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.

I needed a break

Baby tarpon face

After a long busy winter, I was due for a real break.  All I wanted to do was fish my ass off and get some revenge on some Southwest Florida saltwater species who have been giving me hell for some time now.  Mission accomplished!

Redfish tail spot

I spent some serious time spooking every redfish I came across.  It took many days for me to be able to consistently spot redfish with enough distance to get a shot at them before they took off scared.  By the end of my trip, I was pretty good at it and started to catch a lot of redfish.  What a beautiful and fun fish to catch on the fly!  I can't wait to get back on my secret redfish flats!

Redfish face

Baby tarpon

The big tarpon were in SW Florida while I was there but the wind was insane and I don't have a big enough boat to get out into the Gulf, yet.  I did, however, get into some great baby tarpon!  All I can say about these guys is holy shit!  They are the most insane, acrobatic, and fun fish you can ever imagine catching.  Like the redfish, it took a couple of days of exploring and getting my ass handed to me to be able to catch this entirely new species on flies.  With some help from the local fly shop and endless determination, it happened big-time.  I also can't wait to get back to my secret baby tarpon ponds.

Florida gator

Mother and baby manatee

Going fishing in Florida is full of sights, sounds, and dangers.  The variety of birds, plants, animals, and fish in Florida is just insane.

Gigantic Florida ditch pickle

Even the bycatch is cool here.  While deep stripping streamers for tarpon, I'd sometimes hook into the biggest largemouth bass I'd ever seen.

Gar

Anyone who's fished Florida knows about these gars.

Tarpon skin

Southwest Florida fly fishing is super challenging and fun.  I'm so lucky to have a connection to the region and I can't wait to spend time studying and exploring the fishery in the future.

Until then, it is go-time in Southwest Montana!  There are salmonflies on Rock Creek and the Big Hole, the MO is heating up big-time (as long as there isn't another push), and the carp are on the flats in the lakes.  The hills are green and there is still a lot of snow in the mountains.  The lilacs are blooming in Butte and it's a good time to be a fly fisher in Montana!

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.

The God Dam

Holter Dam on the Missouri River

Here's a unique view of Holter Dam on the Missouri River here in Montana.  The MO is fishing good and it's only going to get better!

Brook trout clown suit

Brook trout skin

Here in Montana, we have plenty of those little dink brookies that come to most people's minds when you say "brook trout." They are not native here and they cause some ecological trouble with our native and threatened bull char.  However, in Georgetown Lake, they are somewhat isolated from the rest of the watershed and they are managed for in a positive way because they get huge.  Some of them can get to Labrador, Canada-type sizes.  In the fall, they put on their clown suits and are the most colorful fish you can find.

Big boy guarding his redd in Emily Spring

As of now, the brookies in the lake are in full to late spawn and are just about impossible to catch. The good pre-spawn fishing is over but you can find some schooled-up roamers moving around that are not on the redds.  Throwing a big streamer at them may piss one off but at this point, it's a lost cause.  However, there is a fun alternative.  The rainbows will also join these moving herds. Throw an unweighted double egg rig right in front of the moving school.  As they all move over it, watch your line tip.  Once it starts following the school, set the hook.  It will be a big G-town rainbow every time!

Take your kids up to see the kokanee and brookie spawners in Emily spring and the hoards of eagles. I'd be surprised if you made it all the way around the lake and did not spot a moose or 2 as well.

Fish pics

Brown trout skin

Here's a short photo collection of some of my favorite shots from the last couple of months.

Juvenile arctic grayling

Bowl full of browns

Cutthroat hiding with grayling in foreground

Gigantic hatchery rainbow

Raceway cutts

The coolest icebox, bull elk, and Mammoth Hot Springs

Derek DeYoung painting on the ice chest at the Gardiner Market

Here's a couple of cool pictures to get you excited about fall (or to waste time at work).

SW Montana bull elk at twilight 

Mammoth Hot Springs under the moon

Fish Butte's Blacktail Creek

Blacktail Creek brook trout

Butte's Blacktail Creek flows out of the Highlands Mountains and right through town.  This little, urban gem is often overlooked by fly anglers.  Blacktail has tons of access right of the city trail system and has a great population of brook trout.

There are some signs of old Butte along the banks.  These old bottles were fun to sift through.

Blacktail is not your average Montana wilderness stream but it is a great option for a quicky after work or a good excuse to bring a rod when you go on that walk with your significant other or child.

Blacktail near the confluence of Silver Bow Cr with Big Butte in the background

While some sections go through beautiful parks and ranch lands, other sections are very urban.

Blacktail baby geese

Blacktail brook trout

You don't have to travel far to get that small stream fix when you live in Butte.  Check out Blacktail!

A great weekend on the MO

The Wolf Creek Bridge

Had another great weekend in Craiglandia!  There were some fun times with the locals at the Oasis in Wolf Creek, a great time sharing the world of fly fishing with a first-timer, and lot's of big fish caught.

Contrary to the picture above (which I took Friday night), it was a sunny, beautiful weekend.  The fishing around Craig was weirdly tough but some fish were caught.  The fishing from the canyon down was shit-hot with fish up and rising to march browns and caddis in the bright sun.  My friend, who was new to rowing a drift boat, got me into so many fish it was kind of unreal.

We also ran into this cool guy:

  


































Next week is the Caddis Festival and Drift Boat Drive in and I already can't wait to get back.  I'd rather take a bullet than live more than a couple hours drive from the trout capital of America!

Quick Jaunt to the Big Hole

Big Hole Brown

My first semester of graduate school is almost over and I'm barely hanging in there.  I had enough time to shoot down to Maiden Rock yesterday afternoon for a quicky just to get my head straight. The Big Hole is flowing great and is the classic tea color.  It looks absolutely perfect for a float!

Pound the banks with leggy nymphs or the dude rig and keep an eye out for rises in any type of slack water.  There was a solid March brown hatch yesterday in the snow and wind and the fish were on it.

Once this semester is over, I'll only have to work 40 hours a week like a normal human being and I've got lots of fishing trips planned and new places to discover.  I can't wait!

Big Hole mule deer

Escape to Racetrack, Montana

Shadow with trout

I snuck away yesterday.  I had to.  Plus, I really wanted to explore some new water and check out a pond that George Grant Trout Unlimited has been working on.

Racetrack brown trout

I came across some of the gnarliest rip rap I had ever seen.  This is utterly disgusting!!  What an absolute horrible hazard.  This whole bank is lined with tons and tons of giant balls of tangled metal wire and a couple cars (Detroit rip-rap).  Rip-rap (stream bank reinforcement) is bad for streams in many ways but this is just ridiculous as it also poses a major safety hazard for people and animals. Gross!

Metal wire balls rip-rap

Racetrack Pond

Racetrack Pond is a really large pond/small reservoir in Racetrack Montana.  It is a stocker pond for families and meat fisherpeople.  With some love, this place could be as popular as stupid Beavertail Pond near Missoula.  I'm excited to see what will happen here in the coming years.

Butte headframe at sunset

Took this shot on my way home from picking up a grocery store rotisserie chicken for dinner.  I was tired and happy.  Now back to the insanity...

Crown of the Continent and the Greater Yellowstone Magazine - Wow, this is an amazing magazine!

Read this and get a big, heaping head-full of the awesomeness that is Montana, USA.  This publication from the University of Montana gives me serious school pride!  Not a stupid-ass sports team.    

Snow Day

I was supposed to get a bunch of field work done yesterday but I woke up to snow.  So, I think you know what that means...

Warm Springs Creek, MT

Warm Springs Creek is an overlooked, sexy, little stream. Fish were caught and I saw the first osprey of the year.  Spring is officially here!

Spring Break

An Upper Clark Fork goodbye

Spring Break is not going to be the all-out, fish bum, first camping trip, fish every day madness that is usually is for me.  In fact, I'm a good couple of hundred miles away from a trout right now. Sometimes you got to be a good grandson and hang out with the folks that support your various exploits.

However, trout of the Clark Fork, Rock Creek, Beaverhead, and Big Hole be warned, we have a date this weekend and the coming month is going to be epic!!

Happy, lucky, healthy Chinese New Year

Mai Wah's Chinese New Year Dragon

The Chinese New Year parade in Butte, Montana is a trip!

Businesses all around uptown were visited, had evil spirits scared away, and were wished goo luck for the coming year of the goat (or sheep).

Chinese New Year Parade with the Berkeley Pit high wall in the background

A good crowd of people showed up to chase the dragon around Uptown Butte.

Out front of the Mai Wah Museum in Butte's old Chinatown.

Dragon Scale

Yet another reason why Butte is the coolest city in Montana...

"Montana's Last Best River: The Big Hole and its People"

This is a wonderful book by Pat Munday about one of the most fabled trout streams in the world, the Big Hole River.  Pat is a professor at Montana Tech in Butte and author of the EcoRover Blog (which sadly, seems to have been abandoned).

Excuse my napkin, I was reading the copy at Quarry Brewing in Butte

"Montana's Last Best River" has fabulous photography and covers everything from pre-European history to modern day conservation efforts.  Pat does a great job guiding the reader down the meandering relationships this amazing river had and still has with the people who've used it and loved it.

Of course, you can't write a book about the Big Hole and not talk about the impact this river has had on fly fishing.  Hey, those flies look familiar!!

This is a great book for any history buff, conservationist, and fly fisher.  Check out the copy at Quarry Brewing next time your in Butte and be sure to get one for yourself.