Sunday Morning SurpRISES

This Morning Alec, my roommate John and I headed down the Clarkfork to one of the first places Alec and I had ever gone fishing together. John came along to take pictures with his new camera and he got some sweet shots. When we arrived at the fishing access and got geared up we were surprised to see the river had totally changed from last year. The high flows from spring runoff out here in Montana are pretty intense and from what we saw today it can change a whole stretch of river. The first cast of the day I hooked up with a 6 inch cutbow and it only got better from there. Alec and I were able to land a couple nice rainbows on nymphs/drys. Alec and I met up about halfway through the day and stumbled upon a pod of rising fish. FINALLY this is what we have been waiting for! Consistently 6 different fish rising at the same time. We both quickly tied on a fly and instantly started catching fish. The fish weren't as large as we anticipated but it was still fun catching fish on drys again. The biggest one was around 12 inches and I lost one that was bigger. All in all it was a great morning of fishing with good friends.

 Gearin' up

 First fish of the day

 Fire on the Mountain

 Missoula's smokey

 Fish of the day

 Casting to sippers

On the pod of fish

 Alec with a little cuttie

  

Now its time for homework...

Friday Afternoon Fun

Friday afternoon after classes I headed south on 93 up the Bitterroot river in search for some hungry trout. It was a great day of fishing on some beautiful water. The amount of fish I landed hit double digets thanks to some 13-14 inch whitefish. The highlight of the day was when I made what I thought was the perfect cast and as soon as my fly hit the water the big brown hammered it. No fishing today(to hungover) but my roommates went up the Bitterroot and had a great day on dry flys. Hopefully I will be able to get out on the water tomorrow. 

 Little Brown

 Fisty Rainbow

 Headshot

Big guy

The Release

Reunited

The past 2 weeks have been pretty hektic between school and finding a job but It was a must that me and Alec got on the river together because we hadn't fished together all summer. We headed out to the same spot I had went the past week and caught that 32 inch pig of a pike. Sure enough the pike were eager to chase the fly again. It wasn't 3 casts and Alec was hooked up! It was great to get Alec hooked up with his first pike in Montana and just to get out on the water together in general. That was the only fish of the day however we did have some exciting chases by BIG fish. We'll get em next time.

Sight casting for Pike >

 Throwin Loops

Alec being Alec

Hopper Dropper Up The Creek

Rock Creek joins the Clark Fork River just 20 miles out off Missoula and is known around the world for not the big fish but the amount of fish per mile. Word on the street is its close to 4000 fish per mile of river. I woke up early yesterday morning eager to catch some fish. I drove along the river for about 40 miles and found a good stretch of river to fish. Not only is the fishing great but the views are spectacular as well.

I fished a Hopper dropper all day and it produced a lot of good fish. A Hopper with about 15 inch of 5x tippet with a copper john dropper got me these beauties.

 Brookie

 This guy smashed a hopper

Little Brother?

I lost a 16-17 Cuttie along the way but also caught some little Cutties. All in all it was a great day, beautiful weather and scenery. It was my first full day of hopper fishing and it wont be my last.  Heres a little underwater video I got of these two browns.

Pikeventures

Im back in Missoula now! That means the blog is back in action and its looking like its going to be a good year. I got back the 12th of aug. and have been busy moving into my new house and settling in. However I have been able to get out on the river a couple times in search of Pike. My sudden Pike addiction has been influence by Ken Capsey and Brian Price of Vermont Fly Guys. Shout out to both of you for the great flys and opening me up to a totally new fly fishing experience. Thanks guys.

 Vermont Fly Guys

Yesterday morning I went out to the lower Bitterroot in search for Pike but wasn't able to find any. Today I went to the same spot but headed downstream instead. I was walking along the river bank by some still water and spotted and good size Pike. My heart immediately started beating faster and faster. I made a cast about 15 feet past the pike and stripped my streamer quickly. Then I saw a flash of the fish turning around to follow my streamer, I stripped it 2 more times and paused.. Waaam the Pike smacked the fly and I set the hook. The fish took off easily ripping through 50 feet of line, I got some line back and just when I thought I had him he took off again and again. I finally landed the fish after a solid 5 minute fight. It was hands down the biggest fish I have caught on a fly rod and arguably the most exciting. Im hooked on pike! 

 Hooked up

 33 inch fatty

The Release 

Summer at a glance

This summer I wasn't able to do much for fishing because I worked the majority of the time. However when I was able to get out I had some pretty good success with the brook trout and small mouth bass.

 I also had to deal with fishing with my buddies who used gulp pink worms... 

All fish gotta eat

Ditch Pickle Classic

IM ALIVE!! Ive been really busy working most of the summer and haven't had many fishing adventures. I have been doing more bass fishing than trout fishing lately but I head back to Montana August 12 and Ive heard nothing but good things about the trout fishing out there right now. Last weekend I was in a fly fishing catch and release tournament on Lake Champlain. It felt good to get out on the water for a full day of fishing. I fished with my buddy Chad on his flat bottom boat thats customized for fly fishing with 2 casting platforms. The biggest bass I caught was 15 inches but we caught a pile more under that size. Chad also had a 30+ inch pike snap at his popper 3 times but never hooked him. We didn't have enough points to place in 1st 2nd or 3rd but I had a great time and even walked away with a new buff! Hopefully I can get some more trout fishing in this summer before I head back out west. But until then here are a couple pictures from the tournament.

15 inch fattty 

 smallies on top of smallies

 Beautiful night

Chads grip and grin