Memorial Day Weekend Glee

Memorial Day weekend is usually the time we spend honoring the men and women who have served our great country, won and kept our freedoms. Many great men and women have lost their lives fighting for this freedom and we salute them. Many you you like me, have fathers and relatives who 

are Veteran's who fought and we salute them and love them.

 Usually by now the rivers and stream are getting their yearly flush and cleaning at high flows, after having been in Montand for a few months one becomes spoiled, fishing on a tailwater day after day, and not having to worry about dirty or rising water conditions to thwart the fishing. Anyways, I expected to have the river running high and muddy, and now opportunity to fish. 5 days of relatively steady flows had the river looking in get shape on the edges with great visibility.

Although sunny, I could not resist rigging a streamer rod to throw something larger to see what what would chase. Most of the chases were on the white skittish smelt, along the rockier areas.

Figuring the warm weather might have something looking up, I  tried a variety of larger attractors,

but no takers. Guess they too a a picnic on the mind.

Good Times

Filtering through hundreds of photos, I came across why the Middle Fork of the Salmon is such a stunning river. The unbelievably clear water that flows the length of the river is mind-blowing. What seem inches deep is 4ft deep, the river is packed with 6-9" beautifully marked cutthroat trout will to eat any well presented dry fly. The camping, with or without a hot springs is other worldly.

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Prime-rib cooked riverside s one of the specialties, followed by scotch by the fire and watching the stars is just the great topping to the day.

Solitude

Solitude - where does your fishing take you today, do you have the stretch of river to yourself, the section of lake, the stretch of river. Well get out there before the on slot of the weekend crowd .

Cabin Bugs- by Daily Rise Productions

Getting pretty close to salmon fly time, always like the the big bugs, fishing them, and seeing the 

the fish gorge on them. Pour a cup of java and enjoy this fun little video short from Daily Rise Productions.

Stunning

Kicking it around with fellow fisherman and photographers, it is always great to see amazing work by a good friend. Gerry, who has an amazing eye for capturing amazing wildlife and rapture shots, delivers again. Capturing this osprey during the hunt for a Lamar River cutthroat before heading back to the nest to feed the little ones.

Photo's courtesy of Dr. Gerry Bauer

I Call Tails

I call tails, that means you row for three more fish, that's the rules of the game this morning.

Luckily, because we just started, I really didn't want to switch out already.

A Little Bit of High Dirty Water................... Then

As the the major river systems get busy with snow runoff, we have to endure a little time away or 

visit other waters in search of our finned friends. But once that nasty, chocolate milk water subsides ,

get ready for the the best three weeks of fishing you can have. Fish are pinned to the banks, eating streamers, nymphs and big ass foam flies like crazy. 

Until then, get out and visit the small creeks, still waters and tailgaters. 

stunning rainbow

Not many to the net today, but the one of the few that was lined

had some of the most beautiful colors and spot formations one one could

imagine. Notice the pink tinge around the mouth, stunning.

This is why we fish.

Time Ticking away Fast

What a wonderful wife I have, as I have taken a break from the usual Colorado watersheds and spring hatches to work and fish the past 7 weeks from Montana and the Missouri River. I have always wanted to fish the spring midge, baetis, caddis and throw in streamers when weather conditions prevail. While it was not all fishing, it made the commute to the river much shorter each weekend, and a chance to learn the river even better. As the water rises on all the rivers of the west, so does the Missouri, although a tailwater, there releases make room for impending runoff. Hampers the dryly action, the nymphing is always pretty special.

24 gauge pump

I was happy to have my personal guide, wife and best fishing buddy fly in and fish with me this weekend, and she brought me great luck as the big browns we seek were out feeding or following our boat down the river. Sunday was a rain filled, overcast day,  made for hunting fellas like this. 

Three like this where brought to the boat and several other larger ones were on or missed. 

The "lucky lid" was the key ingredient.  

Quality People

A little catch and let go by my buddy Eric. I have had the good fortune to spend some

quality time learning the trenches and lines of the river, over the past two months. Eric Mondragon rustled up his roots 14 years ago, now calls Cascade and the Missouri River home. Looking for a straight up quality quite, get ahold of Eric. 

Streamer Eat

Some said the water was too high, some said it was too sunny, some said you should just be "nymphing", but persistence pays off. This little butterball could not resist a properly presented

Hickman's Skiddish Smolt. this fly has been a terror on the browns. Get some , fish some, release some......

Time Well Spent

Montana weather continues to be very erratic, as well as the fishing but for the second weekend in a row, the large fish have decided they wanted to come out and play with Floatfisher. Had the great fortune of having my best bud Jim show up to fisher a long weekend. He was not disappointed, although the wind did blow, the rain and snow did show, but fish fish were eating sow bugs, scud, beatis and chasing streamers.

Getting out early was the key because they were done feeding and off by early afternoon, but great times were had. Just a few more weeks of big sky country to enjoy.