Went to Montana last Monday, hoping to catch some Mother's Day caddis hatch activity. Sat next to a guy from Paradise Valley on the plane from SLC who convinced me not to wait until Tuesday to hit the Yellowstone. I'm glad I followed his advice. Late afternoon I went to an inn below Livingston Ditch, with easy access to my favorite hole, got permission to park and walk across the property, and fished a few hours. Big caddis activity, lots of fish rising, only managed to catch six or so, but what beautiful fish--rainbows and browns, largest one at least 18 inches. The challenge was that I was fishing a tailout rotating eddy, which had a big patch of rotating foam. The fish were feeding in there, tough to target with a decent drift and to see the fly. Tons of fun regardless.
Hit River's Edge fly shop the next morning in Bozeman, and was told that virtually everything had blown out over night, that the Lower Madison was probably the best bet. Checked out the Gallatin just because I'm stubborn, brownish-green was the color of the day. Drove back over to the Madison, where things were really slow, so I drove over to Ennis and finally got into some fish, and saw some sandhill cranes flying low away from the river.
Next day was full on rain all day. Decided to check out the Boulder, drove along the McLeod Road. River was almost brick red in places. Heading back towards Big Timber, my rental Jetta started acting weird. High rpm's, no acceleration. Called Enterprise, tried it again, ended up sitting in the car a couple of hours waiting to be picked up and given a new car. "If you ruined the transmission you'll have to pay for it."
Fished the Madison again on Thursday before heading home. I think I saw a fish rise. Got to airport, wondering what shoe might drop regarding the car. The driver who'd brought my replacement car had made the 60 mile trip back to Bozeman without incident, but upon heading to the VW place, the car died. VW said they'd fix the transmission under warranty, so Enterprise only charged me for half of my rental days for the inconvenience.
Sitting at the SLC airport heading home, a very nice 27-year-old software engineer who lives in San Diego but who'd rather live in San Francisco and is a Canadian citizen proposed marriage. I have a girlfriend, so had to say no to this attractive, intelligent, charming young woman. Anyone out there interested in a marriage of convenience for 18 months or so? I've got her card...
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The Gallatin, good and high
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Sandhill crane and friends
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