I was really needing a day of fishing. I have been working quite a bit
lately and working 50+ hours and 6 days a week was really starting to
wear me out. This combined with bad weather and having my daughter
every other weekend has left me with very little time to fish. Today I
was going to remedy that and wasn't going to be deterred by the weather.
The drives to and from Big Sky along the Gallatin had left me in such a
need for a "fix" that I was willing to risk damn near anything just to
do some fishing.

I took the drive and was relieved to see that it was not snowing in the
valley but I could see the snow in the distance as I neared the
mountains. The snow was right in the area that I wanted to fish. I
ventured up the canyon anyway and soon found a nice looking spot that I
had never fished before. I got out of the car, locked the doors and
opened the trunk so I could gear up. The wind was blowing a little and
had a biting chill to it so I layered on more clothes and rigged up.
There was a nice pool on the far bank and I eyed it as I readied myself.

I fought through snowbanks and finally reached the river and made a few
tentative casts out to the nearest run. Having been quite some time
since I had wet a line, I was a little rusty and a few casts were needed
before the rust started to shake off. I worked my way out to the middle
of the river so that I could work the nice looking pool on the far side.
My flies were drifting in a slow seam when my indicator stopped. I
thought I had put on too much weight and simply found the bottom, but
the resistance on the end felt erratic and "stick-like." I was pretty
sure that I had simply caught a stick until the "resistance" started
moving across and up stream and I saw a flash through the current. That
wasn't a stick, it was a fish! I brought the fish almost to hand when it
threw the hook. Seems I left my net at home......

I continued to work my way across the river to the far bank. As I
neared, I could see a couple of fish rising in the slow moving water.
It was then that I noticed that some of the snowflakes weren't
snowflakes at all, but midges. I fished my way to them and hooked into
another fish. I nearly had this one to hand when it too threw the hook.
I picked another seam and made a few casts. I was rewarded with a take,
a decent set and landed a rainbow of about 14". I worked this area a
bit more and hooked three fish, landing only one more of roughly the
same size of the first. Did I mention that I was pretty rusty and
without a net?

As I stood in the middle of the stream admiring the views after
releasing a fish, I thought I would take a picture. I opened the
waterproof bag and took out the camera. The sun was starting to peak
through the clouds and made the big, heavy, wet flakes of snow sparkle
as they fell. I tried to turn the camera on several times but couldn't
get it to come on. I kept messing with it and trying everything I could
think of to get it to work. I never was able to get the camera to work
so I put it away and worked my way downstream to some nice looking pools
I could see.

I fished a couple more pools as the snow started falling a bit harder
and the wind started picking up. I forgot that I had a leaky foot in my
neoprene waders and my feet were starting to get wet, cold and numb so I
decided to take a break on the bank after hanging up and breaking off on
the bottom. As I tied on some new flies my feet started to warm up and
I again took out the camera in an attempt to get some scenery shots.
Still no joy. I then noticed all of the black midges on the snow.
There weren't a ton, but enough to notice and signify a decent hatch.
What an incredible insect, the midge. The range of conditions that they
seem to be able to endure is quite remarkable compared to that of other
insects around here. If there is an insect that is worthy of admiration
by a winter fly fisherman, I am sure the midge ranks pretty high on
their list. At least during the winter.....

The fish seemed to like the SJ midge patterns I was using and I saw no
reason to change so I tied on another small flashback BHPT with a Desert
Storm dropper and waded back into the cold water. My feet felt fine for
a while before starting to throb due to the cold water. My friend is
currently dealing with frost bitten toes and the prospect of having the
same thing concerned me. I fished a little longer and having no luck,
decided to call it a day so as to avoid getting a case of the "black
toes."

I arrived back at the car and took off all of my gear and got myself
ready for the drive back home. I went to unlock the door and found that
the key didn't work in the door so I went around to the passenger side
and tried there. The key would go all the way into the lock but
wouldn't turn far enough to disengage the lock. I messed with things
for almost an hour before getting a pry bar out of the trunk and
smashing the back seat window so I could get in. Note to self: remember
to check door locks before using them when buying a used vehicle......

I got back home, got the camera working, put some plastic over the now
empty space where a window used to be on the car and patched the leaky
foot in the waders. Even with all of the crap, just getting out for a
little fishing was well worth it and I haven't been as content in
months. All my gear is now stored in the car and I may just have to
leave work early one day this week to do a little fishing. It should be
much better now that I have the camera working, know the lock situation
and won't have wet feet.
--
Warren
(use troutbum_mt (at) yahoo to reply via email)
For Conclave Info:
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