Junk Hatch

It's a smorgasbord.  First tricos.  Then some callibaetis.  A few mahoganies.  Some little olives.  A flying ant here and there.  Up in town, micro caddis late in the afternoon, with some more hatching tricos.  Not a ton of anything, but quite a mix, with just enough bigger stuff to bring some fish up in the slick calm conditions.  The rises on the smooth water are so subtle that I couldn't see 'em if the water had any texture.  Yet, they're 20+ inchers sipping whatever it is they're sipping.  Mostly mahoganies and callibaetis from what I can see.  

River left Pelican channel.  River right Millionaires.  Late days at Last Chance.  They've all worked. Today is day three, and the first day I've changed flies from the brown soft hackle.  Only because I needed a change of scenery.  It was working great.  I started today at 10:30 sharp, in the sweet glass run in front of the ranch houses, with the intent of crossing and working downstream for a change.  I needed to get the ducks and geese out of there, so I walked along the river and a hundred or so splashed their way airborne to some other pool out of sight.  Not five minutes after they all took off, I hastily stepped in and started across.  Suddenly 25 feet upstream of me is a rise.  What the hell.  As I'm casting upstream unsuccessfully to that one, another comes up 20 feet across stream from me.  Then another, this time downstream.  I guess I'm fishing here for a few.

Over five hours later, I've made my way up and down Millionaires a few times, had the whole run all to myself, changed flies twice, and spent most of those five hours positioning or casting to rising fish.  So much for wading to river left. They seldom rise twice in the same spot, and never three times.  Sometimes there's wakes when they move.  Some are unapproachable, while others rise a short cast away, like they're daring me to cast to them.  I do, but usually they've changed lanes by the time the fly lands.  Sometimes I get lucky and it goes over them.  They don't seem too picky if its dead and on target.  I gotta be patient, but one or two always seem to show themselves.

Sunny and 70's are supposed to yield to a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms sometime tomorrow.  Just for a day, with a lingering chance the next day.  I haven't planned to move on yet, but it's September you know, and no plans should be made too far in advance.  I'm diggin' the above-freezing nights and warm sunny days.  Nasty is right around the corner, someday.

How about this?

Just a bit to the north.

I could probably finish out the season, in both Idaho and Montana, with this fly in two or three sizes.

I'm trying a new material for the body and tail this trip.  Organza.  It works!  And floats!

This guy makes a daily appearance late morning through mid-afternoon.

Pelican side channel in all its glory.  Fish were doing it just to my left here yesterday.

Evenings at Last Chance

I've never really fished this hatch much, or noticed too many here before.  They're eating them now.

Know when to fold 'em.

This is a Harrop Callibaetis Last Chance Cripple that I cut the wing off.  

A few slashing takes on this Harrop Animated CDC Beetle

I've had to deal with this crowding in the late afternoons.

I shoot this every year, but I'll never get tired of this view, this place, or its big wary trout.