Needed a break from all the smoke in the Flathead so checked the prevailing winds, loaded up the trailer and headed toward (somewhat) clearer skies. A flock of freezer eagles bid me farewell
Not quite a tank of gas to reach blue skies. Heading in, a few puffy clouds; should throw a little shade on the creek
A little closer in and they blossom. By the time I get on the water the first rumblings of thunder; 20 minutes holding 9’ of highly conductive material in my hand while standing knee deep in another highly conductive material and I’m out of there, whether the cutts are biting or not (they were not)
Storm chased me all the way back to camp; made for some nice hues
On the road next morning to chase some sippers; reports are that crowds are not too bad but I always worry about scoring a decent campsite. Timing is everything; the campground was full by evening (although the water itself was wide open, except up in the Bathtub which I avoided)
Unhooked and grabbing all the photons I can get
Wish I could have met Rupe
A little too late for the trikes but hopper/dropper scored a pair here
Watched the transformation while suiting up the next morning
The sippers are up; I do as good a job timing the rise with a camera as I do a fly
But the blind squirrel stumbles across an acorn every once in a while; those 20k flows in late May have kept the weeds very manageable and even with 6x there’s not nearly as much salad around as I’ve seen in the past and I get a few to the net
5 of these guys come roaring over the dam; no time to get to the 12x Canon, the phone has to suffice
Pelicans imitating the Herky Birds
Top water action shuts down around 12:30 and I’m not here to nymph. Hoping for some caddis action in the evening; pretty scenery but no bugs and no heads up
As much fun as the trikes are it’s time to hit the road and head for greener pastures, literally
Next morning I try a different section of the willows and score on a pink thing
First of the cutt-bows
Flat water stretch
Again, spruce moths everywhere and the fish (all browns up here) are on them but the Splitsville gets nothing but refusals so I look for something closer to the truth; Weilenmann, you magnificent bastard, I read your book
Back in the faster water I find a real active feeder at the base of the big rock. 5 casts and 3 refusals, even though it’s sucking every other moth that drifts it’s way so I wait 10 minutes, drop down to a #12 and try again; worth the wait
Driving back to camp that evening I see 2 guys fishing, the only other people on the water in the 4 days I was there
Had a few hours to kill before heading to Three Forks to visit some friends so I headed for another little blue line
Well Scott,
'Tis another GRAND trip you took us on. Almost felt the need to take a rest after that one! Love your picture stories!!..AND your tying stuff.
…lee s.
