Latest fishing reports - please scroll down for older reports:

2009 Archives

2008 Archives

2007 Archives

2006 Archives

It's hopper time!

8/28/10- George and Adana Pertuit were hoping for a nice relaxing late August float on the Yellowstone today. The weather forecast was for 77 degrees, partly sunny with 6-8mph wind and a 30 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms. We hit the river at 9:30 and it was 63 degrees. Then the east wind started to blow and it got colder all day with intemittent downpours and wicked east wind. Does Adana look like she's having fun? Not exactly South Florida like weather.

8/27/10-MZ Ranch today for Osamu's last day. As we drove over the East Gallatin River we saw "trico smoke" with columns of mating trico spinners on the banks. Conditions were prime and Osamu picked the place apart. First, we hit tricos on Thompsons, then Benharts catching sipping fish at each stop. Then, we headed to the East Gallatin for some hopper dropper fishing. The East has just cleared and was in perfect shape, the fishing was out of sight with Osamu getting perfect drifts and getting fish left and right.

8/26/10- Osamu and I headed back to the Yellowstone today in search of a big brown on a hopper. We concentrated on skinny pool tailouts and soft riffles. The fishing slowed considerably in the late afternoon with record temperatures hitting 100 degrees. The early afternoon was great again though. Here's a brownie that came out of 12 inches of water...awesome take!!

8/25/10- Osamu Komiyama is back for a 3 day fishing trip. I picked him up at the airport and we headed straight to the Yellowstone for some prime time hopper fishing. We found it too. The fishing was great until about 5 and just good after that. Osamu rose a bunch of nice fish, with the best being a fat 18 inch rainbow he nabbed while wading.

8/24/10-I hit MZ ranch with Mr. Tokura and Mr. Wada today. It was warm and sunny. The trico hatch continues to build and we found good rising on both Benharts and Tompson. With tricos, you have to put the fly on the money to catch fish and Tokura and Wada got their share.

8/23/10-It was 95 yesterday with a raging forest fire near Columbus on our way home from the Stillwater. It snowed in the mountains last night and Patrick, Terry and I hit the Yellowstone today wearing jackets, fleece and waders. It was 30 degrees cooler today, but one thing didn't change. The WIND. It blew 20-30 with 40+mph gusts today. We had great hopper fishing for a few hours after lunch and steady fishing throughout the day. Again, the ability to cast in the wind made it a good day of fishing. Check out the fresh snow in the Absorokas.

8/22/10- Patrick Eisenhaur is back in town. This time with nephew Terry Jones in tow. They had never fished the Stillwater, so we went rafting and fishing. It was hot and windy..really windy(35mph). Patrick and Terry did a superb job of casting in the wind from the raft that was sailing down the river. They got the fish. The good fish ate the big dry in the shallow water and the nymph dropper did the trick in the deeper water.

8/20/10- MZ Ranch was the last spot on the Fujimoto trip this year. Robert Stewart joined us again today. The weather was hot and sunny and the Trico hatch/spinner fall was great. We saw good rising most of the day, but it was far from easy with pinpoint casting a must.

8/19/10- Nelson's Spring Creek was the venue for the Fujimoto group. The weather was spectacular with calm wind and intermittent clouds. The fish in Nelson's have been eating PMDs since June and they are unbelievably selective. We got our share, but some fish left us scratching our heads. I watched several fish wait for the natural PMD's to twitch before they ate them...super tough. The fish are big though.

8/18/10- Robert Stewart joined the Fujimoto group today. We hit the lower Yellowstone in hopes of finding some big fish eating hoppers. They were too!! The Budweiser brothers also demonstrated that you can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning!

8/17/10- Back to Yellowstone Park today with the same group. We fished the Lamar and Soda Butte today. The fishing was great with classic cutthroat fishing. These big fish are ultra selective. They would come and look at a variety of flies, but the drift had to be perfect. Here's Harabuchi putting one in the net after 5 plus fly changes and Kakinoki working another one he found behind the big rock.

8/16/10- Fujimoto's group hit the Yellowstone River today for some driftboat fishing. It is hopper time to say the least. We saw numerous natural hoppers drifting down the river and had great fishing after lunch with single giant hoppers. Mr. Fujimoto started the morning with a "micro grand slam" with minature brown, rainbow and cutthroat...the fish got larger as the day wore on...

8/15/10- The Fujimoto group is back after taking 5 years off. I fished with Mr. Fujimoto and Mr. Haribuchi today in Yellowstone Park. Chris Miller guided Mr. Kikinoki and Mr. Oiwa. We started on the Gardner river to catch some brook trout, then moved to Soda Butte for some cutthroats. Fishing in Yellowstone is awesome. We saw Bison, Elk, wolf, coyote, grizzly bear, antelope, bighorn sheep and tons of birds...oh and we caught a bunch of fish too. Here's Chris putting the fish of the day in the net on Gan-chan's last cast.

8/13/10- I donated a half day trip to Eagle Mount, which is a local non-profit organization that provides theraputic recreation for people with disabilities. I was one of 4 boats. Aaron Hanson, Dave Kumlin and Zach rowed the other boats. We had a bunch of fun, but the weather was downright nasty with 50 degrees, rain and wicked upstream wind. There were no complaints from this bunch of hardcores!! Steve and Kim rode in my boat. Here's a shot of Steve with the fish of the day and another shot of Aaron and Dave's boats before the weather got really bad.

8/12/10- Missouri river legend and Headhunters fly shop owner Mark Raissler is in town for his annual trip with Renegade outfitters. He brought his friend Mike Rupert with him today. We drove to the Stillwater and these guys whacked the fish.... some really nice ones for the Stillwater. Mark is shown here with a line management isssue. The back seat in the raft is a nightmare of potential tangles. Mark had a good knot in his floating line and we pulled over to sort it out. He was working on the knot while his line dangled in the water. A fat rainbow smacked it and pulled the knot out the guides of Marks Z axis rod. He jumped out of the boat and chased the fish down the bank where he had to resort to handlining the fish because the knot wouldn't reel back through the guides. He had the fish right to his feet before it escaped...no help from the Renegade Outfitters,...I was laughing too hard to move.

8/11/10- Sandra, Marston and I drove to the Stillwater again today. We floated the lower stretch and had some good fishing. When we floated into the Yellowstone for the last mile the fishing went off the charts. The rainbows were hunting down the hopper for sure.

8/9/10- Sandra and Marston rafted the Stillwater with me today. Again we had some thunderstorms to worry about, but managed to stay mostly dry. The fishing was outstanding with the Chubby Chernobyl, beadhead rig was unstoppable.

8/8/10- Sandra and Marston Nauman joined me on the Yellowstone. It was just a touch off color and we unsucessfully tried to dodge thunderstorms all afternoon. We got blasted by hail 3 times, but caught some decent fish in between.

8/4/10- I joined Chris Miller from Off the Shelf guide service today. He had 3 boats with legend T.J. Laviollette as the other guide. Chris's customers were 3 generations of fishing magicians. There was a steady 20+ mph headwind that would have put most anglers out of business. Not these folks. They got it done, punching their hoppers into the wind and were rewarded with some fantastic hopper fishing. It was non-stop action on the Yellowstone today with some big fish eating. Our best was a 19 inch rainbow that sipped the hopper 2 inches from the bank.

8/3/10- Bob and Deana Hudson are back for some more fishing. We hit the Yellowstone. The water got progressively more dirty and chalky colored in the morning from the recent thunderstorms in Yellowstone Park. We raced to a ramp at lunchtime and headed up river to get above the dirty water. Deana was in favor of the move as she said "I might need a clicker to count fish next time". She got 'em on hoppers...lots of them. Here she is trying to look happy after landing a nice one in front of La Duke hot springs...oh Bob did o.k. too.

8/1/10-James and Nicole had their first experience with fly fishing today on the Yellowstone. The fishing was good and they both got some fish. Nicole started out with some whities and finished with a rainbow. James got a great brown and we enjoyed the day in paradise valley.

7/31/10- My neighbor Bill hit the upper Yellowstone with me today. It is hopper time up there I'll tell ya! The fish devoured the hopper until yet another thunderstorm sent us running for cover.

7/30/10-Mike and Nancy Schrader hit the Yellowstone with me. There was an impressive PMD spinner fall in the morning that was bringing fish to the surface. They are getting increasingly tough to catch and drag free drifts are critical. A thunder storm moved in in the afternoon and the fish ate a beadhead nymph below the hopper 50% of the time.

7/29/10- Tom, Chip, Charlie and Chris Bray fished the Upper Madison with Scott Bohr and I today. The fishing was tough with the best fish being caught on small ants and caddis patterns. Here's Chris with a dandy on and Scott with the net.

7/28/10-Bill and Kay Ballenger and friends Kristy and Daryl joined fellow guide Aaron Toole and I on the Yellowstone. The fish were keyed into small dries in the morning, but the hopper was the top producer in the afternoon with some good sized browns keying in on them on the flats. Here's Bill stretching out on one.

7/25/10-Emma caught a fish by herself today, her first one. She described it as "pretty exciting, but a little gross." The fishing was stellar on the Stillwater with Leslie on the oars and me casting. Emma called it quits after one(10 minutes).

7/23/10-More of the same on the Mo. The sun was out today making rising fish a bit harder to find and a lot harder to catch. The boys got their share and a strong wind blew us off the water early. Here's Dan hiding behind his arm. It's a bad picture, but significant because he's hooked up to a 15 inch brookie in the Missouri. First one ever for me. It ate the infamous Goble caddis.

7/22/10-Patrick Eisenhaur and Dan Goble are making the rounds again this year. The Missouri has come down to the 7000 range and the hatches are intense. We found fish keying into spent caddis mostly. We floated Wolf Creek to Craig in the evening. The caddis were bringing the fish up in pods, but as always after the sun set, the fishing got tough. We finally went to a caddis pupa dropper and got a couple before we couldn't see the fly any more.

Clouds and Caddis = Patrick in a familar pose. This guy is a sharpshooter!!

7/21/10-Back to the well. Bob and Deana Hudson were on the raft today. The Boulder is getting low, but the fishing is great. It's a perfect place to be on a hot sunny day.

7/20/10-My neighbor Don Daniels joined me today for his annual fishing trip. Don always has good luck. The Boulder was on fire today and Don had non stop action.

Dan Goble and nephew David were on the water with Will Lassiter on the oars. Will forgot his net today...no problem they only needed it about 40 times!

7/18/10- Doug, Bill tried the Yellowstone with me today. We had decent action on the dry dropper rig. Some spots produced good numbers....some spots had nothing. The wind blew us off the water in the early afternoon as a thunderstorm blew through. It was a enjoyable float and good to be back on the Yellowstone.

Here's Bill hooked up...whitefish not pictured.

7/17/10- Doug Albright and Bill Bush hit the Boulder with me today. Fishing was good to great. The weather was perfect and we had a blast floating down the crystal clear water waiting for the next hookup.

7/16/10-Despite sunny and hot weather the rising was again fantastic on the Missouri. PMD spinners and spent caddis littered the water surface and fish were easily found...but as always on the MO not easily caught. Small feeding lanes make pinpoint casting a must. Here's Kawabata..one of the Budweiser Brothers.

7/15/10- Robert Stewart joined our group today on the Missouri. The flows have dropped to 8000 and the fish were rising non-stop today. We had the best luck in the early evening. The caddis hatch in the late evening was a near blanket. There were so many naturals, it was difficult to get the fish to eat your fly.

7/14/10- The Pescador group worked the PMD hatch at Depuy's today. The hatch is dwindling, but we found good rising from 12-4. The fish are getting extremely selective. 7X was a must and CDC spinner patterns as well as the Haarop No Hackle were our best bugs.

7/13/10- Mr. Fukiage from Pescador Fly Shop in Osaka is in town with his two friends Shioji and Kawabata. We tried MZ Ranch today. The fishing was typically tough with precise first casts required to get the fish. There was a good PMD spinner fall mid day with a some good fish up on them, but they were spooky! Wind forced us to try some nymphing. Kawabata hooked 6 big ones in one hole on a PMD splitcase nymph.

7/12/10- High winds and sunny skies made the Missouri a different angling world today. We found a pod of rising fish before the wind blew the spinners to Cascade. Doug made the most of it. We then resorted to nymphing. Jackson's rock produced 7 doubles and a couple of singles. Hard to beat that.

7/11/10- Doug Albright and Bill Bush are on their annual pilgrimage to Montana. They started it out with a bang today on the Missouri. Flows are 10000 and it was calm and cloudy this morning. We found plenty of fish rising to PMD spinners. During the peak of the spinner fall (about noon), fish hammered the indicator flies two to one and the buzzball was on in the riffles. We floated the canyon in the evening hoping for a caddis frenzy. We found nice views and nothing but small fish rising.

7/9/10- Will Lassiter and I guided 6 anglers on Depuy's today. The fishing is getting tougher with drift and fly becoming absolutely critical. We had a great day with the gang with success varying from 1 fish to 19 caught. It's good, but never easy at Depuy's.

7/8/10-Tadashi joined me on the Boulder to change things up. We had good fishing and a relaxing day rafting down the Boulder valley.

7/7/10- A bright sunny day made fishing tough on the MO today. Add a bit of wind in the afternoon and we had to work for the fish. Most of which we found slurping in back eddies swimming in circles making for moving targets. Caddis are swarming the banks though.

7/6/10-Yuichi, Tadashi, Fumiko and I woke up to light rain and cloudy weather. It was great fishing with rising fish easily found for the first 4 hours until the sun came out. We rested and floated the lower river in the evening gambling on some brown drake action. We saw lots of caddis and PMDs, but only a few drakes and a few rises. The fish we did find were hunting down the drakes exclusively. They all turned downstream to eat the big drake patterns with awesome takes!

7/5/10-The Missouri continues to stay high, but produce big fish on dry flies. Yuichi Araki joined Fumiko, Tadashi and I in the boat. We had to do some long floats to find rising fish, but it was rewarding.

7/4/10- Fumiko and Tadashi Matsunaga are here again for another Montana run. We started at Depuy's today with anther fantastic day of fishing. The PMDs continue to hatch in good numbers and there are tons of fish in the creek with some really big ones cruising the flats. Fumiko always catches a lot of fish at Depuy's and this year was no exception. Tadashi got his share as well using a bamboo rod he built for the occasion.

7/2/10-Yuki's no rookie either, and on this trip I dubbed him the "first cast master". He put his first cast over the fish more often than not. Usually Yuki holds his fish with one hand for photos as shown below at Depuy's. He had to make an exception for this monster.

7/1/10- More of the same on the Missouri. High water, big fish and a few afternoon thunderstorms. As always, when the clouds come through, its easier to find a rising fish.

This guy's no rookie. Koji's 15th year....Sharpshooter!

6/30/10- The Missouri is still flowing 16000cfs, but caddis and PMD hatches have been intense. Yuki, Koji and I searched backwaters and side channels for risers. We found enough targets to keep busy. The fish are rising in really technical water and generally when you catch one, they are big...

6/29/10-Yuki and Koji are back for their 15th season. Our theme this year was going to be return to the scene of the crime. We planned on hitting the PMD hatch on the spring creeks and Missouri. Today we hit Depuy's spring creek and it was as good as it gets. The PMDs rolled off from 10-3 and we had some cloudy weather to boot. The boys put on a clinic with most any PMD pattern working for them.

6/27/10-Armstrong's Spring creek was the venue today with my parents, John and Lynn. The PMD hatch was great and we had some fantastic fishing. Here are the standard images of the day. Taking turns.

6/26/10-My father, John and I hit the Lower Madison today hoping to get in front of the tuber hatch. The fishing was slow, but we hooked a handful of nice fish on a beautiful summer day in Montana.

6/25/10-Dean and Karren Umemoto brought their 3 grandsons: Nick, Timmy and Ryan to Montana for some spring creek fishing. I fished the MZ Ranch with them today and all the boys caught fish. Here's a the Motley crew with friend Bruce Copeland.

6/24/10- The PMD and caddis hatches continue to intensify on the MO. Barney, Cooper and I found some rising fish today in a big back eddy. Nice to see them and we'll only see more each day as the river drops into dry fly shape. Meanwhile, here's what the Mid Cannon access looks like.

6/23/10- More fun with Barney and Cooper. We floated down in the canyon today. Barney threw the mouse for an hour after getting tired of catching fish on nymphs. No takers, but it sure is fun to watch that thing skate...it's only a matter of time.

6/22/10- Barney and Cooper Scollan are back in town to fish the Missouri. Last year these guys hit the peak of the PMD hatch and didn't use a dry fly in 3 days. This year is different...very high water and the only dry we used was Barney's mouse. The nymph fishing was again outstanding with the standard worm and scud or caddis rig...and we did the now standard portage in the channel now known as "big brown town".

6/19/10- Tom and Geoff had to leave early today, but they did enough damage by noon. These guys hit some of the nicest browns I've seen back to back. Awesome fish. Great anglers.

Here's a slab of brown trout with prerequisite smile. and Geoff's bandaged hand.

6/18/10- The river hit 18900cfs today before leveling off at 18500. Same result. Great nymphing in the soft water and big fish. Geoff and Tom could get used to this.

6/17/10- Tom LaChance and Geoff Sanderson hit the Missouri with me today. Just when you think the river was going to start dropping, a major rain event on the tributaries sent the river up again 17500cfs today and rainy. The fishing was again great with the deep nymph rig. I can't say enough about the size and quality of the fish. Tom and Geoff put on a clinic. We had to portage a low bridge, but felt it was worth it.

6/15/10- Carl and Ray hit er again today. We woke to pounding rain and the forecast looked bleak. The weather held out and we stayed dry until 3:30 when we got run off by a thunderstorm. Again the fish were willing and the water was high. Here are the boys and a pic of the Spite Boat ramp 3 feet under.

6/14/10- Carl Westphal and Ray Greenwood hit the Massive and Mighty Missouri (16000cfs) today. I don't remember ever catching many fish in water this high, but it has been great nymphing. The fish are stacked in the slow runs and when you find them, it's game on. They are gorging on worms and scuds and are like rockets when you hook them up. Ray can attest to that.

6/13/10- I spent the afternoon with my daughter, 2 neices and 3 other kids fishing a secret pond near Livingston. My neice Nora (age 2 3/4) got her first rainbow. Here she is and another pic of Michael Brandner working another 17 inch rainbow over with buddy Tyson hooked up in the background. The fly of the day? ...an egg pattern colored brown with a sharpie...just like a pellet.

6/11/10- Patrick's nephew Steve and his new bride Natasha are celebrating their honeymoon in Montana. These are not rookies. They showed up with rods rigged, waders on and assorted adult beverages in hand. Steve and Natasha met on a fishing trip and have both guided in Colorado in the past. They are a couple of fishing magicians. They were hooked up most of the day and we even coined a new phrase "Brian Botano that sucka"...meaning use the 3 and 4X florocarbon to it's fullest and skate the fish in as fast as possible, then get after the next one.

6/10/10- Patrick and Linda braved another day on the rising Missouri ( up to 14000 today). We had a slow morning and good afternoon. Here's a Craig ramp fish that Linda caught with fantastic style.

6/9/10- Patrick Eisenhaur and his lovely wife Linda hit the Missouri with me today. The flows have come up from 6000 to 13000 and the fish seemed to be displaced a bit. We found our fish in the softest seams and runs. There was a lot of driftwood and debris floating down in the afternoon as the water rose about 5 inches. The fish are as strong and healthy as can be. Here's Patrick with a dandy.

6/6/10-Nao and Yuko Mochino are in Bozeman for their honeymoon. It was Yuko's first time fly fishing today. MZ Ranch proved to be just the right place for the day. By the afternoon Yuko was hooking into fish and landing her share. Nao stayed busy landing fish on Thompson spring creek. One memory will last a long time; Yuko jumped into the creek to net Nao's fish and fell in. She was laughing so hard it took her a while to get back out. That's giving your all for the new husband!

5/29/10- Greg Falls and I hit the Mighty MO today for another day of fun in the rain. The fishing was slower than expected, but the fish we caught were unbelievably fat and healthy. It's going to be a stellar year on the Missouri with the biggest fish in the last 10 years!

5/28/10- Robert Stewart and I hit the Lower Madison today for some research. It rained all day....I mean had to pump the water out of the boat 2 times in 4 hours rain. The fishing was solid with worms and caddis pupa being our best rig. Robert nailed a nice rainbow on a Yellow Panther Martin as he worked on his spin casting. He's a shot of the Red Mountain Fishing Access site complete with Memorial day campers. Check out the flood lights...you could light half a football field with those. Glad I'm not camping next to that crew!

5/27/10- I fished MZ Ranch today with my friends Tom Harms and Steve Klotz. The fish are strong and fat this year. There were good numbers of PMDs mid day and a few dry fly options, but nymphing was the most productive with small mayfly immitations.

5/21/10- Living the dream.

I don’t have a clue what’s been going on in Southwest Montana for the past 2 weeks.  What I do know first hand is that the Ayu were aggressive and fishing was productive at the Okitsu River on the main island of Japan.  Ayu fishing has been a dream of mine ever since my buddy and client Manoa Hoshina described it to me 9 years ago.  It’s not your ordinary sort of fishing.

My experience started at 3:56 am when my friends Kenji and Hoshina picked me up.  We had an hour and a half drive to the Okitsu River and were leaving at this ungodly hour to beat the crowds to the good spots and get our pick of the live decoys sold streamside….that’s right decoys.

To get the jist of Ayu fishing you have to know a few things about the target fish.  Ayu are a trout species that have a one year life cycle.  They hatch in freshwater rivers in the winter, migrate to the ocean and return to the rivers in the early summer season.  They feed on aquatic algae and are considered an absolute delicacy in Japan….this ain’t catch and release fishing.  In the late summer the big ones are up to 13 inches, but the fish we were after in May were 6-8 inches.

Ayu eat algae off river rocks and are fiercely territorial.  How do you catch them?  There are 2 methods that have evolved over the years in Japan.  First, snagging was in vogue and there are still a few who practice this method, although frowned upon.  The true sportsmen use a method called “tomo-tsuri” roughly translated as “friend-fishing”.

You use a live Ayu as a decoy attached by a nose ring and tail hook which has a razor sharp treble hook stinger trailing about 3 inches back from the “decoy’s” tail.  The nose ring is rigged with +- 30 feet of 8-10X titanium based tippet which is attached to a 30 foot graphite rod. 

The object is to have your decoy naturally swim through a wild Ayu’s territory.  The wild Ayu becomes enraged and attacks the decoy; hooking itself on the treble hook.  When this goes down you can feel the commotion on the ultra sensitive 30 foot rod.  And the bad asses like Hoshina, lift the fish out of the water in one graceful motion and swing them in the air straight to the net at their side “flying fish” style…not a rookie move.

In a flash you want to switch the old decoy out, nose ring the fresh one and send ‘em out again.  Fresh decoys are key as a tired Ayu doesn’t move around naturally enough to piss off the locals.

Hoshina predicted the prime time fishing would be from 10-2 when the sun was highest and the water warmest.  As I mentioned, Hoshina is not a rookie.  During my stay in Japan there was a lot of talk about the Ayu fishing crowds which have a reputation as being intimidating and even occasionally violent. Hoshina dismissed this reputation. At 6am we stopped at the 7/11 and Hoshina stressed the importance of a well stocked cooler, “Ayu fishermen need beer for lunch…then happy times in afternoon”. With the 3:56am start, fortified by rest station, vending machine curry; we didn’t make it ‘til lunchtime.  The first beers were cracked at 8:30…happy times!

The fishing is an absolute trip.  With the huge rod and ultra light tippet, the goal is to free swim the decoy through as much prime territory as possible without making it look like it’s being drug around.  The masters can steer the fish like a rider on a horse. 

When I retire from guiding in Montana, I’ll be headed to Japan for the Ayu tournament season.

Here are a couple of shots from the day:

4/24/10-"Return to the scene of the crime." That's what we dubbed it. Joe and Rich are no rookies when it comes to Burns Lake. Most of my memories of Burns involve them and the people they roll with. Like Rich's son Alex, who landed the first and only turtle in my boat (got it with his hands). Oh yeah, they've caught more than their share of fish on Burns too. Name the method and we've gotten them on it, from streamers on sinking lines to dries on 6X. Today it was windy and there were some impressive waves out there. Dries were out, and the nymph rig didn't look good bobbing around in the waves. We slow stripped a damsel immitation called the Komiyma Caddis. It did the trick.

4/23/10-This time Rich and Wayne were with me on the Lower Madison. The weather was beautiful and fishing was good enough. Here's Rich with a nice bow.

4/22/10-Joe, Rich, Wayne and Scott are back for another round of spring fishing with Anglers West and Matson Rogers Outfitting. Joe and Wayne were in my boat today on the Stillwater. We were hoping to fish some clear water and did for a few hours before the snowmelt hit us. We had tea colored water when we got on and brown water with 1 1/2 feet of visibility when we hit the ramp in the evening. As you'd guess, the bite dwindled. We were a day late. We did see good numbers of caddis and march brown spinners.

Here are some shots of Scott and Joe a day later. No fun at all.

4/16/10- Steve Pollard's group hit the Yellowstone today with Robert and Greg Falls guiding with me. James and Mike were in my boat and we enjoyed the warmest day of the year, until lunch when a 20-25mph east wind battered our faces, casts and boat. The fishing was relatively good considering the tough weather. We got em mosting shallow nymphing. The wind limited any dry fly opportunities.

4/15/10- Will Lassiter and I went to McCoy Spring Creeks to check them out. I fished McCoy's about 9 years ago, but I'd been hearing about changes the new owners have made. The stories were true, there are some hefty fish in these creeks.

4/12/10- Ski season is over...time to fish. Robert Stewart and Phil Sgamma joined me for a short float on the Yellowstone today. The Baetis and midges were hatching in good numbers. There was a stoubt east wind in the mix which made fishing on the move challenging. We found a few spots where the bugs were being blown into the banks or coves and the fish were voracious. Here are the boys hard at it in the foam.

2/12/10- Jeff Hiss is here to kick off the fishing season again this year. We fished hard and had comfortable weather, but the fish were not on the bite. "Good fishing, bad catching" is Jeff's quote.