Little Red Bugger

The Little Red Bugger

Hook: Size 10 streamer hook (it's supposed to be tiny)
Thread: 6/0 whatever color you want
Ribbing: Small diameter gold or silver wire
Tail: One red and one peach colored marabou feather
Body: Small red standard chenille
Hackle: Small red strung saddle hackle
Flash: a couple strands of your favorite tinsel in the tail (not shown)

I was first turned onto this fly, some years ago, by the old guy at Flint Creek Outdoors in Phillipsburg, Montana.  I went in to ask for tips on the early season fishing on Georgetown Lake and he told me this little red Woolly Bugger was the ticket.  He said it did a good job resembling a tiny brook trout.  Whatever the fish took it for, it was definitely a really effective fly.  I caught a million rainbows and my first huge G-town brook trout.

The story doesn't end there.  The next day, as it always seems to do up there, the wind started howling and it even started snowing.  I hadn't got my fill of fishing yet (don't know if there is such a thing) so I headed down to the upper Clark Fork at Warm Springs.  Out of pure laziness and curiosity, I left the little red bugger tied on and proceeded to catch what seemed like every last brown trout in the river. It was unreal.  I also caught one of those gigantic rainbow trout that fall over the spillway.

The streamer trend over the last decade has been towards those huge, Gallup-inspired wet mops streamers.  While they are fun to fish and certainly effective in a lot of situations, streamers that huge are really not necessary for catching huge trout.  They can be hard to get down in the fish's feeding zone, they are impossible to role cast, and in tailwater-type waters, they aren't really the best choice. Think about that 2 foot brown trout you caught on the MO on a size 22 midge nymph...bigger bait doesn't always mean bigger fish.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

It's all out insanity mode right now as I move on over to Butte, America in a scrambled rush.  I did take a mental health break the other day and went fishing for a while downtown.  I killed it with the old Soft Hackle Sow Bug and even caught a 20" bull trout.  I wanted to take a picture sooooo bad but my camera was not ready and I didn't want to harm such a special fish in any way.  While I'm moving to a place with 10x more awesome places to fish, I'm sure going to miss just being able to ride my bike downtown like that.

More soon, be safe...

MT Trout Unlimited on the PBS NewsHour

Check out this great video by Meri DeMarois of the University of Montana and her mentor, Anna Rau from Montana PBS.  This piece aired nationwide last week on the PBS NewsHour.  Some of my local heroes make cameos.  Bruce Farling of MTTU, Dr. Lisa Eby from UM, Carey Schmidt of Westslope TU.

Thanks O-bama! No really, thanks

Photo courtesy of The White House

Yesterday, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum protecting Bristol Bay, Alaska from all future oil and gas drilling.

"These waters are too special and too valuable to auction off to the highest bidder" -President Obama

While this is obviously a great thing and something to be celebrated, the movement to conserve Bristol Bay and the rivers that feed it is far from over.  The Pebble Mine, potentially the worlds largest open pit copper, gold, and molybdenum mine still looms on the horizon.

You want to see how fun it is to have a huge open pit mine in your watershed?  Come visit me in Butte, America and you can see how awesome it really is.

Photo courtesy of The White House

A little surprise

Upper Clark Fork brook trout

So, my "work/school fishing trip" to the Butte area turned into a work/school fishing trip.  Turns out, getting all the required documents to my new school is a lot more laborious than I expected.  However, I did have to shoot back over there yesterday to look at an apartment.  That left me like 45 minutes of daylight in a snowstorm to hit the Upper Clark Fork below the ponds.

I had been fishing for like 5 minutes when I hooked into this male brookie all colored up for the spawn.  I've never caught a brook trout this big in the Clark fork.  There are huge brookies upstream of the ponds and the tribs in the area are loaded with them but this big boy was right in the main stem and was surely a post spawn holdover.

There are redds everywhere in the upper CF right now from the browns (and some brookies I guess) which have been abandoned.  I'm sure you can still find some fish on redds, but it looks like the spawn is over.  Be really careful up here, don't be a dick and fish for trout on their redds.  More importantly, don't walk on the redds.

Redds are easy to spot in small streams like the upper Clark Fork, especially redds from fish who spawn in the fall.  The bottom is usually covered in dead organic material which is a darker color.  The redds are dinner plate to dinner table sized areas of stream bed which are clean gravel.  They are usually in slower water and at the tailouts of deeper holes.

You can see that this fish is wrapped in my leader.  I didn't take the time to try and get a perfect picture because this guy could potentially still be trying to find a mate and he most likely just had a long voyage from wherever he came from.  This was a quick lift out of the net, snap, and release type deal.  Notice the EZ Bunny hanging out of his mouth.

Winter fishing is full of surprises.      

Montana Fly Fishing Connection

Last night, Joe Sowerby from Montana Fly Fishing Connection gave a great presentation on the Smith River of central Montana.  Bruce Farling of Montana Trout Unlimited opened the event by highlighting the potential threats posed to the Smith by a proposed copper mine in the watershed. The underground mine could potentially have serious, never ending, effects on this fabled and loved Montana stream, which is an important tributary to the Missouri River.

 

To show us all what is at stake, Mr. Sowerby put together a slideshow of fantastic pictures, fish porn, and fisheries data.  Joe did a really wonderful job and is a great public speaker.  If you are planning a guided trip to western/central Montana, especially on the Smith, I'd seriously recommend checking these guys out. 

 

If you give a damn about the trout streams of Montana and America, please join Trout Unlimited today!

 

I'd like to thank Montana Trout Unlimited for having me as a guest fly tier for the event.  It was my first time doing such a big event.  I'm not going to lie, I was terrified for the first couple minutes but after people started to show some interest in my weird flies, it was really fun.  The other guest tier was a professional fly tier and a guide which really put on the pressure.

 

Thanks to all of the folks that mentioned my little blog.  It was extremely humbling to know that some of the people who I look up to actually read it once and a while. 

 

I'm currently going through a major life transition and relocation and my posting has slowed down more than I'd like.  Please stay tuned as I'm piling up back stories and making new ones everyday.  It's just me here at RBM Chronicles and I've currently got the weight of the world on my shoulders.   

   

 

Early winter scenes from the lower 'Root

The lower Bitterroot in December

The warm, foggy conditions over the last week have made for some great winter fishing conditions on the local rivers.  Even the Clark Fork has shed most of its shore ice.

No ice - no people

Bitterroot in early winter

Did I mention that there was a solid midge hatch and some fish up on them?  I stuck with the streamer because it is still really effective.  Man, I lost two huge trout yesterday which just about ripped my rod out of my hand.  Sometimes those monster streamer hits can spook you when your not paying attention.

I love walking down a snowy shoreline and the only footprints I see are from the geese, heron, and furry creatures.  

Go Grizzlies!

The Montana Grizzlies take on the Eastern Washington Eagles today in the second round of the FSC playoffs.  No matter what happens, my bet is that it is a really good game.  It's also nice that it is in the afternoon.  This will allow me to get out on the river and swing some flies before the game.

The Clark Fork and Bitterroot are kinda fishable right now.  The work/school fishing trip to the Butte area is all set and I'm really excited to try out some of my ice fly creations on Georgetown.
 

Staying busy

The hot seat

I've been tying flies like a Chinese factory worker for the upcoming demo at the Trout Unlimited meeting this month.  These are all flies that are great winter patterns that can also be used through the ice.  I will post them on here soon.

The fishing has been rough around here since the cold blew in again last week.  The rivers are frozen up pretty good.  At the same time, the ice on the local ponds got pretty sketchy during the last warm spell. For good ice, you have to travel.  Reports from Georgetown are good.

I got a trip to Butte coming up and the upper Clark Fork and Georgetown are in my sights.