Category: Fishing Reports

Changes they are a-coming … but not quite yet …

Although the calendar says the temperatures should be dropping any day now and the fall streamer action should get into full gear, Indian Summer still has a stronghold on the Madison Valley, and the dry-flies are still working.

The hopper season on the Madison has been nothing short of wonderful this year. We are at the tail-end of hopper season, with a lot of “lookers” coming up for the patterns then turning away, but some good fish are still taking the offerings, and taking them with gusto! Small dries floated in tandem with the hoppers, especially ants and attractors like Trudes, are also scoring fish. The best tandem, though, has been the hopper-dropper combo, with size 18 mayfly nymphs and caddis emergers getting most of the action.

And while the cooler weather hasn’t officially heralded the streamer season yet, some quality fish are being caught on streamers on these beautiful, pleasant days. Fishing for the last two weeks has been good…not always the biggest fish every day but lots of action, nonetheless.

The latest multi-boat group floating through the shop, Jan and Ken’s Wild Adventures, caught the majority of their quality fish on streamers, and reports of good catches on streamers have increased lately. After some weather extremes during their previous trips this season, including hail storms, Jan and Ken’s Wild Adventures group finally got beautiful, settled weather last week! Noon starts and warmer afternoons made for some fun hopper-dropper fishing. Small tan- or red-bodied hoppers (Fat Albert, Parachute Hopper, Morish’s Hopper, Delektable Slammers, etc…) to a sz.14 or 16 Prince, or a sz.18 Olive Hairs Ear or Delektable Lil’ Spanker, kept rods bent and smiles on faces. If the dropper stopped working we would take it off and fish a single hopper if they were eating it, or tie on a piece of 5x and fish a small ant, Wulff or Trude. On the hot days the fish didn’t always seem to want to chase the streamer, so it worked best to stay on the surface most of the time. When the dry bite wasn’t on, usually between 6 and 7 p.m., we did hook a few nice fish on the size 14 Epoxy Back Olive Hare’s Ear or a small Serendipity. It’s always nice to fish with this group, and we can’t wait to see them again next year. They were lots of fun. Thanks Guys!

Recently, cooler mornings have lent to streamer fishing, and although most of the fish being caught in the morning have been on the bead-head nymphs trailed behind, the streamer seems to be inducing most of the chases. The Natural Zonker, Sheila’s Sculpin, JR’s CH Streamer in Olive/White and Olive/Gold, The White or Badger Delektable™ Screamer and the Olive or Tan McCune’s Sculpin have been the streamers of choice. Trailers have included the sz.14 and 16 Prince Nymph abd the Red Holographic Prince, along with smaller nymphs, like the Tungsten Bead and Soft Hackle Pheasant Tails, Delektable Lil’ Spankers, Olive Hare’s Ears, Shop Vacs, Micro Mayflies and the Chocolate WD-40, all in 18s and 20s. No. 1 split-shot has worked with the streamer/nymph or big nymph/small nymph combos, and a BB split-shot goes on when fishing with two small nymphs. An alternative to split shot with the streamers is to try one of Dan’s Beartooth Sinking Lead Core Leaders.

We’ve enjoyed fishing with many great groups of anglers this summer, and the Williams group was no exception. They enjoyed their day of catching and teasing trout on one of the most beautiful trout rivers in the world.

The hopper bite proved to be tricky at times, with fish slapping at the fly instead of biting it, but enough fish commited to the bite to help make the day successful. The day started with nymphs, but transitioned to hopper-dropper and hoper-small dry combos once the day got warmer. Generally, we used 4X to the hopper and 5X to the trailer; however, if there was an unusual amount of slaps or refusals on the dry, 5X went to the hopper and the trailer. The hopper patterns included Morrish’s Hopper, Red Fat Albert, "Tony the Tiger" and the Flesh-Bellied Triple Deckers. The sz.8 Royal Trude also produced when nothing else seemed to work.

Fishing has been good, but you have to work harder. Flies and water that produced one day don’t always produce the next. If fish aren’t eating; keep changing flies. If fish still aren’t eating try nymphs next to the rocks, then try fishing the deeper runs 10 feet off the bank. If they were only eating the small dry behind the hopper one day and not the next, try tying a smaller bead-head nymph under the hopper.

Bottom line — be willing to change and try different things. Hoppers, nymphs and streamers; they are all catching fish right now. So load up your fly boxes with a good variety, and by all means … Go fishing!

We have been blessed with an incredible variety of fun fisherman and fisherwoman this month. Everyone had a great time learning different techniques, catching and sometimes being teased by the wiley trout, and enjoying Beartooth Bread, along with Trout, Bikini and Monster Cookies. Thanks to our bakers extraordinaire, Elle and Vicki!

Charles P

Marty the Montajun

Nancy

Dan

My big float trip on the Great Madison River in Montana with top guides Dan and Marty from Beartooth Flyshop on the Madison showing me the way, Dan’s 86 year old father named "Grandpa" John and author of this report.

We floated from Ruby Creek to Varney Bridge. Dan and Marty fished hoppers and dry flies with good success. Grandpa fished with his favorite shop recommendation, beadhead nymphs, with great success hooking and catching Rainbows, Browns, and Whitefish and also missing some really big fish. All in all it was a really great float hooking and catching all day. Thanks boys!

Grandpa

August 30, 2009

This was our long awaited big day off with my girlfriend, Jeanne Williams who owns Rainbow Valley Lodge and our satellite fly shop called Odell Creek Fly Shop (Jeanne and I affectionately call it that), with our guide du jour, Dave Hall. The weather was great and the bite was on most of the day. Someone had a favorite fly they were a bit too stubborn to change but that fly did catch some nice trout most of the day. Heh, heh, heh! That’s a hint. We had a blast. Thanks Dave.

Saturday August 29, 2009

No Catch n release! Our incredible shop girl, Jennifer Durham, was officially caught n kept by Tryston Reints of Jeffers, MT. He is one lucky fisherman, Jenny is beautiful, sweet, kind, considerate, and full of love n life. She fishes, hunts, is a taxidermist, a champion model builder, and has been a tireless hardworking employee for Beartooth. We want to wish the warmest congratulations to Tryston and Jenn Reints in their life together.

.

’Tis the season … for extremes …

Overall, fishing has been really good lately, punctuated by some of the friendliest, most pleasurable clients a guide could ask for. But mixed in with those days of constant calls of “Fish on!,” there have been perplexing days when, despite great conditions, the bites were not nearly as consistent.

Such was the case this past week. Dan and I guided a group on the Big Hole River, with stellar results. That was followed the next day with me and Charlie on the Madison, enjoying some absolutely phenomenal fishing with our clients. The guys were whooping, hollering and laughing when we reached the take-out – what a day! … The next morning, Charlie and I couldn’t wait to get back on the Madison, with the memory of the previous day’s fishing on our minds, and a clear, warm sky beckoning to us; we were chomping at the bit to get on the water! … But it was one of “those” days … The guys caught fish, and had a great time, but the bite was slower, much slower, than the day before. The only difference in conditions was a mild north breeze that produced a very moderate drop in air temperature, but noticeably, there was nearly a complete lack of hopper sounds on the banks. The day before, we were serenaded by a resounding chorus of “clicking” from the tasty morsels flying around all day … Such is fishing … And as the true nature of fishing, a handful of quality fish, and a day on the water in pleasant company on one of the most beautiful rivers in the world was nothing short of a wonderful day filled with great memories.

Hoppers and ants have been the flies of choice. The Morrish Hopper, along with the Delektable Twisted X in tan/brown and olive/gold, produced most of my better fish. The Delektable Cinnamon Ant, along with a variety of small Trude patterns, were also providing quality and quantity.  

Marty the Montajun 

Fishing has been a bit sporadic … some days are really good, some days are more challenging. There have been a bunch of twinks, with better fish mixed in, tight to the banks and in the non-descript middle. Less action has come from the rock slicks lately, at least not ones that are eating hoppers and ants.

The Half Down Hopper has still been one of my “go to” patterns, as well as the Yeager’s 409 in red and the Neversink Trude. The # 10 Royal Trude has been producing nice fish in the morning and the Royal Wulff has been a good “go to” when fishing a single-fly rig. Tight-lining a Natural Zonker to a #14 Prince Nymph has produced some consistent action, although the bigger fish have not been taking it. A hopper pattern that has been somewhat consistent is Morrish’s Hopper, which I’ve been running in tandem with the Half Down Hopper or an ant pattern with good success.

The flows are back down below 1,000 cfs, so long, downstream drifts are a big help to fool wary, late-summer trout. The low flow has also made 4x the standard tippet with the dries, and I have been seeing a lot of spools labeled with a 5 on ‘em; I hate to drop that low but when the situation dictates …

Whether they want to look up or not, it’s finally sunny and warm, so GO Fishing!!

Charles P.

The Jan and Ken group was back in town for some Madison River therapy.

Four days in a row of sun, wind, rain, clouds, hail, cold, warm; a healthy dose of Montana was had by all. The group was great, catching trout, making new friends, enjoying the Madison River Valley. The smiles, handshakes, and conversations tell the story. Flyfishing takes you to some of the most beautiful places on the planet. I refer to it as soul food and highly recommend a good dose. Take 4 days in a row and let us know how you are feeling in a couple of weeks. Review the gallery of photos. You be the judge; priceless!

Dan
   

Bunny Fur and Hoppers…that’s about as good as it gets…The last week has been good…Really Good. Bright bunny fur has been working well in the morning (6-10:30 A.M.). Natural Zonkers, JR’s CH Streamer in Olive/White, and the Delektable™ Badger Screamer tight lined through the middle and in the deep Trenches next to the big rocks have been deadly. Try dropping some sz.18-20 mayfly emerger’s off the back of the bunnies to replicate the Trico’s, Psuedo’s, PED’s and other small mayfly’s we have been seeing up by the shop lately. The Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail and the Micro Mayfly have been my trailer’s of choice in the morning’s.

Once you start hearing hopper’s buzz the around the bank, tie on a flesh colored Three Decker, a Rainy’s Grand, a Red Slammer, a Tan Carnage Hopper, or your favorite hopper pattern and HOLD ON! Keep ‘em a couple feet off the bank or on the small shelf’s created by gravel bars in the middle and never judge a fish by the size of the strike. The biggest fish will move the smallest amount of water sometimes when eating hoppers, not to say that some big fish won’t give the classic takes, but a lot of the time they don’t even break the surface…they just suck ‘em down; never judge a book by it’s cover kinda deal. Other dries that have been working well in the afternoon include: the Delektable Flying Ant in cinnamon or black, the purple Twisted X in an eight, Half Downed Hoppers in a 12, gold Turks Tarantula’s in 12’s and 14’s and the rose Twisted X in a 16 have all been good second’s in a two fly rig. However, if I can find a single fly that is getting a good amount of attention, I will usually keep it at just the one…We had a good amount of rain and colder temps coming about in the later afternoons, and when that happened I went back to the bunny.

The lighter colored streamers weren’t producing like they were in the mornings but the darker colored ones were moving some large fish under the clouds. Olive and Black were the colors of choice during the late afternoons (4-7). The Olive MCCune’s, the Black Christmas Tree, and Shiela’s Sculpin (which isn’t olive or black, I know) have all been good producers later in the day. The small mayfly trailer’s I previously mentioned have still been working in the afternoon, but so have Prince Nymphs, Lightning Bugs, and a range of Caddis emergers. Tight to the bank or short stripped through the middle, these combo’s have been deadly under a little bit of cloud cover. So whether you’re a dry guy, a streamer guy or a nympho, you’re gonna be happy, so GO FISHING!!!

Charles P. 

Photos from that week added by Nancy 

We are very busy having lots of fun fishing with many wonderful people and are just catching up…sorry for the delay in our reports.

The Indiana Angler group was ready for their first float…and so was the wind. The forecasted rain and lightning never showed up, which was nice, but the winds were HOWLING! We floated Ruby Creek to Varney Bridge and fished nymphs all day. Big fish were hooked right out of the shoots on a green and white streamer but that quickly died around ten. After that, we found a good amount of fish in the trenches next to rocks and about two feet off the bank-nothing in the middle. Girdle bugs and sz.14 prince nymphs were the go to bugs for the morning. Lots of 8-12 inch trout, a few 12-14’s, a handful of whitey’s all came to the boat but we also a hooked couple big fish that we didn’t see. Then we got one of the prettiest 19 in. slab rainbows I’ve seen all year, which ate a sz.6 black girdle bug next to a rock-just a gorgeous fish.

After the slab we continued to find a few smaller trout and then just before lunch we poked a beautiful 17 in. rainbow on the prince just below an irrigation diversion. After lunch we saw a lot of 10-14 inch fish again, a few medium sized fish, including a nice brown pulled out of the middle and a few more whitey’s, all on nymphs. When the girdle bug died off, caddis nymphs started to pick up (olive Hares Ear, Lime Juice, Nymphicator’s etc…) when tight lined through the middle, until we got to the Cottonwoods.

Once in the trees we started fishing stoneflies in the shallows banks and about halfway between the cottonwoods and Varney we found a very large brown that ate our sz. 8 Delektable™ Mega Prince. As soon as the fish ate, it ran so fast that I immediately jumped out of the boat to stop moving. Even at a full stop, the fish ran until we could see our backing knot, almost surfaced itself on the bank 90 ft. upstream, turned sideways and ran for a stick and then came right back at us. I jumped back into the boat, pulled anchor and started chasing the fish. We got it to the boat and I couldn’t stop shaking for about 10 minutes…big fish get me all sorts of excited. We taped it at a true 20. If that doesn’t sound big to you, look at the picture and try measuring the next fish you assume is 20 inches. All in all it was a great day, even with wind. GO FISHING!!! Charles P.