Comfort Place-Comfort Pace

Tuesday's rain all came and went Monday night, so its been a warm and sunny week.  I've seen more bugs and rising fish in other weeks, but the wonderful low flows, perfect temperatures, and a lack of crowds really can't be beat.  Other than some guide boats drifting by, I saw no other wade anglers Tuesday or Wednesday, spoke with one guy yesterday as he was leaving the river, and saw nobody today.  Rising fish all afternoon, every day, and nobody else around!  Looking up or down, there's always a target.

Every approach to all the skinny runs is greeted by massive wakes going in all directions.  Some are just unapproachable, and a guy has to get to the water.  A few fish stick around, and a few spooked ones come back or rise later below me.  It's challenging and makes me cringe sometimes.  A little noise on the line pick up, a little drag, a shadow, a reflection . . . any little thing and I see a wake.  Gone.  But there's plenty of targets and plenty of room to stalk another one.  Simply standing in wait at a perfect riffle often results in a target or two.  I see more bugs and more rising fish up river than down, but I know that water better too.  The fish are in the select, medium speed, shallow flats.  Today I fed some bank feeders in slower flat water.  It's not a river full of rising fish by any means.  They're in the fun spots though.  

The afternoons are as delightful as cool summer morning.  Mornings are crisp with no bugs, but I broke out the 5 weight a couple mornings and lured a few to rip after the leech.  Good wakes in this case.  By noon, I can fish from one baetis box.  Really.  I can, and have.  Mostly 18's.   No gloves. No handwarmers. No layers.  And dare I say, no wind!  Since Monday, there hasn't been a breath of wind mid-day through sunset.  Some wind at Camp Pelican this morning, and rumors of a cold front dropping through tonight with come clouds and maybe a sprinkle.  Nothing major.  No storms.  No snow.  No signs of typical mid-October weather. 

So here we are at mid-October already, me and Norman settled into a comfortable daily routine.  He eats breakfast before sunrise.  We sleep in 'till the sun is well up.  I have breakfast.  Morning play with the stick, and other energetic activity.  I go fishing while Norman naps.  He eats again around sunset, then runs and plays until dark.  I eat after dark.  A little picture stuff, maybe a Youtube TV show or vid, and we're both out until the cycle begins again.  Not a bad gig if you can get it.  The days pass by faster and faster, and the end of it all is right around the next bend.  (I know I've been saying that for a while now, but it'll be winter in a flash.)

Just below where Sheep Creek dumps in.  A nice little run with a side channel below the big rock.

Walking upstream from Sheep Creek

An accessible island at this flow, with fish around it!

Not a bad view either.  Tower Rock.

This has to be one of my favorite walks on earth.  Short, downhill, right into paradise and some of the best dry fly channels and flats on the planet.

The first view as the trail meets the river.  There's always a riser or three right here.  

The upper end of that channel, clear and skinny.

Looking down river into the prime shallow flat that has been loaded.  From here down, and around the corner, is all you ever need.

Once in a while you get one like a painting, only its real, with an Adams in its lip.

The bugs come in little bursts.  On this day, they were thick for about 30 minutes, crawling all over my waders, my glasses, and everything else. Then it was sporadic the rest of the day.

Happening

The Magnificent Seven, in no particular order of preference.  The best one each hour, or each day, was the one I had tied on.

This reflection says a lot.  Smooth water, no wind, and perfect conditions making it so comfortable.

The top of my favorite island on the whole river.  Its surrounded by big fish.

Bottom of the island, where the river merges back into one.  There's always a pod here.

The last fish of the week ending Friday came here, less than a foot off the bank, in inches of smooth water, with a challenging glare, the sun still up, and a fitting end of the day.

The Best

I held off as long as I could.  After a quick donation to Depuy's Spring Creek, and a nice morning shooting the shit with Buzz while the forecasted 3-7 mph winds howled like a gale, all roads led north.  I did catch one there, and he said the midge fishing had been "as good as he's ever seen it."  That's saying something.  There were some bwo's blowing around, and even a few pmd's too.  But someplace was calling, loud.

The afternoon bwo's have been right on time every day.  Yes, they hatch at sunny and 70-something, and in the low flow and little to no wind, the trout rise.  Even a few nice trout.  By MO standards, its just kinda ok.  By most other standards, its pretty good.  Sure is comfortable to fish in.  The weeds are floating a little, but its way cleaner than the Fork.  

See what they did.  Yahoo!

"Holy shit, look at all those risers!"  First night at the bridge.

"There's a bunch down that way too."  Guess we're staying.

First morning was foggy all over.  Went up top to the Pasture, and the hog wallow.

There were some in there and they were eating.

For the slower flat water

The Lone Tree tradition

Needed the rock to help me prop up this hook-jawed monster.

Made in Sri Lanka, then chewed by trout teeth.  

The Palace run.  Two islands breaking the flow and re-directing the water, small hatch riffles with shallow flats all around them, all converging into a big deep slow pool at the bottom.  All wadeable at this flow.  Just about perfection.

This thing was beautiful.  No rattle or sign of a rattle.

It had that triangular head

A Palace fish

Got our summer campsite back, only with leaves all over and 20 degrees cooler.

Sunsets on Norman's trail

Two islands showing at the 'ole money run.  Fish doin' it the whole time.

The daily hatch is sparse, but there's just enough . . .

The Almost Dun still deadly here

Montana steelhead

There he goes!

Almost Dun went to Former Dun.  Teeth.  It still works great, kind of a hackle stacker, parachute style.

For a cool $779,000, you too can live on a nice pool in beautiful downtown Dearborn, Montana.  Anybody want to put up the $700,000?  I could borrow the other $79,000 and mow the lawn.  I caught a few nice ones right there, right in the front yard.

This Monday morning's forecast.  Its already blowing big time this morning.  Could be one of "those" afternoons tomorrow if it stays cloudy and the wind lays down enough.  

And ending on a positive note, these two assholes thought it appropriate to run their fucking jet-racer, whatever the hell good it is jetboat up and down the river full throttle, zigzagging around and through other boats and wade fishermen.  They weren't going fishing, that's for sure.  Its bad enough with all the drift boats that now have motors going up and down the river.  Sad what the world is coming to.  These two made two passes in about 30 minutes, and were not seen again. Hopefully they lost control and hit something and died.

But otherwise, what a fine three+ days its been so far!