Open Season

Cool.  The weather that is.  Less Crowded (Thank you John McDaniel!)  It hasn't been too good the past few days.  Wind.  Showers.  Not many bugs at Last Chance.  Fish didn't want 'em.  Unfishable wind yesterday.  But now its Christmas.

Steve Guest was first down the trail on his bike, but I was FIRST ONE to the water, and in the water, to kick off 2023 at Millionaires.  The swans don't count.

First Millionaires fish of 2023 at about 21 inches.  No witnesses!

There were more

They're scrappy even after netting

Last of the afternoon

Late morning into mid-afternoon.  Sparse, but enough with no wind and hardly anyone else fishing.

Dead ringer, partridge and pheasant, PMD version.  Spinner/emerger/dun.  Its gonna be the year of the soft hackle.  Already has been!  Will I ever need anything else?

Just a few other fishermen all day.

Here we go low flow

Two to three morning hours of March Browns brought some fish up, and that was about that.  Fun while it lasted at the logjam.  Water is low and the wading is easy.  Can't say that about too many places.  

Eaten up for the March Brown.  Just munched.

Wet after being munched.  Before the dust.

Five fish later . . . 

Happy to be back again

Hatch, what hatch?  Just take the damn picture.

Bed hog.

Spring? What's That?

Its mid-April, and the snowiest, coldest winter on record in northern Utah continues with snow in the forecast tonight.  The ski areas have had over 800 inches.  The lake is still entirely frozen in over a foot of ice.  But there's been a flash of another season the past few days, enough to get to the river without cold hands, ice in the guides, and snowshoes on the wading boots. (Like I did that!)  

So now its mud and flood season. They'll call 'em spring storms instead of winter storms from now on.  I did get hopeful yesterday when I saw the high temperature in Great Falls was 4 degrees higher than Miami!  Makes a guy want to load up the trailer and head north. On the home water 30 minutes away though, I've still got a steady, rock-bottom winter flow of 800cfs, and a big stack of firewood ready for the next storm.   Places I'm tempted to run off to are starting to get roaring.

It's warm enough down in the river canyon for Norman to come along, have fun, and not shiver.  He's ready now.  The fish?  They look pretty skinny as a whole.  They must of had a tough winter like us terrestrials.  The bugs?  Not many on these warmer sunny days, but the poor fish are grateful for anything coming their way.  We've had targets more often than not during bankers hours.

We're supposed to be heading north, for real, in less than two months.  Considering I'm an out-of-work fishing guide/bum due to the prolonged frozen pond, I'll live for the moment and not give a shit about the future.  Hopefully the runoff in Idaho and Montana is closer to "a little above average" instead of what has started in southern Wyoming and Utah.  I fear one of those damn high-water years coming though, so I'll take what I can get now.

Adams for most of 'em, Sri Lanka for a follow up, and the Mole for the pickier ones.  

76!  Really!

Hello Again

Made it.  Vicious head winds most of the way from Dillon.  Greeted by more high winds and increasing clouds, just ahead of the winter cold front.  Just rain down here, a light dusting of snow overnight on the Sawtooth peaks.  Really cold air was behind the precipitation.  Just fished a couple hours below Purdy's yesterday.  All afternoon today on the Preserve.

Fished here behind the cold front.   A little protected from the blow, and convenient.

There were some toads in here.

And a few in here.

I got one of 'em

It's 11am, frost still on the shaded grass where the sun's rays are blocked by the frosted trees in the near-empty campground.  I can feel warmth in the trailer, where it reads 68 with the furnace on low, as its been all night.

Fog still lingers in the valley.  I bring in my frozen solid waders and wading shoes to soften in front of the furnace.  The sun is out, and soon I'll be able to see the trout, and they'll see me.  Just how its supposed to be.  Silver Creek at its finest.

12:30, and I'm in the water with fish just starting to rise.  I didn't see any rising on the walk in.

Mostly bluebird, but with an occasional little gusty period and some clouds coming and going.

This was the peak of the hatch, 99 percent bwo with a stray mahogany.

They're good lookin' little fellers.

It worked for a bit.

It worked better

This was a first caster.  I burned an hour and a half trying to get a bigger one to eat on the bank behind me here.  Never did eat my fly, but rose head-tail probably 50 times right in my face.  I saw it take some duns.  Not mine.  Maybe tomorrow.

Still come leaves hanging on, even after gusts to 40 before the front.