Wildlife

Another Chinook on the way

I intended to fish today. I got up early this morning and walked dogs. The winds were coming strong from the south, but I was hoping they'd calm from the 20mph gusts at 5 a.m.and allow me to fish midges around noon.

After a long walk with Leksie and Finn I returned home. I went over a power point presentation I am scheduled to present in Phoenix and Salt Lake City during the next 10 days. I got caught up on some correspondence, tied a few Scotty's MIdges and when Jackie got up I helped her with breakfast, all the while keeping an eye on the trees above the house for signs the winds might drop. Their branches still waving wildly in the gale force wind I knew fishing would not be in the cards for me today when I looked last at 10 a.m. 

I sorted some hunting photos of elk season 2011. I remembered I'd forgotten to write a paragraph in our 2012 catalogue in my "Year in Review" portion on my 33rd elk season. Many readers have bugged me about not including an elk report in this year's catalogue. A few readers thought I'd finally struck out after 32 consecutive years taking that many bulls in a row. I admit, up until the last day of the season I'd been resigned that I was not going to score a bull; I was not going to take my 33rd bull in as many years. The 5 week long Montana elk season had been warm with little snow to move animals down from the high country. During the season I'd hunted as hard as I had ever hunted during those 33 years and I think I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for myself. I'd had a couple chances on bulls; one time my gun misfired when I had snuck up on 3 bedded bulls and surprised them in their day beds. Another time I bumbled into a couple bulls feeding in an open meadow just before legal shooting hours and watched them run off at less than 50 yards. And sadly, we lost our 13 year old male shorthair Taz early in the season and even though I continued to hunt hard I sort of muddled around in the elk woods all season missing the old boy and thinking of all the great birds hunts and times we'd shared over the years. When the last day of the elk season rolled around on November 27th I started up the mountain at 6a.m.determined to have a good day no matter what.

At first light I had a small bull at 200 yards. He disappeared behind a ridge before I could get set-up. At 9 a.m. I looked far down into an open meadow across the deep-dark canyon I was straddling and saw a 5 point bull elk with several cows and calves. I knew it was a steep-long trek down and across the canyon but it was looking like the only chance I might have on this last day of elk season. So, down I went. Half hour later I had snuck within 50 yards of the bull and 3 hours later I walked out of the woods with his antlers over my pack. 33 bulls in 33 years and we are enjoying elk steaks through the winter.

Back to today. Due to the huge winds ending my plan of an afternoon of fishing I decided to tie flies, all day. I selfishly tied for myself today, for my own fly boxes and not for the shop. I tied Nick's new PMD Soft Hackle Emergers, Soft Hackle Midge Emergers, Scotty's and Zelon Midges and Baetis Improved Sparkle Duns. I broke out a new piece of sparkle dun deer and a fresh Hungarian Partridge skin, some new zelon and a couple of our latest hen necks for more soft hackles. I had a fine day. Jackie and I ended it with a long-difficult cross country ski late this afternoon. 

Stay tuned here for midge fishing reports late this coming week. A Chinook wind is arriving by week's end and with it temps are forecasted to rise into the 40's and we will again be on the river, I guarantee!

A Gray Morning in Madison Valley

It is shaping up to be a perfect day for midge fishing here in the valley. Overcast and calm with forecasted temps to reach 34 degrees at the West Fork. I've been up since 6am tying a few of our new Soft Hackle Midge Emergers and Skittering Zelon Midges. Both have been deadly while fishing the river this week. Looking ahead at this week's weather forecast it looks like we are in for a great week of midge action. I hope to fish the Gallatin and Yellowstone later in the week so stay tuned here. 

Yesterday afternoon even though the high temp only reached 30 degrees fish rose for a solid hour. The key is calm conditions, if the wind howls it becomes strictly a nymphing proposition. When calm I've witnessed heads coming to midges in all likely spots along the river from as early 9am and still coming up as late as 3pm. The fish might rise to midges emerging in waves with the first wave coming early, as long as the wind doesn't blow. It is not unusual to have the first wave come at 9, the second a short time later then a lull until noon. Just when you think it is safe to sit on the bank and have a sandwich another wave of midges come off and trout rise.....

I especially like to fish my Tenkara rod in the winter months. With no guides to ice up and casting a fix length line I can get into position quickly and present a pin-point accurate cast from my kneeling approach. Once hooked most fish come in easily, without the long runs we are accustom to in summer months. Cool water temps take much of the fight out of winter fish, and it slows their rises to slow head and tails which bring us midge enthusiasts back time and again! There is nothing like fishing the slow motion-like head and tail riseforms of winter with no one on the river but you, the trout and an occasional bald eagle flying by! I'll get you a few midge reports this week.

The Long and Winding Road

It seems I've been out of the Madison Valley much of the past month, and my fishing log reflects that. Our conservation presentations have been great, if I don't say so myself! We raised some serious "Conservation Capital" in places like Kansas and Salt Lake City, Bozeman and New York. In 2 weeks I head to Billings then South Dakota and Michigan. In mid-May we are home, just in time for Montana and Yellowstone National Park fishing season. Somehow I have found time to tie over 350 dozen flies since January 1st. Mostly for the shop, but my personal fly boxes look well stocked and I am ready for some seroius spring fishing then next 2 weeks before heading off to more presentations. Our conservation shows are for NGO's working hard to protect and preserve wild and native trout habitat, conservation easement projects, as well as wildlife migration corridor protection, etc. Groups like Trout Unlimited and FFF, the Henry's Fork Foundation, Madison River Foundation and Yellowstone Park Foundation as well as 1% for the Planet. we are already booked for most of winter-spring 2012, no rest on this end for wild trout! I am proud of Blue Ribbon Flies and the pro-active roll it takes to protect what we as fly fishers enjoy and love. I'm proud to see 1% for the Planet grow in gifts of over $70 million for conservation programs to date with 1500 members. It is wonderful to watch the Yellowstone Park Foundation and Madison River Foundation grow in membership and funding as folks like you stand up and protect the places we all love for our kids and grandkids.

This past Thursday Bucky and I fished the Madison. It seems I drew the lucky straw that afternoon. I headed upstream, Bucky down. I took 6 nice rainbows on dry midge patterns (Zelon and Skittering) and Bucky couldn't find a rising trout. I sat on a midge pool I'd had luck on over the past several years and had a couple fish come up while I tied on tippet and a fly. I took most of my fish from this one pocket before the wind came up and we headed home.

Today, Sunday April 3rd, is cold and blustery with a winter storm warning up. I'll polish up my conservation power point presentation and finish a chapter in a book I'm working on with some other angling authors. If the weather does warm into the mid to upper 30's I'll suit up and head to the river for an hour or 2. One thing you can be assured of, BRF will continue to fight for wild trout, clean air and water and all things we love. I wonder what others are doing for our sport?

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Rough sledding, no fishing, fun presenations and looking forward to spring

It has been too long since my last blog entry. I have not fished in some time due to weather condtions. But, I will end that, if the forecast is correct, next week! We are promised to receive some 40-50 degree afternoons...and we need it!

It has been a rough-tough go for wildlife in the Madison Valley and fly fishers who want to get on the stream. On the way into work this morning Jackie and I saw 5 moose along the Madison near the West Fork. At Eagle's Nest access site there were 4 elk walking down the river searching for forage along the shoreline. 

Our good friend and talented fly tier, Tim Bozorth from Dillon came through the other day and dropped off some flies he'd tied for us. we talked about the wintering big horn sheep near the Earthquake Visitor Center and our shared concern for their safety as they often venture to the highway and walk the road, lick salt from the roadway, and are subject to being hit by vehicles. I was complaining to Tim about our on-going 4 year efforts to get signs warning motorists about the sheep on the road. I explained I'd written letters, made phone calls, etc to state officials but to date, to no avail. Tim said he'd write a letter and send some photos of the sheep on the road....what do you know......we FINALLY have 2 big "BIG HORN SHEEP CROSSING" signs! Just last week, before the sign went up, 4 sheep were struck and killed in one accident. I hope the signs will prevent future events like that. It pays to take the time and make the calls, write the letters, be persistent and follow-up until someone listens, someone who will help protect and preserve what we all love about this area.

Enough patting ourself on the back. We have work to do. This afternoon I will be in Bozeman to meet with Trust for Public Lands on some conservation easement issues in the Madison Valley. After that I put on a fly fishing presentation for the Madison-Gallatin Chapt of Trout Unlimited. On Friday I head to Kansas City, Mo for a weekend fly fishing-tying, conservation presentation to The Heart of America Fly Fishers. We'll talk about the Yellowstone's "overlooked" waters and give them an update on The Yellowstone Park Foundation's fisheries initative, 1% for the Planet, and more.

Last weekend I did a 1% for the Planet presentation for over 200 members of The Henry's Fork Foundation. We raised a record amount of money afterwards in the fundraiser-auction. The 1% program has raised over $70 million for conservation to date and its better than 1700 business members lead the way for other businesses to follow with the 1% brand. Why not spend your money and support 1% members who give back to what you and I love?...clean water, wild trout and access and so much more...we lead by example, and YES, we are blowing our horn for conservation and I hope you will join the 1% brand-and model through your shopping with 1% businesses like ours.

our Vol 2 of "Tying Yellowstone Hatches" is out and receiving great reviews for its 33 fly instructions and narration. Bucky and I tie the flies and Phil T. produces this great DVD.

While cleaning the basement last week Minori finds a batch of the Madison-Gallatin Wild Trout Foundations "Madison River Memories" by Richard Tumbleston. This great print of the $3 Bridge area was used by us to raise the monies neceessary to conserve, and keep open to the public, the wonderful 2 miles of Madison River at $3 Bridge so long ago. We are selling this print, (very limited quantity available), and the proceeds will go to The Madison River Foundation for their on-going conservation efforts in the Madison Valley. Jackie and I have one in our home and you should too! Call us for information on this great print which many thought  (us too) were totally sold out! You can see more if you sign up for our weekly email newsletter by going to our web site..

Our guides are getting ready for upcoming spring mayfly trips and all of us here at the shop are anxiously tying flies and readying our equipment with new lines, leaders, tippet, floatant and more.

I have to hit the road to Bozeman. Stay tuned for some upcoming early spring fishing reports....I promise!

Baby it is cold outside!

Last Saturday afternoon the temps soared into the low 30's and I went fishing. I got to the river and saw my buddy poking around the rock garden off shore near a spring I know it lives near. I've seen the critter's snow and mud slides and entrance to its den not a  hundred yards upstream. Someone commented here a few weeks back that I must be smoking something when I reported this otter to be 5 foot long. I watched it Saturday and know now that it is all of 60", and maybe 62". Remembering years ago when we'd purchase damaged otter skins from trappers in order to tie the, at that time popular, Otter Nymph. I can still see John, Jackie, trapper Scott and others admiring the huge otter skins taken off streams like the South Fork of the Madison. One hide comes to mind, the one artist Gary Carter bought that time, over 25 years ago, to have the hide sown into an arrow quiver he would use as a model to paint in one of his great painting scenes of Yellowstone country. The skin measured 61".....the otter I watched Saturday was this large.

I watched the otter hunt for lunch seemingly oblivious to me, until it glided by and headed downstream to a new area to look for his next meal. As it past by it came up to the surface and snorted and blew at me continuing downstream. I knotted on a Scotty's Midge and took 2 fine brown trout rising to midges. I worked up to the next spot and although the midges were on the surface the fish were not coming up soI put on a Rick's Blood Midge and took several more nice rainbows before heading home....completely satisfied to have taken many fine trout and enjoyed the sunshine and otter's company.

Sunday Jackie and I XC skied and returned home around 2pm I headed to the river even though temps hovered around 20 degrees with a north wind. I took a couple nice rainbws near Moose Creek then began to feel the temp drop. Where before I could get 3-4 casts before icing up, now I could get 1 or 2. I decided to head home but in looking up at the shoreline I noticed I gotten myself into one of those deals with the snow banks being too high to climb out of the river. you will see a couple shots attached at the end of this report: high snow banks, lace ice along the shore and another of my waders freezing up before I got back to the truck. By the time I'd gotten back to the truck it was 8 degees. On the drive into work Monday we took the attached photo of a Sun Dog near the Oliffe Ranch at Raynolds Pass.

The forecast is for a warmup the next couple days. I will fish ! We head into the park for a couple days next week of XC skiing with friends. I will get you a report! Thanks for reading....and one other note, I just recieved word our 13 part series on The World Fishing Network comes out this Sept. The first show will be Yvon Chouinard and I on Spring Creek. The show run 52 weeks, 6 times per week., with 13 different fishing venues I will keep you posted with information on other shows, where and when and more so stay tuned!

Trout rising to midges on a nasty winter’s day

Yesterday's weather forecast called for high temps in the low 40's with light winds and sun. PERFECT, so I thought, for finding a midge emergence and trout rising to them. I headed to the river at noon. It was 27 degrees and overcast with winds from the south around 15-20mph...hardly "light" as forecasted. A high overcast ski persisted the entire day, a condition I'd rather have than bright sun for fishing midges. The temps never warmed about 30 degrees, the winds kept coming strong and the midges never emerged. I saw one rise all day...but I did take several fine brown trout on our Muskrat Midge and Rick's Bood Midge before heading home 3pm.

Today's forecast called for high temps of 35 with partly sunny skies and light winds. Arriving on the Madison near West Fork my thermometer never reached 30, clouds persisted and the winds howled. But, the midges came off strong and the trout rose to them.Go figure! I had very good dry fly fishing using  Scotty's and Skittering Zelon Midges. Approaching a favorite run, a shallow pool which was sheltered from the gale force winds by a huge boulder, the midges skittered along the suface just below the boulder and the trout rose steadily. I knotted on a #20 Scotty's and had a nice plump rainbow on the first cast...usually bad luck for me as is often the case when taking a fish on the first presentation for this might be tmy one and only fish of the day. Today was an exception as I took several more trout, all rising to midges. I changed spots a couple times when the trout went down. I searched out places that were out of the wind, like the second pocket I checked and found risers. This pocket was protected from the winds by a large snowdrift. As the midges emerged they scuttled along the shoreline just off the snowdrift overhanging from the shoreline and were picked off by the trout. Here I tried a Skittering Midge after observing trout moving to take skittering adults still trapped in their pupal shucks. I stuck with this pattern for an hour or two having taken several nice trout before afternoon temps dropped and the wind picked up even more. I came home. My hands and feet are still chilled, but I had a great time catching rising trout on small dry flies. My audience included water ouzles and their lovely song, a badger that stuck its nose out of a streamside den and then walked down to the river for a quick drink before heading back to its den...(not without glaring at me a short 30 feet away.) Too, I saw ducks and a kite, a Rough-legged Hawk and a cow and calf moose. But most of all, I saw midges and trouts noses as they rose to them; I saw my fly get taken by the trout....I will see this many times in my dream tonight, and dream of spring. It has been a very long winter, even the old-time locals are complaining. I hear them at the Ennis Pharmacy and the West Yellowstone Post Office and other places too. But, this winter I will continue to search for trout rising to winter midges and enjoy the wildlife and work on new fly patterns and complain with the old-timers about our long-windy-cold winter. This is our 33rd winter since moving to Montana....and, no doubt, our hardest-longest-windest......thank goodness for midges and wild tdrout! 

once you get in….you can’t get out

What about the title you ask? Well when you check out the photos we will edit in this blog entry later you will see what I mean. I hit the river this afternoon and once I got in, I could not get out. The snowdrifts off the shoreline were so high in places that once I got in I could only get out by wading long distances to a spot where the drifts cleared. In the hardened snowdrifts measure over 12 feet high and since I didn't bring climbing gear I was forced to fish upstream for as much as 200 yards before finding a low spot in the drifts which allowed me to climb out of the water. The fishing was great and I ended up with several nice rainbows that came to nymphs and dry midge patterns.

Too, you will see a shot of blood on the ice shelf along the river....along with lots of otter tracks. Most times this spot offers up some wonderful winter fishing, but if the otter(s) has recently been there the fish move out of the run and into mid-river and become very spooky......I've watched this otter and family on many occasions and have had the large male swim between my legs fishing late in the evening during summer caddis times. He is huge, over 60" from nose to tip of the tail, and almost black in color but I wish he'd not be such an efficient predator on my beloved fish here. On a side-note, a very good friend of mine did his masters work on otters in the Madison and found their favorite food to be stonefly nymphs followed by whitefish and then trout. On another note, the whitefish population in the Madison River has crashed and this has biologists very concerned. A study is forthcoming so stay tuned here.

Back to today's fishing. Jackie and I headed  to Ennis this morning for a late morning breakfast at the Ennis Pharmacy. Returning home around 10am we stopped on our bridge and could see a couple small rainbows nymphing in the currents behind a bridge abutment. I came home and got my gear and headed down to the river near Wolf Creek. There I located a pocket with a couple rising trout and took one on a Skittering Zelon Midge. In the run below I scored another on the same fly before busting a good brown off on the same fly. I sat on water and did not see another trout come up so changed to a #16 red Copper John and trailed a #20 Slough Creek Midge Larva behind and took another half dozen rainbows, one a beautiful male before the winds drove me for shelter. I took a shot of the larger rainbow which will be edited herein. The rainbows are jsut now getting their spawning colors and this male's kype was just beginning to hook.

The forecast is for warm weather all week so stay tuned for more reports to follow. This is the time of winter when the trout really come up for midges, both clumps and emerging adults so you should be ready with adults tied with trailing shucks like G Gnat Emergers and standard and Skittering Zelon Midges. Cluster patterns like our Hi Viz Midge Cluster and sometimes the Griffiths Gnat work well too. Give us a call before making the trip to check on river and weather conditions if heading this way.

Dead Calm

I tried this once before today...and it evaporated into thin air...so here we go again.

Last night at 11pm Jackie and I both woke up suddenly, and without knowing why. Then it hit us...it was dead calm, the gale force winds we'd experienced for over two weeks had died down. It is hard to explain since we do not hear the wind along the river from our house about a quarter mile away. But when it howls and blows for days on end, and finally quits you can actually "feel" it calm down. There's a lessening of pressure so to speak that comes from the winds laying down.

This morning the outside temps hovered around 4 degrees with an inch of new snow.  I got up at 6am and read a few chapters of Douglas Brinkley's, "The Wilderness Warrior---Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America". As the sun came up over Hilgard Peaks in the Madison Range I looked across the river and could make out a couple of bull elk along with 3 cows and a calf grazing, their exhaled breaths disappearing in the morning light. They were on the same windblown ridge we had watched a big 6 point bull elk making a go of it for 3 weeks late last month. Then the lone bull struggled along on a badly injured shoulder and could barely stand and feed.

One morning watching through our spotting scopes we watched 9 wolves circling the bull. He got up and faced the wolves as they moved not 3 feet away from where he stood. The wolves seemed to be sizing up the wounded animal and finally moved off only to return a few minutes later. Again, as before, they circled the bull and fthen walked off for good, that day. The next morning we saw several ravens and a golden eagle circle and dive in the ravine adjacent to the ridge. We knew the end had come for the big bull and I promised myself I'd soon hike up the mountain to retrieve the skull and antlers of the bull. If you are interested in wolves, wild places and the guy who tells the real story of both you must read "Wolfer" by Carter Niemeyer. An incredible read, one book you will not put down and the ending might .....I won't say more but you will find it on our on-line catalogue!

Two days ago, this past Friday, Phil and I headed to the river to film a segment of fishing with a Tenkara Rod. My good friend, Yvon Chouinard, had called and asked for the filming and footage which you can view soon on both Patagonia and Blue Ribbon Flies websites.I'd just received a new Tenkara rod, the Iwana, from Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA and wanted to fish it on the river during the winter season. Many anglers feel that a Tenkara cannot be fished on the rivers like the Madison due to it using a short-fixed lenght line and no reel. Yvon and I have fished Tenkara the past few seasons and it can be fished on rivers like the Madison, Gallatin, Warm, Lamar and Yellowstone as well as smaller waters like our Nez Perce, Grayling, Tower and Soda Butte just to name a few. The simple way of Tenkara fly fishing is awesome and we have had great fun and enjoyment fishing this method. I have many photos of Yvon and I hooking up doubles using a pair of soft hackles or an X Caddis-Soft Hackle tandem rig on the Firehole in June.

On Friday we found the temps near 30 degrees with blowing snow and ice bergs floating along most sections of the river. Undaunted we hit the river around 1pm and took 4 great trout before freezing out. One fish was an 18" rainbow which caused me to run 20 yards downstream in order to land it...I will let you know when the footage is edited and released soon.

At the shop we have been busy working with our new materials and tying up the new 2011 fly patterns. Our 2011 catalog is in the mail and we are constantly working on updating our new website, filming fly patterns which are now on the site as well as hints on products which make our fly fishing more enjoyable and efficient. I am tying the "Fly of the Month" February fly now for our "Fly of the Month" subscribers .

I look forward to presenting 1% for the Planet and fly fishing programs from Salt Lake to Kansas City and Bozeman to Belize and more this winter. I will keep you posted here so stay tuned for fishing reports, new conservation projects and more right here. I hope to hear from you soon and thanks for reading!

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 Balmy December Day on the River

Yesterday I worked until 2pm then headed home as the temps rose into the 40's for the first time in several weeks, and I knew the river would fish well.
On the drive I passed a  cow moose with her calf near Beaver Creek. I saw several bighorn sheep near the Earthquake Lake Visitor Center , then a covey of Hungarian Partridge at the entrance to High Valley Ranch. There was a herd of a dozen or so elk at the Sun Ranch which drew my attention as one was a giant bull sporting 6 points on one side and 7 on the other. By the time I drove across our bridge it was nearly 3pm but still, I stopped on the bridge to check for trout rising to midges and was not disappointed.

I hustled home, suited up and drove down to Pine Butte. At 3:30 I had my first trout on a Hi Vis Midge Cluster, a whopping 11" brown but it came up in classic head-and-tail rise to my fly. In the next hour I took a few more trout, all on dries, before the sun dipped below the far bench, temperatures dropped below freezing and I headed home. On the 10 minute drive I smiled to myself. Where else could you live and and work, see the wildlife I 'd seen this afternoon and catch wild trout on dry flies with no audience save bald eagles and wandering elk?

This morning I'm scheming to head home earlier....maybe around noon, to take advantage of another day with above freezing temps. The forecasters predict a big cold front arriving tomorrow and lasting a couple days so I'd like to get some river time in before it arrives. 

Our 2011 catalogue is off to the printers, I have tied 60 dozen flies already this month...I'm trying to justify my time off today to myself and Jackie. Stay tuned! Attached are a couple photos I took yetesterday to show how the hillsides have bared off near the river as well as a couple shots taken near home. More will follow in the weeks ahead, I promise!

P.S. If you can't see the additional photos click on the title or "view full post"

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