Duns?

The rain let up just in time for yesterday morning's fishing.  Back to the fly-shop run, as Eva's was a parking lot, literally.  But I was the only one in the upper part of the pool, with a couple below me where the current slowed. Hatch was so-so.  A little late getting started, short-lived, and not a lot of bugs.  Enough to keep some fish up for a few hours though.  One of the first fish I saw eat, took a dun.  OK, that's not the first time in the world that's happened.  But still.  I figured what the hell, and I tied one on.  

The grizzly hackle one.  The eats came, and so did the misses.  There's something about that bug.  They sure love it, and I sure seem to have those mornings sometimes where I get 20 percent of the takes if I'm lucky.  This was one of those, but I couldn't take it off!  I eventually touched a few, and then I decided to try a change of scenery at the end of my tippet.

I hadn't fished the original Swisher-Richards No Hackle in forever, so I tied one on.  Two hours later, and all chewed up, they just continued to eat it.  Here it is past noon, and all I've fished are the two duns.  This one shined, but I fished it during the peak of activity.  The hatch waned, but there were still some random rises further up in the riffle.  I needed something they hadn't seen, and a single-wing CDC dun seemed the right choice.  I tied one on.

They ate that one until I got out of the water around 2:00 as the wind increased.  They ate it later in the early evening down at the now-empty Eva's until I quit around 8.  I think this is the first time in my life I've ever fished a dun all day long anywhere, especially on the creeks.  I always fish an emerger, cripple, spinner, or some stage of a PMD this time of year.  In fact, most days I never tie on a Dun.

Fast forward to today.  Change of creek scenery again, as Eva's was empty except for Travis and his one client at the bend below the hut.  Nobody else between there and the outlet.  In July?  I'll take it.  But the hatch was weak, very weak.  There were some small fish taking something invisible for a while, and some PMD's finally popped up in the outlet riffle very late morning where I got some fish (On duns!!).  I saw as much activity early to mid-afternoon up toward Eva's walking back to the truck though.  Travis said the hatch up there was "pretty good, light to moderate."  I think I need to stay closer to hatch riffles/gravel.  All sunshine and no wind today.  I missed some doozies.

Five down, two to go.  Man time flies.  I wish winter would pass this quickly.  At least the damn fireworks are over, mostly.  What is it about Montanan's and their week-long firework shit every night?  Grow up.  

Not as many risers as you'd think until noon or so.

Some earlier small spooky ones on this bank.

Just a rock.  But the head on the fish that ate my PMD in front of it looked half the size of the rock.  The wake it made when I lifted and it bolted away went over the top of the rock.

Somebody got a clear water swim at the end of the evening.

Biot single-wing dun

A traditional English spider, "variant," with short biot abdomen and dubbed thorax.  They like it!

A sparse, thread tail single wing with dubbed body and tight thread ribbing.

Did I tie it?  Hell no.  It works new, and when its all apart.  They really ate it.

So, can you have a no-hackle tied with hackle?  Does that make it a yes hackle?  A hackle what?  A grizzly hackle yellow?  Its been working wonders for me for well over a decade

Single wing in the upper lip.

Creek Two

Day one.  Hmmm.  Wind switch, north, and howling 20-30.  No bueno.  Managed to catch a few "casting" between gusts to leeward banks.  Not pretty, or even particularly fun.  But got some.  Cool eats an inch or two from the bank, when I could get it there, and drift it.  Storm coming.

This was the place to be this morning.  Buzz made it before 10!

Top of the PHD pool

There were fishing rising here, on yesterday's creek.

I think this was yesterday.

I could punch this into the wind on 6x

Of course, the namesake hanger, which I could also plop down on the bank

Some fish holding/eating tight out of the wind

Here it comes . . . 

Creek One

Good start to Livingston week!  Got an eat on the first cast.  Rising fish to midges early, then the PMD's right on schedule and pretty much all day, and evening midge eaters  from 6 to 8.  A couple of heavy T-storms sent me packing from 1:30-ish until about 6, even though they had passed before that.  It took a while to get on my game for the PMD's, but I finally sorted it out and slayed 'em pretty good.  Emerger stuff, and not with the adult popping out very far.  Stayed in the main run both sessions.  This creek may be one of the only constants in the rocky mountain fly fishing universe.

Day two was severe clear and no wind.  Same hatch, but lighter, and it seemed to taper off between 1 and 2.  I needed to stop anyway.  I got some bugs to work today that I couldn't get going yesterday.  Started with Ants, and those were pretty fun until the PMD's started popping.  See a rise, feed 'em an ant, what's so hard about that?  The Mole came though today, in a pretty good way.  The soft hackles of course.  Some Harrop emerger interest.  And, a weird one that has had mixed results, but they really liked today.  I fished one area, sandwiched by guys and guides on both sides, so fly changes were in order.  It worked.  Good thing I've got a few flies.

I went back at 6:30 to an absolute boiling river.  Midges, PMD's, all kinds of bugs.  It was just silly through 8:30.  Throw 'em anything reasonable.  15 eats easy.  They loved the soft hackle.  No rain, no wind, and a bug infested evening.  Forecast says back to evening thunder so we'll see how the rest go just downstream starting tomorrow.

Sunny and fish rising.

The evening after the rain.

For the early risers

Day one's early hatch fly.

Both days' fly of choice.

PMD spider

Morning two's clear winner, before any PMD's.

Finally got some love on day two, but minimal

I tied a couple of these a couple of years ago.  Results were mixed.  Day two they loved it!  Really loved it.

This early one is for ant Bob!  

Last season, I didn't remember the burnt area behind my favorite cast.  Lightning?

Most of my fishing places have an iconic view or background that define the pools.  Millionaires. Last Chance.  Lone Tree.  PHD Island.  Mouth of Loving Creek. Grove/Stalker Junction.  Here, the Absarokas are always watching you cast and fish the best 100 yards of spring creek in Montana.  Maybe just anywhere.  A fine place to be as the sun sets on the west side of Paradise Valley.

And not to end on a critical note, but why is it all the guys wearing these big half-sombrero hats are assholes?  He waded in and right over the fish I was working less than 50 feet from where I stood.  "I'm gonna get in right below ya."  Didn't ask, but just said it and waddled in.  We were the only ones in the whole run!