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!

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.

The M&M used to sell fishing tackle

The M&M Cigar Store - Butte, Montana

The M and M bar is going to reopen in Butte, Montana soon.  The new owner is an established business man in Montana and I enjoy some of his other establishments.  I was looking at some old pics from the Library of Congress and came across this one.  I noticed that sign in the picture says the M and M used to sell fishing tackle.  How funny!  

Fishing in the Butte area has been tough for the past couple of weeks however, the Big Hole is off hoot owl closures, the Beaverhead is fishing alright with fish looking for the standard summer stuff, and Georgetown lake continues to hang in there as well.  

I'm so ready for fall.  This hot-ass summer, full of work and family, really did me in.  I'm ready for some cooler weather and some afternoons off.  Things should pick up here on the blog too as I'll get to be around a computer more often.  

Montana Fly Fishing Magazine - Summer 2015

In this issue:

“Chasing Tugs and Slinging Bugs” photography by George Kalantzes

“Artist Spotlight: A.D. Maddox” by Ehren Wells

“Destination: Cuba” by Jon Covich

“A Trout Bum’s Guide to Montana Craft Beer” by Jesse Bussard*

“Halford’s Ghost” written by Sandy Pittendrigh, illustrated by James Hays

“Let Float Smart Be Your Guide” by T. E. Lewis

“Gear Reviews”

Don’t forget to tell your friends about our magazine, and that it’s absolutely free!

Sincerely,

Montana Fly Fishing Magazine

LaFontaine's Buzzball - A Step by Step Guide

LaFontaine's Buzzballs!

In the book Trout Flies: Proven Patterns by Gary LaFontaine, he sates that he developed this fly for the great winter midge hatches on the Missouri River here in MT.  I have found that this simple and effective little fly does a great job mimicking midge clusters wherever they are found.

In recent years, the Buzzball has had a huge resurgence in popularity with the credit mostly going to Mark Raisler of Headhunters Fly Shop in Craig, MT.  He has found that the Buzzball also works great in the summertime on the MO when there are a ton of dead bug parts on the surface.  I, as well as everyone else he's turned onto this fly (I actually think Sara R. gave me my first one), have had amazing success with it.

It doesn't end there.  Being the endless experimenter that I am, I've taken the Buzzball all over Montana and used in on a variety of waters.  I've tested it on everything from the freestone rivers and Georgetown Lake, to stocked borrow pits and high alpine lakes.  I've also experimented with the recipe.  The variable here is the orange hackle used in the original pattern.  If you use brown or black instead of the orange, you can cover a variety of lighting and hatch situations.  I've also found that substituting a cream colored hackle for the orange is extremely effective for the spruce moth which occur on the west-side, freestone streams.

The Buzzball is ridiculously simple to tie, easy to see on the water, and extremely effective in a variety of situations.  In my book, that is what makes a good fly!  Here's the recipe for the original and step-by-step instruction.

Hook:  Size 18-12 dry fly hook (16 is my favorite)
Thread:  8/0 burnt orange
Hackle:  1 grizzly hackle in the appropriate size (approx. 1 1/2 gap length); 1 light dun hackle (smaller, but size doesn't matter); 1 orange hackle (smaller, but size doesn't matter) 


Step 1:

Wrap the hook shank thoroughly and evenly.


Step 2:

Tie in the grizzly hackle in a size appropriate to the hook.

Step 3:

Tie in the orange hackle (size is not important because this is going to get cut).


Step 4:

Tie in the light dun hackle (again, size in not important because this going to be cut) and the advance thread to front of the hook.


Step 5:

Palmer both the orange and light dun hackles to the front of the hook.

Step 6:

Cut the orange and light dun hackles to about hook gap length all around the hook so that it resembles a bottle brush.

Step 7:

Palmer the grizzly hackle forward and then whip finish.

Step 8:

Cut the grizzly hackle flush to the orange and light dun on the top and bottom of the fly only.  Your done!

Hanging in there

I do not belong in California.  I have been hanging out and working with some great people but feel like the proverbial fish out of water (all drought puns intended).  I've been all over the freaking place and I think I've now seen more of California than most Californians.

I'm in the Tahoe area for one more day and then it's off to the Wilderness area of Yosemite to work way the hell up at the top of the Sierra's.  I checked my map and asked some other crew members but got a quick - "there's lakes but we won't be around one and the stream is almost dry."  AHHHHH, I'm freaking dying.

They say absence makes the heart grow stronger.  I'm not going to leave Montana again for a long time - unless it is specifically to go on a fishing trip.

I think John Stienbeck said it best.

“I’m in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love. And it’s difficult to analyze love when you’re in it.”

- J. Stienbeck 

Here's some views from Lake Tahoe:

Cops at the beach writing tickets

Beach bike

Too many people

South shore of Lake Tahoe