Heeeere We Go!

I've been putting this place off because I didn't want to start at the pinnacle.  I've said it before, there's nowhere to go but down from here.  Now, I did try to fish it at the first of the month. I was actually here, but was immediately summoned home for a family emergency.  Now I'm back, and if first impressions mean anything, I might be here a while.  There ain't nowhere else I can do this!

It's relatively warm, probably warmer than any other great fishery in the Rockies right now. I stopped off at the Ranch yesterday afternoon on my way up and fished a couple hours before frozen hands pulled me back to the warm truck. No such problem here today, with a lot of sunshine and a temperature that probably reaches 60.  The wind is howling just as forecast, gusting 20 to 30.

Wind is common here year-round due to its spot east of the highline, northern Montana's continental divide.  Its just like Livingston; or Casper, Wyoming; or Boulder, Colorado; or most of southwest Wyoming.  Most anyplace just east of a mountain range in the Rockies. Downslope, or "Chinook" winds accellerate and warm the air as it descends. On this river though, one can often find a reasonable spot to cast due to the topography and vegetation along the river.  It's not as wide open as most of the notorious wind corridors. 

So today I take advantage while it blows first from the southeast and then from the southwest.  Finding fishable pools requires a couple of moves, but I fish effectively most of the day.  I drift a leech early with the wind at my back, blowing away from my casting arm.  Safety first ya know. When the change in direction pushes me up river this afternoon, all I need is the Mole.  Does this river even have any fish under 18 inches?   They all look healthy today, and the count is more than just a few. 

I'm on the storm track with a cold front blowing through tonight. Slightly less windy tomorrow they say, with crazy winds to 45 forecast for Sunday.  There may be no escape that day. Its October, and the future is uncertain, but I'm hoping to stay the course and fish the windows. 

She's lit up here too.

My iconic fall color that I usually shoot from across the river at the ladders.  Just seeing this brings back memories decades old.  It has meaning for me.  A sign.

A size 18 mole is the only dry fly I tie on, they're even eating it when they shouldn't.

This seam at the bottom of the barely-flowing caddis side channel is afternoon magic.

Sometimes a gust triggers a brief leaf hatch, but they flow on down and the fish come right back up.  There is no leaf hatch upstream from me here.

I stand here in a 40 or 50 foot zone for several hours casting to fish.

Even as I walk out, there's one or two still doing it.  I don't know for sure what the fish are eating this afternoon. I caught more fish than the number of bugs I see.  I have to be standing in the water to see the rise forms.  They are eating something in the film.

At first glance from a distance, I think this truck/trailer might be someone I know, but the truck isn't dark enough, and he doesn't fish anymore anyway.

Cooler air blowing in. Still not a bad view from camp. I'll go fish that little island some evening too.

The cold Henry's Fork yesterday.

I did get a couple of good eats on the winged beetle after working a couple of good fish eating baetis for quite a while.  The cold beat me, and I had greener pastures to get to.