2006 Blog

November 5, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

It's the final day of fishing in Yellowstone National Park , and I just had to head in this evening to get one last fish. I headed straight to a particular spot that I've fished every year on the last weekend. The weather has been good the last few days - a little windy and raw, but good. Fishing has been on average slower for me this fall on the Madison in the park. So, I wanted to pull out all of the stops for this last attempt. I rigged up the two-hander with a size 6 black and purple concoction of bunny and flash. It took several swings to get that first hard tug. The next swing produced a fat whitefish, and I thought uh oh, there should have been a trout sitting there, not senior blanco. The remainder of that first pass was fruitless. Maybe the great white wonder will be the final pull of the season.

On the second pass I rigged with a sinking leader, and worked through with slower, deeper swings. Half way through the run I had a good strong pull, and the next swing produced a good rainbow. The rest of the run was good for two more tugs and a 17" brown. Perfect.

That's going to be about all the fishing for a little while (saltwater trips are looming). For now, I have a bird dog at home with the guilting capabilities of an old Jewish grandmother, and a freezer that has far too few white paper packets in it. Ski season is just around the corner too. Stay tuned.

November 2, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I've spent more time in the last two weeks taking my riffle for a hike than fishing . Cold weather has kept my attention focused more on the prospects of finding an elk than catching a few more fish before the season ends. The morning low was four degrees below zero when we came into the fly shop this morning. But, the mercury did manage to rise to about 34 by this afternoon, and the bright sun made it more than comfortable outside. So, with only four fishing days left in the park season, I decided to take advantage of a nice late afternoon and run up to the Junction Meadow on the Madison in the Park. I hit the Meadow Hole around 5:00pm and started swinging with a size 6 rust colored soft hackle on a sinking leader. On the third swing a hooked a huge Whitefish. It had to be 20" long. Senior Blancho was the only action on the first pass through the Meadow Hole. So, I hiked back upstream to the Waterfall Hole (just below the junction of the Firehole and Gibbon). I spent the rest of the evening (it's dark now at 5:45pm ) making two passes through the Waterfall. On each pass I found one good brown trout. Not bad for a quick evening. We're down to three more days and counting. Stay Tuned.

October 10, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

We've seen rain and heavy snow across the area over the last couple of days, and the scuzzy weather hung around through this afternoon. So, I ran down to the Madison to try my luck at catching a good baetis hatch. I hit the Eagles Nest around 12:30pm and I could see a head or two poking up in a slick next to the parking lot from my truck. Very good numbers of bugs came off and equal numbers of fish rose for the next two hours. The bugs were small, and the fish didn't seem to want anything bigger than a size 22, but a good drift with a Sparkle Dun did the trick in each spot that tried all the way up towards the Big Bend .

One of our illustrious guides, Geoff Unger was fishing with clients around Raynold's Pass at the same time today. Geoff was so struck by the amount of rising fish that he whipped out his digital camera and took a quick snap of digital movie. The clip lasted 29 seconds, and during that brief time you can count 11 fish rise in one slick!

October 9, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I spent several days this week in northern Montana following my bird dog around, and doing my best to help stock the shop with bird skins for next year. It's always tough balancing our time this time of year, but somehow we usually manage to figure it out. I returned to perfect cold, gray fall weather. So, we'll have to see what's happening on the Madison in the next couple of days. Stay Tuned.

October 3, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Sara and I fished the Madison below Raynold's Pass this afternoon. It's been gray and wet around here lately, but the sun came out later this afternoon dashing our hopes for a monster October baetis emergence. Bugs came off relatively well despite the bright conditions, and we found one slick in particular that had quite a few nice fish working on the surface. We took turns catching a pair of the smaller fish rising in the rear of the pool, and then it was Sara's turn to snag one of the big boys at the head of the slick. As is her usual style, the first drift took the fish, and it turned out to be the biggest of the afternoon - an 18" brown with huge spots and a beautiful iridescence near it's eye. We stopped at a few favorite slicks on the way back to the truck and found at least one fish working in each spot. Not bad for a sunny afternoon. More clouds are forecasted for the rest of the week. Stay tuned.

September 29, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I met up today with my good friend and partner in crime Robert Eddins of RO Drift Boat fame. We fished a sneaky spot out of Bozeman for some aggressive browns. The skies were a little too bright for the streamer fishing to be as epic as it can be, but we still managed to find some great fish. My legs will be sore for days after that "dumb and dumber" shuttle bike ride. Thanks, Bud!

September 23, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I spent today on a guide trip with our good friend, and culinary master, Monte Smith. We floated the Madison with a group of his long time friends from Pallisades to McAtee. Nymphing was the ticket all day, as we never saw much in the way of bugs, and no signs of rising fish. It was one of those days where nothing seemed to work consistently, but every nymph was good for a fish or two. Monte managed to find quite a few fish and a couple of nice ones. By the end of the day, the weather had officially cleared, and we were left with one of the most beautiful evenings I've ever seen in the Madison Valley . The mountains had just been pasted with snow, the skies were deep blue, and golden fall sun light up the straw colored grasses and yellow aspens. Thanks for a great day Monte. I'll look forward to the next time.

September 22, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Scuzzy weather has set in across Yellowstone Country in a big way. Some areas have reported more than 20 inches of snow in the highest of the high country. We haven't seen more than a dusting here in West. But, this weather is supposed to stick around for at least another day. So, we'll wait and see. I snuck out of the fly-shop this afternoon and ran into the Madison in the park. I hit a favorite spot in the meadows near the junction around 2:00pm . Good numbers of baetis were on the water when I showed up, and luckily, there was a lane between two elk heirums just wide enough to slip down to the river. The first good run I came to had tons of small fish crashing baetis duns as they fluttered downstream with the wind. I caught several 8-10" fish on a sparkle dun before noticing the first good head break the surface. Three nice fish podded up on a seam across the river. Every dun that passed even reasonably close by was taken. The first fish in line sucked down my fly and immediately came straight out of the river. It turned out to be an 18" brown that had that solid look of a fish that had just spent the summer getting fat in Hebgen Lake . I could see one of the remaining two fish continuing to feed in the same slick. You could see the red in it's gill plate every time it rose, and I'll be damned if I could get a drift over to him. After 10 minutes of dragging a baetis past him that looked like it had a yamaho attached to it, the rainbow went down for good.

I finished up the afternoon down on the elbow pools with the two-hander. I rigged up a black strip leach and a shakey beeley dropper to start with, and ended up sticking with that combo for the rest of the evening. Several nice spawners, and a couple of good resident fish grabbed the soft hackle, and one nice brown took the streamer.

September 19, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

We've made it through our first shot of scuzzy weather, and there's a second on the way. This next system looks a bit nastier too. The sun broke today, and it wasn't perfect conditions for baetis on the lower Madison, but I've been wanting to get down here for a few days, and haven't had the chance. So, I hit Raynold's Pass this afternoon for a little while. Sparse baetis came off throughout the day, and we saw some fish rising here and there. It was just barely enough activity to keep a dry fly rigged up. I was able to rise several fish to a size 22 baetis sparkle dun, but only those that I saw rise once or twice. On the way back to the truck I switched to a nymph rig with a #16 $3dip, and a micro madison baetis. Each of the four spots that we stopped produced a couple of nice fish on either of the nymphs. The forecast is for snow tomorrow. Stay tuned.

September 17, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Well, the forecast was right on the money. It's been in the 30's and snowing on and off all day. I hit the Madison in the park again for a little bit last evening. I managed to hang in there for about two hours before the cold and wind got the best of me. Lots of bumps tonight, but only two good grabs - one 18" rainbow and one 15" brown.

September 14, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Our first shot of truly scuzzy weather is settling in to the area today. Rain, snow, and cold temps are forecasted for the next few days. I thought it would be a good evening to run into the Madison in the park and try my luck at spawners for the first time this season. I've heard several whispered reports of fish crashing soft-hackles and streamers early and late in the day. So, I dug out the two-hander and my fall soft hackle wallet, and headed up to the elbow pool. I made my first awkward cast about 6:45pm and started swinging through my first pass. The inaugural run was good for nothing more than knocking the rust off my spey cast. On the second pass, though, I did get two strong pulls. The third time proved to be a charm as a nice 19" hen rainbow crushed my soft hackle, and I felt that gratifying weight in the long rod. I had time for one more pass before it was too dark to navigate back to the truck through a herd of buffaro, and it turned out to be another exercise in casting practice. I left feeling pretty good about the evening. Somehow, I managed to remember how to cast that long rod reasonably well after almost another year off, and at least one spawner was kind enough to send me off feeling like I sort of knew what I was doing.

September 12, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Sara and I hiked into the headwater of Cougar Creek today. After an uneventful hike, we hit the creek around 11:30am . Today might be one of our last warm, windy afternoons. So we thought it would be a great day to cruise back to the upmost meadow and try some hoppers one last time before it gets too cold. The water level has held up pretty well, and some of my favorite holes still had a bunch of small cutts in stacked up in them. I stuck with my trusty royal pmx and rose tons of fish. The trophy of the day was probably a 12 incher. On the walk out we followed decent sized grizz tracks that were covering our own tracks from this morning. We never spotted the ursus, but we were sure as hell looking.

September 10, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I just return last night from this year's Lamar trip. We had a great week back in the headwaters of the Lamar. As a twist, we started the trip from the Pelican Valley trailhead close to the shoreline of Yellowstone Lake and rode up and over Mist Pass into Mist Creek, and down to the Lamar. We spent three nights at the junction of Mist and the Lamar before making our way down the Lamar to the trailhead at Soda Butte. We had a terrific week. Lots of wildlife was seen - Bears, wolves, moose, elk, bison. Lots of fish we're caught. Lots of jokes were told. Lots of pretty country was seen. Thanks everyone for a wonderful trip!

September 1, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

It's the annual opener of bird season here in Montana . Our prospects aren't all that hot close by, but I managed to run the bird dog around for a little while this evening. I spent the morning looking for gulpers. We're getting into that time of year when the morning temps are cold enough to push the good fishing out until 11:00am or so. Unfortunately, the wind only waited until about 1:00pm to come up. We did have some nice fishing in that 2 hours, though. Fish tracked well to callibaetis spinners, and we hooked several on a deer hair spinner and a sparkle dun. I'm off on this year's Lamar River Pack Tripthe day after tomorrow. We're heading 20 miles upstream into the wild headwaters for a week. I'll get you a report.

August 29, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I just returned from this year's Slough Creek Pack Trip We enjoyed four great days back in the third meadow. With the exception of a wet arrival on the first day, the weather was perfect. In fact, it might have been a little too perfect. For two straight days, the afternoon winds were virtually dead. We're used to seeing some great terrestrial fishing in the afternoons when the wind whips up hoppers, beetles, crickets, and ants. Glass flat waters proved to be a little more challenging than we've seen in the past. So, we changed tactics a bit, and fished smaller ant, beetle, baetis, and midge patterns, and the fish responded just as they should. Hot flies were the red/black foam flying ant, Slough Creek Baetis Sparkle Dun, Soft Hackle Baetis Emerger, Zebra Midge, and Grand Hopper. For the first time in years, we didn't have any interesting bear or wolf sightings. But, we were treated to the long awaited return of Buford the signing cowboy. That's right, "Bufe" was back in all his glory, and so were his campfire songs and cowboy poetry. Thanks for a great trip everybody. We're looking forward to doing it again soon.

August 24, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Today was the infamous "birthday-float". Every year on the 24th of August anyone who has the day off, or can steal away for the afternoon, floats the Madison to help three girls from West Yellowstone celebrate their birthdays, which all happen to be on the same day. I think 12 boats was the final count when it was all said and done. Needless to say, an armada twelve boats strong has quite a presence on the river, and fishing wasn't exactly top notch. Most boats did managed to find a few fish with hoppers, though. And the water balloons and sudsy barely pops were more than enough to keep everyone occupied. Happy birthday, ladies. We're all looking forward to doing it again next year.

August 23, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Hebgen this morning. I thought I'd check out some of the less popular gulper spots along the south side of the Lake like Watkins Creek and Spring Creek. I should have stuck with the Madison Arm. Very few bugs brought very few fish to the surface for a very short time. The wind picked up in this part of the lake around 10:00am . Back to the well tomorrow. Stay Tuned.

August 22, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Sara and I took a couple of friends from PA into Fan Creek on horses today. We had a beautiful day in the upper meadows. Fishing was a little pokey, but Sara ran into a handful of good (10-12") cutts on an X-Cricket. On the way out, we saw two bull moose, one of which was the biggest bull I've ever seen, mucking around in the Gallatin just upstream of the confluence with Fan Creek.

August 20, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I slipped down to the Madison below Raynold's Pass tonight to see if there is anything left of our evening fishing. I hit the water around 6:00pm . Not much was happening in the way of bug activity; a few epeorus spinners and a handful of midges. I sat in one slick for most of the evening and had a handful of fish rising sporadically. A #22 Mighty Midge and a #16 rusty Sparkle Spinner managed to fool several nice fish.

August 19, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Good Gulpers this morning. P.B. and I slipped the skiff in on the Madison Arm about 9:30am and some nice fish were working as soon as we hit the water. Most of the good groups of fish seemed to be in the middle of the arm. We moved between pods for most of the morning and found fish tracking better than they've been recently; maybe yet this year. Callibaetis Sparkle Duns and Deer Hair Spinners were the ticket. I'm here for one more week before the next horse trip, and the lake is at the top of my list. So, stay tuned.

August 17, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I guided a float trip down the Madison today from Palisades to McAtee. The weather cooperated until about 2:00pm . The morning was beautiful; calm, cool, bright sun. Fish ate a Royal Wulff Cripple and a Chaos Hopper well from the start until early afternoon. We also had some fish take a size 16 cinnamon parachute ant. Nymphing was consistent with small P.T.'s and Micro-Madisons when the cloud cover and thunder rolled in late in the afternoon. We managed to slide right by the bulk of the wet, and just had to deal with the wind.

August 15, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Sara and I headed to the upper Gibbon River with our good friends Fran and Maura Gough today. We had a blast catching small browns and brookies on tricos in the morning and hoppers in the afternoon. A few big fish were seen, but none put a bend in the rod.

August 12, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Back to the lake this morning. This time with Bucky and Sara in tow. The wind behaved itself a bit better than it did yesterday. Though, there was still an annoying, light breeze that would wisk up and lay down throughout the morning. We saw good numbers of c-baetis in the Madison arm and had fair numbers of fish rising at times during the morning. I still haven't seen the classic wolfpacks that we all dream about, but we had some good shots. Keeping true to form, Sara had the fish of the morning, a 20" brown trout that tracked well right up to the boat. We watched the fish approach from about sixty feet until it was close enough to hear the gulps. Sara put a #16 C-B Cripple right in front of it twice before he swallowed it, and roared off towards the Happy Hour.

August 11, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

The wind was up before I was this morning. So, my plans to head out to the lake fell through. Instead, I decided to run down to Raynold's Pass and see if I could drum up any early morning fish on ants and beetles.

I started out heading up from the bridge on the river-right side and picked apart a few favorite pieces of pocket water tight to the bank with a size 16 red & black foam flying ant. Two heavy brown trout about 16" rose to the ant in the first little stretch, and I managed to find at least one or two volunteers in each small spot that I stopped. By 11:00am , the sun was getting pretty high and the action slowed. I figured that was my cue, and headed back to town and an afternoon and evening in the shop.

August 10, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I just finished up with this year's Bechler River Pack Trip. We had a terrific trip; Six days and five nights spent making our way up from Mountain Ash Creek and the Fall River to the Bechler River Headwaters and back down to the Bechler Meadows. Beautiful weather, cooperative fish, and interesting wildlife all pitched in to produce a great week.

I'll be back in town for two weeks before I head out on another pack trip (Slough Creek), and I'm itching to get back to the gulpers, and to see how well the fish are eating terrestrials and epeorus down on the Madison . So, Stay Tuned.

July 30, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I had a couple of quick hours to fish this evening. So, I ran up to Grayling Cr. in the park. Hot weather typically yields some good attractor fishing for small cutts and rainbows here, and today was no exception. I fished a #14 PMX through all of the likely water and rose a ton of fish. Most were on the small side of small (6-10"). Though I did luck into one nice 15" cutt.

July 29, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Back to the lake again this morning. Conditions were good again. So, I went back to the well with boat in tow this time. I slipped in around 8:45am and had a couple of fish to work to right off the bat. The first fish tracked very well. In fact it rose consistently until it was only a few feet from the boat and spooked before I could even get a cast out. The second fish didn't rise as consistently, but I managed to get a fly out in front of it, and he decided to eat - a nice fat brown about 18". That was about it for good risers until roughly 10:00am when spinners started to fall a bit better. I had to move around a bunch. I'd find a few risers in one spot, get a shot at one or two, and then have to cruise to another spot. I rose fish to a size 16 Callibaetis Cripple and a size 16 C-B Deer Hair Spinner. The fish aren't really grouped up in those "wolf packs" like they will be in a couple of weeks. August is knocking loudly at the door. Gulpering should get better and better over the coming weeks. Stay Tuned.

July 28, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Gulpers this morning on Hebgen. I've been on a wading kick lately. This morning I hit one of my favorite spots around 9:00am and found good numbers of c-baetis spinners on the water and fish feeding right away. There were plenty of fish working within casting range for the entire morning. But there still weren't that many that tracked very well. Though, every fifteen or twenty minutes, I'd see a fish rising with good regularity. Most of the fish I caught were on a size 16 c-b deer hair spinner. It killed me to leave at noon (had to get to work) as the cove I was fishing had stayed sheltered from the little bit of breeze that picked up and the water was still glass. From where I was at, it looked like more fish were tracking in the middle of the arm. I might have to slip the boat in tomorrow instead of wading. Stay Tuned.

July 27, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Bucky and I headed down to the Madison last night. We fished the small pockets and rough water directly below Quake Lake for a few hours before dark. Fish rose fairly well to a size 16 rusty spinner and a size 18 tan X-caddis.

July 25, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I fished the Madison this afternoon between Raynold's Pass and Three Dollar Bridge . My plan was to fish in the heat of the day, and see if any fish were looking for hoppers. I started around 1:30pm and fished my way up through a series of slicks and runs about mid-way between the bridges with a size 8 Grand Hopper. I had a handful of fish rise to the fly. I missed more than I hooked and I lost more than I landed in the heavy current, but after an hour or so I had several nice fish. By that time dark, black clouds were rolling in and my heat of the day fishing was quickly being replaced by a gore-tex test project. Within 10 minutes it was dumping, and I was huddled under a willow. The deluge let up a bit, and I watched a few slicks hoping to see an emerging pmd or epeorus. Nothing ever amounted to much where I was at. On the wet walk back to the truck I stopped at one pool that had a handful of fish rising sporadically. I managed to land one nice rainbow on an epeorus emerger before round two of thunder and lightning sent me back to the truck.

July 22, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I checked out the Gallatin in the park this morning before work. Warm weather has had this, the coldest river in the area, fishing pretty well. I started about a mile below Fan Creek and fished my up to the confluence. There were never a ton of any one bug on the water, but the handful of PMD's, Caddis, and Green Drakes that sporadically emerged kept a fish or two rising throughout the entire stretch. I fished a #16 PMD Cripple, #16 tan X-Caddis, and a #12 Royal Wulff Cripple at different times along the way, and found good results with each one. The weather remains brutally warm with highs approaching 90 in town and 100 in the valley. But, you won't hear this kid complain. For one thing, I know that's not too hot for a lot of you that are looking at temps well over 100 Degrees. And for another, it's going to be about 150 degrees colder here in a few short months. I'll take the heat while it lasts, and hopefully I'll be able to remember just the slightest bit of it when my eyelashes are freezing together next winter.

July 21, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Back to the lake this morning for a little gulper action before work. I decided to wade a favorite spot on the north side of the Madison Arm. Tricos were strong when I arrived around 8:30 . I had shots at two fish in the first thirty minutes, both of which spooked violently, and by 9:30 the wind was howling. So much for that bright idea.

July 18, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Sara and I fished Hebgen this morning. Gulpers were gulping when we arrived at our favorite gulpering spot around 9:00am . Good clouds of Tricos were over the water as well as a fair number of c-baetis. By 10:30 the C-baetis were thick, and we began to see some fish tracking well. Sara stuck two nice rainbows right out of the gate on a foam spinner. The wind started to pick up around 11:30 . So, it was off to Campfire for some lunch.

July 16, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Late night on the Madison tonight. I reached Raynold's Pass around 7:00pm and hiked down on the river left bank. It's been blazing hot lately. Even at 7:30pm there's still a warm breeze blowing over the pass from the south. When I hit the water I noticed a few egg-laying caddis bouncing on the water and a swarm of mating adults above the willows. I blind fished upstream alternating between a size 14 PMX and a spent deer hair caddis depending on the visibility. A stray fish rose here and there for the first hour and a half, and I managed to catch several on both flies. By 9:00pm the sun had gone over the hill, and fish started to rise with more regularity in a few slicks. I stopped to work a favorite spot and noticed a bunch of spinners over the water. Two nice rainbows came to an Iris Caddis right off the bat, but no one else seemed interested until I switched to an Epeorus Spinner (#16). I stuck with the spinner all night finally leaving around 10:45pm .

July 14, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I spent today impersonating a fishing guide. I floated from Lyons to Ruby with two great guys, Shawn and Eric, from Ohio . We had a good day with fishing alternating between hot and cold for most of the day. We had some hot stretches with both nymphs and dries at different points. Hot flies continued to be size 14 and 16 Royal Wulff Cripples and tan X-Caddis. An Epeorus Emerger fished deep as a nymph produced well too. Thanks for a great day guys.

It's gotten hot!!! Temps reached the mid to upper nineties today in the lower valley and the forecast is for more of the same. With these hot, dry days the evening caddis fishing on the Madison has been great. Stay Tuned.

July 11, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Sara and I had the day off today. So, we floated the Madison with none other than Captain Tom "oh baby I love those head nets" Cornell. After a stop for pancakes at the Campfire Lodge, we put the boat in at Lyons around noontime. Aside from a stiff downstream wind, the conditions were beautiful - warm, sunny, 80 degrees. We fished dry flies the whole way down to Windy (short float). Sara's deadly combo was a #14 Royal Wulff Cripple and a #16 Spotlight Caddis. Capt. Tom went with the Cripple and a # 16 tan X-Caddis. Both combinations seemed to work well with a good number of fish looking to the surface for all three flies. As usual, Sara managed to score fish of the day honors with a 18" rainbow. By 6:00pm the daily thunderstorm was imminent. So, for the evening, we opted for burgers and cold ones at the happy hour instead of lightning and hail at three dollar bridge.

July 8, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I fished the Madison in the morning again today. There's been so many afternoon and evening thunderstorms lately that the pm caddis fishing hasn't been very consistent. So, I headed back down to the river upstream of Raynold's Pass this morning. I hit the water about 8:00am and there were a few good fish rising in Ross's hole right away. I fished to risers when I saw them and blind fished likely spots when I didn't see any heads. Fish ate a # 16 tan Elk Hair and the Improved Sparkled Dun again. Several nice fish came out of skinny water right on the bank. Salmonflies seem to be right about at the bridge. I didn't see more than two or three flying in the morning, but reports in the shop this evening were of large numbers flying by early afternoon.

July 7, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

The $3 Bridge dedication was this afternoon. The ceremony began at 11:00am . So, I thought I should head down a little early and fish a few spots above slide inn before the festivities began. I hit the end of the guard rail about 9:00am and started walking upstream trying to spot a few fish right next to the bank. The light was good, and quite a few fish were visible. A fish or two rose to egg-laying caddis, and a stray pmd. I fished one of Craig's #16 Improved PMD Sparkle Duns for most of the morning, and just about each fish that I spotted ate on the first or second cast. That is if I didn't blow him up on the first or second cast, which happened a bunch. By 11:00am I had worked up to the really fast water, and it was time to head down to $3 bridge.

July 4, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Sara and I spent the fourth fishing a few little spots around the Lewis River and Lewis Lake . We hit the lake in the early morning from about 8:00am until lunchtime. A bunch of browns cruised along the shoreline, and we sight fished small nymphs like a #16 beadhead P.T. to them until a few leptophlebia (looks just like a pmd) started emerging around 10:00 . fish rose well to a #16 PMD Cripple. We both managed to get a handful of nice fish before the wind picked up around 12:30 .

July 2, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I snuck out of the shop this afternoon to take a short float with Aaron. We put in at Lyons around 3:00pm and started fishing a variety of dries like a #14 PMX and Royal Wulff Cripple. Fish rose greedily to dries for the entire stretch down to Pallisades. It was one of those great days when the fish just wanted to eat dry flies. In several spots fish rose consistently on their own, but in many cases we had nice fish move from likely spots to eat a dry.

June 30, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Caddis fishing on the Madison below Quake Lake is just getting heated up. as soon as I think it's really going to get cranked up, we get another thunderstorm, and things cool down. I got to $3 Bridge about 7:00pm and saw a fish or tow rising here and there. By the end of the evening a few fish rose consistently, but it wasn't exactly a feeding frenzy. I caught several fish on an Iris Caddis and a spent deer hair caddis. Things should continue heating up. Stay Tuned.

June 27, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

Sara and I headed up to fish the Gallatin today. Salmonflies and golden Stones have been strong here in the past few days. The weather was anything but perfect for fishing with these big dries. We dodged one thunderstorm after another in the meadow below Porcupine Creek. Fish responded well to a size 6 Sunken Stone, but the hero of the day was a size 10 Rogue Golden Stone. We had a number of 12-14 inch browns and rainbows on both dries. The hatch is moving slowly up towards the park water. Stay tuned.

June 18, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

I've spent a bunch of time fishing the park this past week. The last few days have been sunny and warm with some strong wind at times. This morning was a perfect time to check for spinners on the Madison . Warm, calm and sunny conditions sent me out of the shop and into the river at about 9:00am . I walked a long stretch of bank by Riverside drive spotting fish close to the bank, and trying to get them to eat a dry fly. There wasn't much on the water at first. So, most fish I cast to weren't very interested. By 10:00am a few baetis and a stray pmd or two began emerging and fish rose a bit more consistently. I ran into a bunch of brown trout between 8-12 inches and a couple from 14-16 inches. I still haven't seen any gray drakes. Though, I've heard a few good reports. So, I'll keep looking. Stay tuned.

June 12, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

It's been a big water year, and we've all speculated on the likelihood of seeing good numbers of Gray Drakes on the Madison in the park (the general rule of thumb being more water = more bugs). A few bugs had been seen in the last couple of days. So, I ran into the Eagle's Nest last night right before dark to try my luck. When I got to the turn out I could already see a few fish rising from the truck. Tons of caddis were on the water, and plenty of fish were working. I fished a little size 18 black x-caddis and fooled plenty of fish in the last hour or so of light, but I only saw two gray drake spinners. I'll be back to check on them soon.

June 4, 2006 – Steve Hoovler

Floated the Madison yesterday from Pallisades to Story Ditch. The river is still quite high (2080cfs out of Hebgen and probably over 3000cfs at Pallisades), the clarity is about a foot, and the skies were cloudy. Perfect conditions for a quick cruise with streamers – right? Well that’s sure what we thought. The river hasn’t been this big for this long in many years and the conditions are perfect for streamer fishing. Unfortunately, no one told the fish how ideal the conditions were. I’ve heard several great reports over the last few days. So, I guess we weren’t holding our mouths right, or something. We did manage to roll a handful of nice fish and get a couple of good browns to the boat, but it wasn’t exactly hand over fist. As a “pick-me-up” we stopped to drown our fishless sorrows in greasy cheeseburgers and buds at the Grizzly. So, the outing was far from a total bust.

Sara and I ran back into the Madison in the park this afternoon to get another salmonfly fix. It’s tough to sit here in town these days knowing that there are fish looking for size 6 dry flies two miles away. We had about an hour or so of good fishing before a thunderstorm drove us back to town - and work. Warm weather has prompted some good caddis fishing on the Foxfire. I’ll have to check it out, and get a report. Stay Tuned.

June 3, 2006 - Steve Hoovler

It took me a few minutes to log into the journal. It's been so long since my last posting that I forgot a few of the steps. I've been fishing a lot lately. The park opened last weekend, and I've been out there every day. I've been in serious need of some personal time on the water. Last week we finished eight weeks of Spring Road Trips (Known formerly as the April Mayfly Tours - We were forced to change the name as the dates stretched from March to June and the fishing revolved around everything from Mayflies to Caddisflies and Stoneflies) Salmonflies have started to crawl around the Madison in the park. I fished a short stretch yesterday above Mt. Haynes with good success. The adults aren't exactly going nuts yet, but there have been plenty around for the fish to start looking for them. I blind fished the heavy current against the river right riprap bank with the usual #6 sunken stone. Several good fish came to the surface, and I managed to hook five of them. Two were nice rainbows with chunky bellies and bright stripes in the 12-14" range. The other three were nice browns between 14 & 16".

I'm sneaking out of the shop this afternoon to head down to the lower madison (below Quake Lake ). The flows continue to be high and off color, but the fishing has been excellent with big nymphs and streamers. We're going to try a quick float and some streamer fishing. Stay tuned for a report.

January 1, 2006

Steve Hoovler

After the effects of a few too many New Years Eve Kaliks wore off, I spent the day wading a series of bonefish flats around Delectable Bay. For the fourth day in a row, we've had great weather; 80 degees, clear skies, and light trade winds. Pat and I dropped the girls off at the beach this morning where they planed on laying in the sun and hopefully catching some snapper for dinner. We started off walking north along the edge of the flat. To our left was a huge expanse of flooded, juvenile mangroves spaced randomly several feet apart and standing only one or two feet tall. On our right was a long shallow mud flat peppered with crab holes. The tide was just beginning to go out and bonefish followed the water as it slowly retreated from flooded mangroves to the flat where it then continued through tidal creeks and out to the bay. Singles and doubles eased their way through the mangroves and an occasional school of 20-50 fish would cruise along the flat. We managed to catch a bunch of fish throughout the afternoon with an assortment of flies including a tan size 8 TDF Shrimp and a tan Micro Minnow. Not a bad way to kick off the new year. We're heading home soon, where deep snow and cold awaits. Fly tying and skiing will be more realistic than fishing for the next few weeks, but low and behold there's a trip to Belize coming up quick. So, stay tuned.