Old skool

Bear Creek Schoolhouse - Cameron, Montana

Yes litteraly, an old school.  It is the final stretch of my academic run.  All I can say is that there is going to be some serious fishing real soon.  Over it!

Sometimes the fishing blows...

Whitecaps on the Three Forks golf course pond

Yesterday's forecast called for 75 degrees and 8-15 mph winds.  I forgot to do the Central Montana add 10.  Along the Rocky Mountain Front, from Clark Canyon Reservoir up to the Canadian border, you have to add 10 mph to the forecast wind speeds to get the actual wind speed. For instance, say you're going to float the Missouri River and the NOAA forecast calls for 7-10 mph wind with gusts to 15.  Well, in reality, it's probably going to be 17-20 mph with gusts to 25. Yesterday, I was so optimistic to go fishing and needed it so bad, that I neglected to do that.  In this case, I should have added 20 mph as the sustained gusts were enough to halt my plans for fishing altogether.  Anyway, I heard Georgetown Lake had 2 ft. swells yesterday.  I can't imagine what it was like on the Missouri!  Ha!

A little brown sugar

Ye olde brown trout face

I had some work training at the Warm Springs Ponds today.  Checked in on the Upper Clark Fork afterward. The brown trout are not quite in the insane zone yet, but they are definitely starting to get excited to eat meat.  My carp leech to be exact.  Also, above the ponds, the cutts are eating streamers.  Yup.  I have been told a million times that cutthroat are not piscivorous by a bunch of fisheries biologists.  I guess I'm a science denier on this one but I do have tangible proof.  On the other side of the continental divide, the carp bite is still on.  However, the calm clear days are few and far between.  It's trout time in Montana.   

Helena area stream restoration volunteer event - this Saturday!!

Mine waste in the Telegraph Creek floodplain (image source unknown) 

The Pat Barns Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Trout Unlimited-National, and the Little Blackfoot River (near Helena) need you!!

"The Pat Barnes Chapter of Trout Unlimited and TU’s Clark Fork River Project invite you to join us in our efforts to revegetate the restored section of Telegraph Creek at the Lilly Orphan Boy Mine site. In 2016, TU and Montana DEQ removed 9,000 cubic yards of mine waste from Telegraph Creek and restored 350 feet of stream channel in the headwaters of the Little Blackfoot River.

The day will begin with a tour of the restored stretch of Telegraph Creek. Rob Roberts, TU Project Manager, will explain the techniques TU and partners used to reclaim the mine site and reconstruct Telegraph Creek. Following the tour, we will plant native trees and shrubs in the restored area.

Revegetation of this area will protect the stream bank and hillslope, promote native plant growth, and add shade to Telegraph Creek.  Please meet at 8:00 AM at the Van’s Thriftway parking lot on Saturday, September 30th. From there we will drive an hour to the site. Please bring appropriate clothing, footwear, and work gloves. Lunch will be provided.  We will finish the volunteer event around 2pm.

To RSVP please contact Max Lewis ASAP via phone or email at mlewis@tu.org or 207-701-1683. "

Gary Lafontaine wrote of the Little Blackfoot River, "There is no stream more special to me than the Little Blackfoot River. Let me completely protect one drainage in the state, from ranching, mining, logging, and even over fishing, and this would be the one."

If you have not yet explored the Little Blackfoot River or its tributaries, do it.  This fall.  I worked in the valley a few years back doing a fish passage/entrainment project from the mouth all the way up every trib.  I went places and met people in that valley that I will probably never see again.  And, I can tell you one thing, this fishery is about as resilient as one can get.

The Little Blackfoot River is heavily degraded and is heavily relied upon for irrigation. Many of its banks have been hoof sheered right out of existence, and there are fish-eating canals and irrigation dams galore!  Meanwhile, just about every one of the tributaries (Telegraph Creek, Dog, Ontario) have major impacts from historic mining. Yet, the fishery lives on.  The lower river has medium-sized (6-16'') brown trout galore.  In the fall, you might find some bigger ones that come in from the Clark Fork.  This area of the river is hard to get on as the entire valley floor is private cattle ranches but there are many locations to exercise legal MT stream access and there is one FWP access site.  The middle reaches have a mix of browns and westslope cutts and the upper (above Elliston) turns into more of a cutthroat fishery.

The Little Blackfoot is a major and vital tributary to the Upper Clark Fork River, a river that has gone through ecological disasters on an unimaginable scale.  The Upper Clark Fork is currently undergoing a major, and I mean MAJOR, restoration project to remove millions of yards of heavily contaminated mine wastes from the good ol' days in Butte and Anaconda.   Likewise, the tributaries of the Little Blackfoot are receiving some love from TU National and stream restoration badass, Rob Roberts.  Be a part of it and get off your ass to do something good.

Are you a TU member like me that can't just write checks or make donations because you are a broke ass who is following your dreams instead of following the money train?  Well here's your chance to give your "in-kind" donation.  I have always been disappointed in the fly fishing community when it comes to volunteer events.  Fly fishers like to talk but they rarely walk the walk.  Prove me wrong!!

Montana's Ringing Rocks

Montana's Ringing Rocks under smokey skies

Next time you are in the Butte/Whitehall area and have some extra time or are looking for a way to burn a few hours in the mountains with your family, check out the Ringing Rocks. For whatever reason, the rocks ring like a metal bell when hit with a hammer.  They only work when they are still solidly attached to the outcrop.  If you hit the loose ones or try to bring one home, it will not ring.  It's definitely weird and cool.

Here's a video I took. Turn the sound on!:

To get to there, get off Interstate 90 at the Pipestone exit and head to the dirt turnaround on the north side of the highway.  There is a couple of dirt roads that branch from this location.  Take the road that seems to head east.  It is marked with a skinny brown sign that says "Ringing Rocks."  Follow these skinny brown signs up into the mountains with your high clearance vehicle for 4 or 5 miles.  My girlfriend got us all the way up there in her Subaru but that is not advised.  It was fun to watch though. You can also go part way and walk the rest (about 1.5 miles) if you drive until the road gets crazy and pull off on the side.

A clear day at Ringing Rocks

Ivan Doig Symposium going on now!

Ivan Doig is certainly one of my favorite authors of all time.  If you aren't familiar with his work, become familiar ASAP. Doig was born in Montana and has written about this wonderful state in much of his works.  My favorites are the trilogy revolving around Morrie Morgan and his tumultuous time in Butte, Montana during its heyday (The Whistling Season, Work Song, Sweet Thunder).

This symposium over in Bozeman is already underway and will continue through Saturday.

For more information, click here.

A hopper in the cloop hole

Hopper-eating carp of Montana

Catching carp on dries is about as fun as it gets.  And, it is possible in more places than you'd think!

Slow-mo carp release: some fun with your iPhone

A friend recently showed me how to take really cool slo-mo release shots with my iPhone.  The videos start at normal speed, slows down, and then go back to normal at the end.  It creates a really cool effect that is perfect for releasing fish.

On your iPhone, open the camera, select the slo-mo option and have fun!

(updated 10 minutes later):

Ok, so when you export the slo-mo movie you took on your iPhone it will not play in slo-mo like it did on your phone.  I researched why and it has to do with the way the iPhone records these videos.  They are not actually filmed in slow motion, the phone's app just makes it look that way. Don't fret, there are a variety of ways to get around this.  Here are some links which helped me out:

Stack Exchange Forum

Mac World

I ended up just downloading the free iMovie app, adding a filter which didn't change the video much, and then saving it.  Now, it will export with the slow-mo effect!!  You have to add the filter or do something to it in the app, but that's it.

A Broadwater County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There

Montana Mirror Carp Scales

It has been another very busy summer for me.  Between finishing my degree, making enough money to live, and fishing my ass off, I've had my hands full.  I have slept in my house just a handful of times in the past few months and have been happily far away from the internet.

Montana's hot, dry summer has caused me to go all in on carping for the most part.  There is some ok trout fishing to be had, but why the hell would anyone pass up great technical fishing to large, hard-fighting fish for mediocre trout fishing?  The trout will be back soon.

The mirror carp above was caught on a Stalcup's Cluster Midge.  Yep, a dry fly.  And no, not a hopper.  It was my last fish of the day and it ran all the way across the river and took me deep into my backing.  It was one of many carp caught on the surface that day.  It was also my first mirror on a dry. I'd bet that even the old carp guard folks have never caught a mirror on a dry!! Cool.

Upper Missouri River Elk

When you have the river to yourself, the big animals come out to hang out with you.  This mother elk and her 2 babies came out to spook up some of my carp.

Missouri River Moose

I was happy that this guy (gal?) was on the other side of the river!!  To date, the only animal that has ever chased me and scared the shit out of me is a moose.

Don't fear Montana's mussel decontamination stations

Photo courtesy of MTFWP at montana.gov

I went up to Canyon Ferry Reservoir yesterday to chase some mirror carp, cool off, and also check out the mandatory mussel decontamination stations.  I had been reluctant to launch the boat on Canyon Ferry because I didn't know what the decontamination at the end of the day would entail. At first, the idea of power washing my newly refinished wooden boat with hot water made me a little panicky.

To be clear, decontamination stations are at the boat launches on Cayon Ferry and Tibor Reservoirs (water bodies with detected zebra/quagga mussels).  There are boat checkpoints all over the state that have the ability to decontaminate a vessel but these decontamination stations are a bit more comprehensive.  My plan was to fish all day and then take a few pictures or a video of the decontamination process to share with folks that may be apprehensive or just curious.

So why then, is there a picture from Montana.gov and not a bunch from me?  It's because it went so fast that I didn't even have a chance to ask if it was ok to film!!

Here's why it went so fast.  At the launch, while taking my boat out, I made sure to:

• Drain the boat 
• Removed all my flooring mats  
• I left the oars in place and my trolling motor attached.  
• I took out all my fishing stuff and pulled the gear out of my storage compartments
• I used my Montana FWP sponge (free at checkpoints) to quickly wipe up any water that did not drain

I then drove up to the decontamination station and turned off the truck to ready myself for a hot wash and some picture taking.  By the time I got out of the truck and walked over to talk to the inspector that was filling out the inspection form he said, "ok, you're good to go!"  In that time, 2 other inspectors had checked the entire boat (it's a drift boat so, not much to inspect) and I passed inspection. It was just as fast as the checkpoints and because I made sure to show up with a totally dry boat, it honestly took about 3 minutes and I didn't have to be decontaminated.  I essentially did it myself when I dried the boat at the launch.

So there you have it.  Go to Canyon Ferry and have fun.  It's no big deal.  There is a mandatory engine flush for larger gas powered boats which will take a couple more minutes, but still.

The dog days of summer

Lexi the figurehead

The scorching-hot dog days of summer have taken hold across the great state of Montana.  However, unlike the last few years, there is still lots of water and the fishing is shit hot.

Still water carping in the reservoirs is about as good as it gets right now.  The fish are post-spawn and hungry.  Early morning into early afternoon is the best time as they start to fade off when it gets mega-hot.  You'll find them but they won't eat like they did earlier in the day.

We've been hitting Georgetown every weekend for the past couple in order to hit the traveling sedge hatch.  These huge caddis are awesome and this is one of my favorite hatches.  Due to the high lake level and the cool spring, the water temps were just not warm enough yet to get them to pop on a grand scale.  We saw a couple here and there and had some surface eats on our not-so secret pattern but the hatch had yet to materialize.  Since last weekend, it has been hotter than 2 hamsters farting in a wool sock.  I would bet the dog that they're going off tonight!

The damselflies are a major factor for the G-town trout and the still water carp now.  Putting a damselfly nymph a couple feet below your high riding "caddis" pattern will get you into fish at G-town all day long.  Additionlly, dropping one in the action zone of a large, slow-cruizing carp may result in excitement and hilarity.

Stay tuned for Georgetown updates and some summer carp action!

Tips on reading carp spawning behavior

One of the most important skills an angler needs to consistently be able to catch carp on the fly, is the ability to read the carp's behavior.  Right now, across the northern USA, many carp are spawning.  If you are new to carping, this can be an exciting and frustrating time.  There may be carp everywhere, some larger than you may have ever seen, and some may even be jumping way the hell out of the water.  To the beginning carper, all of the fish and activity can truly blow your mind and get your heart pounding.  However, I've got bad news. You're going to want to keep moving if you want to actually hook one by the mouth!

Generally, spawning carp will not eat.  You will be wasting your time on these fish but likely, there are fish feeding close by.  Instead of pulling all of your hair out, you'll need to find the fish that are actually willing to eat.  Surprisingly, fishing during the spawn can be incredible, as long as you can read the fish's behavior and choose the right one to cast to.  To complicate this, there are many different types of spawning behaviors.  Below I will discuss a few.

Carp spawning behaviors

Obvious spawning behavior:  This is a no-brainer.  If you are seeing groups of carp circling each other and splashing around in super-shallow water right next to the shore, these carp are obviously getting busy and are not going to eat anything you throw at them.  Keep moving!

Subtle spawning behavior:  I took some folks out earlier this year before I assumed any carp would be spawning.  These carp were slowly chasing each other around and were in small groups that were both, closely and loosely grouped.  Sometimes there would be just 2 or 3 moving slowly.  In August, this would simply mean 2 fish cruising slowly; pick the bigger one and cast to it!  However, during the spawn, these fish will not eat.  Even though it may not be super-obvious spawning behavior, they are in some aspect of spawning.  We couldn't get any to eat anything.  Move on!!

This conduct can be the hardest to read.  Below is a video I took of a group of carp exhibiting this behavior.  Notice how they are grouped up.  Before I started filming, they were in smaller groups and sometimes they were alone, but not for long.  These fish were not actively engaging in reproduction but they were courting each other.  These fish are not looking for food!

Many books, blog posts, presentations etc. have described what has come to be known as "wallflowers."  These are carp, which are in the vicinity of spawning carp but for whatever reason, are not taking part in the ritual.  They may have already spawned, may be taking a break, or are just not ready to spawn yet.  These fish are catchable and there are at least 2 types of wallflower behavior.

Inactive wallflowers:  These carp will be in the vicinity of spawners but may be sunbathing, resting, sitting still, or some other type of passive behavior.  Just like any other time of the year, these fish may be caught but they are not actively feeding and therefore, the results may be varied.  Make a few casts to them, if you are not getting any responses, change flies.  If still nothing, move on!  On some days, these fish will wake from their inactive state at the sight of your fly and pounce on it.  Other days, they'll wake up and bolt.

Active wallflowers:  Just like you may have already imagined, these are actively feeding/searching carp and they will eat big-time!  If you can distinguish the difference between "subtle spawning behavior" and "active wallflowers," you are in for a good time.  Sometimes these active wallflowers will be in a completely different part of the lake or stream.  But as I ran into last week, I caught tons of active wallflowers tens of feet away from actively spawning shore splashers.  My targets were tailing hard and some were even clooping.  It was really insane to hook into one and watch it blow up the hundreds of spawners as it made its initial run.

In conclusion, reading carp behaviors is always important for distinguishing actively feeding fish from those that are not.  During the spawn, it can be even more challenging.  However, if you put in the time, the spawn can be some of the best fly fishing for carp of the year.  Many of our Montana streams are currently experiencing a solid spring run-off.  Don't get bummed, go carping!

A group of carp showing subtle spawning behavior

These carp are exhibiting a more obvious subtle spawning behavior.  Keep moving!!

Vision from the past

Bud Lilly's Anglers' Retreat

Came across this scene in Three Forks last week.  It's all run down and seemed vacant.  Kind of cool, kind of sad.

Fly fishing for carp in Montana presentation today - by me!

Tonight at 6 pm, I will be giving a presentation on the fun, joys, and heartache of fly fishing for carp at the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited Annual Meeting.  The presentation will start shortly after 6 and will be in the conference room.  Come have a beer and learn about one of the most underutilized and fantastic fishery in SW Montana!!

Christine's Makeover Part 3: A New Begginning

Christine is reborn!

It was a ton of work and it took a bit longer than anticipated but the great boat makeover is over!! She had her second "maiden" voyage on the Big Hole River yesterday.  I was too excited about it to actually take good pictures but you can expect more to come.

Click here for the before pictures. 

Inside back after interior paint with doors and seat benches removed

The back deck got a non-slip additive in the final coat of paint to make it a great casting platform and the dog doesn't slip all over the place anymore. The entire floor surface also non-slip.  All wood surfaces received at least 3 coats of marine spar varnish and are glowing again.  They look even sexier than ever with some patina.

Inside front after interior paint with doors and seat benches removed

Shiny, stinky, and beautiful!  We accidently picked a different color for the inside this time.  It has a light blue tint which I love.  It looks a lot cleaner and more boaty than the old color.

Finished boat, ready to fish!

Here is a crappy picture I took while we were loading up to float in the morning.  You can see the floor system, the doors are back on, and the new rower's seat is installed.

The boat looks better than when it was brand new.  This is the first major overhaul since I first built it 8 years ago.  I beat the absolute crap out of this boat and now she's ready for a bunch more.  Some of the work I had to do this time, I should have done when I built it. So, it was a much larger project than it would have been otherwise.  While wooden boats do require some love every couple of years, it's absolutely worth it.  Even if you didn't build your boat, you'll still get a great feeling when you see how gorgeous your boat looks on the water after some winter love.

There will certainly be better pictures of this posted soon...

Orvis Down the Hatch Fly Fishing Festival - Missoula 2017

Montana Fly Fishing Magazine - Spring 2017

Celebrate Earth Day by helping to plant 800 native trees in Butte!

Two Weeks

In two weeks, I will regain some semblance of my life back.  It cannot come soon enough.  The boat is done and more beautiful than when it was brand new.  I will post a follow up to the last post soon. I still have to put all the parts back together.  The second maiden voyage will kick-start a new era.

It is truly spring now.  I have seen many osprey and pelicans.  The Oncorhynchus genus are spawning throughout the state now.  The carp are also getting going for real.  I need some good tent/boat time. I may also get some SW Florida time soon.  The chronicles should get a lot more fun in the coming weeks!!

Until then, I'll listen to old Grizzly Bear at my desk.

The Worlds Most Sophisticated Drift Boat Sails Lake Berkeley

Photo from the Montana Standard

A story in Butte's Montana Standard described the successful launch of a drift boat drone. It was developed at Montana Tech. They had had some technical issues with the launch earlier in the week. The boat is designed to be remote controlled and also collect water samples of the toxic pit water.