Meanderings

Stalking trout with dry flies. Floating, wading, and camping along the rivers. Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Winter trips to Mexico.



Aug 21, 2018

Home Water Dilemna

Tell me again, why do I go to Idaho and Montana?  Oh ya, because its seasonal, and I can't do it just anytime.  Its a vacation.  A trip.  The experience.  And . . . possibly the number one reason I go to Idaho and Montana . . . so I appreciate the great close-to-home waters I have.  If I fished all the gems within a couple-three hours of home all the time, they'd get old.  In fact, I fish the far-away waters more days in a season than I do the close ones, even though the fishing on the closer ones is "better" than the distant ones most of the time.  Go figure. So when I do go to the ones in my backyard, it almost seems like a trip.  Today I had one of the best days of the season just 100 minutes from my front door.  Got up, showered, packed a little lunch cooler, tossed the stuff in the truck, and had big fish on the hook in a matter of two hours.  Home for supper.  10 gallons of gas, round trip.

Cloudy and cooler for a change.  No sweat!  Not much for bugs, but some morning midges, a bwo here and there, some callibaetis-looking things, and some small mahogany-looking things.  Maybe they were all the same, but they looked different.  The fish here don't care.  When they're rising, they'll take anything reasonable.  Then they go like hell.  MO-style 'bows, only in a little crick.  Four flies.

The Glory Hole





Beetle Bend



Perfect spot.  Grassy bank to sit on.  Up and across riffle/pool.  Easy drift.  A place to land fish.  Clear back cast.  Away from the parking area.  Always a riser or three.