Glory

Beav. is low now, 50.  Not much water to swing the leech through with all the grass, but it would be fun with a hatch and calm day.  Still windy for now, a few clouds.  Stopped by to give it a glance, and a few down and across swings.  Went right up to the Glory Hole early.  No bugs of course.  First cast with the leech and the big rainbow exploded on it.  A little later, a brown one did the same thing.  Got two more takes in there. (Those damn little sharp, fine hook points like to bend!)  Had another take at the top of the slick on my way out. Didn't go above the bridge.  Enough is enough.  

The Ladders

I guess I was due.  Yesterday I fished a brief window in the morning and caught a couple, then it blew unfishable just as the hatch was starting.  There were bugs, but the fish weren't on 'em.  They were eating a caddis when one floated over, but not baetis.

This morning I hooked up the trailer and left the campsite so that I could head south after fishing the ladders.  Figured I'd stick it out as long as I could and get out before the gales of October return tomorrow.  I'm not exactly excited to do any weekend fishing in the snow and cold either, given the way fishing's been.  Gunner never made it, so I had to be sure this was still the best fall run on the river.  Oh, it is alright.

The wind was down, the skies had some clouds, and I was the only one there for a long time.  Arrived to bugless water, but I knew just what part of Gunner Flat held the fish.  Each little cranny.  The water was low enough that any moving fish made a wake or disturbed water.  Current was slow.  Just right for the leech. 

It reminded me a lot of baby tarpon fishing. I fished a long leader, and made light presentations trying not to spook the fish with the cast.  Sometimes I did anyway.  The casts were leading, the strips short and slow, and then there was the wake and the take. Every fish jumped 4, 5, 6 times because I could put the wood to them with the 3X.  Trout here just do that anyway.   This wasn't "chuck and duck" fishing.  More spot and stalk, only with the little wet fly.  I wonder if they would have eaten a micro Gurgler with a little green squirrel tail?  Hmmm. (on the list to tie)

The rest is history.  Real nice fish.  Damn near "dime a dozen." More than a dozen easily, just on the leech alone.  They were coming after it. Around MO-thirty (12:45), some olives started floating down.  They sputtered through the afternoon, but the fish still weren't all over 'em.  The wind became more gusty, which didn't help, but the fish still haven't become dialed in to the little mayflies.  I did cast to some rising fish mid-afternoon and took some on the only fly I fished.  My back gave out by the time the wind became sustained late afternoon.  

I considered just heading back to the bridge and staying another day or three, but it seems like the right time to say goodbye for now, probably until June.  It wasn't a good feeling winding though the canyon back towards Helena, but its usually best to quit on a high note, and today was as good of day as I've had in a month.  It will be a good one to remember until the PMD's and Caddis welcome me back next summer.  Well, unless . . . 

Hoped for one of these

The approach filled with hope

One of the magical runs

Flat shallow water.  

I can't begin to get a hand around these things

"Emerger" leech for the slowest, shallowest flats.  

Steelhead-like

I could see 'em all over here

I wondered why I missed my next few eats!  

No since beating around the bush.  Went right to 'ole Sri Lanka this afternoon.

Just had to lay their bellies down and prop 'em up.

Last look back on the way out

Just what I hoped for

For the Record

A HIGH WIND WARNING is in effect for most of the state into Wednesday afternoon and evening.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for the Rocky Mountain Front and Little Belt Mountains into Wednesday.

A powerful storm is blowing through the state with rain, wind and high mountain snow. Some areas are seeing more rain with this storm than in over a month. A cold front will move through the state Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Powerful wind will howl throughout the night.  Snow levels will fall into Wednesday morning. Wednesday will be another stormy day with strong wind, mountain snow, and a mix of rain and snow in the lower elevations. Highs will only be in the 40s, with 20s in the higher mountains.  Thursday will have more sun, an equal amount of wind, and a few mixed rain and snow showers will skirt across the state. Friday will be windy and slightly warmer with highs in the 50s. A new storm will move in late. This storm will impact the weekend for sure. Right now, a front should move through with colder temperatures and snow by Saturday morning. This storm possibly could stall out over the state and waver back and forth. You should prepare for more winterlike weather this weekend.

A Break

Woke up to a surprisingly calm and cloudy morning in between storms.  Some light sprinkles throughout the day. Seemed like that perfect kind of BWO weather.  Hit the water fairly early by Oct. standards around 9am.  Nothing on top early, so did some jig fishing, down and across.  It wasn't great, especially early on, but I managed some eats. Later I got to cast to some one-timers. Bigger winds came around 12:30, but they fluctuated up and down all afternoon.  Fished down below from 2 to 5:30-ish.  There were bugs in the convergence zones, but no big fish on 'em.  Not cold enough?  I don't know.  It should be happening, especially in protected areas and when it lays down a little.  At least I got to fish most of the day.  Howling 20-40+ this evening, and likely most of tomorrow.  

Fish of the day.  I could hear Gunner saying "Not much backing on there!"  I had about 10 feet left.

Black jig worked

A little windy in the background?

Rides 1-3 inches under.  Wake on every take!

Bunched up against the weeds

Not thick, but present.

Got some soft hackle love casting to one-timers.

'Couple nice ones off this bank

Windy Detours

I'm stuck.  I can't fish in 20-45 mph.  I can't move or tow the trailer very far or fast, at least not comfortably in the daylight or unless I had to.  The wind briefly laid down tonight 45 minutes before dark.  Those little midges were still thick. Wasn't worth putting on the waders.  It's been howling for three days now, really rippin'.  Forecast is for at least two more.  This is getting to be a bit much.  Should have gone to western Idaho, or Mexico.  But no, I'm still hanging on for a day or two of that crazy fantasy fishing.  The forecast is for more storms and colder weather every few days for the next week and beyond.  Its coming.  I'm not sure if I'll have the patience to wait, have the desire to fish in the snow after such a long Indian Summer, or if it will be worth the wait.  The strongest winds of the season are forecast tomorrow, upwards of 60 mph gusts, so I'm stuck for at least another day or two. 

I've seen some of the Canadian Rockies in my life, and nearly all of the divide in central and southern Montana, but never gone to Glacier or the Bob Marshall Wilderness just northwest of Wolf Creek/Craig.  That rugged, remote strip of Montana Rockies with no roads over the top of them aside from Rogers Pass to the south, and Hwy. 2 through Glacier to the north.  Nothing better to do, snow isn't accumulating yet, and it isn't really that far.  I already looked at the drive-in area of the Smith last month.

There's a bunch of roads west out of Augusta and Choteau that looked scenic, if nothing else.  Plus, I got to cross the Dearborn a couple times.  Some of the roads went far up into the mountains, leading to numerous trailheads for hunters, fishermen, and wood-cutters.  Long story short, all the freestone creeks coming off the wind-blown Rocky Mountain Front looked inviting the more into the mountains I got.  They were all low and gin-clear as expected for late fall.  I don't think any of them had any sizeable fish.  I did manage to get in a few casts here and there when I'd find a less-windy or even calm bend or two.  Little fish on an Adams, like it's supposed to be.  They were good places to try and come clean a little bit.

The clear waters flowing over the infertile rocky stream beds did remind me of some of Alberta's creeks and rivers I crossed 20-30 years ago.  And the wide flood plains around them reminded of how much snow melt comes flushing down these valleys every spring.  It would be interesting to just see it in May or early June.  Once out of the foothills and onto the prairie, there were head gates, ponds, and canals reminding of how much demand is put on all that water.  One can only imagine how fish-filled these waters were before they were drained nearly dry for irrigation and cattle.

Of particular interest was the Sun River below Gibson Reservoir.  Though a tailwater, it still looked like a clear, starved freestone, but flows were down.  I couldn't fish it due to the high winds that afternoon, but it's tucked into the memory bank for a summer or early fall detour just to see.  Rumor has it the forks above the lake are pretty good.  

The Dearborn at Hwy 287 looked good, but there was a guy working downstream, and the wind . . . ya, I didn't need a fish that bad.

In the foothills, before the diversions.

Just a trickle

Beaver Creations

Lots of scars

Still flowing crystal clear

Lots of these

A little flurry

Tailwater

Looking toward the dam

Wolf Creek Hurrricane

Fuhgeddaboutit

Wrong Bugs

Careful what I wish for, I guess.  Finally, I mean finally, got a cloudy day ahead of a more promising forecast for some good dry fly fishing.  You know, a few of those "dime a dozen" days of "too easy" baetis magic on the MO.  And I did get that Friday.  A cloudy calm morning that wasn't too cold.  But not many little mayflies by early afternoon.  Then the winds came, and the midges.  MIDGES?

I don't know exactly what these little black bugs are, but there's millions of the little bastards.  They are not the normal looking little sparse fluffy Chironomids.  No, these little bastards look more like a house fly, only about a size 18.  The trout didn't give a shit about them, but they were more annoying than any mosquito hatch I've experienced in recent years.  They didn't bite or drill, but they crawled all over me, in my mouth, up my nose, and behind my glasses.  They made summer caddis swarms seem tame, and less annoying.  I can't ever recall these little bugs on the MO, though they always had to be here.  I've certainly never seen them in this kind of numbers.  I even put on bug dope to try and deter them.  It helped a little, but didn't get rid of the buzzing and crawling.

So, after nearly just walking out a couple of times, and only casting olives to a few good rising fish, I put the 'ole 3X back on to see how well the MO fish liked the leech.  I knew where to cast it for the most part.  I'm sure it went by a whole lot of trout that took little notice, but I did seem to get either a follow (wake) or an eat every 15 minutes or so for several hours.  There was a fish or two interested as I worked down the downwind banks above Lone Tree.  The wind got unmanageable after mid-afternoon.  Still no October magic.  Maybe it just ain't meant to be this year. 

Got the cloudy morning I'd been waiting for.

This is the little bastard.

All over

At their worst standing in the river.

Look at 'em swarming.  The midges!

Might as well.  The wake and take is kinda cool.  Hmm.  Wake and take.  Think I'll go with that.