Good results for a cold morning

After we three walked to the river and the guys found their spots, I backtracked to the corner and watched downstream with hopes to see a rising fish. Maybe two if I was lucky. Tom had fish around him, but it was very difficult to see with all the white foam and the morning glare. He could see the water rings, but not his fly. I told him to change from a sallie to a PMD since that was what I saw floating by.

Rick went upstream and hooked a couple I found out later. He got cold and soon went to watch and help Tom. Tom got his sleeves wet when he had to reach for his dropped glasses, and then he got cold. They both wanted to quit when it started to sprinkle.

I had quickly spotted a riser when we arrived and after a few casts I hooked and landed it, a nice brownie with vibrant spots and a touch of blue on the gill plate. I had to change flies a couple times, but the old standby sparkle dun #18 did the trick. It might have been cold, but this warmed me up.

Cool & drizzly wet

We're having a little bit of a cool spell with temps dropping down into the low 30's at night and the highs barely getting up to 60 during the day. This is the NOAA Hazardous Weather Warning just posted =

WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MONTANA TONIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY. AS COLDER AIR ARRIVES...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR SNOW OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...MAINLY ABOVE 7500 FEET SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. HIGH TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY WILL BE AROUND 20 DEGREES BELOW AVERAGE.

We all know how wrong the weather forecasts can be. I think I'll wait until tomorrow to tell Rick or he might start packing up to head south. Way too soon to leave. The fishing is just getting started, even if we do have to put on long underwear under our waders and break out the winter jackets. What's a little snow as long as it doesn't stick around too long.

I did joke with the guys this morning that if it rained it would be snow. Oh well, lets go fishing!

Underwater video of 5 pounder

As Logan and I released the nice 5 pound rainbow, it stayed right between his boots and I was able to get a couple photos and a short video.

(click on the play arrow if you want to see the video)

It was good fishing with you Logan and we hope you are doing well.

first time I've weighed a trout

I think this might be the first time I've weighed a trout. We sometimes will measure the length and on rare occasion we've measured the girth, but we don't bring a weight scale to the river. Our friend Logan has a fancy net with a scale built into the handle and when I landed this one he said "Good-on-ya! Let's give it a go." It weighed in at just 5 pounds and took a tiny size 20 nymph.

More and more people are asking about the weight of a fish as opposed to how long it was. We might have to get one of those nets from Australia, but it was a little pricey. Years ago it used to be that landing a 20" fish on a #20 fly was a big accomplishment. It still is.

Now I'm eating fish bugs!

I took an unplanned swim a month ago and saw what the fish see.
Today I ate what the fish eat.

Not the first time a fisherperson has eaten a bug, but this was not my intention. I've read about fishermen who've eaten large golden stoneflies, the big juicy ones, for fun, and probably after having a couple cold beers. This morning I was just walking along the river minding my own business, obviously talking, mouth open and a mayfly flew in and I swallowed it. It sort of stuck on my throat and made me cough and I didn't taste it, so don't ask. I don't think it was the medium size sallie stonefly either, thank goodness.

The mayflies are such a small, delicate fly. At times there are so many of them in the air, like clouds. So light and delicate, dare I say pretty?  It makes me wonder why the fish are not overly excited to eat them this summer. I did.

Where did the dry flies go this summer?

And where did summer go? It's already approaching the end of August and this summer was very different than past summers in Montana. Almost unrecognizable. The weather has been warm and sunny, but just recently. The river has been high and cold, it seems all summer. The PMD's have been few and far between. The dry flies have been almost non-existent. But anyone who knows me knows that I like a challenge.

On my fingers is an example of a real bug and a fly tied to imitate it. I've taken more of an interest in the bugs this year because the usual hatches  have not happened as we expected them to.

For the past few weeks, the few rising fish have been on the far side of the cold, high river, causing me to wade out farther than I should. The guides in the drift boats float past me and ask "Are there fish rising over there?" I'm obviously throwing dry flies yet still they ask. Sometimes I say "no, just practicing for when they do start rising." Not having the masses of dry flies has caused us to resort to nymphs when nothing else is happening on the surface, but that's been OK. The few days we've had clouds roll in the mayflies and sallies hatch and the fish rise to the top, sometimes just for 20 minutes or so.

While I might be chucking nymphs, I'm looking for ripples or noses, any indication that a trout is near the surface. Still hoping to have some serious dry fly action.

Mending works!

Ok! Enough about mending! But I had to show what a little practice will do for improving your game.

Mending 101 course given by Mike Bias

How fortunate am I to have a friend like Mike Bias? I've been lucky to float with him and his daughter twice this summer and I've thoroughly enjoyed it each time. I love to see Mike on the river with his clients because I can imagine how much fun they must be having. And I love that his daughter likes to fish also. Today she even took the oars for a short distance and did a great job putting us on fish!

Mike wears many different hats - and what a hat it is! Really, he is the Executive Director of the Big Hole River Foundation, a biologist and hard working fishing guide. If you ever need a knowledgeable guide to help you catch fish, give Mike a call or send him an email. He provides helpful advice on fly casting and setting the hook = thus his website http://setsetset.com/

Rick and I have known Mike for years, since our days in Last Chance, Idaho where Mike was head guide for Hyde's Last Chance Outfitters. I remember we floated with him years ago at the Chester Backwater and he tried and tried to teach me how to mend. Mend, mend. Mend the line. He was so persistent and so patient at the same time. I've tried over the years to be a good mender so my fly drifts naturally and yet it still is a skill to be worked on.

Today I reminded him of that trip and I asked him to help me. He watched and gave me some exact pointers that should help me with floating my nymphs. I need to point my rod tip at the indicator and give it a good twitch. I'll be the one practicing my mending - cast, point, twitch. Cast, point, twitch. Cast, point... set set set!

Mending and more mending

Wow! It's been a month since my last blog post! Where has the summer gone and what have we been doing? A couple of you have asked where we've gone to and I'm way over due to write something. Anything.

After my "trip" into the water on July 15 and floating a short distance doing a vigorous backstroke for my life, my arm froze up and forced me to visit a local doctor. I was OK for about 3 days and then Yammo! my arm did not want to be a part of any command my brain tried to send it. It hurt like nothing I'd ever felt and after checking the Internet for a diagnosis, quickly got into a local doctor. (When we've needed to see a doctor while on the road it's always such a good experience! More on that later for those of you with trepidation about traveling and needing medical help.) I saw the doctor the next morning and she thought it was rotator cuff! Oh my! Not what I wanted to hear. Withing minutes I had x-rays that came back normal (yipeee!) and within the hour I was in physical therapy! Unbelievable medical service in such a small town! Love it and wish "they" could be my primary physician care all the time. Oh well, back to the physical therapist who worked her magic on my shoulder that wouldn't move. Pain scale of 1-10 and I kept thinking 20! What a pain it was! I went home to the motorhome and did my homework exercises and when I returned a couple days later I was doing a little better. I completed 2 weeks of physical therapy and I think I'm about 95% back to normal. Oh yeah = thank goodness it was my left shoulder so I could continue to cautiously cast my fly rod. I did my exercises on the river with our long handled fish net and reached and stretched and hopefully the tiny bit of lingering tenderness will go away.

When you cast a fly with a fly rod you want a natural drift so the fish see your presentation as a real bug floating downstream. When you throw your line out there on the river, with all the currents wanting to pull it here and there, you need to "mend" the line upriver so the fly doesn't start water skiing. So while I was mending my shoulder, I was also mending my fly line and catching fish during my healing. What a great way to re-cooperate.

Thanks to those of you who sent emails and messages asking about us during our silence. I'm hoping to get back into the routine of blogging in between fishing and enjoying life.