Bad, Bad...Leroy Brown!

Two nights ago my buddy Erik and I floated the Lower Madison and had some pretty tough luck. We hooked 3 pretty darn big trout on streamers, and landed zero. It's pretty rare to lose fish once they're hooked on big streamer hooks with heavy tippet, but it happened (3 times), and we weren't too jazzed about it.

With our appettites for big trout whetted, we decided to head back out to the same stretch last night to give it another try. This time our buddy Brian came along, and graciously rowed us the entire stretch.

It was a gorgeous night, about 78 degrees when we put on, no wind, and lots of bugs. Things were ho-hum for the first couple of miles, but we did get to see a Baldy trying to protect it's dinner from swarm of magpies, which was pretty cool.

After an hour or so, our perservence paid off...and we were rewarded with a few nice trout.

Then, as daylight was waning...along came Mr. Brown

After a few terse words about a line tangle that kept him from casting to a spot he was wanting to hit...Erik's line untangled, and he hucked his Olive Buttmonkey right on target.

As fate would have it, this monster brown porpoised out of the water to crush his bug as soon as it hit the water. After a few laps around the boat, and some solid runs, he was in the boat.

It was true team effort, with Erik on the rod, Brian on the sticks, and me on the net. That's really what it's all about when you're fly-fishing from the boat...when everybody does their part and it ends perfectly.

Damn, that was fun.

Nice work, Swibbles!!!!

It's not every day that 18 or so inch football Rainbows look small, but this was one of those days!

Salmonflies on the Upper Madison

Thank goodness those things don't bit or sting, or we wouldn't be able to go outside in June or July!!!

We were able to get a few smaller trout to eat dries on the Upper Madison on Sunday. There was no shortage of bugs up there...salmonflies, caddis, yellow sallies, golden stones. Downright buggy day, but a gorgeous one!

Salmonflies on the way

Yesterday my friend Ryan and I headed out to see if we could find some salmonflies on the Lower Madison. The word was that they were starting to creep up on the banks, so we figured it was worth a shot. Ryan recently had reconstructive surgery on his foot, so he was excited to get out and fish for the first time this spring, and I was excited as well...because that's just generally how I am when it gets nice in Montana.

Nice doesn't even really begin to describe yesterday's weather. Our winter was long, cold, and snowy, the way a Montana winter should be. Our spring has been wet, rainy, and cool, the way a Montana winter should be. I've only been here for about 7 years, but the scenery around here is the most beautiful I've ever seen it. The meadows are lush, green, and full of wildflowers...and the rivers are full, fat, and happy. Full, fat, happy rivers make for some full, fat, and happy trout, and in turn some full, fat, and happy anglers in Southwest Montana.

Basically... it's shaping up to be an amazing summer. The folks that have lived here for many years are saying that this is what it used to be like every year, before the drought started about 8 or so years ago. And as we approach the first official day of summer, we know that salmonflies are on the way. I've chased this hatch pretty much every year I've lived here, mostly unsuccessfully. With a 9-5 job, it can be tough to catch a hatch right on the money, because for some strange reason those big, ugly bugs just won't wait for the weekend to splat into the water to be fodder for hungry browns and rainbows.

Soon after putting in, around 4:00 pm or so (4:00 pm is more my style than 4:00 am...see the previous entry) I was ready to chalk the day up as another swing-and-a-miss on the ole' Lower Maddy, since we didn't see any salmonflies and our standard stonefly nymph/worm combo weren't producing either.

Thankfully, Ryan had other ideas...including tying on a crayfish pattern. He picked up a decent rainbow on it pretty quickly, which was a good sign considering that in my experience the fishing tends to improve as you get further down river.

Some great conversation and a few browns followed...until he hooked into what he thought was a snag. But the snag quickly rolled...and immediately summoned a full-bodied "HOLY SH*T!!!" from myself. It then jumped about 3 feet out of the water, letting us know that it was indeed a brown trout, and a very nice one at that.

Ryan played the fish beautifully, and after what was probably 5 minutes but seemed like 15...we netted this guy...

No disrespect to Ryan, but the guy just doesn't know how to show off a fish. That's a BIG trout in his hands, but you might not know it from his posing style. I needed to teach him how to hold a trout for a picture. You know, the way smug guides do it. So we took one more picture to get a better view of the fish...which we measured to be 21 1/2 inches. I usually do a one-handed fish bragging pose, but since I've never caught a trout that big on a fly-rod, it was a new experience for me...and subsequently my lesson didn't go as well as I had hoped...

No matter how it's photographed, this is what we dream about all winter long in Montana when it's dark at five o'clock and we're flipping through HBO On-Demand. Not just the trout, but the opportunity to enjoy being outside in some of the most amazing surroundings with good people.

Thank you winter, you've given us a great gift this year! And thanks for letting me hold your big brown, Ry...hopefully it will bring me some trout mojo.

Old Man Winter Won't Give Up

We've had a few chances to fly-fish around here in Southwest Montana, but while most of the country is welcoming buds and birds, we're getting dumped on...again. I'm not complaining, I've resolved myself to be appreciative of every drop of moisture this planet gets at this stage of the game. However, it doesn't mean I'm not ready for some warm weather. It will be nice to toss a line without dealing with ice shelfs and insulated jackets. The lower Madison has been fishing pretty well. Here are a couple fish from a float we did last week....and a shot of what it looks like outside this morning.

June Maddy Blooms

Bear Trap Canyon
Madison River, MT - June 8th