Montana Part 2
The next few days were just as incredible as the first. We were guided for 2 more days and rented drift boats on the final day before heading over to the next tailwater on day 5. We floated different sections of the river and went through some beautiful canyons, saw plenty of bald eagles, osprey, elk, mule deer, and even bighorn sheep! As we got lower on the river, there seemed to be a better mix of brown trout, on the first day it was pretty much all rainbows.
I continued to tightline out of the boat for most of the trip and stuck with the usual perdigons, emergers, and tag nymphs. Higas SOS also worked very well, but I’m pretty confident anything in the size 16-22 range with a small profile would be very effective. The water depth was way more consistent lower on the river, so once we got the right size bead dialed in, it wasn’t necessary to change as often. This is usually the most important part of nymphing in my opinion, but especially true here where the bottom of the river was covered in algae and grass. Too much weight and you’re cleaning flies off every other cast, too little weight and you’re not getting down to the fish.
The dry fly fishing was pretty much non-existent. We would occasionally see a rise or two, but nothing consistent enough to warrant a cast. Not for a lack of insects though, the mornings were often loaded with swarming tricos.
Tricos to start the day
Outside of rods and tackle, there were a few hick-ups with some critical equipment that is usually necessary for a float trip. Other than Ryan, the rest of the crew ridiculed me for my selection of beer for the float trip, mainly the peach busch light. Interestingly enough, each day, those same guys started taking more and more…
Just try it...
On the day we rented drift boats, Jim dropped the anchor down to stop, but the anchor never came back up and he never stopped. We had to get creative with a cooler bag and some large river rocks, but managed to get that to work.
New Anchor company in the works...
On the last day, the winds picked up and made it pretty damn difficult to tightline, I switched over to a standard indicator rig and fly line. It sure was nice to make a cast, a few mends and mostly just sit back waiting for a strike. After 3 days of tightlining, gave my shoulder a much needed break. Brad the guide set us up with a small french tied off the bend of the hook behind a large crayfish pattern. That combo got the job done and really was a fun way to fish the river, and maybe the only way with the crazy heavy winds right before the storm.
We ended each night with a great meal cooked by Bob, a few spicy bourbon mules, and the occasional cigars. On the last day after dinner, I walked down to the river and made a few casts, that’s when I heard a cracking noise, never a good thing. I looked up and noticed the middle connection on my rod slid out quite a ways, not enough to come apart, but just enough to crack the rod when I loaded it for a cast! So much for nymphing the rest of the trip but little did we know that we were in store for a whole lot of dry fly fishing over the next few days, which was a much needed change of pace. When nymphing is the only option, then that’s the option I’ll take, but it sure does get old pretty quick…
