Father's Day and A Gift for My Wife

This father's day I thought I'd do something a little different, buy my wife a gift.

I asked her for father's day if she would learn how to fly fish. So we made the appropriate stop at the local sporting goods store and outfitted her with waders and boots. She was set. I had plenty of extra rods, reels and fly vests, so with gear in tow we headed to the Beaverhead early Sunday morning.

As we drove into the Dillon valley my wife called her father, I received a call from my son who is a Captain in the Air Force. We sat on the side of highway 15 and took advantage of technology that enabled us to communicate with people in two different time zones.

Ris (my wife) managed to hook three fish in the tailwater of the dam. They were nice fish two were in the 20 inch mark. Landing them proved to be a little harder for a first time angler. If you fish this beautiful little river you know why. The fish are big and have been fished hard. She had a great day and was a very fast learner.

I landed 8 fish hooked 11. It was a fine father's day. Here is a sample of two nice browns I landed and a rainbow. These fish were taken with nymphs under a strike indicator. The flies were size 18-22. I tried a variety of flies from, San Juan Worms, Prince Nymphs, Scuds, Tailwater Tinies, and a variety of midges.

Shoot Straight!

Big Hole June 23, 2008

Big Hole was in full bloom yesterday with 80 degree weather throughout Montana. The put in at Jerry Creek was loaded to the gills (no pun intended) with trucks and trailers spilling out to the road.

I decided to forgo the crowds and headed up above Wise River. Floated from Fish Trap to East Bank. Put in about 9:00 and was finished at 4:30. Water was high running at about 3,800 fps. Fishing was tough talked to 3 groups of fishermen, they landed one big fish over 20 inches the rest of them caught nada!

I was able to a catch 6 fish total:

• 3 grayling on a rubber legs fly
• 2 rainbows on a prince nymph and salmon fly
• 1 whitefish on a prince nymph

Beautiful day with boats filling the river but not till about 11:30. So it was quiet and peaceful float. salmon flies weren't present but the fish were doing a lot of window shopping. Coming up to take a look and taking off, with only one taker. Great day on the water!

Get out there and enjoy all of what Montana has to offer.

Shoot Straight!

Joe