New Gears & One More "Tubing"

YELLOWSTONE RIVER UPDATE: Yellowstone River is coming down and clearing rapidly. Indeed about a week earlier than most local anglers and guides anticipated. Boats have been already out with some good reports! Contact me for booking float trips (or other types of guide trips I'm offering).
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As the season approaches (as of this typing, it has started! - which will be the next post just in a few days!), I just invested on a couple of gears for guiding and fishing. One biggest and most anxious product is this Patagonia Stormfront Hip pack!!  I have tried a couple of hip/waist pack to store my fly boxes (mostly for guiding). Unfortunately, water has penetrated into more than a few occasions, which means I have had hard times drying back my flies.......... I finally invested on this one and I'm very happy!! This is 100% water-proof, perhaps a hurricane-proof!!

Since the first acquisition in the last fall, I became a great fun of Patagonia Synchilla Snap-T!!! It's full of comfort, warmth, and originality (by the way, my first one seems out of lineup, which makes it & and a guy who's wearing it stand out even more!?). I had to get one more!!

A little bonus.......

I then acquired two more sets, total 3, of float tubes (fins included). In a very near future, perhaps next spring or even this coming fall, I'm planning to offer a float-tube trips. I keep you posted!

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Speaking of the tube, I was playing some more with tubes at the local ponds/reservoirs.
I finally got a bite!!

Here's the memorable catch! The first fish to the tube and the very first bass on the fly!

I never meant to exaggerate or trick the size. It was purely because how photos were taken. Real size was........ I'm happy anyway!

Three Forks Ponds are set in a very "urban" spot. They are right off I-90 and are next golf course and town of Three Forks, MT. Then how big is the town of TF? One of a few enjoyable warm-water fisheries in the area. I will certainly hit there again!

Spring creek report will follow!

Bug & Wildlife Days (Originally "Stillwater Excursion"......)

I just acquired a float tube (second hand). This is a new toy for me. I couldn't help but testing it right on!!

DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT try to walk forward with fins on your feet!! 

Instead take side-step or walk backward - lessons learned with the cost of pain on my knee!!

So I hit two local reservoirs. First one foremost, just to see if I can manipulate this craft and then hoped to catch a few trout. Well, I didn't sink in. Then, not much to say about actual fishing......... Yet days were spectacular filled with different views (caused by different angles on the water), wildlife, and lots of aquatic insects!!

I was slightly afraid that this would look me as a poor prey floating on the water and peck me and my tube!

Ennis Lake is producing tremendous insects and their activities right now!!
I found something furiously yet funnily dancing near the water surface. It was a damselfly nymph.

I was able to capture motion videos!
After the photo above was taken, I released it. Then it swam toward back to me and seemed to find me as a standing willow tree or something on which it would eventually hatch!?

These two videos are not just funny but should teach us how damsel nymphs look like and move, which stimulate us about how to mimic these movements by designing new fly patterns and by varying the retrieving methods.

Right after, I spotted something huge on the water. By this time, my attention was more into bugs rather than fishing.....

It was the biggest mayfly species I ever seen!! - I believe it would be the largest size of calibaetis.

It looked almost all "flight-less", I mean, too big to fly!!

Spruce Moth were also observed. This summer may be the cycle of its peak!!?? - very exciting outlook!!

I saw it!!! Salmonfly is quietly yet positively starting!!

Beautiful calibaetis spinners!!

I haven't mentioned that I lost the original sample tray with measurements sometime during last winter. I tried to make a tray at least with the minimalist measures.

Not perfect pictures but you can see what I attempted to do.

Just so many bugs on the surface!

Even PMD were observed on Ennis Lake.

I wish I were as good a fisherman as this fella (not on the stillwater).

Well, hope to report some real fishing report with the float tube any time soon.
But these insect activities really gave me a positive outlook for this summer. Salmonflies and PMD are soon to come!! Then spruce moth cycle!
Oh, the last but not the least, though Yellowstone River is still in the middle of runoff, water level is dropping. Clarity is next..........

June - Rolling & Getting Ready

I've been booked up and very busy with Master Breeder projects.
Majority of area rivers/streams are still in the middle of run-off, while there are several rivers/streams available to fish. Lakes and ponds are offering their prime fishing time too! It's not really a break, per se, but I can use this period for my own fishing and time to prepare for the guide season.

Perhaps this will be the last video update for the Tying Season 2014-15.

I did a little work on the boat floor. Nowadays, we, outfitters/guides, need to accommodate any type of wading boots soles. 

Materials I applied are nothing special or fancy.

 But I think and hope studs and any metal grips would not penetrate, at least so badly to my boat floor. Nor it should be slippery for anglers. Yet I attached them so they wouldn't be blown away while driving (another cheap trick!).

At this point, it's just a bit too early when we would start floating Yellowstone River. Give me a week or two. I hope to post some fishing reports for the next post!!

Multi-Day & -Destination Trip

I whip-finished 81 dozens of flies during the three weeks of my fly-tying bootcamp. Then guide trips were scheduled over Memorial Day Weekend. I had great folks (father and son) who were willing to try different waters.

Day 1, for their first ever fishing trip to Montana, I chose to guide at DePuy's Spring Creek (www.depuyspringcreek.com). Midges were hatching for the first thing in the morning and we tried match-the-hatch fishing.

 Just as I expected, this time of year, nymphing was very productive too.

 Lunch was grilled burgers & zucchini!!

We picked up some more trout in the afternoon.

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 Day 2, I took them to one of local trophy lakes = Burns Lake in Big Timber, MT (http://www.burnslakefishing.com). It was rainy (sprinkles to pounding) and cloudy all day. A bit unpleasant and cold to be outside for this time of year in Montana but we knew it was surely a good fishing weather. My "stillwater selection flies & tactics" were very effective!!
We started with many "practice" size trout (and kept catching them all day) then we were hooked into "trophies" - the reason we were working hard for!!

 Big Brookies!!

 Dad took the lead at the beginning.

Eventually son caught up!

 For this cold day, I cooked over-sizes hot-dogs!!

In the afternoon, rains kept on and so did our fishing!

Checking "trout lunch" every now and then.

More handsome buck Brookie!!

 Then.......

The familiar fight at Burns', which can be addictive!! I knew what was at the end of line!!

 The strong & athletic Kamloop Rainbow!!

Again handsome Brookie!!

 The day ended with one more hard-fighting Kamloop!

 It was a very fun day. Though I myself directly didn't feel those trout, these handsome brookies (and of course Kamloops!) got me really excited too!!

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Day 3, we hit the Lower Madison. I had gathered good information along with my own scouting a few days before. I knew the Lower was in the phase of transition. Honestly it was one of those days when the Lower confuses us......

 Weather was changing through our float. Now PMD was popping too!

As much as I had great times with these folks, I'm really glad that they were really willing to challenge and taste different water types and fishing methods. Hope to see more clients who would like to sample many different waters in Montana!!

June is coming......