Rainbows in dense fog and grey skys

Last night we got some snow here in Missoula, nothing crazy just a couple of inches that didn't even stick through the day. The forecast for today was calling for a chance of rain/snow and cloudy skys. Without thinking twice I grabbed my streamer rod and hit the river. Today the big rainbows were hungry, three different large rainbows smashed my streamer with only bad intentions. The fishing is off the hook right now and everyones got the pictures to prove it.

One brown of the day

 Got kype?

ohhh yaaa

A Sunday to Remember

Last night I did some serious recon work to find a section of water I thought held a good amount of LARGE brown trout. I was on google maps while flipping through river maps for at least 2 hours until I finally found THE spot. Call me crazy but sleeping last night was tough just knowing what I could be getting into today. All the pieces of the puzzle fell together for me, it was a beautiful day, I caught plenty of fish and topped it all off by out smarting Larry Lunker and landing the biggest brown trout of my life. 

 Be Bear Aware

 Shoulders for days

Larry Lunker...

FALL IS MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR! 

Its the little things that keep us coming back

Today Alec and I headed to the Bitterroot on what looked like was going to be a overcast cool afternoon. The farther we drove the nicer it got until there was barley a cloud in the sky and the sun was beating down like it was mid August. It wasn't long before we got into some nice cutthroats and even a couple browns. Today couldn't have possibly got any better.. Until two bald eagles flew over our heads and watched over us for a couple minutes. That was the perfect end to a perfect day on the river and Alec was able to get some nice pictures of the birds to top it all off.

 Photo taken by Alec 

 Alec working a log jam

Fall = Color

ATTENTION: FISH PORN!

REBOUND   This video is a must see!

Steelhead Beware..

I picked up this bad boy today at the Missoulian Angler for my future trips to Idaho with Alec at Fly-Fishing-Life to chase Steelhead. The drag system on this reel is phenomenal for the price it cost. In the mean time it is on my 8-weight to slow down the pike this fall.

Floating high and dirty water..

Saturday I set out to float a stretch of the Clark Fork. We had got a little rain the night before and the clouds looked like they were sticking around for the day (great conditions for the streamer bite) I arrived where I was going to put in and the river was high and cloudy like we had just got a storm, despite the water I set off down river. I ended up catching a couple fish and missing a few more. It was a pretty relaxing day on the water floating by myself.

Fall is here..

Lacking Leader

Yesterday afternoon I hit the Clark Fork for a few hours. When I arrived at the access and started setting up my rods, I realized that I didn't have a leader.. I could already see bugs flying around and it was only gonna get better. Without thinking twice I grabbed my 0x tippet made a perfection loop at the end and connected it to my fly line. Off of the 0x I connected some 4x/5x and I was ready to go. (take note that this set up doesn't cast great by any means). Since my casting was limited I worked on my down stream drifts and was able to stick one little rainbow.

At one point I was fishing off a rock about 5 feet above the water and my fly box went for a plunge into the river. The only "dry" dry fly i had was a size 12 Adams. It caught me my only fish of the day so I guess it worked out!

 Drying off in the sun

Rain!!! It finally came!!

Last night for the first time in 40 days Missoula saw precipitation! We got a little mix between rain and snow, The drought is over! It was overcast and in the 50s all morning while I was in class, so when I got out I was quick to hit the river with my streamer rod in hand. The fishing wasn't as good as I anticipated with all the rain we got but I was able to stick one real nice brown. Sometimes one fish is all you need to make a day trip worth while.

In the next few weeks I look forward to streamer fishing picking up and with the income from my new job I might be able to spoil myself with a fall fishing trip of some sorts...The possibilities are endless.. Give me a shout if you have any good ideas for fall fishing trips. 

Check me out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/VermontTroutBum?ref=hl 

The Blackfoot

Tuesday being my day off I took advantage and headed to the Blackfoot river to do some streamer fishing. The Blackfoot is always beautiful around this time of year with all the tamarack trees changing colors and yes the fishing is good too.

 Some Fall colors

 Blackfoot Rainbow

Shoulders