Montana -July 2010

For those who still get ABPF, I posted some photos of my recent trip.
Spent 5 good days fishing before "Montana's Revenge" struck and I began
my worship at the porcelain shrine for 4 days. Nasty, nasty stuff that
knocked me out for the remainder of my 10 day trip and made for a
worrisome plane ride home on the 19th. Just now getting back to normal.
Warren left on Thursday, and had a brief fling with it once he got home
to Bozeman. Danl caught it on Friday, and headed home (driving slowly,
but stopping frequently, i suspect)saturday.

Because the tribs we usually fish were still too high and too cold
(@46-48F), we stuck with the Madison as our main venue. Lots of big
fish this year. Danl dredged a bit, but I fished only with dries. All
of the big fish were caught on dries...with Danl getting a 26" brown on
a rogue salmonfly pattern. He and Warren caught several 20+, I caught a
couple. Lots of 14-18 inchers. Drifted from Lyons to Palisades one day
in the old Gink boat that Warren has restored. Nice ride, but we used
it mainly to get to fishable spots. Warren hasn't changed much...a bit
pudgier. His new girlfriend called daily, but didn't get to meet her.

Lots of guide boats on the water in the float stretches... I still don't
like drift boat fishing. With the onset of the illness, we didn't get
into the park or get to float the Yellowstone as planned. Still, it is
always a good time sharing a fishing trip with Danl and Warren.

The salmonfly hatch was odd, sparse and sporadic. best hatch occurred
between hebgen and quake...and that is where we caught the biggest fish.
i missed one that chased my salmonfly on top downstream and that i
know was 28" or better. biggest trout i have ever seen on the surface.
it's amazing the difference between a 16" and 20" trout, but a 28" looks
like a ferocious orca in comparison. for every fish we caught, we had
10-20 that came up and looked or slapped at the fly.

one day, we watched an osprey tease and dive bomb two bald eagles. The
eagles were pretty laid back about the deal, but once there was a brief
entanglement when the eagle turned upside down in flight to repel the
osprey and those huge legs with talons could be seen from the distance.
i was so into the viewing i never thought to do a digital camera movie
of it...awestruck, i reckon...but a memory i'll enjoy.

despite the bowel explosions, it was another fine time in Montana, laced
with new mysteries. Took the Ennis route back to Bozeman, and discovered
an interesting cemetery on the way and just off the main highway on the
east side of ennis. some art-sy headstones...and a few millers planted
there. the bikini hatch floating the lower madison stretch between ennis
and bozeman was notable too.

jeff