Sitting on an old trestle long abandoned by a defunct railway and now a historic pathway for trout fishermen, I looked at the water below my dangling legs as it passed silently by. I had fished through the morning and had enjoyed a relaxing successful time on the water. A solid handful of fish had willingly risen to my offerings whenever I was able to put together a decent presentation, and there's really not much more that a person can ask for in my mind. No huge fish, but none were what one would consider small either. Just a good day, that is, in the eyes of this fisherman anyway. The end result; I was as happy-as-a-clam and content with the world.

It was 45 degrees outside with a 25 mph wind. It was time to go out to a pond and try my luck. The next four days are supposed to be marked by heavy rain with thunderstorms. That's not a good time to be waving a graphite stick with lead in my behind.

There is a sea loch near me called Loch Fleet. It is great for sea trout (sea run browns). They hang around the weed beds so I wanted something reasonably weed less for them. Some time ago I bought some living nymph hooks with the intention of tying my Bi-Colour Nymphs on them. When I received them they were just too big and heavy for the nymphs. However, they are perfect as bend back hooks.

Ennis, Montana is a small community tucked away in the southwest corner of the state. This small community with a population of fewer than 1000 people only survives with a small ranching and tourism economy. During the summer months this small trout hub crawls with fisherman all whom have come to fish the Madison River. Like most towns, catering to fishermen, they accommodate your needs quite well.

The Gibbon River joins with the Firehole River at Madison Junction to form the Madison River. Ah, the Madison River is one of the most storied rivers in the Park however this story is not about the Madison River it is about the Gibbon River. The source for the Gibbon River is Grebe Lake, and is worthy of an article in its own right. Grebe Lake is located in the center of Yellowstone National Park and when the Gibbon leaves the lake it flows a short distance through a woodland and flows into Wolf Lake. After leaving the this lake it again flows through the forest before breaking out into a meadow and flows into Virginia Cascades before entering the Norris Valley.

Fly fishermen may be guilty of killing their own sport. A rotten stench of snobbery is running through the fly-fishing community.

No one else has the arrogance to make up new names for things, as in calling a bobber a "strike indicator" or saying the knots in leaders are "wind knots" when they are a result of bad casting. It's an oddity that can be humorous.

Old angling books are fun to read, especially old angling books about fly fishing. I find it quite interesting that much of what we think is new and revolutionary is usually just a rehash of something that was discovered long ago. Recently I have been perusing a small booklet published in 1860 entitled, "The Concise Practical Treatise on Artificial Fly Fishing for Trout," by Grey Drake. The entire booklet is 24 pages long, but it contains many tidbits of angling knowledge that are still as relevant today as they were when they were printed.