Last Monday, Steve and Clark showed up for their 8th annual fishing trip to Montana. Normally, we head up to the Missouri, but since the trout weren't rising, we headed elsewhere. Once Steve's luggage arrived, 4 hours later on another flight, we jumped in the...
Really…did we really need this?
There are a couple of things about this photo that are extremely interesting. First off, the Grizzly Bar will be open again this summer starting May 15th. Hell ya! This place opened up in 1978 and my first visit was in '92. Back in the day, my Dad and his...
Spring, Winter and a bit of Mud….
Over the past week we have seen the 70 degree mark, followed by a foot of snow last night in Bozeman. I even got to wear shorts, flip-flops and a t-shirt for a few days while hanging out in Ennis catching up with an old friend. The Madison around Ennis is in prime...
Spring? Where are you?
I woke to overcast and 25 degrees this morning. Off in the distance, past the Lake towards the Madison Canyon, it looks as if there are rays of sunshine pouring on to the ground...... I need rays of sunshine. It seems as if spring will never come. We got hammered...
Hebgen….frozen stiff
As you can see from this photo, taken from Yetter’s Face, Hebgen is still frozen. There is a bit of open water around Duck Creek, the South Fork, the Madison Arm, but the main body of the lake is solid. There are still ice fishermen all along the north shore……sleds...
Ro Deville…. that new boat smell.
Last year I got a new boat from Robbet Eddins, the owner of Ro Drift Boats, whom I've known for 14 years. After rowing it for the entire summer, I wanted to make a few changes to the design of the interior. My goal was more room for the back angler. Period. The...
Greed.
I was in Bozeman yesterday to attend a FOAM meeting and afterwards I headed downtown to take care of business. While strolling through town in amazement of the explosion that leveled the Rocking R, Boodles and the American Legion, I walked in to the Salvation Army. I...
snowing…again
Summer?……...not here. Sure, we haven’t been hammered with snow like the rest of the state; we only got 10 inches out of this last storm. Add that to the 2.5 feet still in my yard, and it feels like the doldrums of Winter. The sun poked out this afternoon and for a...
Why fish Montana…….?
The reasons to fish our amazing state are endless: We have more fishable miles of blue ribbon trout water then anywhere else in the WORLD. The public access is unlike any other state in the union - keep your feet wet, and you're legal. There are a few exceptions...
Drinkn’……with Fella
Recently, a client from this past fall sent me a gallery of photos from fishing on the Missouri in October. I had forgotten about the photo above and laughed out loud upon seeing it. The Gas Tank. This is a real flask which holds just shy of a handle, yep a...
Pennies from the sky
Our snowpack here in the Madison Range has jumped conserably in the last week adding a few more pennies from the sky. I ran into an old local the other morning and that is how she described the amount of snow that has fallen.....pennies from the sky. It is...
It’s all over now, baby blue
The Madison River from the outlet of Quake Lake down to McAtee Bridge is now closed and is scheduled to open back up May 16th, 2009.......my 33rd birthday! We received about 5 inches of water laden snow three nights ago at 66oo feet and about double that in the...
More snow please!!!
With the snow pack hovering around 89 percent in the Madison Range with 85 percent snow water equilvalent, it is about time for a storm to roll in and drop a couple of feet. I know the elk and bison are enjoying their mild winter, but the trout are in need of another...
Yellowstone’s other season
So far this year Yellowstone's other season, Winter, has been full of wildlife, steamy mornings and a few hardy folks who endure those bone chilling days. Luckily, we haven't had too many sub-zero days. The last week has felt more like late February than...
A bit more of the white stuff…
With the flows out of Hebgen Dam at 688cfs, there is bound to be some good fishing on the Madison, if it ever warms up. The gage at Kirby Ranch is registering “ICE” on the USGS Streamflow web site. I have yet to go down to the river since our average temps have...
Finally, some snow
Finally, some snow graced our mountains and it now feels a little more like winter. I would bet that there was almost 8 inches on the ground before the winds kicked it up and turned the ground into wave-like formations of snow…..the drift. There was a skinny drift...
One Flake at a time…
For some reason, Mother Nature has decided to go easy on us so far this winter. There is not much for accumulation around 6666 ft, but there is enough snow for touring in Yellowstone and the area’s backcountry on skis at higher elevations. Molly and I dusted off the...
Back for winter
It has been while since my last post on the fishing report. There were three trips to the Missouri, bird hunting, elk hunting and a 2 week trip to Southern Oregon and Northern California since September 23rd. Not to mention a pile of days spent fishing the Madison...
Down goes the flow….finally
Out of Hebgen: 1800 cfs At Kirby : 1920cfs THE RIVER WILL DROP TO 850 CFS BY THURSDAY SEPT 25TH, 2008 Two nights ago I got a phone call from a friend in Ennis who had just spoke with the folks at the Dam. After loosing 9 plus feet out of Hebgen in 22 days they got...
More Hebgen News
The following new release came from PPLs website: http://www.pplmontana.com/ PPL Montana continues effort to reduce water flow past Hebgen Dam Engineers from PPL Montana continue to work on ways to reduce the flow of water past the Hebgen Dam after damage to the...