Essays & Opinion
On the 2nd Day of 2011
I missed fishing yesterday, the first day of the new year. This was the first time in a few years I'd missed New Years Day fishing on the Madison. The temps ranged from a measley minus 12 to a balmy 5 above with a 30 mph constant breeze and blowing-drifting snow. Our snow crew showed up to blow us out in time to make it to $3 Bridge Ranch at 1pm for dinner. Most invited guests made it but a few were snowed in and unable to be with us. I'm sure most of you, when attending a dinner like this one, do not have to fret over leaving the fun times after only an hour or two at most due to the possibilty of being snowed out of your driveway when you return home....We busted 2-3 feet drifts and made it home by 3pm. Driving over the bridge I looked a few minutes at the river and could see several fish moving in and out of view between ice flows.....I long for a warm-up!
The weather folks tell us it may reach into the high 20's this week with little chance of new snow and light winds so we will get in some river time soon. In the meantime we are tying lots of flies and working on some new fly ideas.
This morning we are checking out 5 good bull elk on a wind swept ridge of the Madison Range of mountains on the east side of the river. I like to think these are the same 5 animals we have watched for the last several years on the same ridge. In the past one bull had a distinct limp owing to an injured left front shoulder, and he seemed much larger than the others. Plus, over the last several winters the 5 bulls showed up later in January. But, this year the snows are deeper and temps have been colder so they may have showed earlier this winter. Today I cannot detect any appreciable size difference in these bulls, nor a limp. These guys are on a ridge about 2 miles from where we've been watching 9 wolves zeroing in on a wounded 6 point for the past month. We have not seen this animal for a few days now and the wolves have not been around either.
There is never a dull moment here in the valley. All we have to do is look out a window with our spotting scopes and whether it be a mountain goat, pronghorn, wolf, deer or elk there is always something to watch even if the outside temps can't break zero and there's no fishing to be done.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! And stay tuned here for more reports.
A Christmas Trout Denied!
Yesterday, Christmas Day, I drove to the river with fishing gear in the truck hoping to fish. Our snow plow guy, Chris, had called around 10am and said he'd broken through the drifts and cleared the road to our house....I could tell by the way the Douglas Fir trees bent and bowed below our house the wind along the river would be fierce, but the thermometer read 32 degrees when I left at noon, and I was dead set on catching a trout today.
I drove to the river and got out to check conditions. The flow was clogged with slush ice forming on the river rocks at the shoreline. I could watch the sheets of snow blowing off the flats along the river into the river forming slush which concentrated on the rocks and swirlied in the currents. The slush flows would, from time-to-time, break loose and move with the current. clogging the drift.
I suited up hoping for a miracle cast, one which would find an opening in the slush flows and allow the nymph to drop down to the bottom in the currents. After several presentations failed to break the slush ice flows I knew I was wasting time. I failed in my attempt to take a Christmas trout.
Returning home at 2pm I thought about returning to the river before our guests arrived for Christmas dinner at 5pm. But, our friends from the Longhorn Ranch in Ennis called at 2:30pm and talked about canceling their trip up valley to our place due to blowing and drifting snow on the Cameron Flats along Highway 287 between here and their ranch. I told them I'd check the flats and call them back . Jackie and I had long planned to have them here for dinner. And since our plans with them were snowed out Thanksgiving Day we were determined to make today's dinner and visit work. I drove to the flats. I wish I'd had my camera to show you how 3 Mt Dept of Transporatation plows working side-by-side coming south blocking both lanes of traffic cleared the snowdrifts...it was spectacular! I stopped to let them pass then returned home and called our guests who came early to dinner. I did not make my later trip to fish for a Christmas trout...we did have a wonderful time with our friends who were able to stay until 6pm as the winds dropped and snow drifting subsided.
Today's condtions are 35 degrees at 11am with a wild south wind, maybe gusting to 35 mph....will I fish? I'll give it a try and let you know!
A Bit of Rod Talk
Yesterday I had a conversation with a customer about fly rods, and it raised a point regarding rod selection that I thought might interest other anglers.
This particular fellow indicated that he was contemplating buying several rods, and he asked me—prior to further discussion—to name my three “go-to” rods. Immediately I resisted answering—not out of fear of sharing my rod preferences, but rather because I could sense that my answer might well affect his rod buying decision.
What’s wrong with that? Well, it presumes that he and I are doing the exact same kind of fishing, which implies that our needs are identical and therefore that our rods should be as well. I knew this wasn’t the case. No two people ever fish precisely the same waters, and even if they did it’s unlikely they would fish them in the same ways. So while my “go-to” rods might be perfect for my own fishing, I can assure you that they would have been far from perfect for this, or any other, customer. Consequently, I didn’t answer him.
What I did do, however, was steer the conversation so that we talked about where he fished and how he fished. Only then could I knowledgeably address his needs in a fly rod, and offer some useful rod suggestions. And that is exactly the point. It’s not about what rods I or any other “pro” use, it’s about figuring out what’s the right rod for you. That’s why we’re here—to help you discover the rods that will function best for the kind of fishing you are doing.
I do want to add that I mean no disrespect to the customer in question here, or to anyone else who asks about our rod preferences. Some fishermen are simply curious, and that’s okay. Feel free to ask. But too often I have heard about rods being bought—to the purchaser’s detriment—where the overriding factor was merely that some “pro” used the same rod. That’s just not the ideal way to go about it.
Rod recommendations and selection should center around you and your fishing requirements, and the most knowledgeable fly shop help I know always keeps this principle foremost in mind when talking fly rods.
Two Products I Like
It’s always nice—for a couple reasons—to find fly fishing products that work well. They prove a pleasure to use personally, and when suggesting them to customers there is satisfaction in knowing you are recommending and providing quality products. Here are two that I think are excellent.
First, the Rio Gold fly line. This is perhaps the best combination of a slick, moderately hard finish, decent taper and supple core that I’ve seen in a long time. A slick finish on a fly line obviously contributes to casting ease, at all distances. As for the tapers Rio put on these lines, they’re fine. (These days, there is too much emphasis placed by manufacturers on changing tapers as line weight changes.) Suppleness is an often overlooked feature in a line, yet it is an essential quality—maybe the most important of all—for easy handling while fishing. Too many lines today resemble coiled spring steel, owing to their persistent memory. A line that is too stiff is the primary cause of the many annoying tangles we experience when using them. The Rio Gold does not suffer this fault.
John Harder of Rio told me last week that they’re working on an even softer core for this line, which he expects to be out late this year. We’ll be keeping an eye out for it, and will pass judgment after we’ve tried it. Meantime, if you’re in the market for a new line, consider this one. It is available only in a weight-forward design.
Scientific Anglers has gone through countless iterations of leaders and tippet material over the last few decades, but I think they’ve finally arrived at something better than average. I’ve been using their Freshwater monofilament tippet material for about a year now, with excellent results. (I do not fish fluorocarbon. It is a non-biodegradable material and, in my opinion, shouldn’t be in the environment.)
This S. A. monofilament is strong, supple, knots well and mikes out accurately, which pretty much sums up my requirements for tippet. (Prior to switching to S. A. I used both Orvis and Rio monofilament. Both remain fine choices, though occasionally the Orvis would snap for no apparent reason, and some spools of Rio miked out heavy.)
I have had no issues with the S. A. material that I could not attribute to my own angling missteps, and I recommend it unequivocally.
Try one or both of these products sometime and see if they work as well for you as they have for me.
After all, successful angling depends on quality tackle. Every single item of it.
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