Just one fish

For my mentee's 7th and most recent birthday, he acquired the tried and true Zebco 220 rod/reel combo, so we've been fishin'.

When the focus is there, it's strong. When it's gone, it's gone.

But with his 7-year-old attention span, we need to catch fish. Any kind or size of fish. We are currently at about a code red with lack of fishing interest - we haven't caught anything in almost four total hours of fishing. This does not compete with Plants vs Zombies.
We attended the annual Bozeman Kids' Fishing Day at the East Gallatin Recreation Area on Saturday. Despite some serious combat fishing with rambunctious youths whipping their worms a various angles into the pond, it was fun. And folks were catching fish - yellow perch, largemouth bass, and the recently stocked 12-inch rainbow trout. Just not us.

Worm whippin'.

"Another one!" could be heard from time to time down the elbow-to-elbow shore, and our frustration level grew. While it was a good opportunity to teach patience, that you cannot win them all, and that fishing isn't always about catching, it also makes fishing seem like a futile waste of time to a young man who hasn't had the experience of a good fishing day.
So hopefully the fishing gods will bless us with something - anything - soon. Lest we cultivate another kid who would rather sit in front of a glowing rectangle than a river.
I'm sure there's good advice out there - let me know how you keep your kids interesting in fishing. Please.

Runoff Fly Tournament: Round 2

Runoff Fly Tournament: Round 1

I thought I'd make a little "fly tournament" to assist my fellow angler in getting through runoff. I apologize for it's schmaltziness - it's what I could find. Each Monday through June 3 a new round will be up for voting, with the winner being announced June 10. Please help me have a little fun and cast a vote!



In case you're wondering:

Clouser Minnow

Woolly Bugger

Elk Hair Caddis

X-Caddis

Hare's Ear

Prince Nymph

Morrish Hopper

Chernobyl Ant

Pink Scud

Zebra Midge

Humpy

Stimulator

Purple Haze

Brindle 'Chute

Sex Dungeon

Zoo Cougar

Life in Riparia

I snapped out of a recent pense remembering that in nearby Riparia, some fellow creatures are morphing into flyers. This invertebrate maturation gives the trout-smitten a chance to focus on good drifts and hook sets,  for which we are grateful.

These creatures are brachycentrus (if you know what I mean). The adults flutter erratically, simply hoping for a mate so they can send their genes downstream. They live fast, trying to avoid the ubiquitous perils, and it's over as quickly as it began. We humans are left with photos, memories, and the hope that we will someday see their descendants and do it all again, over and over until we ourselves get caught in one of our own perils.

It’s hard to maintain perspective on our wonderful lives day-in and day-out. If only I had some sort of David Foster Wallace speech everyday. And fishing helps.

Asterisk Fisheries

There are certain places where 20-inch trout do not impress. Not many, but they're out there. For some advanced anglers, they're the only thing maintaining their interest in the sport. I, for one, am always looking them.

Most are secret – some more than others. Sometimes you find that a fishery is not as secret as you thought, but no one talks about it so it only seems unknown. You could reveal to an in-the-know angler that you know, only to receive a blank stare and and a shrug. You're pretty sure he/she knows, but he/she doesn't seem to so you shut up. So the cycle goes...

An example. And another. And another.

A big fish from these fisheries always gets an asterisk, in my diary. It's cool, it's fun, but it's not the accomplishment it'd be from standard-biomass water. You have to add that caveat when showing photos if you believe in honesty, which few do. Incidentally, the monster cutthroat and behemoth brown sometimes in my blog header – both asterisk fish.

One more. Two more.

But be careful – such trouteries can ruin a fledging angler. After a day of catching 20-plus-inchers, 12-inch trout from the Gallatin or Bitterroot can be downright lame. Think of playing Chutes and Ladders after you've played Mortal Combat.

And there’s danger in going back, and back, and back... more folks are likely to see you, or find clues as to where you’ve been. It’s best to go once a year, to keep it special, to the let the river breathe, and to keep the fish healthy and catchable.

 Montana is the ideal place for seeking such fisheries, with access to zillions of cubic feet of water...

Who says the fishing ain't what it used to be?

Fishy Tuesday, in aggregate

Lots of fishiness going down as we head into May. The fishing are getting fat to endure runoff - time to take advantage. In other news:

• The Montana Supreme Court heard the Ruby River easement case...
• Successful Smith River trip...
• Comeuppance for the Bear Trap Canyon igniter...
• Simms Ice-Out guide affair went down this past weekend.... and more.... and more...
• For the ladies: Chica-de-Mayo this Thursday at the new River's Edge...
• The Firehole Ranch (congrats on winning Orvis' 2013 Fly-fishing Lodge of the Year award) and Madison rainbows...
• Clark Fork section to reopen....
• Like clock-work: Mother's Day caddis on the Yellowstone...

Adieu et c'est la vie

Starting now and continuing for a few years, the non-native-but-wild cutthroat trout present in an unnamed drainage are going to be euthanized or relocated in an effort to help conserve an even more endangered native fish. Limits are high, and a mandatory-kill law, like the one at Yellowstone Lake, was apparently on the table (though decided against). Non-native trout removal is happening nationwide and it is what it is.

But liberal limits and a fish trap are certain not to guarantee elimination of the big, beautiful fish, which are currently planting and fertilizing eggs. And there are undoubtedly hundreds more - maybe thousands - that are too young to spawn this year, thus making them difficult to capture. Fisheries management is an inexact science and managers admittedly don't really know how to handle this situation in a multiple-use/conservation-minded area keeping as many folks happy as possible. It's an experiment that will be evaluated when it's over.

So we fished. Within 15 minutes, Liz landed three around 20 inches - it probably goes without saying that the level of "sport" was low (we didn't fish over redds or anything, but we might as well have). These fish were absurdly aggressive - in some holes, two casts was an extended dry spell. But this trip was more about having fun while helping conserve a unique fish in an incredible place, than it was about sport-fishing. We have no illusions about our success.

Big smile now...

Fish til you giggle...

Gratuitous

Like a boss

And they tasted great...

At the fishing access site...

Caviar!

If you recognize this fishery, have at 'er and help conserve an endangered fish. Keep in mind, however, that it's small water and a fragile ecosystem that probably wouldn't appreciate throngs of anglers.

We hate to lose this tremendous fishery, but if not for the efforts to rid the big and beautifuls, the creek would be closed this time of year and we'd never have the opportunity in the first place.

Regardless, we indulged for one weekend. It was something most lifelong fly anglers will never experience, and we appreciated every second and every fish. Hopefully this was not a final goodbye.

Copyright Liz Juers

More photos

The sun also angles

As the sun swings us around, its beams hit our rivers with added force. This friction causes the water temperatures to rise, igniting an annual sequence for which certain humans live.

At about 40 degrees of water temperature, the blue-winged olives start flipping to the surface.
At 42.8 degrees, cutthroat trout begin their propagation migration.
At about 46 degrees, skwalas nymphs tumble to the bank, shed their exoskeletons and fly away.
Around 55 degrees, the salmonflies follow suit...

Today, however, 11-degree air temps accompany about three inches of fluff, challenging the intensifying rays. But I have faith, however nihilistic I am, that our great luminary will prevail and we will see the giant stoneflies in due time.

Montana Monday

As always, there's plenty of news from around Montana this Monday morning. Here's a relevant recap:

• Montana Matt and a monster Montana trout. Most of us know where this is, but still...
• Taproom trolley opens in Billings. Trip to Billings scheduled...
• Fishing in the rain around Missoula. Skwala bite is still strong...
• New issue of Montana Fly Fishing Magazine. Greg and Ehren with another issue...
• Orvis' Down the Hatch Festival this Friday. Open to the public, this year.
• The River's Edge in Bozeman opens a new location today. Congratulations Steve and Dan!
• Blackfoot's fishing well. But don't expect to repeat this success...

Also, many trout were landed over the weekend, statewide.

The river ain't big enough

Lone Peak Outfitters posted a photo on Facebook of a nice-sized northern pike caught recently, which they appropriately ate (the fish, not the photo). The fish was tagged, so it was either stocked or shocked by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. Either way, once a pike gets in the hands of a person, I kinda wish that person would find its fillets, regardless of why it's in their hands (when in trout water, that is).
Pike are known to be in the upper Missouri River system, but are apparently the result of a stocked pond that met a river during runoff. In western Montana, the Clark Fork/Bitterroot around Missoula, the Flathead River around Kalispell, and a few other trout rivers and lakes have pike. FWP stocking records show that no pike were stocked in any local rivers/reservoirs ever (that I could find/think of), but they were illegally introduced into Canyon Ferry Lake something like 40 years ago, which is apparently where this fish has descended.
This story isn't quite over - LPO is waiting to hear back from FWP on the tag to learn the exact tale of this fish's adventures. Stay tuned...

Whatever floats your boat

Be happy.
In my reality, there is nothing more important than happiness. And happiness can be a fickle thing, so however you can find it (within reason), go for it with everything you've got.
I recently recalled judging a childhood friend and his family for having a run-down house with buckled siding,  cracked walls and messy rooms, but an excellent Bose sound system and all the TimeLife CD collections you can imagine. I thought their priorities were twisted, and I shook my mushy-brained adolescent head.
But now I have a plain, old, small, stained-carpet dead-grass-yard garage-free townhouse in a blighted neighborhood, nine fly rods and reels, eights pairs of Simms waders, and two rafts.
The second raft hasn't hit the water yet, but with a little luck it will this weekend. A brand-new Outcast PAC 1300 on a brand-new Adams raft trailer (the lights even work!) is sitting in my driveway, yearning for water.

Don't judge me - I am a (happy) fly fisher.

Ink for cutthroats

We stopped by Chuck Stranahan's fly shop in Hamilton, and after a few minutes of chatting, he made a phone call to see if he could line us up with his outfitter, Jed Fitzpatrick of Sula Mountain Fly Fishing. Sho 'nuff, Jed called later that day and we hammered cutthroats all Tuesday.

Fitzpatrick is a nice man and a terrific guide - he had us into fish from put-in to take-out. He helped Liz with her dry-fly cast, gave me a few tips on my own, and had some valuable advice on everything from fighting fish to photography to rod storage and fish release.
And we fished.
We floated a short stretch on the upper-middle mainstem and never touched a nymph. Trout, all but a couple appeared to be (as-close-as-they-can-be-to) pure westslope cutthroats, were all over neumora and March brown dries. We saw a handful of skwalas on the water, but the fish didn't.

Fish of the day.

One thing we learned - the skwalas bring the anglers, but the other bugs bring the fish; neumoras, capnias and March browns. Big, slow cutthroat rises, mostly on Stranahan's Brindle 'Chute.
The "good", fishy day for which I yearned finally reared its frantic grin. It only gets better from here...

Brindle 'Chute.

Don't touch my beer

Montana is known for fly-fishing for trout, mountains, open spaces, and soon, micro-breweries. It's a booming niche that employs many and provides family-friendly establishments to unwind with some of the world's most delectable beer. But the Montana Tavern Association, feeling threatened by the tasting rooms which are already bound by a 48-ounce-per-person-per-day limit and madatory 8-p.m. closing times, has lobbied for LC1429 (not yet a formal bill) (full text). Basically, it would force breweries to obtain the expensive and limited cabaret (beer/wine) or full liquor license to keep their tap-rooms open. Google it - there have been many op-eds in Montana newspapers regarding it lately.

• MTA's fair response

Montana's breweries are hip, unique establishments that spur industrial and tourism economies, and are fun places. I and mine love them and regularly patronize as many as we can.
This comes on the eve of Liz's and my trip to skwala fish and brewerize in the Bitterroot (ground zero for another on-going fight over a Montana specialty), where there are something like 10 marvelous breweries, counting Missoula and satellite outlets. We will be sure to get our time in, as there's a chance their time is limited.

Our new governor appears to be on the side of breweries, as he mailed a nice letter to one of Montana's newest breweries, welcoming them to the 'scape. If a bill gets that far, hopefully he'd quash it. Hopefully, it won't get that far.
So we're going to exercise our rights to patronize good-beer makers and angle within high-water marks, and appreciate what Montana is to me.
Fight!

Pinedale 82941

In Pinedale, Wyo., everybody plays an instrument (or so it seems). Every bar has a band and every band is at least excellent. So happened the band we patronized was the most excellent. We stayed with the front man (and his lady), who happened to be the Sublette Examiner's 2012 People's Choice Musician of the Year which, despite what it might seem, is quite an accomplishment in this hip community. Also in this band was a hilarious, bluesy bass player who apparently played gigs with the knee-high Jackson Five and Don Cornelius (let me stress apparently). The fishy fiddle/mandolin player rocked the strings, and the lead singer and the drummer flew in from New York City for the performance - no jive, it was excellent music for a metropolis of under 1,500 residents. If "6 Foot 2" comes near you, you might consider it.

And we fished. The upper Green, was in fact frozen up at Warren Bridge, but we found some access on a nearby creek where it seemed there was nothing under 15 inches. I had one of those days where I couldn't keep a hook in a fish, but Liz's 'set was solid...

We fished our way home Sunday through a wicked wind and snow shower. The fishy water proved fruitless, save for a handful of photos.

Pinedale is a hip, fishy community where the cure for the blues is to wail on the didgeridoo.