Flyfishing in Baghdad

In honor of Memorial Day, I'll post a link to an article I wrote for the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in 2007 about the Baghdad School of Fly Fishing (now called the Baghdad Angler's Club and School of Fly Fishing).

Memorial Day in West Yellowstone

Some fellow fishermen pay their dues this morning.

I joined some friends to camp on Hebgen Lake last evening and woke to snow dumping on my camper. Didn't think too much of it - this happens at 6,667 feet. Fished Hebgen for a bit this morning (still not much for midge activity, and only a few risers - I caught nothing), and as the snow piled up, I decided I better get going down the gravel road while I still could. By the time I got to Big Sky (about half way home), I had driven through snow and slush the entire time. Glad I left when I did, because I got home to read this:
"A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 5500 FEET REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT MONDAY NIGHT.
* TIMING AND MAIN IMPACT: SNOW... HEAVY AT TIMES... WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR WILL BE POSSIBLE AT TIMES TONIGHT AND INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: TIME OF DAY AND SNOWFALL RATE WILL PLAY A LARGE ROLE IN SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS IN THIS LATE SEASON STORM. HOWEVER THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR 10 TO 15 INCHES OF NEW SNOW BY MONDAY EVENING FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 5500 FEET."

That said 10 to 15 inches! West Yellowstone had a good start, with about an inch by the time I left. Camping in snow is quickly becoming my Memorial Day traditional.
Runoff is really going to be an event this year. The Madison drainage is currently at 186 percent of average, and this storm might add a lot. And 186 percent is not nearly the highest snowpack for Montana right now. The Jefferson drainage is at 189, Missouri Headwaters is at 201 percent, the Gallatin drainage is at 215, the Sun, Teton and Marias basin is at 255, the Missouri Mainstem is at 290, and the Judith, Musselshell and Smith basin is at 321 percent of average for today. (see link here)
We're already seeing record flows - and not mere records, but flows many times the record over decades of gauging. And currently, we're adding more snowpack than we're melting. Few rivers will be the same after the deluge, and few fish will be skinny. 

Some additional photos of the weekend:

God willing and the creek don't rise

Sometimes ya just gotta go get lost. A buddy and I went to see about corroborating a local fable that speaks of big cutthroat trout in a certain small, remote water.
"They're in there" was the mantra.

The tale says getting there early is key, so we went on the general season opener. With size-2 rabbit-strip cone-head sculpin fakes, we marched in and through the turbid but fishable water. After all, they're in there right?
Within a couple hours, I happened into a slow, deliberate chase and eat of a big cutt; it was quickly thrashing the end of my line. But my dog's zeal sent him splashing off the cutoff bank into the creek - sure enough, this caused a furious reaction and the fish popped off.
For Boges' sake, redemption came my (his) way. I later hooked and landed two that each went about 20 inches from the same little pocket upstream of the first hookup. The dog was in the clear, but the myth of big cutts was obliterated. We had confirmation.

This morning, the creek had gained 50 percent in flow and the radar showed rain. Seems we'd somehow pleased the fishing gods, and they rained cutthroat upon us.

Runoff = ice-off

The stretch of the Madison below Hebgen was clear until Cabin Creek had something to say about it.

The mountain snow is melting. This weekend, we were kind of in that no-man's land where the river's are mostly too high and muddy to fish, but most of our favorite mountain lakes aren't quite de-iced. We went to Hebgen yesterday hoping to drop some Buggers off the ice edge, but there wasn't much open water. Where there was, there were fishermen so we kept driving and ended up at Quake Lake, where we found a little spot of open water with trout.

Both Hebgen and Quake should be fishable this week. They had both started peeling back, and both lost quite a bit as we sat there yesterday.
Today, I took a little drive along the East Gallatin - it's impressive.

Upstream from Hamilton Road.

It's flowing at 1,280 cfs - the previous highest for today was 679 (granted it's only from nine years of record). It's well over its banks in many places and will be interesting to see when it's over. Talked to a gentleman who apparently lives there, and he said he's only ever seen it like this a couple of times. I hope the fish don't get washed away.

Happy Mother's Day caddis

For a few brief hours on Friday, the Mother's Day caddis hatch was on, on the Yellowstone River. It wasn't like it can get, but there were waves of the little brown bug blowing off the river when I arrived at the Old Boulder Road access. The river was a pale green and slightly high, but there was a couple feet of visibility and fish were eating in the foam - the same places they rise year round.
I had brought both my 5 weight and my new 8-weight switch rod, just to play with. For some reason, I decided to leave the 5 weight with the floating line in the truck and swing streamers and emergers with the switcher and sink-tip - a regrettable decision. I hooked a few, but didn't land any. It could've been good, but for my questionable choice.
Anyhow, the river's about doubled since Friday, and I think it's safe to say it'll be awhile. But for a few brief hours in 2011, the Mother's Day caddis hatch was on on the Yellowstone.