Monday, October 10, 2011
Clark Fork Report
The Clark fork is up a little from recent rain and slightly tinted. I fished above campus today with some brighter flashy streamers. About half way down the run I had a big rainbow come up and swipe at my fly about 5 feet in front of me. The fish missed and I stripped the streamer again. The fish smacked it and I set the hook. It was a pretty lame hook set on my part and the fish spit the fly pretty quickly. I worked down the rest of the run and then walked back to the top to throw a different colored pattern. No results. I headed back to the rapids near campus and fished the deep run on the main channel of the river. I fished through the whole run twice with no results. Riley who fished below me for most of the time did well on a pink panther variation of mine. He landed a couple whitefish and missed a few other nice trout. I need to go explore the Clark Fork more because I'm really getting tired of the same old water. Possibly tomorrow. Although I'm basically falling in love with the Blackfoot. Nothing beats the setting and the fish have remained active for as long as I've fished it. I still have a lot of that access road to explore also so I'll probably be on the Blackfoot tomorrow morning. Like I said, nothing beats the setting......
Bull Trout Madness
The past few times I've fished the Blackfoot have been on a dirt road that provides tons of access away from the main access points on MT 200. The great thing about it is that you can find your own water to fish, as long as you're willing to walk upstream or downstream a while. Today Chris and I stopped in at the Kingfisher fly shop to pick up some streamers before heading to the Blackfoot. It was a really nice day out. We picked up some flies and headed to the river. We fished above an access that we fished a few days ago and about 20 minutes in when I was ripping my streamer behind a boulder a small fish smacked my fly. It was about a 10 inch juvenile Bull trout. It was a nice little fish that fought for about 20 seconds.
We got back in the car after a while longer and headed upstream again. We found an awesome looking pool near a campground and decided to fish it. I was very surprised nobody was fishing it. I started at the head and Chris at the tail. I missed a nice fish that swiped at my fly right in front of me. Chris spotted some fish rising so he switched to dries. I decided to head upstream where I could see a nice deep run. I got up to some big sub surface boulders that created some soft pockets. I tried some different stripping patterns other than ripping the fly through. No results. I went back to ripping the fly really hard and on the second cast a fish nailed my fly. I immediately could tell by the wide head of the fish that it was yet another bully. It was a better fish of about 14 inches.
I released the fish and watched it swim to a boulder right in front of me. I got a nice underwater video of the fish sitting in the current.
After taking the video I got back to the same spot and kept ripping my streamer. I took a few casts downstream and on the next cast another fish smashed my fly. Another bull trout! I was pretty surprised and this fish was a little better than the last. I neared the fish to shore and took a couple pics. I could clearly see that the fish was starting to develop some spawning colors. It was much darker than the other two smaller Bull Trout and had some nice orange spots. It was a beautiful fish.
What I've come to realize about Bull Trout is that what they lack in fighting capability they make up for in their strike. Each bull trout I've caught so far (excluding the one that attacked my rainbow trout), have hit extremely hard. If they want what they see being ripped above their heads, then they'll get it. The fun part about it is that you can fish as aggressively as you want to. I've come to love ripping streamers as fast as I can and having fish smack the fly so hard that they almost rip the rod out of your hands. There's no feeling like it.
Another realization I've come to today is that there is a secret to streamer fishing. And not to brag, but I have streamer fishing down to a science. I developed a quote today that I think every fly fisherman in the world should start applying to their streamer technique...... "Fish as aggressively as you want the fish to be." By fishing aggressively I mean that if you see a spot on the river that you know holds fish, then by all means, whatever way possible, get your fly to the spot. Don't rush, but fish actively and work new water after completing a few casts with different stripping patterns. Now it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to rip streamers as hard as you can like I do sometimes. All of my other time fishing streamers is spent using other stripping patterns that are a little less active, like twitching. But by fishing aggressively, you're presenting your fly in the fishes strike zone and will have a better chance at getting a reaction strike from the fish. You also cover more water with more casts. In a way you're moving through a run or a pool quicker than usual, but in another way you are covering more water.
After meeting up with Chris again he said he had landed 2 cutthroats of about 10 and 12 inches on a BWO pattern. We went to the car and drove up the road further to fish one more spot. We fished a deep pool and I had one follow from a nice bull trout who turned away at the last moment. We called it a day after a while longer and started to drive home. On the way back on the dirt road Chris said that he saw Garret fishing. We drove back and sure enough it was Garret casting to a picky cutthroat. We stayed with him and watched as the fish continually picked off midges on the surface. He put on the smallest nymph he had called the purple slushy and began casting at the fish. About 20 casts later the fish came up to eat a midge and Garret landed his nymph right where the fish was rising to. The fish adjusted its path and took his fly. It was an awesome thing to watch and a nice cutthroat. After that Garret was satisfied we all headed back to campus.
Today was a great day, even though the trout were not very active for streamers. The bull trout sure were though. I was happy to catch a few of my new favorite species and get some good pics of them. I'll be exploring more of the access road this week, in hopes of landing a monster brown or rainbow.....or another Bull trout. Either of the 3 would be great.
We got back in the car after a while longer and headed upstream again. We found an awesome looking pool near a campground and decided to fish it. I was very surprised nobody was fishing it. I started at the head and Chris at the tail. I missed a nice fish that swiped at my fly right in front of me. Chris spotted some fish rising so he switched to dries. I decided to head upstream where I could see a nice deep run. I got up to some big sub surface boulders that created some soft pockets. I tried some different stripping patterns other than ripping the fly through. No results. I went back to ripping the fly really hard and on the second cast a fish nailed my fly. I immediately could tell by the wide head of the fish that it was yet another bully. It was a better fish of about 14 inches.
I released the fish and watched it swim to a boulder right in front of me. I got a nice underwater video of the fish sitting in the current.
After taking the video I got back to the same spot and kept ripping my streamer. I took a few casts downstream and on the next cast another fish smashed my fly. Another bull trout! I was pretty surprised and this fish was a little better than the last. I neared the fish to shore and took a couple pics. I could clearly see that the fish was starting to develop some spawning colors. It was much darker than the other two smaller Bull Trout and had some nice orange spots. It was a beautiful fish.
What I've come to realize about Bull Trout is that what they lack in fighting capability they make up for in their strike. Each bull trout I've caught so far (excluding the one that attacked my rainbow trout), have hit extremely hard. If they want what they see being ripped above their heads, then they'll get it. The fun part about it is that you can fish as aggressively as you want to. I've come to love ripping streamers as fast as I can and having fish smack the fly so hard that they almost rip the rod out of your hands. There's no feeling like it.
Another realization I've come to today is that there is a secret to streamer fishing. And not to brag, but I have streamer fishing down to a science. I developed a quote today that I think every fly fisherman in the world should start applying to their streamer technique...... "Fish as aggressively as you want the fish to be." By fishing aggressively I mean that if you see a spot on the river that you know holds fish, then by all means, whatever way possible, get your fly to the spot. Don't rush, but fish actively and work new water after completing a few casts with different stripping patterns. Now it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to rip streamers as hard as you can like I do sometimes. All of my other time fishing streamers is spent using other stripping patterns that are a little less active, like twitching. But by fishing aggressively, you're presenting your fly in the fishes strike zone and will have a better chance at getting a reaction strike from the fish. You also cover more water with more casts. In a way you're moving through a run or a pool quicker than usual, but in another way you are covering more water.
After meeting up with Chris again he said he had landed 2 cutthroats of about 10 and 12 inches on a BWO pattern. We went to the car and drove up the road further to fish one more spot. We fished a deep pool and I had one follow from a nice bull trout who turned away at the last moment. We called it a day after a while longer and started to drive home. On the way back on the dirt road Chris said that he saw Garret fishing. We drove back and sure enough it was Garret casting to a picky cutthroat. We stayed with him and watched as the fish continually picked off midges on the surface. He put on the smallest nymph he had called the purple slushy and began casting at the fish. About 20 casts later the fish came up to eat a midge and Garret landed his nymph right where the fish was rising to. The fish adjusted its path and took his fly. It was an awesome thing to watch and a nice cutthroat. After that Garret was satisfied we all headed back to campus.
Today was a great day, even though the trout were not very active for streamers. The bull trout sure were though. I was happy to catch a few of my new favorite species and get some good pics of them. I'll be exploring more of the access road this week, in hopes of landing a monster brown or rainbow.....or another Bull trout. Either of the 3 would be great.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Tough day on the North Fork
Went early today to the North fork of the Blackfoot with Chris G., Chris L., and Troy. It was Chris L's first time fishing with us, although we've all been good friends since college started. Being on the football team has left little time for him to fish with us. We decided to fish a lower section of the river. The colder weather over the past few days has really affected the fish. We learned that pretty quickly today as the fishing was nothing like it was last weekend. The fish were way less active and I noticed that many of the fish were now sticking to cover like logs and big boulders. This made it very hard to target fish because today they were pretty much in random places. Chris L. and I fished some lower pools while Chris and Troy went upstream. Fishing was slow to begin with and in the first hour I only had 1 follow. Chris L. missed a nice fish and I had a few more takes on a bright flashy streamer pattern before we met up with Chris. He had hooked a bull trout earlier of about 18 inches but lost it. Troy had landed 1 little cutthroat nymphing but other than that both of them hadn't had much action either.
Troys Cutthroat
Now that I can finally post videos here is one of the many great shots that I got while out on the river today....
Photo credit: Troy
We continued hiking upstream finding nice pockets. Each of us missed a couple fish and Troy managed to land 2 more fish nymphing.
Farther upstream, Chris and Troy found a really nice pool upstream that was stacked with rising fish. There was a good hatch of small tan caddis and sulphurs in good numbers. Many fish were rising but they were very picky. After each of us gave it a go I found that Chris L. had a sulphur imitation in his fly box. I kindly asked to borrow it and he complied. He should have used it himself! It took many casts but eventually I managed to entice 1 cutty to strike. I got a very good head shot of the fish.
Now that I can finally post videos here is one of the many great shots that I got while out on the river today....
The rest of the day went alright. I finally picked up one cutthroat on a streamer that fought like crazy in some fast moving water. It felt good to just get on the board.
We continued hiking upstream finding nice pockets. Each of us missed a couple fish and Troy managed to land 2 more fish nymphing.
Farther upstream, Chris and Troy found a really nice pool upstream that was stacked with rising fish. There was a good hatch of small tan caddis and sulphurs in good numbers. Many fish were rising but they were very picky. After each of us gave it a go I found that Chris L. had a sulphur imitation in his fly box. I kindly asked to borrow it and he complied. He should have used it himself! It took many casts but eventually I managed to entice 1 cutty to strike. I got a very good head shot of the fish.
After we fished that pool for a while we decided to call it a day. It was a pretty long day and we got in more than 7 hours of fishing. It was a good day trip but the fishing was pretty tough. I was hoping to help get Chris L. hooked up with a big Cutthroat but it just didn't happen. Hopefully next time.
Vids are Back
When I got to the University of Montana, the internet (for some great reason), wouldn't allow me to upload videos to the blog. Now for some reason or another, I can. Great vids coming....
Friday, October 7, 2011
The Streak has Ended
Since being out west I have not gotten skunked once. Every single day I have fished I've managed to land something, even if it was small. The streak is now over. This afternoon Cody, Chris, Riley and I headed to the same stretch we fished yesterday. When we started fishing the wind was whipping and it was pretty cold (about 43 degrees). When we reached the big pool that we skipped over yesterday I missed a nice little fish right in front of me. The rest of the day was tough. Riley and Chris spotted some fish rising and Cody and I headed upstream to a deep run. We found a nice big boulder and Cody started working the water behind it. About 10 casts later a nice fish hammered his fly as his stripped it pretty fast. It was a beautiful brown of about 17 inches.
A nice Blackfoot Brown
Cody landed one more smaller fish a little further up the run. I couldn't manage to hook up with any fish at the head of the run. It was a tough day but the streak had to end eventually.
Chris caught a couple nice rainbows downstream on dries. He was very happy that he had landed more fish than me.....for once. But congrats Chris. You outfished me fair and square. I'll just have to show him up tomorrow. He, Troy and I will be headed to the North Fork of the Blackfoot at 7am tomorrow morning. Can't wait to hook up with more of those fat cutthroats. Stay tuned for the report......
Cody landed one more smaller fish a little further up the run. I couldn't manage to hook up with any fish at the head of the run. It was a tough day but the streak had to end eventually.
Chris caught a couple nice rainbows downstream on dries. He was very happy that he had landed more fish than me.....for once. But congrats Chris. You outfished me fair and square. I'll just have to show him up tomorrow. He, Troy and I will be headed to the North Fork of the Blackfoot at 7am tomorrow morning. Can't wait to hook up with more of those fat cutthroats. Stay tuned for the report......
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