Continuing the search for some clear, running water. Guy in the local flyshop lets on that a stream just down the road (relatively speaking) is high, but clean and THE big bugs are coming off. I file that away as probable B.S.; why would someone tell that to a perfect stranger unless he?s running a misdirection or is planning to jump me on the stream, steal my sorry collection of gear and bury my remains in a shallow grave along the Interstate? After the tailwater adventure of the previous day, though, some action a bit closer to home base seems in order and the chance to toss some topwater stuff seals the deal.
Part 1
More like bwo weather but you take what you get
different kind of speed goat, 1970 vintage (I think)
pretty valley
upper reaches are clear, as advertised; 2 more days and they?re fishable, too
a little farther down; looks good, but still not legal
two feet visibility. not going in much deeper; river’s honkin along pretty good and the softer water along the banks looks to be the place for dries
started with a big orange thing, got 1 refusal and a toilet-flush rise that I was late on. saw a few skwalas crawling around so switched out and started hooking up; browns, nothing heroic but nice and caught the way Tom Whiting and the guy who invented craft foam intended
move downstream a bit, skwala seems to be losing it’s edge. look up, see the swallows going crazy and the first of the armored hummingbirds make their appearance; switch back to the orange thing and for 4 hours life is very good. browns and 'bows, none of the run-ups but bigger than anything I normally see on this water
river is alive with bugs - caddis, March Browns, stoneflies big-and-small, all which would probably draw interest, but it’s so much fun fishing the perch float I see no need to change.
before
after
Things finally wind down about the time the sun drops below the cliffs so I pack it up and drive out. Pretty big water down low (only folks I see on the river all day are kayaking through here)
maybe not snow-capped peaks but pretty country in it’s own way
That surely does look like a 1970 Pontiac Lemans convertible. I had the T37 version. That was the worst piece of junk pretending to be an automobile that I ever owned.
Those are some really neat pix of the salmonflies. I’ve heard that the Thompson has the earliest salmonfly hatch around and it certainly looks to be true, based on your photos.
I would think most of the runups from the Clark Fork are back down to that crick by now. Try fishing the Thompson in March and April. Lots of larger bows and browns that time of year - the bows coming up to spawn and the browns following the chow line. Had a gorgeous 20" bow on a JARS a couple months ago on the lower river, plus a good number of bows and browns measuring in the upper teens inches.
Between oil change / tire rotation and balancing and the months-early monsoonal thunderstorm of the day, I broke down and took the fly rod to the gravel pit lake down in the valley, chasing a carp. Never even had a grab, but I caught a half dozen bass, a half dozen crappie, two trout, two gills, and one green sunnie. Enough to take the edge off for a day or two.
Local trib is in full runoff mode, will be a couple weeks before I can get across it to the river again. Oh well.
Didn’t mention any stream names. On anything besides the Madison, Missouri or any of the other big name water that everybody and their siblings know about, that’s considered hotspotting; bad form and not something I care to do.
The Thompson River runs about 50 miles. It is well known to most people in Western Montana and it is covered on several major fly angling websites. For example -
