It's the water stupid!

That's right.  Too much water is NOT good for fishing the MO.  But when they turn it down, it happens.  It's happening.  Time for an update.  The arrival day was decent.  Then they turned the water up, and it wasn't so decent.  Working daily for a few fish.  Hard to wade.  Not good enough to float (Not that motivated!)  Raining and windy a lot.

Here's kind of a catch-22 for the MO.  When its good and flows are right (5500 and below), you don't need to float.  Plenty of heads up at the usual access spots.  When it's not so good, then why bother floating?  And its been raining a lot, and windy about regular to frequent.  Floating helps get away from some of the other crowded wade accesses.  They haven't been that crowded.

So I've fished many of the normal access runs.  High Bridge, Lone Tree, Barb Wire, PHD Island today (ankle deep!), and down river at Mountain Palace.  Wanted to float Stickney to Dearborn, but haven't yet.  Big thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow afternoon, and the persistent clouds and rain return. Saw a few caddis yesterday, last evening, and today.  PMD's daily, but fish not on them in the higher rising flows.  More fish up today than any with the exception of the 21st.  (see flow chart!)  So 3 days of sucky, but I've waited it out.  Spring creeks next week! 

About sums it up, more midges when I arrived than PMD's

Nice evening after rain, and no bugs or risers.

First morning, a few bank feeders

And some brown ones

Always love these bank fish

Getting more numerous

Downstream had some fish

Beavers still at work

Mythical evening bite bug.  Only one evening without wind or rain so far.

This morning

Best is last.  They love it, but its hard to see.

Ranch Life

I couldn't be anywhere else, even when I know its gonna suck.  Nothing I can do about it, I just have to see it.  Not much to see for bugs or rising fish.  Four days, plenty of rain, a little wind, cold mornings, and no evening rises.  Not a total loss because its where I belong, I cast to some fish, and I hooked some fish.  Its just that 2019 is the year that there was a January 147th.  Spring didn't come until now, and summer may or may not arrive.  It all seems behind.  Most of the rivers are in peak runoff, or getting there.  The Fork isn't too high (800ish), but its colder and just not happening on the Ranch. Yet . . .

Forecast for the next 2-3 days has winds 15-20 gusting to 40.  Trailer is shaking now.  Time to just move around and look at some places.  The Beav. is up a little, but clearer than its been in years.  I hear the PMD's started on the MO!  Creeks in 12 days.  I probably shouldn't get "MO'd out" yet, but its tempting.  I can see fish swimming all over in the Beav., though the wind is too hard to even hold a rod, much less cast it.  Bugs?  Probably too early.  Time will tell . . . 

Fishing the Ranch, might as well be fishing the Ranch!

Brute

The old bridge before the repairs start

Lucky one

A few daily from 11-3, but very few.

Best seat in the house at the top of the big island on Millionaires

Finally

Only bug I tied on in 4 days, NO refusals.  None.

Plenty of these every afternoon

Just before the storm

Prime run on Millionaires

The Beast

I was already in the truck!

Spring Ain't Springing

Thought I'd hit the river late this morning before the next "big" spring storm rolls in tonight.  Flow is an amazing 780 CFS.  I can't remember seeing it this low in many years.  Temperature was 36 by 11 am. That sounded good, but it was breezy enough straight upstream to riffle the surface.  And not warm.  Guess I'm too close to the southern branch of this March blizzard.

There was a smidgen of fish midgin'.  Not for long though.  The high clouds came over as the wind picked up a little more.  Caught a couple on a cdc midge, headed back to the warming truck, then down river to find a sheltered bank.  The thought was nice, but it still gusted right up the middle.  Midges were gone, some BWO's tried for about 45 minutes after 2:00.  Sun came in and out of those lovely high white clouds.  Caught a few more on the black Adams.

I'm kinda out of shape, got frozen feet twice, and have the whole spring and summer to deal with earth's design flaw.  So I didn't wait around for some mythical late afternoon BWO hatch that's probably going off big time right now, as the skies get more gray and the wind has seemingly stopped.  Guess I went too early to begin with or something.  It just wasn't that comfortable.

I saw some nice noses, made some wrist casts, bent the rod, and can maybe survive one more storm and cold spell.  Its supposed to "spring" into the 40's by early next week!  My free fishing days are numbered 'till June, even though the big lake is still frozen solid from top to bottom.  Haven't seen that in a lot of years either!  Back to winters I remember from decades past.

Should be glass smooth down there

Dream flow for dries

Wet fish, not wet hands

Not much protection on this bank either

This one flopped right up there like that!

Not smooth upon exit.  Probably 10 minutes later.

Baetis Season

The baetis are popping, witnesses say.  The Bureau is stabilizing the river at an optimum low level of 800 cfs in two days, so they say.  I have some days off in the next couple weeks while waiting for the ice to melt on the lake and finishing some boat re-construction.  I'm headed to the river when the snow lets up later this week and temperatures get above freezing, so they say. 

Here's the hot fly I just fished for a week in Campeche with one of the flies I'll try to fish (and see) this week on the Green.  Back to reality I guess.