Making The Most Of Opportunities On The Water

 I just noticed my last check in was in June! Wow, we probably don't have any followers anymore. The new kid has my hands full but I have been out on the water as frequent as possible. The hopper bite toward the end of summer was pretty damn good. I have found some smaller creeks in the area have an abundance of hoppers that congregate on the dry riverbed in close proximity of the water, these are the spots the yield incredible dry fly opportunities year in and year out. As we transitioned into early fall work picked up and my time on the water was far and few between. Timing the true pre-spawn bite out in Montana varies from watershed to watershed. If you fish a stream that is in full spawn mode expect for very long and slow days unless the river is loaded up with rainbows. We are now in our post spawn mode and again.....depending on what the river or stream has in its water will dictate what type of action you get. The rainbows are starting to congregate in winter water, nice slow moving and deep pools. The browns just did there thing and are attempting to get back to a normal feeding pattern but this will take a few weeks to happen. 

December can be a tough month out in Montana if you don't change your mindset on where fish hang in the winter and what flies to toss. Midges are the main meal in the waterways so your two nymph rig should have at least 1 #16-18 midge/mayfly pattern on if you want to get into numbers. Avoid riffles until later in the day and focus your attention on the slowest and deepest of holes. That's where the "Pods" of fish are this time of year. If you catch one.....there will surely be more. This is a great time to get out and enjoy the peace of winter around these parts and many places around the country. Enjoy Old Man Winter! 

Summer Check-In

It's been months since my last post and for good reason. We've welcomed a new member of the Grobe Angler Team this June, Madison Ann Grobe was born on June 20th and she's been keeping us busy! Toss in a 100 year pandemic and well I don't have to tell you guys/gals how life has been. 

I have been out on a few trips this summer, mostly taking advantage of the wonderful dry fly action that presents itself around here during the hot months. The Spruce Moths just started getting heavy up in Gallatin Canyon so the dry fly bite should be red hot this month. Throw in the hoppers and my line won't see a nymph until sometime in September. Hope everyone is well and out catching some fish. 

Eccentric Times

   My alarm goes off at 5am. I roll out of bed and fire up the coffee. Groggy eyed I turn on the news to see what damage COVID-19 has caused in the past 24 hours. Everyone lives through historical moments throughout their lifetime, but this will most likely go down as the biggest moment any of us will live through. I crack open a few eggs and long for the news cycle that consisted of Democrats yelling at Republicans or vice versa.

   I take a sip of the strong brew and contemplate a plan for the day. I have a 6 hour window to chase trout, and right now with everything going on in the world that's exactly what my brain needs to settle down.

   For the past few months I've been content on just chasing trout. When I have some time I pick up the rod from the garage and drive to the local waters around Bozeman and have at it. It's fun, mindless and stress free. Halfway through my cup of Joe I settle on chasing big fish for the day. I've gone away from "The Chase" in the past few years because of the commitment it takes to consistently catch 20+ inch fish. It's a completely different game. You have to set goals, make plans, scour maps and invest more time then just fishing for numbers. You also have to be willing to find streams that aren't so good and battle through the mental pain of wasting a valuable fishing day. Luckily my first few years out here I spent countless hours finding good solid streams that can produce good numbers of big fish.....so when time permits I can venture to those locations and get to work without much questioning of my decision.

   There's nothing like arriving at your spot and knowing there are big wild brown trout lurking in the waters. My Tacoma came to a halt and I quickly gathered my gear.  I glanced down at my big ole Rubber Legs and smile, this guy has brought more 2 footers to the net then any fly pattern I've ever fished. I walk swiftly through the matted down grass which just recently got rid of it's winter snow pack. I hear the riffles in the distance knowing my destination is soon approaching. The magpies are chirping and a perched Hawk scans the fields for a quick easy meal. I crest the hill and look down at the meandering flow of water, my escape for the next 4 hours.

   The stretch of water I need to cover to get back to the truck would take most people 5-6 hours to fish. I know 4 hours isn't enough to lollygag around  and swap flies until I figure out what the fish are eating. I made my mind up over coffee and eggs......hit the prime lies and move on. I peel of the mono rig from my reel and start casting upstream on the inside bends. To me, this is the most likely lie for a big trout. It's that spot of calm water adjacent to the main riffle close to the bank your fishing on. Through the years I've settled on the belief that the big fish hang in this water because they can quickly sense the presence of clumsy wade fisherman. They can also quickly retreat to deeper water when birds of prey come hunting for lunch.

   My #4 RL covers the first  two runs thoroughly with no action. I feel confident I'm making the right drifts and getting to the kill zone. Questions immediately start creeping into my mind. Is it too cold? Are they keying in on the midges I see scurrying on the water surface? I think back to the plan at breakfast and just decide to cover the prime lies with my big fish pattern. Two more productive runs and riffles yield no results. I'm not here for numbers though. I'm here for one 20+ inch brown trout. I've played this game before when it comes to these fish and sometimes if you stick with it long enough you get rewarded with a fish of a lifetime.

The next bend comes into view and I take a deep breathe. This one is hard to approach. You have lots of slow clear water at the tail end of the pool and countless times I've sent wary trout into the prime lie that notified all the other trout something was up. I took my time and slowly covered the tail out. No action but no fish spooked....at least that I could see. At the top of the run there's a nice deep inside bend with little to no current. I suspect the fish are hanging in there doing their lazy early spring thing.

I watched my sighter slowly tighten and moved the rod tip accordingly to keep good contact with my nymphs. Tick, Tick, Tick. I felt good and could feel my nymphs riding the bottom of the inside bend. I am aware that usually this bend has some debris at the bottom and snags occur. This never effects my hook sets though, that's a lazy mans way of fishing. Toward the end of my drift the sighter hesitated ever so slightly. I set hard and thought I hooked some debris. But....then the debris started taking off upstream. The tell tale sign of a big brown is a massive head shake then it tends to bulldog you by riding close to the bottom of the stream. This is exaclty what happened and I knew I had a good fish on. I quickly started walking to the bank, seeking shallow water to aid in landing this fish. A few good runs up and down the hole and I finally got to visual see the big kyped brown. I knew he was namer material....now I had to seal the deal. I kept side pressure heavy on him, hoping my 4x tippet would hold out long enough to land him. I got him close enough to take a swipe with my net
and to my surprise scooped him on the first try! This usually doesn't happen when battling with a big fish but hell.....I'll take the luck. With the heart racing and a relieved feeling I sat down and admired the beast for a few minutes before taking a pic and releasing him back into the depths.

I was halfway to the truck when I landed the fish I came for. So the rest of the morning I had less focus, but was at ease. I manged to wrangle a few more big fish, and sometimes that's just the way it goes. Today wasn't about numbers......it was all about the Big Fish Chase. I was rewarded with a NAMER....a Troutbitten tradition ( www.troutbitten.com ) Folks meet Mr. Yokozuna. Tight lines all.

Mid Summer Update

Well it's been awhile since my last report. Summer tends to fly by quicker then a Salmon Fly Hatch. Works busy and the weather is so good you have to maximize your time outside before the snow starts to fly! I've been out on the water a bunch since my last post. This year I chased the Salmon Fly on the Madison with my brothers for 4 straight days. The hatch had a late start this year but we managed to time things right and get action every night on the Big Bug. The last evening was pretty epic. A big thunderstorm blew in and knocked a pile of bugs into the water, the fish went crazy and the action was lights out. The big bug was STILL present on the upper river a few days ago, I'm guessing it's still around the lake section right now. Most people are saying this is the latest they've scene the bug hatch on the Madison River.

Runoff is officially over for the season. It was a long one this year but now is the time to visit all those mountain streams you've been waiting to fish all year. I have spent a good bit of time exploring the past few weeks and it's paid off. Chubby dropper is the meal ticket right now on these waters. Nothing beats tossing a big dry in the middle of the day for feisty fish. As we approach August the famous rivers will start to peter out due to all the pressure, so head to the hills if you want some solitude and good fishing.

Winter 2.0

John Working A Good Run 

Is it spring? Summer? Or is Winter still lingering around? The coldest May in 47 years has engulfed Montana for the past few weeks. Run off started to get going but quickly got knocked out by Winter 2.0. Flows on the Yellowstone are as low as I've scene them since moving here for this late in May. What this will do to the month of June is anyone's guess, but in the meantime it's a great window of opportunity for those close by. Action has been good subsurface and on the surface depending on where I've been fishing. March Brown's and BWO's have been out in full force. If the water has some clarity look for some good dry fly fishing. I'm venturing down to the Henry's Fork this weekend in hopes of hitting the Salmon Fly Hatch but from all the reports I've been getting I think we are going to be too early. Last year we went down the same weekend and the hatch was almost over! That just goes to show you how hard it is to time things right.

Small Stream Gem 

On The Verge Of Run-Off

Pre-run off is upon us here in Montana. Some of the rivers are completely blown out, some are holding strong and either way they all have more water in them then 3-4 weeks ago. Rainbows are starting to wrap up their spawning in most places, but others are just getting going. Water temperature plays a huge role for when these fish spawn so I would assume the first few weeks in May will have active fish spawning in certain water ways. Fly selection is pretty simple this time of year, egg, worm and a RL is usually the ticket. Slowly, fish will start transitioning into a BUG diet once the water calms down. The mothers day caddis hatch should be starting in a few days. That brings out the dry fly enthusiast in all of us. I'm hoping the Lower Madison holds strong with clarity so I can experience it like I did last year. Only time will tell.

Inside Seams

Took a nice long 3 day weekend to the Missoula area this weekend. Haven't spent anytime fishing around there and the hype didn't disappoint. We spent time in the drift boat and chasing fish on foot. Didn't matter where we went the fish cooperated. Even though it may be spring, the fish are still acting like it's winter. The key to the trip was fishing soft inside seams that were 3-5 feet deep. Fish were still in winter lies and NOT spread out around the river at all. We had to cover lots of water looking for the right stuff before we got into our NUMBERS. The skwala bite was weak in the Upper End of the river, so we opted to fish the worm and Rubber Leg. That combo is downright silly all over the state right now, doesn't matter what watershed you go to......that's all you need. We didn't see any signs of spawning fish up there yet, water temp is frigid. On the way home we stopped at the Big Hole and caught a bunch of fish. From the headwaters to Wise River......the damn thing is STILL frozen bank to bank. Crazy year out here in Montana.

Weekend Update

Worm Eater 

Pheasant Tails Becoming Effective 

#AllDay

I've been on the water a good bit the past few days. Some of the freestoners that had clarity issues late this week have come back into shape nicely. If you plan to hit those spots have your worms handy......lots of real ones have washed into the rivers the past week. Fish are whacking them hard right now. The other fly on the menu this weekend was the Pheasant Tail in a #16. Baetis are abundant and the fish are keying in on these guys. SOME fish are spreading out, still....most of my luck is coming from the slower water. Fish the flies slow and low in order to get strikes. The tops of riffles have started producing in the afternoons as fish are starting to work those Baetis nymphs that are getting active at that time. Don't be afraid to walk until you get into fish. Some stretches of the river just aren't to active yet.

Watch out for those Moose! 

The Transition

We've finally had a warm up here in Montana. The amount of valley snow melt has caused quite a few of the freestoners to turn off color this week. I got into some action prior to that and the worm bite was ridiculously good. It's quite incredible how many of these "dirt snakes" enter the water when the snow starts to melt. The fish react in a predatory way and devour any red or pink type worm you toss into the water. I've gone back to an original San Juan type pattern because too many guys these days are throwing the Squirmie and it just hasn't been as effective for me as of late. The bugs have started to come off too which is a great sign. I've scene quite a few Baetis in the air but limited risers. I'm anxiously awaiting reports for the Skwala Stone Fly hatch up north to get going but nothing so far......it's a few weeks behind schedule this year.

The fish are starting to break their lazy winter habits and move to different parts of the river. If the cool down that is expected comes later this week and the water settles down there should be really good fishing to come in the next few weeks.

Day Light Savings

Day light saving time is here and that means that spring should be right around the corner here in Montana. At the moment it feels nothing like spring, I have 3 feet of snow in the front yard and high temperatures of 30 degrees is hard to come by these days. The long range forecast looks promising though, 40 degree temps should start to be the norm as we approach the end of the month. The lower end of most freestoners and tailwaters have been locked up for over 5 weeks now. I would guess those stretches have some really hungry trout waiting to be caught once the ice lifts. I ventured out to the Gallatin today and the action was pretty superb. I fished two different locations and both were extremely productive. I noticed most of the pullouts had vehicles in them so I wasn't the only one that had cabin fever. If day light saving time isn't a sure sign of spring then the Baetis I saw hatching up near big sky was. They were not heavy but were started trickling off around 3pm. They should only start to get heavier as the days move on. Nymphing was the meal ticket as usual, Rubber Legs and a small mayfly nymph was all that was needed to bring many trout to the net. It seems like most fish are still hanging in the softer stuff but I did catch a few in the likely summer holding spots so fish are on the move. It won't be long before the rainbows have spawning on their minds. Until next time.

When The Weather Aligns

Solitude 

I think it was back in 2016. We had a pretty mild winter around these parts of Montana. I remember going out and fishing through the December-February timeframe and was in total awe of the productivity on our local streams. 2019 is shaping up to be one of those winters. Most places haven't had icing issues as of yet, and the fish are eager to eat and plump. I've found more fish eating in shallow water then I can ever remember. I've gone out with a few friends as of late and they haven't been experiencing the same madness as I have. One of the issues is they are not prepared to fish in the winter. It's extremely important to have the right base layers, socks and fly gear. I can't harp on this enough...….lose the fly line. Most of the winter your getting your nymphing game on anyway. Setting up a mono-rig almost completely eliminates the ice issues I see most guys have with fly line this time of year. If your skeptical, check out my buddy Dom's blog www.troutbitten.com and sift through his postings. You'll be a believer once you give it a try. Fly selection isn't that hard this time of year either. Throw on your favorite stonefly and trail a midge or worm off it. Cover water until you start getting into fish and pound that spot until there's no more willing fish. Don't overlook the shallow riffles at the head of a big bucket.....when the sun is up the fish will be there. Get out there and try it, you won't regret it!