Montana Tech's Restoration Seminar presents Josh Vincent of WET

These seminars are open to the public and everyone is invited!

Browns and Brews Festival in Craig this weekend!

The second annual Browns and Brews Festival is this Saturday, September 3, 2016 in Craig, Montana. The party starts at 4 pm at Izaak's.  There is a live auction at 6 pm and music by Rocket to Uranus throughout the night. See you there!

Save a trout [ride a carp]

Many of Montana's trout are having a crappy year. Most of our drainages had below average snowpack last winter, we lost said snowpack early, and we've had another dry, hot summer. These conditions have led to low flows, high water temperatures, restrictions, river closures, and most recently, a gnarly disease outbreak and fishkill in the Yellowstone River. There isn't much else I can say besides, this sucks!

However, you don't need to quit fishing. In fact, you can fish harder and become a better fisherperson while you are at it. God bless the carp.  Southwest Montana is a carp fisher's paradise. We have great flyfishing for carp in both still and moving water.

Last week we loaded up the boat with camping gear and headed out on Clark Canyon Reservoir to claim Armstead Island for ourselves.

The reservoir is low and the Beaverhead is nasty again but the carp fishing was great.  Water clarity has been getting worse over the past few weeks but it is certainly clear enough to sight fish all day.

McTage's Trouser Worm

Fly fishing for carp has also led me to tie a bunch of new fly patterns.  Carp eat a lot of the same things as trout but sometimes you need specially designed flies to match the carp's feeding behaviors.

Montana's Hybrid

I've been having so much fun exploring this great fish and the flies and techniques to catch them.  I'm sure that the stressed trout in my area are rejoicing at my absence.

Fiesta Mexicana

Carp + Dillon's taco bus = paradise!

The cure for the summertime blues

College brahs on the Clark Fork in Missoula.  I wonder where those beer cans will end up?

An asshole flotilla overtaking an anchored drift boat on the Missouri River

Are you experiencing the summertime blues?  Are you sick of the idiot, drunken, litter and flip-flops everywhere "splash and giggle" crowd?  Do you hate waking up at the ass-crack of dawn on your only days off?  Are you sick of drought, low flows, stressed trout, and Hoot Owl restrictions?  I know I am.  Well, I have the cure for you!

Beautiful scales of the common carp 

CARP!!  You've been hearing about fly fishing for carp and saying to yourself, "that sounds fun." Well...

• Fish in the heat of the day with no tubers.  
• Experience super techy fly fishing that requires some supreme boat and casting skills.
• Get blown away by the carp's strength and fighting power.  They'll snap your 6wt in half!
• Keep a few and help control an exotic, invasive species. 

I cannot stress how much fun catching carp on a fly rod is!  There are carp all over Montana and the American West.  Hotspots include the lakes/reservoirs in the Helena area, the upper Missouri River, and Clark Canyon Reservoir near Dillon.

You can help out your local ecosystem by keeping a few.  The myth that they are a trash fish is a result of Eastcoasters' experience with observing them in super polluted waters.  They are very edible and were one of the first stocked species in America for just that purpose.

Are you a Dry Fly Only asshole purist?  Well, carp eat dries on the upper MO.

Did I mention they get huge?  Here's a modest sized carp and a dog's butt.

I should have brought a bigger cooler!

These guys are headed for the kettle and some Hungarian Carp Soup!

DUN Magazine - late summer

The latest issue of DUN Magazine is out now.  Read it here.