What do you do when every fly fisher in America comes to your town and all the rivers are packed?

You go to the local borrow pit and chase steelhead sized, retired brood stock.

This huge bastard was well over 30" long.  I saw one other person all day.

Tune back in for a report from Orvis' Down the Hatch Fly Fishing Festival with celebrity pics, goings-on, and a look into springtime in Missoula.

Western Montana Ice-out Update!

I took the short trip to Beavertail Pond yesterday to check on ice-out conditions.  Good news for anyone wanting a good sign of spring; the pond is about 10% thawed on the north end.  Two nice old bait fisherman had a bunch of cookie-cutter rainbows on a stringer. Surely more than the limit but who really cares, the pond keeps guys like that off the river and away from real, wild trout.  I did not see the big brood stock cruising the shores yet.  I did not take the temp of the water but it was too cold to wade in for long even with my normal winter wading gear.  I'm thinking like 32.5F.  The rest of the ice will go in a matter of days, especially if there is a wind event. So, what does this mean?  The pond is at low elevation and small.  It also gets a good amount of sun.  A person could safely conclude that the rest of the lakes in the area (with the exception of Frenchtown) are still frozen.