to get to the fish feeding on the bottom of the river. It plunges down pretty deep and is fast, especially in the first section and even if you detect a “bobber down” it is more likely you are hitting the bottom than hooking up with a fish who is most likely even deeper, strategically hiding in a hard to reach crevasse. Ty started the day off well for us by landing a few rainbows feeding on his copper john. 

We continued downstream and it wasn’t long until my BB split shot got me into trouble once again; I caught a log… or so I thought until Ty informed me that it was in fact a fish! It is always a treat when a take you thought was a log turns out to be a fish, instead of the other way around. However, my joy was cut short when I realized it was in fact a “rocky mountain bonefish” instead of the desired species. But! As my Granddad would have told me, a fish is a fish and I should be happy to  catch him.  I guess the large amount of shot is the way to go after all. 

After another little while of no fish the two professionals chose a run that looked promising. We all hooked up with fish and I found out just how hot a 4 inch rainbow  could be down there. 

The last stretch before Last Chance was a lot slower and more shallow than the previous miles but we still managed to pull out a few. Much to the surprise of his walleye bonking North Dakota friends Lloyd has been known as being merciful when it comes to saving the lives of trout. On this last section he caught and landed a 7 inch rainbow that was really excited to see him, so excited in fact that he wanted to stay in the boat. Lloyd, being the welcoming guy that he is decided to let him hang out with us for a while but instead of having him sit in the net, let him flop underneath the front deck of his boat. Well, I think that is the last time that trout will be so friendly. After a moment of panic Lloyd grabbed some hemostats from Ty, pinched the little guy’s tail and in one motion pulled him out and threw him back into the river. As he swam away Lloyd commented that “youngsters are resilient to those sorts of experiences” and we kept floating. 

The day ended in a rush so Ty could get to work on time. It was such a rush in fact that Lloyd’s new 35 pound anchor was left sitting on the step of the trailer and likely still hanging around in Idaho somewhere….oops!

Two days off and sunshine mean one thing in Montana….no, I don’t have to say it, but you already know, don’t you?  Brad let me out of work a couple hours early and with a fully stocked cooler of beer & brats, I slapped the drift boat to the back of the truck and hit the road.  The drive over to Dillon, MT from West Yellowstone takes about two and a half hours and has some darn pretty vistas.  Just outside of Ennis and the first scenic overlook makes me wonder what it must have been like when the first pioneers explored the area…wanderlust, fresh air and everything in between; without the care of being out of cell phone service.  Pulling into Twin Bridges with the obligatory salute to the R.L. Winston Factory, I recalled that I had already rigged up my 9’ 6wt BIIX and 8’6” 5 wt WT the night before and was already to fish…I just needed water.  I got to the campground on the Beaverhead River below Clark Canyon Resevoir and Lloyd was already fishing, having arrived the day before.  Apparently the fish were giving him some “payback” for the sore lips he dished out the night before. 

We still managed to land some nice healthy rainbows on small olive micro mays and PT’s. It would seem as the payback was both figurative and literal as that evening after dinner and a few beers, Lloyd managed to hook his own upper lip with a #2 streamer hook.  I recall the conversation went something like:

Lloyd: “Um, Jed, I need your help for a moment.”

Jed: “Hang on, just a couple more casts.”

It’s moments like these that we remember why we fish barbless.  A heavy downpoor and lightning forced us to an early retirement for the evening.  Up at 5:30 am and we headed back to Dillon for some advice at the local fly shop. We decided to float the Big Hole from Divide to Melrose in hopes of tossing around some salmonflies.   Although a few PMD’s were flying around there were no big bugs and no heads were up.  After an hour or more of throwing dries we eventually caved in to our own stubborness and rigged up some nymphs - we didn’t drive 3 hours to get skunked!  Eventually a decent brown found it’s way into the net.

Soon after we switched over to streamers as the banks were looking too tasty to pass by waiting for bobber go down.  When we figured out that most of the fish seemed to be up in the grass where the water was over the banks, we had a pretty decent bite and several long-distance handshakes.  Lloyd eventually let ME fish and got on the oars for the last half mile.  Gotta love it when you get off the river, finish putting your gear away and only minutes later the monsoon rains come!

After looking at a map numerous times to decide which route to take and impatiently waiting for the ice to melt, we made our trek into Shoshone Lake.  Kaitlyn and I chose to hike down the Delacy Creek Trial, as we figured the flat terrain and short distance would be a good “warm up” hike to start the season.  However, after strapping on my Kelty pack that weighs at least 30 lbs without anything in it, not to mention the horrible side-chaffing fit, I decided that I am not in nearly as good of shape as I had predicted and will be choosing an even easier “warm up” hike next year!  

The hike in went fine considering it felt like I was giving Kaitlyn a piggy back ride the whole way. Though by the time we reached Shoshone my voice was hoarse after yelling “hey bear” at the top of my lungs every two hundred yards.  Luckily no bears were spotted and nothing had to be sprayed……well that’s not entirely true.  Midway through the fishing day I found an old can of bear spray that had washed up on shore and had the bright idea to spray it just to see what it looks like.  After carefully positioning myself upwind of the bright red can, I pulled the trigger.  All would have been fine if the can hadn’t been extremely old and hadn’t decided to spray not only out the nozzle where it should, but also out the top and sides.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt a burn so intense around my eyes and nose in my life, actually I’m positive I haven’t!  That stuff is potent!  After remaining in the fetal position for several minutes moaning in pain with Kaitlyn hovering over me, I rolled over as she dumped our whole water supply into my eyes.  I found out during this process that though she can aim really well with two six guns and a shotgun, when it comes to pouring water out of an Aquafina bottle in attempt to flush an eye, Kaitlyn’s aim leaves a lot to be desired!  I think I got more water on my head and down my shirt than I ever did in my eye, but at least she was trying right???  

Let me back up to the actual fishing before the bear spray incident and tell you about the skinniest albeit longest brown I’ve ever caught.  On the north shore of Shoshone, right by the mouth of Delacy Creek, I seduced a 24 inch brown with a weight of approximately 1/2 lb into eating a red eyed black bugger.  Anytime you set the hook hard and a 24 inch brown flies over your head and lands on the bank behind you, you immediately assume it’s not a chunk!  Seriously though, this thing looked more like a northern pike than a trout, but I still managed to let out a few whoops and hollers as I skidded the snake onto shore with my eight weight z-axis.  (Definately a bit overkill for a fish that looked like it hadn’t eaten much since it was a fry)

We also each caught a handful of lake trout between 16 and 20 inches, which Kaitlyn so lovingly dubbed “the true invasive species”.  All the lake trout ate tan sculpin patterns stripped slowly along the bottom with an intermediate sink line between 6 and 15 feet deep.  They fight even worse than walleyes do, which is a little personal slam to all my walleye fanatic buddies back in North Dakota, but seriously.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s always fun to set the hook on a fish, but when you set the hook and then have to guess whether or not you have weeds on the end of your line or a fish, your best guess is that a lake trout just engulfed your fly.  

Ha ha I know this is starting to sound like a questionably enjoyable day, but we actually had an absolute blast and is something I know both of us will gladly do again!  The hike is relatively easy and absolutely gorgeous, you have a great chance at catching a lake trout on a fly, which is something neither of us had ever done, and you get to enjoy a day fishing in the outdoors…..which is something everyone should do at least 120 days a year

We concentrated mainly on the slack water behind big rocks as they seemed to consistently produce the most grabs.  As we floated by the Palisades take out, it was nice to see the new improvements they continue to make on Madison River’s access points.  The river by this point was fairly cloudy from bank to bank, but still had decent visibility on the starboard side bank.  You know those moments in fishing when things just turn on all of a sudden?  About half a mile after Palisades it did, and we got a lot of nice grabs back to back to back for a good mile.  Black & olive streamers, black & red ones, all black….hmm, I see a pattern here.  It got pretty windy, which is no surprise for the Madison valley, but you always feel warmer when you’re catching fish.  All in all it was an enjoyable day, and as we pulled out at Ruby Creek campground Chris and I remarked to Lloyd that he might want to replace his Playskool canoe paddle as a backup oar, well…you had to be there.

Peace out, brook trouts

By Mike Loebl

Many trout anglers are unconcerned with improving their casting. “Why do I need to cast very far, most of the trout are 30 feet away,” is the line one hears all of the time.  Most trout are indeed very close to the anglers who pursue them. However the need for good casting to properly present a fly is not diminished by a trout lying close to one’s feet.  Sound casting fundamentals apply to all casts, both long and short.  Furthermore, solid casting fundamentals enable longer casts to be made with ease.  No new or special skills are required to increase a caster’s maximum distance from fifty to eighty feet, distance is achieved by doing casting basics better.  The keys to producing distance are the same keys that enable accurate casts and control of the fly line.  These are necessary whether you are casting to a trout ten feet away or a tarpon swimming by at seventy feet.

No one has ever become a better caster without time spent practicing.  If you want to improve, you need to practice your skills.

Most fly casters have trouble with simple casting fundamentals.  These include:

1. Removing slack before making the pick up
2. Starting the cast with the rod pointed right down the fly line, directly at the fly.
3. Accelerating to a stop on the back cast.
4. Pausing to allow the line to straighten out on the back cast, or proper timing of each cast.
5. Smoothly accelerating the forward cast
6. Making the back cast and forward cast on the same plane, 180 degrees from each other.
7. Making both the back and forward casts with straight rod tip paths.
8. Stopping the fly rod on the forward cast to allow a tight loop to form.
9. Proper casting plane for the distance to be cast.
10. Increase the length of the casting stroke for the length of line being cast.

Along with these skills, the only thing necessary to make long casts, is an effective double haul.  Hauling without sound casting skills double hauling has little consequence.  Master the basics, then learn to incorporate the haul into the cast.  We’ll focus more on double hauling down the road.  For now focus on tightening up casting fundamentals.

In upcoming blog posts we’ll look at improving accuracy, perfecting the double haul, learning slack line casts, adjusting the rod angle for fishing situations and how to effectively practice.  I hope a few anglers improve their proficiency with a fly rod along the way.

With the cool weather we’ve had this May and the early coming of the third Saturday in May, the Montana Trout Opener snuck up a bit on all of us.  Regardless that it felt too early in the season, the truck was packed up last night for a foray to the Madison before work on the 15th, Opening Day.  Some years Opening Day has a night before Xmas feel, but today’s Opener just seemed like another day of fishing, especially after getting a late start and then seeing mostly full parking lots at Raynold’s Pass Bridge.  After a winter and spring of very uncrowded fishing, the opener brings anglers out from just about everywhere.  But the fishing is always very good and the Madison has plenty of great water to spread everyone out, so the few extra folks are of little consequence.  

Driving downriver, I found some water that wasn’t getting fished and got wadered up.  The weather was perfect and Domino, my German Wirehair, was impatiently ready to fish.  The river is a touch low and is yet to be tinged with run off.  Conditions are just about perfect.  The Madison’s rainbows rewarded me for my past experiences, readily eating the flies they often do during the early season.  Good drifts in most of the deeper riffles were pounced on by fish.  Rock slicks predictably didn’t put out many fish.  As the river gets more discolored, they will hold greater numbers of trout.  Only one fish was dark from spawning, most were bright and fat for their length which was certainly a good sign that the fish did well this winter.  Domino was excited for each fish, even the sole Mountain Whitefish that came to hand.  After just shy of two hours of fishing, I had caught a satisfying amount of fish, Domino was in need of warming up and we called it a morning.  I left the Madison excited for the day we had shared and for the season to come.

First things first, a successful angler must be much more quiet and stealthy when approaching a run, pool or pocket.  Fish are almost always far more vigilant when the rivers are low, especially in clear water.  If you can hear rocks rolling or your feet thudding, you can be sure the fish already know you are there.  Pay attention to your shadow as well and certainly keep it off the water that you are trying to fish.

River levels dictate where fish are likely to hold  in a pool or run.  Often a pool has a large area of water with suitable current speed for fish to be feeding.  In normal flows they would be spread throughout the pool, but in low water trout feel too exposed in most of the available lies.  In high water the same pool may have little water that is the right current speed for fish to hold in, offering only a small seam close to the river bank of productive water. When a river is low fish are most often in two types of water.  These are the deepest parts of  runs and  the heads of pools where a riffle and a drop off combine to form good cover.  Spend a lot of time looking for deeper pockets and riffled water that offers some overhead protection and you’ll find fish.  Many fish, especially brown trout, will remain hidden in shadowed shallow water close to the banks.  These spots however are very difficult to effectively fish with nymphs and are better left to streamers and dry flies.

Pattern selection needs to change when the water is low.  While large Stonefly nymphs and San Juan Worms will always be a part of our pre runoff and run off fishing arsenal, there are times when these patterns simply aren’t productive.  When the water is low ,#14-20 Pheasant Tails and Hare’s Ears can be very effective.  Baetis nymph patterns in #16-20, Caddis larva in #14-16, and Midge Larva down to #22 can be life savers when the fishing is tough.  While we often downsize the flies, 4x tippet remains about as light as necessary to fool fish.

Under low water conditions, trout are more easily bothered by sloppy casting and presentation.  Nothing is more frustrating than making a careful approach to a pool or run only to see trout spooking with the first cast.  There are a few common mistakes anglers make that are easy to remedy.  The first of these is making a cast and pick up without letting the flies drift below the fish.  When the line is recast and the indicators are picked up off the water directly above the fish, be certain the trout take notice.  If you make a poor cast, just fish it out and then recast.  Also try to angle the casts so the fish don’t see the fly line and indicators floating directly over them.  This can mean a lot more fish hooked over the course of a day’s fishing

The second mistake many anglers make is fishing too much weight.  While it is necessary to get the flies down, most undisturbed fish will move up in the water column to feed.  Over weighted rigs touch bottom too often, which interrupts the flies natural drift and leads to too many hooksets over the fish.  Fish as little weight as you need to use to get down and you will catch more fish. Utilize tuck and curve casts to help sink the flies on a slack line rather than adding more shot.

A third thing many anglers do that spooks trout is a super aggressive hook set that rips the indicators from the water.  This is a fine line to walk, as a quick hookset is a must for landing soft biting trout, but a super hard set can spook the other fish in a pool. By utilizing a short downstream jab of the rod that pulls the indicators a foot or two down river, an angler can quickly tighten on a fish without disturbing the water’s surface too greatly. In fast, rough water, this is seldom a consideration and anglers can revert back to Bassmaster tactics, provided the tippet will hold.  The important thing is to be quick but quiet in the set.

Fishing nymphs is usually the most effective way to fish in this area prior to our summer dry fly season.  With a below average snowpack, we can expect to lower water than we’ve become accustomed to the last few year.  Hone up the nymphing skills and your catching won’t miss a beat this season.

As the masses of visiting and local anglers are in full swing on our local “famed” waterways, it becomes time for some to get out of the “Madison / Park waters” box and head to the hills.  The backcountry allows us to explore and soak up the mountain sun on the endless still waters that encompass the Yellowstone ecosystem.  Not only can these wanderings offer peace of mind and solitude, but also increased wildlife and scenery opportunities.  These mysterious regions can be mentally and physically satisfying as well.

So I’ve been heading to the hills for my piece of backcountry bliss. Recently this has included a destination that holds tradition in my fiancé’s family and for me, my final gauntlet to be accepted into the Houston Clan.  My curiosity stirred of what this epic trip entailed.  So the future in-laws and I headed into the Madison back country to a locally known, but elusive lake (location and name undisclosed).  Hey, you got to keep some of these places a secret!  Besides, half the fun is discovering these aquatic gems for yourself.  Our off-the-beaten path excursion began with a deceiving multi-mile hike on an easy going trail, only to abruptly turn into a half hour bushwhack straight up the shoulder of a ridge.  Eventually we spilled into a hanging boulder field.  Again the allure of the lake turned into deception as the table-sized strewn boulders quickly changed into Bozeman-sized bungalows.

After crossing the initial boulder field and climbing a moderately steep slope we were greeted with another quite larger field!  Another half hour of balancing, hopping, and climbing we charged up another steep, short slope into the tree line.  Then finally, after one more short steep pitch, we were treated with the peace and tranquility of the lush deserted basin, excluding the excitement of my chocolate lab Icculus.

As we took in the scenery we strung up and spotted a few mosaic rises across the relatively small alpine lake.  Being immediately mauled by mosquitos, we tied on the smallest dries in our boxes and spread out along the shoreline.  After close inspection we discovered most of the rises within casting distance were finger-sized cutthroat.  So, I began to cover the perimeter of the lake searching for larger cruisers with nymphs.  As I approached a rock slide, I spotted a 8-10” fish, only to sight cast to him and have him nonchalantly refuse my presentation.  After repeated attempts and various bugs with no success it was time for a traditional toasted pb&j over an open flame for lunch.  During discussions of previous trips to this sacred place, it was hinted that hoppers have been an irresistible treat for these subsurface dwellers during previous trips. Now being refueled and having a new sense of confidence, I began my scout around the lake once more.

Upon coming to the same vicinity where I spotted the slightly larger fish there were now a few more up to 12-13”.  After tying on a size 10 para hopper I sight casted to the cruising cutt.  My cast proved to be a little off target, but this large edible delight had turned the fish as it slowly rised to my bug. I waited in anticipation. As it rose near the surface towards my fly its mouth instinctively opened and without hesitation sucked in the bug!  I set the hook in gleeful amazement as it fought like a wild fish that had never been hooked.  After a brief struggle, a vivd Yellowstone cutthroat was brought to hand.  This tactic proved to be effective for another couple fish.  The last fish of the day was a healthy 13”.

With beaming grins we reluctantly broke down our rods and began the mental and physical preparation of our descent. After 2 hours of down climbing, bushwhacking, and various scenic photo breaks our weary legs had arrived at the trailhead.  After a quick dip in Quake Lake, our incredible journey had come to a close, leaving us hovering over quadrangle maps anticipating our next adventure!