Okay…It was one of those very memorable days as the other trout Jeremy and I caught were
really nice.
Of particular note is one of the Brown Trout Jeremy caught (see photo) was the same fish, really, the same fish Daniel caught last year. We matched up by comparing the photographs, the spots, the jaw, and all the details and they were indeed the same fish. It lived to see another year. Awesome! 🙂
Dang and Jeremy
After many, many hours of tying streamers and many, many days of hours fishing them this
spring and early summer, I finally locked into a piggy pig pig. This hen was taken on an articulated streamer I tied the night before. Olive/brown and yellow was the color combo it took. Not a monster streamer, about 5 inches in length. She took it on a medium-slow strip from directly upstream against the bank. That’s it for the nitty gritty details. It measured 26 inches and I estimate about 8 or 9 pounds. Being REAL sneaky was probably the most important factor in catching this fish. I was fishing with my buddy Jeremy, and we knew there was a great chance of a nice fish in this area because we have pulled a few from the same area already this year. After hooking it, I knew it was big, but didn’t know how big until it was at my feet, then it got hairy. It saw me and went for the undercut bank it came out of and proceeded to hang me up on a root about 3 feet back. I was snagged. No more pulling on the line, no more fish…so I thought. My heart sank, hahaha. So, I had Jeremy stick his hand under the bank to assess the situation. The bank went back pretty far and he couldn’t
even get to the fly. He was able to feel where the line was wrapped up and along with me moving upstream and giving it a little slack, (with extreme caution, cause I thought there might still be a chance) the fish erupted back out in to the main water where I was and the fight continued!!! The fish was especially not happy to see me again and put up a ferocious fight for another few minutes. After Jeremy missed it once with the net, it tried to go around the back of him and almost got into the desired tangled up mess it might have been hoping for. It was a persistent fish, but Jeremy super scooped it like a boss and it was over!!! Thanks to Jeremy we landed her in about 5 minutes time. It was pretty cool to see a fish like this again! (it’s been a minute) There are fish in the Madison that are just huge and it takes being in the right place at the right time with the right fly…and landing it. 🙂
Happy fishing!!! -Dang
Road trip!
Dan and I took clients to the Big Hole River on Monday, and had another incredible day of 
fishing.
We had very favorable weather; cool and clear in the morning, warm and clear most of the day with one potential rainmaker that passed without incident. It was a little breezy in the afternoon, but much less wind than our trip there a few days earlier.
The big bugs had passed; I saw no adult Salmon Flies and only four Golden Stones during our float. But in the post-Salmon/Golden hatch, the fish were still looking for the big meals. The Stone dry with a Stone nymph suspended under it was once again the winning combo, catching fish after fish throughout the float. There were multiple double hookups, including one on the same line, with one fish on the dry and one on the nymph; both fish jumped in the air at the same time on the hookset.
With a decent Caddis and Mayfly hatch coming off, a couple of the fisherman also threw Caddis dries and Caddis/Mayfly nymphs, which also drew strikes.
Another awesome day on the Big Hole!
The dries that produced best were Dan’s Secret Salmon and Secret Golden, and Delektable CDC Elk Hair Caddis. Nymphs bringing the strikes were Delektable Sure Strike Peacock, Tungsten Special BH Epoxyback PMD, Delektable Mega Prince, and Pat’s Rubberlegs Tan/Brown.
While the big-bug bite is tailing out on the Big Hole, it’s just getting into high gear on the Madison. So get out and get in on the action!
Marty
There are good days on the river, and there are really good days on the river.
Thursday was a really good day.
It was a day off for myself and the bosses, Dan and Nancy. We heard the reports of the Salmon Flies on the Big Hole river.
Road trip!
The expected boat hatch was in full bloom, so we put on a little later, and slipped in behind the flotilla. Despite the estimated 50 to 60 boats dredging the water ahead of us, we had hot action for the entire 18-mile float. With Salmon Flies in the air and in the bushes we, of course, started with Salmon dries. We were barely out of the launch when we had our first of many double hookups. Dan also ran his favorite double-rig; a Salmon dry with a Salmon nymph under it.
The Salmons drew incredible bites for about half the float, then cooled at the same time we started seeing Golden Stones flying. The Golden dries went on the lines and the action was right back to hot and heavy.The Goldens, dry and wet, produced for most of the second half of the trip, turning off shortly before the end. Despite there being no other bugs in the air, and the weather turning dark and threatening rain, Dan decided to go back to the Salmon dries, and the bite was back on all the way to the ramp.
What a day!
The nymphs that worked were the Delektable Mega Prince in #6 and #8, and the Tungsten Bead Goldenstone #8. The Salmon and Golden dries were some of Dan’s “Secret” patterns that are in “field-testing” at the moment, and should be available in the shop next season. Sorry guys.
It was beautiful and very green in the valley. And…The day ended with doubles again….Fun! Happy Fishermen and Women!
Marty
There’s nothing like a day on the river, and it’s even better when surrounded by a bunch of friends, new and old.
The “Friends of Doug” hit the river earlier this week on a day that just kept changing. The weather was dark, cold and windy when the float started, turned to sunny and warm for a couple hours in the afternoon, then ended back at dark, cold and windy, and threatening rain.
But the fish didn’t care about the weather. The bite was on.
Fish, and lots of them, produced boatloads of smiles. The fish were hitting the variety of offerings that have been working recently.
They took streamers, different sculpin patterns in olive and tan. Nymphs that worked were the Delektable Mega Prince, Pat’s Rubber Legs in a variety of sizes, in darker colors, but mostly the larger ones.
One of the guides turned over a rock which showed multitudes of Stone Fly Nymphs which the flies were imitating.
The river is in the right condition for action. The big bugs are not here yet but expected soon. They are still under the surface like the nymphs you see from under the rocks.
Lately some folks have tried the Chubby as a dry fly/indicator and trailed it with a stone fly nymph like the Delektable Mega Prince or a Pat’s Rubberlegs and scored well with that combo. The trout do seem to like the big nymphs, it is like a steak dinner.
It’s time to go fishing!
Nancy and Marty
