It's Spring Time In Montana

Yes it is! The warmer trends El Nino brings have given Montana the early spring, and early spring hatches, I predicted quite a long time ago! We are already having great afternoons on skwalla Dry Flies!!! Yup, I'm not gonna lie, and I'm not going to hold back on info this season. I've put out the specials, I've sent the emails, made the calls months ago, and now I'm guiding consistently in early March. That's the the plan, and that's the way it needs to be in Montana this season. Come early, come often!
I did have the chance to fish the last day of February with the Simms rep for our area, along with a guide buddy of mine. I won't mention my friend Tony's name, but I will tell you that the big prize for the largest fish of the day was a new Simms Windstopper Fleece!
The TU banquet the night before had left me a bit hazy that morning of our day of fishing, but lo and behold, the new jacket fits me just fine! So what if I wasn't looking when the big one ate it, and who cares if I was fishing garbage water? It happens, and now the "new Jacket smell" will be challenged only by my 115 lb. lab, and I'll be rubbing in the "victory" smell on my pal for months on end as a bonus. Stuff like that between fishing buddies is just one of those things you just can't put a price on. Here's a couple pics of March 2nd on the 'Root...There are more skwalla nymphs above Hamilton right now than I've seen in six-teen years here!






My posts here will be lacking a bit for a while, as there are always new patterns to tie, and preparations to be made for all our spring clients that will be filtering in and out of Montana's version of "March Madness"!!! Man, I love my job!!!
And there's one more little thing on my plate these days: Check out the new "daily" Video Fishing Report on the website whenever your getting ready to head out in the Missoula area. Up to date, and straight from the river for you most days!
I'm now swinging the chair around to the fly tying vise! It's now officially ON in the Missoula area. Spring is here NOW, drop your pencil, back off the desk or whatever your doing and come fishing with us!!! Cabin fever is now an afterthought!

Come get Your Fish ON!!!

One "L" or Two?

Spring is close. You can feel it in the air, and by the way the trout are starting to act on the Bitterroot. One thing started to bug (no pun intended) me this year though: I've always spelled skwalla with two "L"s and yet I see it,(mostly from my "competition" in the area) spelled skwala. Heck my computer even just told me it's wrong with that dreaded red line under my last spelling of our famed spring stonefly.

When I started guiding back in the early nineties, my then boss, the late Paul Koller had always spelled it with two l's. I guess you stick with what you've learned from the boss when starting out in any vocation. It certainly stuck with me, and even though skwala paralella is the full name of this spring stonefly, and the scientific/ Latin/ whatever-name does actually only contain the one L, I find myself looking at it funny spelled that way.
Searches on the internet provided me with more than enough crazy entomology survey sites, blogs and fishing websites after typing the bug in as Skwalla! Fewer sites seemed to come up when I entered it as skwala. In the end, you will find it spelled both ways equally as much if you took the time to do so. As far as I can tell, and that more than likely no one, including the trout really care! You could truly spout some serious Latin should you feel the need to on our streams here, as our insect life is as vast, and plentiful as the many rivers and bodies of water we fish.
Being as that this is pretty much my all time favorite hatch of the year here, I could certainly not go on spelling it with two l's unless I explained myself. Right?
whatever...
Here's just a couple of my favorite skwalla pattern eating fish from the past couple springs! Are you as ready to throw a Dry Fly as I am???

For some reason, I just felt the need to write something silly...

Come get your Fish On!

Bug whipping in the winter

Walking down to the river everyday, in the heart of winter mind you, hoping, praying, darn near begging that one skwalla nymph will crawl up to me from under one of the twenty rocks I've rolled over and say, "get ready, spring is almost here". Is that to much to ask? OK, so skwalla nymphs can't talk, and maybe I'm writing about a past fishing dream or something, but if they could they would certainly tell you that soon, very soon, they will be on the move towards the banks of our rivers here in western Montana. The Dry Fly Bonanza that March and April bring to our area is near.

This is the turning point for me. Hunting season is over, the freezer is full, and the fly tying bench becomes more of an obsession than a place to sit and fool around with a what's just a "hobby" for some. This is a lifestyle! No matter how many thousands of dozens of flies I've tied, I just can't stop myself from getting after it on the stone flies I'll use this spring, and using lessons learned from last spring to come up with new patterns this time of year.
In between playing with the kids, finishing left over paperwork from the '09 season, tying this coming seasons flies and coming up with new excuses to put off doing taxes, I finally had a chance to surf up the article that the Missoula newspaper did on me last fall. Just thought I'd share it on here in case you had even more spare time to do some extracurricular reading via the internet. Anyway, here it is...



The Montana Outdoor Journal is doing another article on my flies for their next spring issue, and I'll throw a link up for that one when it's available as well.
For now, the skwalla nymphs slowly grow closer to the stage that we, here in Montana, can not wait to see come full circle. Until then, the whipping of bugs continues...
Come
"Get Your Fish ON"
this season

Is It Over Yet?

The thrill of the hunt is over finally, and I now have more time to day dream about my next cast. Yes, the ducks and deer are safe again, undisturbed in there somewhat winter like environs that we are so fortunate to pry into for such a long time in a fishing guides off season here in Montana. "Somewhat winter like conditions", is that what I wrote? Sure did, El Nino is affecting Montana again as well. Certainly not as bad as other places in the world, that's for sure. But we are down on snow pack, and of course, some people are starting to panic! Come on, we have had excellent conditions for the past few years, the fish are as big, strong and as healthy as they can get, and our ground water levels are in more than excellent shape to! A little rain here and there, and we will be just fine. Not mention the fact that fish so healthy that they will be just fine to.
I don't want to be the bad guy, but guess what? Strong healthy fish + a little lower water = Easy fishing & Lots of big un's!!! Sorry, but I have a blast in the low water years! When you've been fishing these rivers as long as myself, and my guides, you just know where not to fish when the waters low and the weather is hot! We take precise, and careful measures, and we know where all the springs are located in our rivers systems here. We ensure great fishing, but we also take pride in protecting the incredible resources we have here. Even when certain sections of our rivers were not involved with Fish, Wildlife & Parks mandatory no fishing after 2pm in years past, we knew where to go, and where not to go for the sake of the trout!
OK, I could ramble on about this subject forever, but let's switch over to my favorite subject:
Spring Fishing!
If you were to scroll down to, or remember my first Blog on here, you would recall that spring fishing flat fires me up! You know what, I'm not even going to go on that rampage right now either. Just watch this video and see if your not fired up for spring now yourself...



Well?

Winter is slowly coming to a close, and you can just imagine what some of my next Blogs will be about. Hope everyone get's a little winter midge fishing in, or at least a little nymphing on a trout stream near you at some point. I know I will...

Get Your Fish ON!

Winter Fishing?

Not a lot of fishing going on here at the moment, unless of course you feel the need to stare down a small hole in the ice while freezing your a%$ off and trying to drink an extra beer cause your buddies are all forcing that next frosty beverage down their gullet, even though it's only about two whole stinking degrees out! Sorry, I can do that on my couch while I watch football!
It has been brought to my attention by one of my guides and good friend Nick, that it's been since August since my last entry here. How did that happen you ask? Pretty easy I realize, as I round up my end of the year reports, and grasp a better understanding of how I was on the water more this year than last. Sometimes you have to see something on paper to get the big picture I guess.

The whirlwind of day after day on the water, with nothing but visions of rising trout and thoughts of new flies to tie and try, all dancing in my head at night when my head finally hit the pillow, have been replaced with the anticipation of the next days hunt. Yes, myself and a lot of the guides of Double Up have been out chasing fur and feather for the winter tying bench, and stacking those coveted packages of wild game meat in the freezer. The pheasant tails, spun deer hair head hoppers, and CDC wings a top some great little mayfly patterns will be stacked to the top of the box in 2010. The elk hair caddis may be a little sparser this next season, as once again I passed up some smaller ones in hopes of the big bull getting a little closer into bow range. Oh well, you can't eat a story or tie a fly out of it, but I can always find a buddy with an extra chunk of premium elk hide to spare or trade for tying.

Other than that, I can tell you it was one heck of a great fall out here in Montana, with lots of big browns eager to snap up the big dry, and then crushing the streamers through a lot of October as well! We had a super cold snap in early October this year with temps much like our past week here. We are talking a high of eight or nine degrees for pete's sake! Unheard of for that time of year. I can handle that now, as I fill out my outfitters report, but not in early October. That little snap cost me more than a few trips, but I'm pretty sure it made the fishing rock that much more for the rest of the month.
September was a hoot, with great trico and hopper fishing, and a picture perfect hatch of Mahogany's and BWO's to fill it all in. What a dry fly year! You just can't beat the water conditions we've had for the past few seasons, the fish are as strong and as healthy as ever, and believe me, they do let you know it once they're stuck! Here's a couple of fishy shots from September and October for you...












Wish I could pop more pics up here, but visit us on Facebook if you would like to see some more great shots from this late summer and fall.

Outfitting report is almost done, and we still have until the middle of January to bang on the geese, ducks and deer. I thought about ice fishing again today, but I think I'll wait until it's in the teens at least out here.
The fly tying bench is cleared, and Skwalla season is fast approaching. Oh yeah, Big Dries, and Big Browns, coming soon to a river near me!
More fishing videos are in the works, and I'm thinking of putting on a few fly tying videos up on here to, if I can ever wade through all the footage we have at this point anyway.
Happy holidays everyone, and I'll try not to wait three months for the next entry here.

Fish 'em UP...

OK, I lied...

So what? I'm a busy guy.
I thought I was going to have more time to post some videos, pictures, and blurbs on the current fishing situation around here, and I was wrong. It's been a while since I had time to post anything, but in my line of work, that's a good thing!
So finally, here's the latest FYI on our rivers in Montana...

It's been a great summer, and the hopper fishing is absolutely, out of control!!! The Trico's, flying ants, crane flies, Hecuba's, (about a size 10 green drake looking, monster, oh my word the trout love 'em, may fly), BWO's, and more are yet to come. Yikes, it's going to be an awesome late summer/ early fall!
With the rains we just received driving our rivers up to even better levels, to smack trout in, we are looking at the most optimal fishing conditions our area has seen in the middle of August in over a decade. Throw in our second year in a row with the spruce moth hatch on the Blackfoot, and hang on to your spool my friend! It's on!
Here's just a couple snap shots of the summers recent grab and grin participants from the past few days...













OK, I've waited for this for at least two weeks, and now I just can't help myself.

So now, here are...

The Top Ten Reasons to Come Fishing in Our Area This Summer/ Fall

One) Fishing is the best it's been in years here.

Two) You haven't caught a fish over 18 inches in two days.

Three) You haven't caught a trout over 18 inches in two years.

Four) All our rivers are in amazing, fishing shape.

Five) There's nobody else on the rivers, (due to the economy I guess?)

Six) The big ones are "dumber than a box of rocks".

Seven) There's more hoppers than ever in our area this year.

Eight) Fishing is insane, and our major, late summer/ early fall, and fall hatches haven't even started yet.

Nine) Dry fly enthusiasts may literally fall out of the boat over how good it is!

And now, the number Ten reason to come fishing in our area this season is...

"A blind, one armed monkey could easily catch a twenty incher after drinking a fifth of vodka, and casting with a banana, out of one of our boats this summer or fall"!

Take it however, but grab a camera with a big chip, or a lot of film, and come see us this season for a Dry Fly Bonanza that will knock you wading boots off!

Hope everyone is having a great fishing season, and I'll try not to wait so long next time for the latest fishing report.

Double Up, and back to the fly tying bench for me...

Guiding-It's 24/7

Well, it's Prime time here in Montana.
The fishing is out of control, and we are absolutely having the time of our lives so far this summer.
I sure wish I had time to write more on some of the amazing things we get to see, and the fish stories we could tell, but sorry, unlike some of the other outfitters around here, who seem to have time to play on the computer all day and write about who knows what, myself and my guides are on the water everyday Catching people FISH. We don't come home and surf the internet. We get home and make the calls to talk about conditions, find out from each other what's up on certain stretches, where's fishing the best, tie more of what's working, and make sure we have it all ready for the next days float!
Sure, shop flies work fine, and they will always have their place, but there is no comparison in the flies we fish with! "Home brewed", home tied and field tested EVERYDAY!!!! Fly fishing is fun, that's our main job, and we just don't mess around at it. Myself and my guides made the decision years ago to make the commitment to be the best there is at what we do. Yes, it does come with a price, but while other outfitters and guides are out drinking beers, and eating dinner with their clients, we are home tying the best of the best in custom, "I'm gonna kick you right in the Fin" flies!!! Clean boats, clean gear, and clearly ready to roll out on the water for a great day with our clients!
Hey thanks for reading, and I just wanted you to know that I may not have any time to post anything more until mid-summer. The hoppers are tied, we are excited, and we can't wait for the heat of the summer and the action it brings. Who knows what new pattern may emerge from the bench to be the secret weapon this August. All we know is we'll be ready!
Truly hope everyone's fishing adventures are as memorable as ours this summer, and do stay tuned for all kinds of videos coming for you, (before September, and the Dry Fly Madness that comes with it) for your fish porn video enjoyment of course!
Time to tie, time to fish, time to flat out...
"Get Your Fish On"!!!

PS
Go to the video bar on the right to see the latest Dry fly Video from this March/ April