She looked at me on Monday and said we've been working too much lately. We're taking Friday off and going fishing.
I said, that sounds terrible. But I suppose I can hack it.
Friday morning, we still hadn't decided where we'd go, but we knew that somewhere, somehow, there were fish biting in SW MT. We quickly thought of the Jefferson, but the temptation to go jump in on the Ruby at Seylor Lane would have been too much of a temptation for myself & the dog. The wife quickly dismissed it. The Missouri was scheduled for a gentle breeze of 15 mph for the day, so we discarded that option. The only thing that really made sense was the Big Hole. Off we went.
The River was open with a little bit of slush at Divide, and it stayed that way up to Jerry Creek. We stopped at Jerry Creek and rigged up. The wife jumped in at the tail end of a riffle and started drifting a #14 prince through the pockets. I walked up 25 yards and started fishing the riffle with a #16 red copper john.
The wife was quick into a nice trout.
I had a few hits, but nothing to hand. Still, a 45 degree day in January and we're on the Big Hole, no complaints.
We fished Jerry Creek for about an hour, then picked up stakes and moved down to George Grant, fumbled around and managed to twist up both leaders enough we had to re-rig. No hits, nothing to hand. The dog was pleased to be out and doing something other than data entry.
After about 45 minutes of nothing, we headed downstream to Maiden Rock. Lots of action on a #10 rubber legs and a freight train that snapped the 4x tippet like nobody's business. I never got a good look at it but it I'm claiming it was a 22 inch brown instead of a 16 inch whitefish.
All in all, a great day on the river. Might end up on the Missouri tomorrow. Winter fly fishing is all it's cracked up to be. Get out and enjoy it.
I said, that sounds terrible. But I suppose I can hack it.
Friday morning, we still hadn't decided where we'd go, but we knew that somewhere, somehow, there were fish biting in SW MT. We quickly thought of the Jefferson, but the temptation to go jump in on the Ruby at Seylor Lane would have been too much of a temptation for myself & the dog. The wife quickly dismissed it. The Missouri was scheduled for a gentle breeze of 15 mph for the day, so we discarded that option. The only thing that really made sense was the Big Hole. Off we went.
The River was open with a little bit of slush at Divide, and it stayed that way up to Jerry Creek. We stopped at Jerry Creek and rigged up. The wife jumped in at the tail end of a riffle and started drifting a #14 prince through the pockets. I walked up 25 yards and started fishing the riffle with a #16 red copper john.
The wife was quick into a nice trout.
I had a few hits, but nothing to hand. Still, a 45 degree day in January and we're on the Big Hole, no complaints.
We fished Jerry Creek for about an hour, then picked up stakes and moved down to George Grant, fumbled around and managed to twist up both leaders enough we had to re-rig. No hits, nothing to hand. The dog was pleased to be out and doing something other than data entry.
After about 45 minutes of nothing, we headed downstream to Maiden Rock. Lots of action on a #10 rubber legs and a freight train that snapped the 4x tippet like nobody's business. I never got a good look at it but it I'm claiming it was a 22 inch brown instead of a 16 inch whitefish.
All in all, a great day on the river. Might end up on the Missouri tomorrow. Winter fly fishing is all it's cracked up to be. Get out and enjoy it.
