Friday, January 30, 2015
The Hummingbird Cafe - Butte, Montana
Need a great breakfast or lunch before you head out to fish the Upper Clark Fork, Big Hole River, or Georgetown Lake? The Hummingbird in Butte is a great little cafe with tons of character and really good food. With locally sourced food, great coffee and espresso, and a full juice/smoothie bar, this place adds some great flavor to Uptown Butte.
Just one of a million reasons Butte, Montana is the coolest city in Montana. I said it and I mean it - more to come...
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Monday, January 26, 2015
Tying the Non-slip Loop Knot by Tightline Productions
Non-Slip Loop Knot from Tightline Productions on Vimeo.
These guys make the best instructional videos on the web.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
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.
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!
Friday, January 23, 2015
Hurting for some dry fly fishing? Me too...
I love winter fishing. I love streamer fishing. I love technical nymphing. Although, every year at just about this time, I really start to ache for some good, old fashioned dry fly fishing. In Montana, we are over the winter hump and every day we are getting closer to the epic spring fishing I long for. We are even starting to get some stretches of warm days which can translate into some midge maddness. Overall though, I really miss dry fly fishing.
To help you and I get through this, I'm posting this great video from The Fly Commission. Happy Friday!
To help you and I get through this, I'm posting this great video from The Fly Commission. Happy Friday!
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Blank on Blank from PBS does Elliott Smith
The late, great Elliott Smith is one of the finest musicians of my generation. I love the Blank on Blank series from PBS which animates old interviews with deceased famous people.
Do you somehow not know Elliott Smith? Check out some songs from his most known album from 2004 "From a Basement on the Hill"
Coast to Coast
Pretty (Ugly Before)
Memory Lane
Do you somehow not know Elliott Smith? Check out some songs from his most known album from 2004 "From a Basement on the Hill"
Coast to Coast
Pretty (Ugly Before)
Memory Lane
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Beaverhead River Teaser from Trout TV
The Beaverhead and Big Hole Rivers are probably two of the coolest trout streams on the planet. I've been fishing them for some years now and recently, they became my home waters. Trout TV is a show that plays here in Montana, usually after sporting events end, on over the air TV. I don't know if you can beat a show about a drop dead gorgeous woman fly fishing all over the northwest. I'll take that over football any day! Anyway, here is a teaser for their next episode highlighting the best of south central Montana.
Monday, January 19, 2015
3D image of the shafts, tunnels, and Berkeley Pit beneath Butte, MT
It is said that there are over 10,000 miles of tunnels underneath Butte, Montana. This amazing Image, created by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, shows the vertical shafts, horizontal tunnels, and the Berkeley Pit. The red rectangles above ground represent the big black headframes you see all over town.
All of these tunnels and the Berkeley Pit are now filled with toxic groundwater that is laden with all sorts of metals and has a pH of about 2.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Oil pipeline spills "up to 50,000 gallons" into Yellowstone River
Yet again, there has been an oil spill in the lower Yellowstone River in Montana. I guess the Missoulian Newspaper feels this is less important than all of the other bullshit they put in their Breaking News banner at the top of their webpage. Hmmmm?
Remember the nasty Exxon oil spill in July 2011 near Laurel? Well, now we've got some more oil in the river, this time near Glendive. Here's a link to the Missoulian article.
Stock footage of an oil pipeline (obviously not the Lower Yellowstone) provided by the Missoulian |
Remember the nasty Exxon oil spill in July 2011 near Laurel? Well, now we've got some more oil in the river, this time near Glendive. Here's a link to the Missoulian article.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Montana Fly Fishing Magazine - Winter 2015
Montana Fly Fishing Magazine (http://MontanaFlyFishingMagazine.com/) announces their latest issue: Winter 2015.
In this issue:
"The Art and Science of Taking Exceptional Fish Portraits" by Tom Olivo
"Chuck’s Fly Tying Bench: Tips, Tools and Techniques" by Chuck Stranahan
"The Smith River: A Natural Treasure" by Jill Yoder and Pat Clayton
"Beware of the Trout Weasel" by Christian Shane, art by Joshua Spendlove
"Fan Photos"
"Lochsa Dreams" by Ehren Wells, art by James Hayes
"Montana, Stream to Remain Nameless" by Capt. Ryan Wojtanowski, art by Ben Whitehead
Monday, January 12, 2015
WestSlope TU meeting on Wed profiles the upper Clark Fork Restoration Project
Check out the WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited's homepage for more information. You may see a familiar fly right on their homepage now. How cool is that!!
I'll be there showcasing an easy to tie, super effective, winter/summer dry pattern from one of the greats of upper Clark Fork region.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
The Upper Clark Fork in winter
Mt Powell and the Upper Clark Fork in January |
The Upper Clark Fork, from the outlet of the Anaconda Settling Ponds down to around Galen, is essentially a tailwater fishery and it fishes all winter. It is full of of brown trout, has some giant rainbows which fall over the spillway from the ponds, and has the occasional cutthroat and brook trout mixed in.
Frozen foam disks |
This stretch of river sees a lot of pressure because the fishing is awesome so, it can get really technical.
Ice in the guides |
It can get crowded at times. This is easily avoidable though, so long as you fish at odd times and during the off season. Also, similar to Rock Creek, most of the people fishing here have no idea what the hell they are doing. If you have half an idea, you can usually come right behind them and catch fish. Just try to stay out of sight.
Staying out of sight is going to be harder for a while as two major sections of the floodplain and stream are closed right now due to some restoration work. An area about a half mile down stream of the spillway (near the first bridge) has been closed for a while and there is another section on the Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch that is under construction now.
See ya later Mr. Brown |
All I can say is that I'm stoked about the restoration work and the future of the fishery. I'm also excited to now live 20 minutes away. Want some good advice? Fight the urge to fish nymphs and throw SMALL streamers. There are also some epic midge, BWO, hopper, and caddis hatches up here at the appropriate times.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Fishing Rock Creek in winter with my mom
I owe my mother the world a million times over for a lot of things, especially after her heroic help during my insane move over to Butte in a gnarly blizzard and 24 below 0 deg. F temps. We did take a day off from the insanity to fish Rock Creek though and I got some good pics.
The fishing kinda sucked but the beauty and laughs were plentiful. Get off yer ass and get out there. Winter is awesome!
Mom on Rock Cr. Rd. |
Horses in pasture |
Winter wonderland |
Snowy Rock Creek |
Getting our asses kicked post-holing through the meadows (snow on lens) |
Totally getting our asses kicked post-holing (snow on lens) |
Valley of the Moon Bridge wintertime 2015 |
The fishing kinda sucked but the beauty and laughs were plentiful. Get off yer ass and get out there. Winter is awesome!
Monday, January 5, 2015
Moscow Monday to benefit WestSlope TU
Come down to the Montgomery Distillery in Missoula today after work and help "redistribute the wealth" while enjoying some fine cocktails an fishy company!
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Purple Haze Quigley Cripple
Purple Haze Quigley Cripple |
Hook: Size 18 dry fly
Thread: Purple 8/0
Tail: Saddle hackle fibers cut to the same length after you tie them in
Body: Purple thread for small sizes; floss, dubbing, or 1x 370 Uni Stretch for larger sizes
Ribbing: Black 6/0 thread
Thorax: Build a little ball of black dubbing
Wing: Fine deer hair (dyed green is shown)
Hackle: Your nicest dry fly hackle in the appropriate size (green grizzly is shown)
Supposedly, this fly was developed when Bob Quigley realized that his Humpy became more effective after it had been chewed up by trout. All I know is that this cripple pattern is, by far, the most effective dry fly pattern for mayflies I've ever used.
I use the size and color scheme shown for BWO's but you can tie this thing in any size or color scheme to match any and all mayfly species from baetis to drakes. You can also tie it really small for the larger midges we get on the lower stretches of the freestones.
I can confidently say that the Quigley Cripple has caught me more fish than any other dry fly pattern out there. Feed it to your local snotty, PHD trout today!
Friday, January 2, 2015
Purple Haze Flashback Soft Hackle
The Flashback Purple Haze Soft Hackle |
Hook: Size 22-12 (18 is my favorite for the BWO) scud or nymph hook
Thread: Purple 8/0
Ribbing: Black small dia. wire
Flashback: Pearl tinsel
Body: Purple thread for small sizes; floss, dubbing, or 1x 370 Uni Stretch for larger sizes
Thorax: I actually use a purplish colored yarn that I shred up but any rabbit dubbing in purple or black will be great
Hackle: Partridge soft hackle
Head: The thread your using
If you haven't yet discovered the magic of fishing and tying soft hackle flies, 2015 is the year! In many ways, soft hackles are more traditional than dry flies. Learning how to fish them in the traditional way is a whole new adventure and there are tons of non-traditional ways to experiment with as well. Soft hackles are incredibly effective, especially on waters that see lots of pressure. Chances are, no one else is fishing them. They are also the bees knees for those porpoising trout that are eating emergers. Lastly, they can be greased and fished like floating nymphs. The possibilities are endless.
Make 2015 the year you go back in time and rediscover the most effective fly patterns ever created!
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