Floating in February with D.U.O.

What? It's March?
Taxes, more end of the year reports, marketing, tying flies...OK, I'm done with all that! Well, not "tying flies", but the rest of that junk.
My wife, a few of my guides and I took a couple days to fish in the last two weeks of February. The waters of the Bitterroot are still only a few degrees above freezing, but there was fishing, make that catching, to be had.
The skwalla nymphs are close to the bank, and we caught fish here and there all day, both days. I even had a nice brown crush a skwalla dry on the 19th of Feb! I was playing with the new video camera when he ate, and I'm sure my regulars will get a kick out of the fact "I Farmed him!" We didn't pick on any "big" fish ( as in 20 inches or better ), but it was great to get out fishing, and just be on the water. We always like to do plenty of "check floats" before March arrives, and our guiding everyday lifestyle ensues.

These check floats are especially important after the high water we had last winter, and the ice jams that followed. The photo on the left is the Bitterroot river in front of my house, back in December. I've never seen or heard of that run being frozen over completely, but was it ever. High water and ice overs both make subtle, as well as obvious changes in the Bitterroot's course, and character. New holes are formed, old trees are washed away to form some new, surprising log jam around the bend. We prefer to keep up to date on these changes, and surprise ourselves instead of our clients. Doesn't hurt to learn all the new spots the trout are snooping around in either!

As promised, we are doing some filming of our time on the water this spring. Hope everyone enjoys some of the amateur video work that will hopefully be popping up more and more on the blog this spring. I am really, just this past month, getting in to the whole video thing and working on acquiring some better editing techniques for your enjoyment. I really need some decent music to work with, and if anyone knows how to get some, easily and legally, please let me know. Thanks for the patience, and I'm certainly looking forward to this new endeavor.

Here's the latest video compilation of a few fish from our floats in February. Dry fly fishing starts sooner than you think. See you on the water...