Big River, Big Trout on small flies!!

Schnitzel did a lovely job describing our date on the Big Hole River.  I'll try to elaborate a bit on where I fish, how and for what.  Good neighbor Louie, our 88 year old fly fishing expert, showed me a few spots he liked.  This spot is the middle hole of 3 starting with the Grayling Hole.  Grayling were once very plentiful in this country but were pretty well fished out by the early 1900's except for Alaska.  Montana is trying to reintroduce this species in some rivers and they have taken on pretty well in the Big Hole.

This is a pretty nice Grayling although I did not get the miniature dorsal fin that sets these fish apart.  They are pretty easy to catch and taste pretty good with a hint of thyme when we kept some in Alaska.  Its all "catch and release" in the lower 48.

What's happening these days to get the fish feeding is the "TRICO"  hatch.  The tiny "duns" like the bottom fly (a size 22!) hatch mid-morning and then the next day, they cluster together in clouds of 1000's to mate, fall to the water as "spinners" to lay their eggs and die to provide plenty of feed for the slurping trout and whitefish.  I don't have to go that small to imitate the natural as an "Adams" or a "Purple Haze" in a size 18 does the trick with a good drag free cast in front of the gulpers.  I have never seen a purpled bodied mayfly but somehow it works just fine on this river!!

This is a dandy 18" fat rainbow that took my offering.  It ran around like crazy for 5 minutes before I landed it.  Somehow the other rainbows seem to know when one of their mates have been caught as they stop feeding for sometime.  Maddening!!  They should know I release all of these beauties to fight again!!

This is a very nice 14" Brook trout that are in the river in good numbers as well.  They are very colorful this time of year.  This fish is really a Char as witnessed by the white tipped fins.

All in all, one does not catch big numbers of trout in an outing on the Big Hole.  But with careful presentation, a few of these dandies can be caught to make a good outing in a very beautiful spot in Montana. 

On the road to Wisdom

Sunday was a beautiful day, so I was invited to coming along with The Trout as he went flyfishing.  We headed east and then south, toward Wisdom, Montana, and the famous Big Hole River.  It is quite a drive from the cabin, but The Trout has been making it often this summer. 

Just in the last couple of days, the aspen have started turning gold.  It was beautiful to see against the blue sky.

The mountains were majestic as usual. You can definitely tell that fall is in the air.  What might look to you like dark leaved trees in the above photo, is unfortunately not so.  These as lodge pole pines that have been killed by the pine beetle, a black beetle the size of a grain of rice.  It has wrecked havoc on so many trees in Montana and Colorado. 

We came across a large herd of antelope.  The Trout does not recall seeing so many in this area in the past.  But, why do they do that?  You know, turn the other cheek?  They do look cute though.

The Trout was having a good time.  In this particular hole, he caught some smaller sized trout, but there were more to be had later on in the morning.

And a rest in the stream on an aptly placed rock.  Just can't get over how beautiful the weather was.

This view was fantastic.  The quiet sounds of this area were deafening.  It was a very good day.