The Last Free River

Some friends in Livingston are making a beautiful film about a special place: the Yellowstone River. 

From their website: "Government agencies were scheduled to begin construction of a $60,000,000 dollar dam on the Yellowstone River, the last major free flowing river in the lower 48 United States. The funds for the dam were originally meant to help an endangered species, the Pallid sturgeon. However, leading scientists believe that the dam may cause the extinction of this ancient species who has lived on earth since the time of the dinosaurs.
"Hearing of the proposal, a seasoned river runner set out to learn more about the project and float down the entire free flowing Yellowstone River for the last time. It is almost too late but with your help we still have a chance to save the Yellowstone and an endangered species."

Below are some clips: 





Visit http://www.thelastfreeriver.com/ to support this great project!

Indecision Montana

“Killed on salmon dries lyons to pal yesterday,” said the text message that beeped at 11:49 on Wednesday morning, kicking off another round of agonizing decisions about where to fish this weekend. Make no mistake - this is serious soul searching. Anglers must look deep within themselves to sort out simple desires from absolute biological necessities.You could leave wondering if it might've been better elsewhere, and that can haunt you (for a week or so). Join me on last week's decisions...

One buddy wanted to float the Jefferson, but instead decided to scout a potential gem around Missoula. It's his boat, so the Jeff is out, and would be tough anyhow (not that that's ever stopped anyone before).

Raynolds and $3 on the upper Madison are out as I don't like to fish the same place consecutively even though I received glowing reports from buddies: Ben at the Chronicle; Will with Montana Sporting Journal.

The Gallatin is coming back into shape, but still not great. And tough wading.

The Missouri is always an option, but will be busy, and apparently hasn't been great lately.

The Big Hole is there, but is still pretty huge, so it's tough without a boat.

The Blackfoot sounds good to me – back in shape, big, green, fishing well. Salmonflies are late here as everywhere else, so there's definitely a shot.

The full spectrum of drakes are on the Bitterroot.

The Yellowstone is still blown out - that helps.

A certain Smith River tributary was mentioned, as was a certain Big Hole trib, a certain Blackfoot trib, and few certain other tributaries. But all require a long drive and a hike - not sure that'll work this weekend.

And I still haven't set foot in the park yet this year.

Woe is me. How does one winnow out the best from the rest? Fly fishing isn't supposed to impose these burdens.

I ended up at a couple townie streams on Friday, the Beaverhead on Saturday, and the East Gallatin on Sunday. I didn't shower all weekend so I smell like whitefish turd (but I saved on sunscreen).

Too many people in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood...

There are now only 10 weeks left of summer and thousands of miles of water to be fished. So it begins again...

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.

Macro what? Wha-cro lens?

I promised my dog I'd spend some time with him today, but I also thought I'd try to sneak in some fishing, so I headed over to the Yellowstone across from Mayor's Landing. Alas it was quite windy (I'm sure it was more than the 26 mph winds that weather.com said), so I decided to hike along the river instead of fish.



Along the way, I stopped to check for bugs and got some photos with my Canon point-and-shoot. I used the "super macro" and am impressed with the results. You can virtually put the end of the lens on the subject and it still focuses, and it was way easier than my slr macro lens to hold steady. It makes me wonder if I shouldn't put the lens on the open market and get some cash for it.
Incidentally, the baetis are looking semi-cooked - they didn't look quite ready to pop.
From top to bottom: Midge larva, baetis nymphs, cased caddis.