Bighorn River - Livin' The Dream 2019

Well, I survived the annual Bighorn trip and successfully got back home👏🎉
I came home with so many pictures and videos, of course many good memories and experiences. It'd better so because I spent half of August by camping and guiding😲
First I had to recover by resting my body and adjusting my mental set. Then I went through all the digital contents. After very time consuming effort and patience, I compiled the documentary👏🎊
Seeing is believing, enjoy the real & raw live actions🎥


Another brutal Bighorn trip on the book😎
The next main actor could be YOU😎

Salmonfly on The Madison

This is NOT a timely fishing report.
Salmonfly hatch on Madison River came and then had gone. I was guiding on the river. Then I was also busy at Livingston's spring creeks for PMD hatch (definitely next post!). So blogs and all other social network posts have been way behind.

Talks along the river from long time experts to visiting fishers, and online, of course, is: it was an odd year with the hatch. It was sporadic here and there and didn't really go strong. I have some idea and explanation: WEATHER❗❗❗❗  In the middle of June, we had a very cold week. As it was on the news, we even had some snow drizzles on the Summer Solstice. Though it got warm up like summer-ish, it was immediately followed by late afternoon/evening thunderstorms almost all EVERYDAY from the end of June to early July. So, although the river flow and clarity were perfect, it was simply cold - air & water. This should explain the hatch of this season - at least to me. Though some to many anglers may have been disappointed, salmonflies did hatch and trout were caught on dry-flies. Also, I have to emphasize there were phenomenal amount of caddis were hatching. Plus Goldenstone and many species of mayflies were hatching too. Trout were interested in these dry-flies too. I understand many visiting anglers expect the most explosive actions with salmonfly dry-flies, especially if they have previously experienced one, however, me being a guide, this hatch on this river is just like any other hatches on the any other rivers. It's just the NATURE. So if I may offer an advise, bring your biggest expectation but also learn and accept what's going on this season and on the river.

My anglers and I chased the hatch. It seemed we chose a right section as we found this guy at the boat launch!!

These were seen all through the section.

As the day got warmer, these guys became very active. 

 Then we had "calm before the storm" and that was our window of opportunity.

Next day on the other section, we saw these. If I may interpret, these guys just quit or got interrupted from hatching perhaps due to wet/cold weather. 

 As I wrote above, we had some actions on Goldenstone and Caddis dry-flies too❗❗

So this is what I experienced and learned this season with the salmonfly hatch on the Madison.
What was yours? Whatever you've got, I hope you had fun. Then next year and near future, come back with expectations and experiences😉❗❗

Quite A Party..........

Oh what a great time it was.................😁
The annual East Idaho Fly Tying Expo was another great success for everyone who participated - organizers, volunteers, vendors, and of course, tyers.

Coming home and looking back, now I realize I had had adrenaline surge since we got to the venue - which means I felt exhausted immediately all programs were marked off😓. That was because I took a workshop with one of the most skilled tyers as well as the greatest instructors in the world😲.
These are NOT my flies❗❗

 We worked on this pattern. How did I do? Ahhhhhh😅

On Day 1, Friday, March 29th, I conducted my own workshop - the topic was to tie elegant yet practical fishing flies for Steelhead and Salmon. Unfortunately my wifey was too busy on her own to come over and snap pictures for me. I even forgot to take pictures of flies we completed. Anyways it was very fulfilling and intense class for both instructor and students. Especially for me as an instructor, it was very meaningful in many ways.

Immediately after, my mentor conducted a very educational presentation at Tying Theater😲.

Then it was my cue😎. I traveled with frames I made through winter. And as I did last year, I tied one & only full-dress Atlantic Salmon Fly for the session.

I sincerely appreciate all the audience who stopped by and even spent with me through whole process🙇

Due to the unusual circumstance, compared to my own tying room in my house, I might have rushed a bit. This is the finished Powell's Fancy (G.M. Kelson).  I gave to a person who sat with me from the very beginning.

Day 2, Saturday, March 30th, was even busier😆
Wifey ran her own educational booth and our little one 👶 was with her most of time.

Ours will soon be one of them😊

 My session was again in the afternoon and again quite busy with good audience🙇🙏

I ran and managed time a bit better than Day 1. With some difficulties and mistakes, here's the finished Green Highlander (G.M. Kelson)😏 Also this was given to a young man who sat with me from the very beginning to the end.

Of course, there are some other reasons this Expo is our favorite annual destination.
This time, we tried Stockman's Steakhouse😋
Need I say more😋😋😋😋

 Although we didn't win these premium raffle or auction items,

Wifey had very good luck with her raffles and won something funny😉😊

Seriously I don't think there are so many events that host so many renowned tyers like this Expo.
Expo organizers have great visions and commitment to make this event happen every year. I hope it will go on year after year and I hope to be invited again and meet and interact with great tyers.
Till then👋

Seattle Foodie & Olympic National Park Fishing

We had a super fantastic family trip to West Coast😁.
Although I once lived in Washington for a certain period of my life (you can look back my posts from 2009 and 2010), it was eastern part and I had any businesses or opportunities to visit western counterpart such as Ocean and cities like Seattle.

Although we're very content with our life in Montana or Yellowstone Country, we'd also like to enjoy what we don't have or what we can't do in our area. Our top list is nothing but enjoy seafood🍣🍤🍥🐟😋Our special interest was Poke Bowl. We chose to dine at FOB Poke Bar. With so many options and combinations, what we can order is limitless😲and not to mention very tasty😋

We next headed to Uwajimaya - a well-known Japanese & Asian grocery store. The Seattle one is the largest. We wish we could have tried those but just watching many items was fun enough.

Then we ordered, well, Poke bowls again from the seafood department. Those were again fresh & tasty😋

From our hotel, we could easily walk, with Sage in a stroller👶, to Pike Place Market. This was another place that just watching stores and items was enjoyable enough.

Now we had to try the world famous Pike Place Chowder. As each item looked oh-so-wonderful, we went with the sample plate😋

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After we enjoyed all kinds of dead fish, we headed to Olympic National Park to see if we could meet live ones😏 We stayed at beautiful Kalaloch Lodge within ONP right along the Pacific Ocean. From there, we explored the area.

Before our trip, like any fishermen would do nowadays, I looked for information online. I had some very fresh surprises. There are not many information out there😲 unlike Montana or Yellowstone, really. There are only some outfitters and a few fly-shops in the area and not many books seem on the market either. That got me really curious. It's been a very while that I became a visiting fisher myself.

We tried from small creeks nearby our lodge.

Sage's first day on the stream with us👶😎

Ocean is just a step away!

I bet salmon and steelhead would swim up even to these small creeks during their peak season.
Next we headed to the main body of ONP into Hoh River surrounded by rain-forest.

This was quite a river and I had quite an experience. The Hoh is, with this flow, just about the size of Yellowstone River at the lower end closer to the Ocean. Upper river where we were was just about the half of Yellowstone River. Water seemed to have some color in it but water was actually clear. I think color is due to water ingredients (glacier fed) and river bottom contents.

Well, I hooked something......ah..........very little............😓
Sunset was beautiful over and down the Pacific😲

Since the lodge was so comfortable and also as we immediately fell in love with the area, we decided to extend our trip one more day. Renee and Sage got retired from fishing and decided to stay cozy at the lodge😊so I was on my own. On this day, I checked the very lower end of the Hoh, near the mouth.

The lower end was larger than the upper section, which made it hard for gears I had. In the afternoon, I decided to head back to the upper section again. On the way, I saw the region's unique Roosevelt Elk.

I again hooked something............ah...........very little. As the sun started to set behind tall rain-forest trees, I walked along the bank and tried to read structures. Then I saw something............ A giant fish swam right by me..............It didn't look like a trout-shape I'm used to. I bet it was more like Chinook........BTW, I do have one Chinook experience - see my old post😏

I kept on, at the last light, I felt something and this time it was hanging onto my line and fly😬

😂

As dada failed to catch proper trout, a trout aquarium in a gas station at St. Regis, MT was Sage's first trout experience👶😊

We quite enjoyed this trip and are already thinking about going back over there. Next time, more & serious fishing😬 and slightly less grocery shopping😅
Our quests for Steelhead and Pacific salmons will continue👍

Bighorn River Trico Hatches - Living The Dream Volume 2

Oh, what a great trip on the Bighorn River✌😁I just got home from another great Trico hatches on this legendary river with Mr. Chuck.

For two seasons in a row, due to heavy snow accumulations in Montana and Wyoming, the Bighorn has been experiencing unusual flows from the past. We can't deny some effects on the river, though we may not be able to how & what at this point. According to fishing reports, the river and fishers sounded experiencing some challenging conditions. However we were up for challenges and were willing to figure out what to do😏. Following visual materials will explain to you😎.Our theme for this year was Livings The Dream Volume 2✌

Before I go on, I'd like to go over Trico hatches and how the fishing goes during this period.

• Size 18-24, female has olive/green abdomen, while male has almost all entirely black. 
• Male Tricorythodes hatch at night. It can be 7pm to midnight. During the hatch, if one happens to be on the river, it's possible to fish for rising trout. Over night they molt into spinners and sit tight in the bush, grasses, or trees. 
• Female Trico hatch right just around at the first light of dawn = 6:00 to 6:30am. Sometimes it can be 7:00 to 7:30am. During the hatch, like any other mayfly species at any other streams, trout will rise and we can fish with match-the-hatch flies (dry-flies, slightly subsurface, etc). 
• Then immediately after the hatch, females molt into spinners😲
• Male spinners, that have been waiting for this opportunity, start to fly and they mate to reproduce next generations.
• Now the sky is buzzing with literally billions of spinner, as far as eyes can see😲
• Right after mating, they start to fall into the river (and die or have died already). And trout gorge on them.
• River will literally boil with rising trout😲
• There are days when there's a gap between female hatch and spinner flight (rises pause), while there also are days when it overwraps and continues without a gap (rises keep going). 
• Spinner flight can start at around 8am or 9am, that range. 
• And can last till noon. Depending on winds and other factors, it can be longer or shorter.
• And this can happen from August to October on the Bighorn😲

With all of these in mind, let's move over to our fishing reports😁
For the first time ever, I tried and learned how to edit and compile videos and photos into a documentary🎥😏I'm very pleased to what I came up with✌

Then below is the photo essay, as it has been the format of choice for the past couple of posts. 

I may narrate here and there, that is not done on the video above. 

For some of you who have fished from my boat, you know I always have a secret fly😆

One of the most beautiful dawns I ever see😇

I was able to fish some during the scouting. This rainbow was very satisfying😁

We caught up in the evening.

This is the MUST item for early rising fishers😋

Volume 2 has begun😬

Super good start✌

This has to be seen in the video😬

This was a very satisfying brown on the first day, which turned out to be the BEST👍

Always learning

This morning, trout were super selective or just doing whatever they wanted to do😑It was very technical and challenging but we did manage a few nice ones✌

Kind of a comic relief, as we saw a bird on the floating weed patch😊

On this morning, we were beaten on the race to Hot Dog Hole (long story😂) instead we had real hot dogs🌭😋

Afternoon hopper fishing was also good😏

Howdy stranger😉

Mr. Chuck is a serious amateur entomologist😲

I can do hot one too👍

This morning, brother John fished with us.

I was busy netting back and force😅

It was very interesting to see a fox popped out of the bush and wouldn't be frightened at us🦊

Again, I strongly suggest you to click & watch the video. Seeing is believing.
It was very intense😵😬As of this writing, I'm still recovering and reminiscing. And am already thinking of next year.............😉 As much as we enjoyed a lot, we learned a lot from the river and trout. I brought back some homework with me for next year.

This is all the reasons I've been promoting Bighorn Trips. Come and experience with your own eyes and hearts😆

Guide season goes on. It has just turned the corner into the fall season😏
I may still see you on the streams👋