Spring Premonition!?

Blizzard was gone...... Weather has got somewhat milder. Now we are facing FLOOD all over!! This is really a freaky weather pattern. This seems affecting trout behavior and insect hatches.....

At least it's been good enough to get out fishing. I fished DePuy's Spring Creek (www.depuyspringcreek.com) 4 days in a row, just like my full-time job. Following pictures are in a chronological order, though I don't separate or comment. You could tell from the light condition and my hat etc.

As more rainbows are coming into the creek, I was fascinating and wishing they would be aggressive to large bright wet flies. So I actually fished with my Atlantic Salmon fly in a smaller size. Whether it takes 3 minutes or 4 hours to tie, my flies are meant to be fished and get wet!

Not with the one above \(^_^)/!!

Nice brown too!

My own B.P.C. was crushed at the first bite!!

 I just wiped my nose for the occasion, never meant to chop my neck off!

I fish in and out of the creek, you know..........

Usual suspects.

Another fine 'Bow!

I caught a 12-inch rainbow later on.

Look!! Yes, Spring BWO (Baetis) were found! Furthermore, these were apparently duns and emergers. They must have been hatching somewhere & some time I couldn't observe. And trout must have taken them on rises!

Nice brown!!........

Also containing......

He got some tattoos?

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I honestly wish I could keep tying Atlantic Salmon flies all year. But as the weather gets warmer, I have to switch into the work-mode. Fishing & guiding = trout flies to tie. I have just re-worked on a Silver Doctor. I am planning to tie some more when I have open time slots for next 4-5 weeks but not as much as before any more.

Anyway, I'll be a learning student of this subject forever.
And then, I keep fishing. See you next week!

One Day Fishing Report: A Fine Day Sandwiched by Snow & Blizzard!!

I recall it was very cold with some snow when I posted the last time. This weekend is the same, no worse!! Yesterday, March 1st, we (Paradise Valley to Bozeman and surrounding area) were hit by a ferocious blizzard. Today it's a bit improved: no winds and no snow-drift and it's only -6F!!

Strangely and luckily, we had very nice & mild weather on the last Thursday, in between snow (last weekend) and blizzard (this weekend).  No winds and the air temp went up above 40F!! I actually sweated a lot. (and this is why we are all surprised by the sudden change.) And it turned out to one of most interesting fishing days. Enough to make a full post, really! Let's review.

Thanks to good folks at Waterworks-Lamson, my reel was revived. Actually I received the reel handle assembling parts on last Wednesday. Of course, I hit DePuy Spring Creek (www.depuyspringcreek.com). My first catch was very fine & leaping brown!! I did appreciate the revived reel!! I also caught one fine Rainbow in spawning color at the same spot but couldn't take pictures.

.................................Then I did something different from usual. It wasn't only me who decided to take advantage of a nice weather while we could. Creek was somewhat busy for this time of year. And as of now I NEVER show up before noon!! (it will change soon, I guess.) At any spots I thought of, I was behind of others. So I was still at the creek property but I didn't fish the creek...... Go figure! A massive Whitie swallowed my Stonefly nymph!!

And I conducted a stomach sample. Yes!! If you are trained and aren't scared of Whities, you can sample Whities, just like trout!! It was a great discovery to me!! See midges in every stage were taken (larvae, pupae, and adults)!! Then Look at the number of small Stonefly nymphs and their nymph shucks!! I can't specify the species of Stonefly for now but they are getting active and hatching.

Right after the Whitie, I had another big hook-up....... It was larger and heavier for sure and fighting/swimming differently from Whities............ Wow!!??

 Yeehaw!!

 Perhaps the best rainbow for me from this "water"!!

 I moved onto one more stretch. This time it was a nice brown!!

Indeed midges were hatching a lot though I didn't really any rising trout.

See!! This is the nymph shuck also collected on the shore. I try to identify the species and I keep you updated.

As it darkened, I went back to the creek. Now I found some room. I caught a big one! Rainbow in spawning color? Not it was a big buck brown who seemed just spawned out.

 So I released him quickly and snapped under-water pics while I could!! Turned out to be cool.

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How about my Atlantic Salmon fly projects? Perhaps this would be my best effort. As spring coming, I gotta shift into trout flies for guiding and sales.

For the final work, I am paying my best attention to every detail. The head must have been improved quite a lot!

Hopefully I can go fishing next week. Well, before thinking of fishing, I need to keep my house warm and I'd like to drive safe!!

Fishing Full-Time (kinda) This Week

I've been working on my blogs (English & Japanese) a lot lately. With some bloody effort, I created this page: http://leftyangler.blogspot.com/p/sw-montana.html 
Hope this will help you choose & decide which month(s) to visit & fish our Greater Yellowstone Country!
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WOW!! We are experiencing another big pack of snow! Air temp is bearable as it's not windy. But there's always a possibility of our vehicles getting stuck, if not buried, so always be cautious. For the first time since last November, I fished more than anything else this past week. Full-time!!........not exactly as it was 4 afternoons......... Apparently DePuy Spring Creek (www.depuyspringcreek.com) is the place to be. It's not whole a lot yet but rainbows are getting active. They are coloring up gorgeously and gaining weight & strength. Number of bigger individuals is also increasing as the day goes by!!

Don't underestimate ones about this size! Though I'm quickly hoisting with one arm for a pic, these guys will fight hard and pull out my line!!

One trouble.............Water on the line seeped into the screw of the reel handle and froze. With my reeling motion, I must have untwisted the handle. I couldn't hang onto. I could pick up a washer in the creek but handle was gone. I gotta talk to the company.

Yesterday, I was fishing with "as is". It was very hard to fight with rainbows in current condition. Furthermore, I left my net in my truck!

For this one, at least I had a net with me. Definitely a "River Trout"!!

Last but not the least, though now I'm tying slightly less than past many weeks, Atlantic salmon Flies still captivate my heart and occupy my mind the most. I found this one of historical works = A must for serious "Fly Dresser" (I start to call myself so from now on). This can be downloaded for free. Check out: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7218454M/How_to_dress_salmon_flies
You can look for any other old books (fishing, flies, any subjects). Have fun!

Durham Ranger: My best & hardest work.

Uhhhhhhh, more snow falling........ Good time to read the book above and file tax till next friendly weather arrive!!

Trout+Atlantic Salmon Flies+New Gear = I'm Happy!!

Weather was improved. At the same time Master Breeder "Propaganda" tour has also started.

So I hit DePuy's (www.depuyspringcreek.com) as always. I'm not sure if the cold days affected or not but somehow I'm catching more brown trout than rainbows. Actually all browns. Nothing wrong with that. Sooner or later, rainbows are coming into the creek!

Just at my regular spot, I set the hook for the take. Gotcha! Nice one!........... Then I thought "I know you!!" If you scroll down to the last post, you see a nice brown I'm holding. That was on 8th. 5 days later, I caught her again!! If you enlarge both photos and compare spots (colors, patterns, and locations) and many other traits, you would agree with me that this is the same fish!!

Scars on the back look familiar too.

This fish and the rest, I caught them with one single pattern; L.L. Beads.

Never underestimate the power of this stupid looking fly!!

So here's a revival.

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I'm having great times at my bench with Atlantic Salmon Flies. It's something.

Childers: Over all I'd like to call it very good! I wish I should have chosen a topping with less curvature. Other than that I like my work for each element, particularly horns.

Green Highlander: I decided to re-work on this one since November. To be honest, I have started to see & notice "touches" (I'm saying "ugly"!!) on my past ties. This is the growth of mine. Now I can critique my own. I wanted to see how much progress I have made in 3 months. It ended the under-wing kicking up somewhat. I didn't fix well and enough before attaching the main-wing. But over all, I can see clear differences. I set wing and topping short from the tail on purpose.

McIntyre: This is a bit unique & interesting pattern for me to tie. Honestly I should have tied with a 4/0 hook! (this is 2/0). Yet I'm satisfied with over all appearance, especially the nice little wool-head!

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Last but not the least, I just got a new gear for this upcoming fishing/guiding season! I was at a hardware store in town and looking for some framing devices and parts for my Atlantic Salmon Flies (more about that later). Then in the discount rack, I found this nice little LED light with lithium batteries!! This should last a looooooong time. And this will help me and my clients till dark, especially at spring creeks!! I'm already excited!!

I have started new antler projects as of today. So I'll be busy again with fishing the creek, antler projects, and Atlantic Salmon flies!!

Weekend Fishing Report

Before I go on the first ever "pure fishing report" post in a while, I have one news/announcement to share. Many of you know, and even join in, International Federation of Fly Fishers (formerly Federation of Fly Fishers; http://www.fedflyfishers.org/). Their head office and museum is located right here in Livingston. It's a worthless information but I live in a walking distance of two blocks behind them. They will hold an International Fly Fishing Fair right here in Livingston (click here).  I have become an "unofficial" Ambassador to promote event to and generate more participants to Japanese Anglers. I'm doing more on the Facebook page.

Also, to all of you American and world-wide readers, many of you may come this way for the event. Even if you don't join the event or plan to visit around here other times of year, stop by IFFF building and check their museum.

They have full of awesome stuffs!! Library holds many a valuable historical books!!

My Master's work!!

 This is just a part of the wall. There are many more showcases and stuffs on other walls.

Museum will be open during the Fair. But also if you are passing from/to, say, Yellowstone Park at other occasions, I suggest you to drop by anyway.
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Coldness got somewhat loose on Saturday. Yet it was still "cold" in general, especially for fishing. But with one Atlantic Salmon fly project completed, my mind was filled with hot desire to go fishing. At least winds seemed gentle, so I hit DePuy's (www.depuyspringcreek.com). Well, it was cold........... 11F plus some NE breezes........... But unfortunately there were some willing trout!

 Rainbows are getting heavier and stronger!!

 Then I got a surprise! Actually surprised after I transferred pictures from my camera to computer. It was a nice brown on my hands. But I didn't recognize this big till I see this photo on screen!

Then today Sunday, I woke up with another foot of fresh snow........... It was supposed to be improved, wasn't it, weather people!? Temperature was single-digit at the highest. I hit the creek anyway. Just like yesterday, I hooked then lost one potential big one. This brown wasn't as small or medium as it looks. Indeed it fought a lot.

Over all, one particular pattern of mine is very effective right now.

It should be warming up next week. Regardless of weather, I already know fishing = numbers & sizes = is getting better and better from now on!