I thought that I was going to be helping someone move. They were supposed to be in town by 7:00 am. We would start unloading the truck at 8:00 am. A call at 9:15 reveled that they were not on the road yet. I decided that I would be better off on a pond. Everyone else left the house where we were going to move stuff in. The new tenants finally showed up two days later.

Malcolm has produced another delightful volume which blends the history of the sport and the insight of an experienced angler into an informative book packed with knowledge and is an easy read. This book is also has a bonus section which is A Mayfly Anthology; a wonderful collection of essays written by some of the finest authors in fly fishing history.

1 AM, Just finished tying a few flies for the trip to the Firehole, in the morning. The temperature at present time is 29, but it promises to be colder in the morning. September and Early October has provided excellent weather and I am not yet ready for the cold and snows of winter.

6 AM, the temperature is 21 degrees and that is chilly. There go the gardens. Snow is predicted to begin today and continue on through to Sunday night with some area's expected to receive up to 48 inches. In October 2005 we had a similar storm hit the area, by not with anywhere near four feet of snow.

When I am fly fishing, 99% of my fly fishing is using subsurface flies which may or may not be weighted. My soft hackles, wet flies, midges and some streamers will not be weighted. My buggers, some streamers, flymphs and leech patterns will be weighted. I am always surfing the Internet watching others tying patterns I would be interested in fishing because they "fit my style" of fly fishing. I really do not look for a particular named pattern but just searching and seeing what is being tied that looks interesting to me.

So I have covered months, hatches, flies, tactics, and techniques during the winter. Is all of this knowledge and information limited to only cold days during which not many anglers are eager to fish? Information for spawning runs may not be much use for other months of the year, but Yellowstone Cutthroats do come into DePuy's for spawning in June but it isn't as big an event as rainbows and browns. Also it's true that the trout population in the creek can change monthly affected by miscellaneous factors (insect hatches on creek, what's going on with Yellowstone River such as high water, high water temperatures, and so forth). However, over all I can guarantee you what I have written (what you have experienced virtually and have seen imaginarily) can be applied to other months of the year.

Standing at the streams edge I paused to check out the fledgling Robin that caught my eye as it lay among the wild mint. It was dead, but not stiff as of yet, so I scanned the tree above for the expected nest it would have either left or been dislodged from. There it was; about 10 feet up on the limb of a black birch tree. From my position the sound of faint chirps came to my ear. What had caused the young birds life to be extinguished so early? Obviously I could not tell if it had an internal ailment, but it was an otherwise healthy looking specimen. By all accounts not more than a few moments ago the bird had been within that nest, chirping with the rest of them.

Most everyone who is familiar with me knows that I'm a 'purist.' Without exception, I fish the dry fly. I just can't imagine not seeing a trout rise to a fly. Watching a trout move upward from a pool, or racing from an undercut bank to reach my floating offering is a site I'll never tire of. Fishing with the 'dry' is the ultimate experience of enjoyment on the waters.

Have you recently spent time with young children, say kindergarten aged children. Recently I had a friend tell me about a day he spent with a class of kindergarten children. First he said that they skipped everywhere; they skipped to recess, they skipped to the library, they skipped to class. They were excited about everything and they demonstrated their excitement by skipping. When was the last time that you felt that way about fly fishing?