Just back from another week of bird hunting in Eastern MT, and we returned to winter in West Yellowstone. Upwards of 10" fell this week, and yesterday's high was a whopping 29 degrees.

With conditions like these, I might actually have a decent chance of getting within a quarter mile of an elk.

In fishinig news, area rivers like the Yellowstone, Lower Madison, Jefferson, and MO are in prime Fall shape. Erik Severson landed this 31" brown last week on the Yellowstone by Livingston - BOOM!

 That'll keep my fishing gear in the truck for a little while longer.

It feels more like early September than the end of October here in West Yellowstone - bright blue skies, and highs in the 60's.

I've spent the last couple of weeks following my bird dog through Eastern Montana. The weather has been perfect, and although bird numbers are down from recent years, we've had some good hunting.

We came back to West Yellowstone to hunt opening day of elk season this weekend. After four days of crawling around bone dry mountains, getting outsmarted by elk that hear me coming long before I know they're there, I think it's time to get back on the road and find some more birds.

I did sneak in a few good days on the water over the last few weeks. Sara and I fished a beatis hatch on Rock Creek by Missoula, Jaime Greene and I had some dry fly fishing on the Missouri below Craig, and I hit the Madison between the Lakes this week to chase some fall run browns.

This beautiful weather is much better for pheasants than it is for brown trout and elk. So, I'm off again tomorrow with Pat and Willy to freeman country.

Stay Tuned.

 

The urge to walk behind my pointer has far outweighed the urge to put on my waders recently, and after a long fish-filled season it feels pretty good.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling it quits for the year, but bright blue skies are much better for birds than browns. The forecast is calling for our first shot of winter weather this weekend - four days of cold and snow. It should be good for spawners and baetis. Our pheasant season also opens this weeked, and so begins another Fall of complex decisions. Birds or Fish? I know.  It's awful. Stay Tuned.

Somehow, October crept up on us like a Supreme Court question in a Sarah Palin interview. I never saw it coming, and now that it's here, I don't have the slightest clue what to do with it.

September has a way of lulling me into a false sense of never-ending Summer. Even the word "September" sounds warm and pleasant. And, in fact it's been a gorgeous month. But, October is a different story, it's truely Fall. The aspens and cottonwoods are all in color. It's well below freezing each morning. And, despite deceptively warm days, you know what's right around the corner. It's a bittersweet feeling for me each year. I can never get enough of the Summer season, but I can't wait for the Fall to arrive.

Before our Summer officially came to a close, engineers at Hebgen Dam devised a fix for the broken gate. Evidently, as the crew faithfully slid one stop log after another in front of the headgate only to see it get sucked into the tube and shot out the other side, one of the workers suggested, and when I imagine this it's in the voice of one of the Simpson's characters, "Hey, why don't we tie four of those logs together at the same time?"  What do you know? It worked.  Over several days the flows were brought back down to normal levels, and the fishing has adjusted back to it's normal Fall routine.

Last week I spent several days on the Missouri with fly fishing guide extraordinaires Pat Bond and Joe Moore. We fished with a fun group of guys from California. The weather was beautiful for each of our days. Too beautiful, unfortunately, for very consistent dry fly fishing, but we manged to find some nice big Missouri River fish regardless. Thanks for a fun trip guys. I hope to do it again.

As Fall progresses at an all too rapid pace, I'll spend more time behind a pointing dog than the oars, but stay tuned regardless. I'll get you a report.

Two weeks can really scream by this time of year.

Fall weather has entrenched itself in Yellowstone country, and it's remarkably beautiful. Morning lows have been well below freezing and afternoon highs have hit the high 70's. The aspens and willows are turning. Bull elk are bugling, fighting, and otherwise resembling an Alpha Sig brew fest.

Hebgen Dam continues to spew forth at 3100 cfs bringing the lake level down with it to 76%. Each day there's magically a new solution to the problem that for some reason or another doesn't seem to work . 

The Madison is still big and in the willows (that should be the name of a bluegrass band), but has fished very well. I've spent the last two weeks guiding every day, and we've spent most of our time on the Madison. Nymphing has been the name of the game for most of the day with good numbers of fish holding tight to the banks just like they do during Spring run-off. On a couple of cloudy days we saw some good baetis activity and a few fish rising. Hot sunny afternoons have brought on a little hopper action as well. Wade fishing the river around $3 Bridge has been consistent, but floats from Pallisades downstream, despite breakneck speeds, have been good too.

Yesterday, I had the great fortune to fish with one of fly fishing's true gentlemen, Mike Mercer, and one of my greatest clients, Jim Murphy. Mike and Jim have traveled all over the world together chasing trout with a fly, and every year they say this is their favorite trip. We spent the day fishing a small moutain stream in the Madison range with hoppers and attractors. The fishing was fast and furious for beautiful, chuncky rainbows, and the day could not have been prettier. Thanks for an awesome time, guys. It was one of the highlights of my season.

It's been an interesting few days around Yellowstone Country.

On Sunday, I started the day gulper fishing with Jamie Greene. The winds picked up early and forced us to look for some risers in a wind sheltered bay. We found a few feeding fish and, after chasing them around the weed beds for about an hour, landed one big rainbow.

Over the course of the afternoon, our first Fall storm rolled in with vengeance. Temperatures dropped quickly and strong winds blew in mean clouds with rain and snow up high.

Meanwhile, sixty feet below the waves on the surface of Hebgen Lake one of the four head gates on the dam failed. The flow out of the dam is controlled by two adjustable gates. Two more gates are permanently sealed and not adjustable. One of the non-adjustable gates broke blowing it's full capacity of water through the dam and into the Madison River. The flow imediatly spiked from 850cfs up to 3600cfs.

Officials evacuated campgrounds, fishing accesses, and some houses in the Raynolds Pass area. By Sunday evening the rumor mill had generated some world-class bullshit about the failing of Hebgen Dam. Every imaginable scenario from the collapse of the dam itself to the likely breech of the earthen dam at Quake Lake and the devastation of the Madison Valley and all things downstream spread around the area.

The two adjustable gates on Hebgen Dam have been closed, and the total flow is now coming through the broken headgate at 3250cfs. The latest word from PPL is that efforts are underway to somehow repair the headgate. The rumor mill has now shifted from Hebgen Dam - Armageddon theories to Hebgen Dam repair theories, and there's some good ones out there.

In the meantime, we've continued to fish. On Tuesday I spent the day with Mike and Michael, a great father and son team from St. Louis. We decided to avoid the run-off flows on the Madison and head up to the Northeast corner of the park.  The storm's aftermath left us with cold temps, snow-capped peaks and beautiful, clear skies. Unfortunately, 40 to 50 degree air temps don't do too much for the cutthroat fishing in the Lamar and Soda Butte. But, we stuck it out, regardless, and had a good baetis hatch in the afternoon that brought fish to the surface. Afterwards, we built our egos back up with some fast and furious brook trout fishing. Thanks, guys!

Yesterday, Joe Moore, of Big Sky Anglers fame, and I spent the day with a great group from Colorado and California. We got a heads up in the morning that the sprigtime flows on the Madison had cleared some, and fish were holding in their classic high water spots right on the bank. So, we stocked up on Rubberlegs and San Juan Worms, and headed down to Raynold's Pass. Two of the guys had never fly fished before, and they caught on to the nymphing routine in no time. In fact young Trevor was the first to land a fish, a nice brown on his third ever cast with a fly rod. Fishing turned out to be just what we were hoping for. Fish are stacked as close to the bank as possible, and they seem to be settled into feeding again. Nice job guys. Thanks for a great trip!

Cool, unsettled weather is forecasted for the rest of the week. Barring any more unforeseen cataclysmic events, Fall fishing should heat up soon. We'll have to wait and see.

Stay Tuned.

Denny Westover sent me this shot of a "Toad" Rainbow  he caught last week. Denny and Jay Haglund spent a windy day chasing gulpers with me. The wind gave us a run for our money, but we stuck it out and ended up with some good fishing. The guys stuck around for several more days, and their perseverance was rewarded with calmer mornings and a bunch of fish.

Nice work guys! I'll look forward to seeing you again this Fall.

Travis Hansen and I hiked into the 2nd meadow of Slough Creek yesterday to meet up with a great pair of fathers and their 14 year old sons.  Our weather was beautiful - cold in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon. Fishing was productive as usual on Slough. In the morning calm winds left the water glassy and fish fed on small midges and the occasional flying ant. By the afternoon, winds picked up and fish rose through the choppy water to slurp down foam hoppers. A handful of small baetis tried to emerge in the afternoon winds, and almost every dun that didn't get blown off of the water was sucked down by a cutthroat. It's hard to believe how those bugs continue to reproduce on days like that when seemingly everyone is eaten by a fish.

Thanks for a great day guys!

P-Man and I both had the day off for the first time in over a month. So, we capitalized on a relatively calm morning and headed out after gulpers. Chilly air and a variable breeze kept the spinners off of the water until around 11:30. But when they gathered and began to fall we found some good tracking fish.

It's felt more like early Fall than late Summer this week. I've been on the Madison every day and we've seen everything from mid eighties to mid fifties. Winds have been a big factor too with gusts up to 30 mph on several days.

Fishing has held up through the wild weather. Cooler temps brought some baetis mayflies to the surface the last few days and added another challenging component to the ant and hopper fishing. Nymphing has been consistent as well.

It's hard to believe, but bird season is just around the corner. Our opener is September 1, and my Wirehair is about ready to get in the truck and drive himself to the closest Hungarian Partridge, opposable thumbs or not.

Fall seems to be settling in pretty quick around here, and with it comes some fun times. Stay tuned.

Ken Morris joined me for a couple of days on Hebgen to chase gulpers, and luckily for us, the  gulpering was in full swing. We found a decent number of c-baetis duns on the water as early as 8:00 am and tons of spinners by 10:30am. Lots of fish were one or two time risers, but  there were enough tracking fish to keep us occupied until the wind came up. Yesterday's wind didn't puff up until nearly 1:30pm.

Thanks Ken! See you next year.

I spent this last week with the crew from Sunrise Pack Station in the Cascade Corner of Yellowstone. We had an interesting and adventurous group of hot-potters and fishermen who all found the waters to their liking.  The weather was gorgeous, the moon was full, the hot-pots were warm, the mosquitoes were tollerable..............Oh, yeah and we caught some fish too.

Jerry drifted his ant along a juicy under-cut bank, and all hell broke loose. Ten minutes later he had this beautiful cutt-bow. Thanks for a great trip everyone!

I'll be back here in West Yellowstone chasing gulpers and floating the Madison for the next two weeks. So, stay tuned.

Wild weather, finicky fishing, and gracious guests are the highlights from the Madison River. I spent the last week guiding with the guys from The West Yellowstone Fly Shop and Big Sky Anglers.

Wicked, afternoon thunderstorms passed through the valley  dropping monsson-like rains and measurable hail.  In the aftermath of these storms there's a noticeable change in the weather. The sun's light is flatter. The air seems a bit more crisp. I hate to say it, but it feels like the very beginnings of Fall. We'll see how the rest of August turns out. Who knows? By this time next week it may be back in the mid-90's again.

Fishing on the Madison has certainly been August-like. Gone are the early season days of suicidal trout eating dry flies with abandon. Don't get me wrong. There's been great dry fly fishing with Spruce Moths, PMD's, Caddis, Hoppers, and Ants. But, it's time to dust off the "A" Game in order to fool these veteran trout. They've already seen an awesome amout of both insects and flies in this short season, and their beginning to "think" twice before each trip to the surface.

Dry fly fishing on Hebgen Lake has heated up over the last two weeks, and I was able to spend the couple of mornings out there looking for gulpers. Yesterday was a perfect morning for the lake - warm sun and calm wind until almost 1:30pm. Callibaetis duns and spinners were on the water when we put the boat in at 9:00am and fish were rising from the start. We saw lots of inconsistent one and two time risers, and a fair number of good, tracking fish. Today we headed back for a repeat and the wind was up in earnest by 10:00am.

Tomorrow, I take off for a week-long pack trip in the Southwest corner of the Park with Sunrise Pack Station. We'll fish waters like the Bechler River, Mtn. Ash Creek, and the upper Fall River. This is usually prime time in that corner of the park, as August heat generally dries out the meadows and biting flies are gone. But, this year's high snowpack, and wet Spring left the Bechler meadows closed to traffic due to wet conditions until just ten days ago. If the mosquitoes haven't sucked me dry, I'll be back with a report next weekend. So, stay tuned.

Spruce Flies have officially infested the area. Everything from my truck to the Dairy Queen in town is covered with these little moths. They're also blanketing the Madison River in stretches that are even remotely close to an evergreen. This picture looks just like a swarm of caddis, but it's a group of moths that we saw below Lyons bridge this morning.

I floated with a fun mother and son from Colorado today, and we had some nice fish eat moth imitations right off the bat this morning. As the day grew on and the wind puffed up, we switched to nymphs and finished strong.

Thanks Anne and Connor. We'll get 'em again on friday.

I just finished a three day stint in the Northeast corner of the park with the boys from the West Yellowstone Fly Shop. We had some great people and some great fishing on the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek. After a long wait, the waters have finally cleared, warmed, and started to really fish like we're used to.

It was my first chance to spend time on these waters this season, and I was amazed at how much had changed after a huge run-off year. Several of my favorite spots from last year  are completely dry, and the river has shifted over 20 yards away. It's like a new fishery after each big water year.

We saw good fishing with terrestrials and the occassional pmd or caddis.

Back down to the Madison today. I floated with a couple of guys staying at the Old Kirby Place. Gary, Don, and I headed from Mac to Varney again trying to duplicate yesterday's dry fly bite, and we did pretty well. Today was a bit calmer and warmer, and the bigger fish were a bit fewer and farther between, but we managed to rise a good number to hoppers and ants.

Flows continue to be below 800 cfs out of Hebgen. It's getting pretty skinny on Cameron Flats. Cooler weather is in the forecast. So, hopefully the water temps will stay cool in these lower stretches, and the dry fly bite will remain strong.

I've seen lots of Spruce Flies around lately. It might be time to head up around the West Fork. Stay Tuned.

Big heat, huge wind, and lots of rising fish is the story from the Madison Valley today. I hooked up with Tommy again for a float from Mac to Varney. When you could get a drift through the howling wind, fish ate hoppers, ants, and caddis for most of the day. Lots of little guys were on the hunt, but we managed to get a good number of quality fish too. At Varney we ran into Madison River veteran Yvonne Llewellyn who told us about a 21" brown she caught right below McAttee Bridge. Around 3:00pm the heat of the day seemed to reach its peak, and the dry fly bite disappeared from Cameron Flats down.

The forecast calls for more wind, but temps should be dropping over the next few days. I'll be on the river every day.  So, stay tuned.

Sara and I had an all to rare occassion to fish with Tom "The Nighthawk" Cornell tonight at $3 Bridge. We spent more time catching up than fishing. Tommy had some great stories from a recent trip to the South Fork of the Snake (Home of the sucker in the foreground of the photo. The sucker in the background lives in West Yellowstone.).

Fishing was a little funky for us tonight. We didn't see the numbers of mayflies or feeding fish from 5:00pm to 9:00pm that had been around earlier in the week. But, the caddis activity at dark more than made up for it. An Iris Caddis seemed to do the trick as soon as the sun went down.

As July quickly draws to a close, I finally find myself with a couple of consequetive days off. I'm psyched for some time to get caught up on things like laundry, bills, my wife, and some personal fishing before a jam-packed August arrives. (Not necessarily in that order, honey!) The next month will be busy with a combination of daily trips on the Madison and in YNP, as well as some backcountry horse pack trips. I look forward to these pack trips all year. They are definitely a highlight of my season.

This grizz picture was sent to me recently by David Wampler from Kerrville, TX. We spent a few days together on upper Slough Creek last year, and ran into this ornery bruin on our last morning of the trip. The orange mark below his ear, and on his shoulder is from pepper spray. I'll let your imaginations take it from there.

More wind. More warm temps. And, another evening of great fishing on the Madison. I floated last night with Gerry Schwab. It was Gerry's first float down the Madison, and despite the wind's best efforts, we had a great time. Nymphing was the name of the game to start. Gerry did well subsurface with a serendipity, and a soft-hackle emerger. By 5:00pm we had seen several fish rise to the handful of flavs that tumbled downstream in the wind, and decided to switch to dries. From that point until dark thirty pm we had consistent fishing with a #16 pmx and a #16 sparkle dun. Thanks for a great float ,Gerry. Enjoy the rest of your road trip.

The furnace and the fan have both been set at high in the Madison Valley recently. Daytime highs have been in the mid-80's, and a stiff southeast wind has puffed up each afternoon. With warmer temps, I've opted for late afternoon and evening trips this week, and we've seen solid fishing. Water temps have peaked out around 65 by 3:00pm forcing bug and fish activity alike to slow somewhat in the afternoons. But, as soon as that sun starts to drop in the late afternoon, water temps plumet quickly, and the river comes alive with four different caddis, flavs, epeorus, pmd spinners, drakes, and still stoneflies.  When we rigged up at the truck this afternoon the temp read 88 degrees, and I couldn't bring myself to wear waders. At 9:00pm the water temp was 58 degrees, and I was reaching for that extra layer of fleece in my pack.

Hillman Ray from North Carolina joined me this evening at $3 Bridge, and we found an interesting variety of bugs on the water. Billions of caddis hover over every streamside willow right now, and salmonflies are still sneaking their way onto your neck. This is no place for anyone whose even slightly uncomfortable with bugs. (It's a dam good thing they don't have mouths.) Nymphing was the ticket for us early, and we hooked some nice fish on epeorus and flav emergers fished deep. By 5:30pm a few duns began to float by, and fish in the outside seems rose to them sporadically. We switched to dries when a big, chunky flav caught a ride on Hillman's leader and was inhaled by a rainbow ten feet from us. Working slowly upstream Hillman rose quite a few nice fish on sparkle duns. By 9:30 the temps had dropped, and we had caught plenty of fish. So, we skipped out before the final half hour of caddis madness at dark. Thanks for a great trip Hillman.

I'm back down there for another float tomorrow evening. So, Stay Tuned!