Winter Fishing in Montana

I decided to take a quick road trip this weekend up to Dillon, Montana to meet up with my good friend Brian Hodges and do some fishing. The weather forecast looked right; highs in the high 30's to low 40's with sunny skies. There isn't much opportunity to fish in Jackson Hole this time of year, it does not get quite warm enough. We met up early on Saturday morning, grabbed some breakfast at Sparky's in Dillon (highly recommended), and then headed for Poindexter Slough. I had always heard of this piece of water, but had yet to fish it. It tends to be crowded during summer and fall (when I am usually in the area), so I've always passed it up. We hit a beautiful day and had decent fishing. We didn't see anything over 17", but netted a handful of Brown's on streamers with the place to ourselves. I was expecting to grab a room with Brian, and he let me know that he had arranged a room for us with his good friends Jay Burgin and Mary Jacques, proprietors of the world famous Five Rivers Lodge. It was a great getaway. We had cocktails and dinner, while talking fly fishing under the Montana moon. They graciously opened up a room for us, and we woke today to another beautiful day in Montana. We put a couple of hours in on the Beaverhead, before coming home. If anyone reading this is ever thinking of a Montana getaway, the Five Rivers Lodge is just great. They work the Big Hole, Beaverhead, Jefferson, Ruby and Madison Rivers. The accommodations are great, and Jay literally houses the largest fly selection in Montana in his fly shop...it's something to see. Visit them at www.fiveriverslodge.com. Here's a photo of the lodge. We've picked up a little more snow here in the past week, but our snow water equivalent is still a little low, hovering around 60% of normal. At this point, I'm predicting an earlier start to our fishing season...but don't hold me to it. More soon!

The Progression

I ran into a fishing client this week at the ski shop, and as our conversation turned from the subject of skiing to fishing, we remarked about the progression of fly fishing that he has gone through, like many other anglers. This client was someone that I had taken many years ago as a beginner, that had progressed through the sport to become a great angler. It is quite interesting to see the progression that almost every fly-fisherman makes from novice, to accomplished angler. Once a novice has learned to cast, all he or she wants to do at that point is to catch a fish...just one fish. The thrill of catching that first fish is like nothing else. After this, anglers tend to get to a point where they want to catch as many fish as possible; it becomes a numbers game. This phase can last a very long time, sometimes years. At some point in this stage, the angler will hook and land a very large fish. This is where the next stage starts; hunting for the largest specimens only. Numbers don't seem as important anymore, it's the quality that you are now after. At some point even further down the road, after netting many large, beautiful trout, there is a revelation. It's not about quantity, quality or even catching a fish. It is about the periphery experiences in fly fishing that keep us coming back for more. Travelling to new places, seeing old friends, being on the water in pristine environments, and forgetting about everything else but the moment. This has been the progression for me. Here is a shot that Scott Smith took of me in the "moment". Gorgeous, evening light on the Owyhee River, Oregon, working a large Brown trout taking dries. I didn't get him, but no matter...I had the river to myself, in a gorgeous spot, with a large, wild trout feeding just below me.

Gettin' The Goods

We are finally in the midst of a decent storm cycle right now that is bringing us some great snow. Our snowpack and water content has been hovering around 40% of normal, and everyone has been wondering when the dry spell will end. We've finally received some significant snowfall in the past few days all the way down to the valley floor, which is great news for skiers and anglers. It was a powder day today in Teton Village, and tomorrow should be the same. Not too much new on the fishing front right now. Unfortunately, team This Is Fly was not invited back to fish in the Jackson Hole One Fly this year. There were simply too many teams applying for the forty slots, and we couldn't sneak in. We are an alternate, so if anyone bails out, we'll be back in. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Make sure to check out Josh Graffam's site at www.tetontrout.com, to view a picture of a 10.5 pound brown trout that he landed in New Zealand last week. It's an incredible fish. Also, my good buddy Brian Hodges has been working on a project in Montana with a friend, getting a new fishing lodge open near Bozeman. Check out http://www.fly-fishing-montana.com/...it's the website for the new Bar Z Riverside Ranch. It's a 10,000 acre working cattle ranch with exclusive access to miles of private water on a variety of streams. It's also within close proximity to the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers for those who want to float. It looks great, and can't wait to check it out! Here's an image of me "gettin' the goods", shot by photographer Jeff Diener. More soon!

Holding Water

I often meet and guide anglers that have been fishing for many years, and that understand the importance of casting, mending and fly selection, but still struggle to catch fish. The most common reason for this with fly-fishermen, time after time, is the inability to read the water correctly. Dave Hughes, author of "Tactics For Trout" and "Reading The Water", hits the nail on the head with this one: "Ninety percent of trout live in only ten percent of the water". This statement cannot be emphasized enough. No matter how graceful one can cast a fly rod, or how perfectly an angler matches the hatch, if the fly is not drifting through trout habitat, the chances of netting a fish drop dramatically. Trout living in streams and rivers have very specific needs and will only occupy an area if it can meet these needs. The primary needs are a food source, cover from predators and oxygen. When I approach a trout stream, whether on foot or in the driftboat, I tell myself or my clients: "Okay, look at the river from bank to bank. Now, realize that 90% of the water that you are looking at does not hold any fish. We need to look at the 10% that will hold almost all of the fish." From here, we will then look for the obvious "lies" or holes, that should hold fish; places where trout can evade prey, but still find food coming down the conveyor belt, and a place where there is sufficient oxygen (moving, aerated water). Riffles, deep runs, woody structure and bouldery pocket water are some examples of prime lies. Fish these spots, and you'll be successful! Add Dave Hughes' books to your winter reading list to learn more, or better yet, book me for a day next summer and we'll read some water together! Here's a shot of guide Chris Stump on the Big Hole River, Montana, putting my buddy Campbell Hough right in the zone. I've added a feed onto my site below the blog archive directly from the Trout Unlimited website and blog. Check it out for recent posts from this important conservation group. More soon!

Fly-Tying Season

Well, we are already one week into 2010, and more than two weeks past the winter solstice, and I think I'm noticing that the days are gettin just a little bit longer. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but by early January, I'm already daydreaming about my first day of the year hunting for trout. The winter is still trending toward the drier side. It has been very cold these past couple of weeks, with many of our low temps falling 10 to 20 degrees below zero at night. The snowpack is still running a little bit lean, around the 70% mark. It's still way too cold around here to be thinking about local troutfishing; hopefully by mid to late February, we can start heading over to the Henry's Fork of the Snake to throw some flies. This is a great time of year to tie flies, however. Tying flies is a great hobby, and a fun way to be involved in fly-fishing through the cold months. Tying a trout fly, and then landing a fish on that fly really completes the whole circle for many anlgers. Beginning fly tyers often worry about being able to catch anyting on their creations. Tying a durable pattern, whether it is a proven fly, or a new creation of your own, can easily net you a fish if the conditions are right. It's all about matching the hatch. This rainbow fell for a salmonfly pattern that was tied in just the right size and shape for the hatch that day. There are some great books and DVD's out there to get you started. Give the guys at Jack Dennis Sports a call for more info. One of the great fly tyers of our time is now running our fly shop...give Scott Sanchez a call some time and get some advice from the best!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of my readers, friends and family! It's hard to believe that we are starting the second decade of this century already. New Year's Eve finally brought us a significant blanket of snow to the Tetons and thankfully gave us some good powder skiing today. Many parts of the mountain saw skiers getting into knee deep powder and excellent windblown snow. It was a much needed boost to our snowpack and water content. Good news for anglers. The Jackson Hole One Fly board met last week, and it looks like team This Is Fly did not make it in this year. We are currently the second alternate, so if two teams decide to bail out, then we will be back in. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I'm still thinking about the 21" rainbow that I lost on the South Fork during the second day of the event last year, that would have put me at 500 points. I'd like another chance! I managed to sneak out and ski today and had a great run down the headwall at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. This is about what it looked like in this Jeff Diener photo of me on Teton Pass a few winters ago. More soon!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Wyoming! Thanks to all of my clients and fellow guides for such a great summer on the river last year...I couldn't have done it without you. The weather here has been very dry lately, and we are barely seeing a white Christmas. There's probably more snow in Central Park, New York, than there is in our yard right now. Hopefully this will change soon! I'm already receiving emails from some of you inquiring on fishing next summer...can't wait! Our big holiday gift this year was the birth of our second daughter...Hannah Victoria Fuller was born on Monday morning. Mom and daughter are doing great. Charlotte now has a little sister she can teach to fish! If anyone has not been visiting Josh Graffam's site, you should be. www.tetontrout.com has some great photos following Josh's 3 month adventure currently happening right now in New Zealand. I'm very jealous. The year is almost over, so don't forget to make your tax-deductible donation to Trout Unlimited...they need our help! Here's a shot of our new addition, as well as one of my favorite shots of Charlotte from last summer. See you in 2010.

One Fly Board

The Jackson Hole One Fly board typically meets in mid-December to make evaluations and decisions on who will be fishing in the upcoming event. As some of you may know, I made my debut in the 2009 event as an angler (instead of a guide), on team This Is Fly. John Holland, Jon Wylie and Peter Chung have applied again, and have invited me to fish with them again! After guiding in the event for so many years, I was not sure what to expect when I competed in it this year. It really exceeded my expectations...it was a lot of fun. I'll gladly show up this year with this team...hopefully we can beat our ninth place finish from 2009. This week finally saw some better snowfall in the valley and the mountains. The higher elevations picked up a few feet of snow over the weekend, which is great news for skiers. It's also great news for anglers, since we need to start building our snowpack for our 2010 water year. We've made great strides concerning our reservoir levels over the past two years, it would be a setback to see a drought winter this year. At the moment, we seem to be in an "El Nino" flow, which typically does not bring us much moisture. The jet stream is splitting, bringing snow to the southwest, and the northwest, but bypassing much of the northern Rockies. Hopefully, this will change as the winter progresses. My daughter Charlotte turned 2 years old on Sunday. Among other things, she got her very first pair of skis! For now, she'll learn to walk with them on...one step at a time. While we wait for more snow, my thoughts will always drift to fly fishing. I've been daydreaming about the Wind River Canyon lately...hmmm. Here's a great shot of me and Darren Calhoun with a typical canyon brown. More soon!

GoFishn!

My good friend and Jack Dennis fishing client Ned Desmond successfully launched "gofishn" this week,and it looks great. The fishing community now has its own "facebook" like website which connects anglers, guides and outfitters. Go to http://www.gofishn.com to check it out, or if you would like to see my profile page, click on the gofishn link off of my link list below. Once enough people join, it will really create a national spiderweb of connectivity among us all. There are already some great photos on there from a variety of anglers. The weather has still been very cold, will no significant snow fall yet. Rachael and I took Charlotte today up into the Gros Ventre mountains to cut our Christmas tree. As we were heading north out of Kelly, we came across what we thought was a herd of bison, but as we got closer, we realized that they were Moose...12 of them! I've never seen so many moose congregated in one spot. Here's a photo of them...enjoy!

High And Dry

Hopefully everyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving! The weather around here the past week has gone from cold and snowy, to clear and dry, with relatively warm temperatures by each afternoon. We'll be coming into December with virtually no snowpack at all elevations...not good news for skiers. It will undoubtedly be here soon enough. There has been a window each of the last few afternoons of about 2 hours where the temperatures have been in the mid 30's, under clear, calm skies. Rachael, Charlotte and I took a walk yesterday afternoon on the Snake River levee, just north of the Wilson Bridge. We noticed a very small sidechannel with a deep run in it, holding a handful of some very nice fish. As we watched them carefully, we could see them ever so slightly feeding on the surface. If this weather holds a little longer, we could still see some action on the Snake before the big chill really comes. Congrats goes out to my good friend John Holland...he's a new dad! Brooke Holland was born this past week in Seattle to proud parents John and Shelley. Here's a photo of John on the oars from a trip we did last spring to the Henry's Fork during the blizzard Mother's Day Caddis hatch. Click on the image to enlarge it, and check out the bugs!

Just A Memory

The weather around Western Wyoming has turned to full winter mode these past few days. The 2009 fishing and guiding season is now a distant memory. It's time to break out the skis, shovels and sleds. It's snowing heavily today with some wind, and it's piling up. I've been pouring over fishing photos from the past year and recalling just how great it was. For now, the excitement of the upcoming ski season is starting to build, and the daydreaming about future fishing trips will begin! Here is a photo of what I think was the prettiest brown I got the chance to net this season...an absolute leopard. Location: No Tell Canyon. Thanks to everyone who has been following my site this year! Stay in touch, and I'll do the same.

Shoulder Seasons

We're in the middle of another shoulder season right now in Jackson Hole. The summer tourist season is all but forgotten, and the winter ski season is still a few weeks from starting. The "off season" around Jackson can be a good time to recharge the batteries. No one around but locals taking a breather before the next push into winter. Although the outdoor pursuits can be harder to participate in (slower, colder fishing and no skiing yet), it is still a great time to be here. The town is extremely quiet; there is much less auto and pedestrian traffic, and the restaurants that are open have a mellow feel right now. After all the years here, I still don't mind the off seasons. Most of my friends (including myself), have hung up the waders for awhile, so I don't have much of a local fishing report. Make sure to check out Josh Graffam's site on my link list (Teton Trout)...he's in New Zealand for 3 months stalking large brown trout, and will undoubtedly be posting some great pictures. I'm very jealous! I took a drive tonight up to Teton Park to snap some sunset photos with Charlotte. Here's a nice shot of the Sleeping Indian (Sheep Mountain), guarding the valley. Stay tuned!

Guide's Trip

A few of the Jack Dennis guides piled into three boats yesterday to float the Upper South Fork for our annual guides day. The day started with a very greasy (but filling) breakfast at the Angus in Swan Valley. We were on the water about 7 hours, and had pretty good fishing. I spent the day in Scott Smith's boat, along with Tom Montgomery. The day was filled with as much story telling from the guide season as it was with actual fishing. Action was good on streamers all day. There was a very good Midge and Baetis hatch that started late in the morning, and really peaked at about 4 o'clock. There were many pods of rising fish to cast to, but they were tough. There was a lot of food on the water under very bright skies; the fishing felt like they had been seeing some pressure. We did not see any real monsters in our boat...oh well! It was a lot of fun though! We officially bid Jeff Currier farewell at our lunch site...good luck Jeff! He's got a great new blog that should be highlighting his post-Jack Dennis pursuits... check it out... http://flyfishingbum.blogspot.com/ Now would be a great time to go walk the South Fork with a dry fly rod and some light tippet. Fishing from noon until dark should be good. Size 18-22 midges and olives got the most attention.

Warm Start To November

The first week of November here in Western Wyoming has been unseasonably warm. It's been mostly sunny, with our high temps nearing 60 degrees. I've been busy watching Charlotte, and getting back to work at the ski shop in Teton Village, so have been unable to take advantage of any fishing in the nice weather. I've received a handful of good reports from the Snake over the past few days through this warm weather. It sounds like fish are surface feeding on midges in the middle of the day. This time of year, I think the best fishing is on either end of the river; fish the first few miles below Jackson Lake Dam, or on the South end closer to Alpine in the Snake River Canyon. Cutthroat should be "podded" up in their winter holes. The river is at about 1,000 cfs at Moose...a great wading level. It looks like the weather pattern should hold a little longer, so if you can sneak out, it sounds like fishing will be good. The South Fork is holding at 1,830 cfs near Irwin, and should be fishing just as well right now. As I transition into winter mode, I'll be updating the blog a little less frequently, and may recycle some of my favorite photos from the past season. I'd love to hear from some of you with any fishing reports via the blog or email. Don't forget to check out the latest issue of This Is Fly...it's great! http://www.thisisfly.com/ Here's a nice shot of us pulling out the skiff under some beautiful Montana alpenglow. Stay tuned!

Cold Weather

This past week in Jackson has been quite cold and blustery. After an amazingly warm and sunny September, the month of October started with snow,and with the exception of a couple of days, was mostly cloudy, wet and cold. The start of November has always been synonymous with the end of the fishing season for me around here. Although there are still many places to throw a fly around here in November, the weather often discourages me from going. I did get to fish this past week with my buddy Stan Czarniak again. We decided to rally and go walk the North Fork of No Tell Creek near the Southern end of Yellowstone looking for fall browns. It was cold (in the low 20's) and very windy. The fishing was surprisingly good on streamers. We each netted a handful of nice fish over about 4 hours of fishing. The cold, windy conditions prevented us from fishing any longer. There is literally no one around this time of year, so that in itself makes a day on the water worth it. Bright streamers did the trick in slow moving water. For anyone that is interested, a friend of mine is launching a new website called "GoFishN". It is essentially going to be like Facebook for the angling and guiding community. It is still in a test phase, but you can submit your email and be a part of the launch. Click on the link http://www.gofishn.com/ for more info. Here are a couple of shots from the other day...very cold! Happy Halloween!