The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

This is a report with no pics of my 4 ½ days in Montana this past week. I posted it in three pieces on my Facebook page, which is why it reads as it does. The no pictures part is explained in the first portion.

Part 1

Two days left on my first trip to Montana in July in a long time. A lot more mosquitoes than any Montana trip ever. Wet and long Spring is the cause, I hear. Here are some of the cool things I've seen. Bald eagle flying over the Yellowstone carrying a rodent in its claws as I fished. An osprey flying over head on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings as I got my morning going. Lots of deer--white tail and mule. Great blue heron. Snake swimming across the Boulder River. Many, many bunnies on the grass at the place I was staying Monday and Tuesday night. Look out for eagles and osprey. Two bald eagles perched on a pole along Highway 90. Beautiful Paradise Valley. Beautiful Boulder River Valley. Beautiful Gallatin Canyon. I'm getting to the point where I think Gallatin Valley is the most beautiful.

The fishing has been wonderful. Lots and lots of fish on the small side, but some wonderful exceptions. Last fish yesterday evening was one of those Yellowstone rainbows "with shoulders". Especially fun because it and several other fish were rising for the hour and a half I fished heading towards dusk, and I finally found the fly that three of them took. Except for those three almost every other fish was taken on the ever popular Parachute Adams. In every river I fished (Gallatin, Boulder Otter Creek, Mill Creek--not the Yellowstone, though).

And what else happened? Second day I kept thinking that despite my slippery new wading boots and the fairly high flows I hadn't fallen in. Ah, that certainly changed. Took an excellent tumble in Otter Creek, a very small body of water, but strong flows and very slippery rocks. Got drenched inside my waders down to my toes, killed my camera, didn't like it. Then today on Mill Creek just got caught in a spot where the flow kept getting stronger and stronger as I crossed, and down I went. Not as bad as on Tuesday. Then fell on the bank of the Gallatin and managed to draw blood on my hand. That takes hard work. So with dead camera no pictures. Had only taken a couple. Ah well. But I'm disappointed in the Aquastealth no-studs wading boots. Almost every step was an adventure.

This is where I stayed the first two nights. It's a really lovely place if you're looking for a place to stay fifteen feet from the Yellowstone in Paradise Valley. http://www.yellowstoneriverinn.com/

Part 2

Forgot to mention two things from previous note: saw a deer easily leap over a five foot high barbed wire fence, and woke up with a big bug crawling across my face. Don't know what it was because I grabbed it and threw it somewhere...

Today I started off in Bozeman and drove over to Ennis to fish the Madison. The Madison River has a population of white pelicans, with black tips on their wings. I saw a flock flying, maybe fifty or sixty, making the most amazing pattern in the sky. Also saw the sandhill cranes I usually see, just in a different place. More deer, plus some antelope. The markings are amazing on antelope. But the nature highlight was absolutely the osprey nest by the fishing access site. Probably thirty feet high on a man-made platform. The female was in the nest with at least one fledgling, and pop was off in a tree. Lots of conversation. I was about as close as I could be without climbing the post. Very, very cool.

The other amazing site was the unbelievably large number of kids/young adults floating down the Madison River in inflatable boats and inner tubes. Hundreds. I guess I'm usually not in Montana this time of year, I'd never seen that before. I also was disgusted to be wading upstream and being faced with barbed wire all the way across the river--posted no trespassing in a place I had previously fished. Thought the law in Montana was that once you're in the water legally you can wade up to high water line. Obnoxious.

And an hour ago the storm clouds that had been building made their way to Bozeman. The wind was about forty mph, dust flying everywhere. Now it's over, back to normal. Caught more than enough fish today to feel satisfied, including one really big one that got off. One more day--where should I go? Boulder again? Gallatin, which seems to be my favorite river to fish these days (including this afternoon with much success). Tomorrow morning I'll decide.

This is what the platform was like, except round.
http://www...ame/osprey_pendleton.jpg

Part 3

Following the wild blow up of a storm Thursday night I wasn't sure what I'd find out on the river, but all was well. Friday was really about fishing--didn't see wildlife except one snake and many rafts full of whitewater rafters. Unlike the flotilla of drunk and lazy youngsters barely moving down the Madison, the Gallatin crowd was moving and working pretty well through some decent water. I often get into a lowered expectation on the last day fishing, especially if fishing has been good on the prior days. But despite a slow start Friday was a terrific day on the water, with some small fish and some very nice ones, too. I believe the place I fished was somewhere a friend and I went a long time ago, maybe back in 1991 or 1992, when I couldn't catch a trout on a fly to save my life. It's fun to now be able to read water, find spots where trout are likely to be, and get a fly in a spot that's likely to bring them up. Especially if the water is clear and the fish are coming from a deep pool and you get to watch as they rocket to the surface. Or if it's a really small pool, but deep, that holds a very large fish. Beautiful. And I got off the water just at the right time as a big thunderstorm walloped the area shortly after I got everything all squared away and headed to lunch.

Great trip. United dropped my rod off this morning after misplacing it on its way home. All's well.

get a wading staff before we read about you in the paper.

Paul

Well, the dumbest thing is I actually have one--won it in a Bash raffle. Now if I'd just bring it with me...

The flora and fauna of anyplace also adds so much to your fishing trip, it almost goes without mention...but I'm glad you did. Personally, I could do without mosquitoes and horse flies, if that were even possible. Pesky buggers...

Cheers!

--FlyGuy (Dave)

Great report Andrew. Thanks for sharing. I need to get back up there to Montana. It has been three long years.

Good report, bummer about the barbed wire across the river.

Andrew,

Wonderful report!!!

I am curious? Where did you see the tuber armada? I experienced the same sight just below Varney Bridge, in a side channel, back in '04.
I found out from the locals that the tuber hatch is at it's heaviest, in July, in the Channels section above the lake!!

Your descriptions caused some serious itchin' to get back to the Madison!!!

PT/TB

The armada was floating from Bear Trap down to Grey Cliff. Some of them looked like they were totally dead in the water, i.e. not moving at all.

Andrew, That fence is illegal unless they put access over/around it. Montana is a recreate state not a navigable state. That means that if you can fish on it you can access as long as you stay below the high water mark. This has been tested many times and the state judicial system has upheld. You can now also access rivers and streams from a county or state bridge even if a fence is tied to the bridge. That decision just passed. Ranchers must provide a bypass of the fence.

Oh, and I forgot. What you saw on the lower river is what is refered to as the bikini hatch. It can be rather entertaining when a thunderstorm on through.

Thanks much for the report. Enjoyed it even without pics. Flora and Fauna discribed to a tee. Nice writing.

That was my impression as well. It was up one of the side channels in the second Ennis access site (not the Ennis site). I hereby encourage you to seek out the barbed wire and cut it down.

And yes, there are aspects of a rain-soaked bikini hatch I might enjoy.

I think what you are now seeing is a backlash of the huge number of people flocking to the Madison. Just 7 years ago before we had the house we camped at Reynolds Pass bridge. There were never more than about 4 other campers there. This year during the same period we counted 10+ RV's and at least that many tents. The place looked like a refugee camp with everyone crowded together. There were also 14 cars parked at the lot across the bridge and at least 7 in the boat launch. A number of people that have private property along the river have been picking up trash and have had damage to their property. Just this month some have started taking about posting no tresspassing signs and making people enter the water instead of walking the trails. I have even seen flyfisherman walk onto someones property, pull down their waders and take a leak. These owners have small children that have seen this and I can tell you that it is not uncommon. The fishing ethics on the river have also changed. People hogging good runs from 6 am until 5 pm. I had someone step 15 feet in front of me right where I was casting. The rest of their group of 8 people just lined up 10 feet apart above me. It is really to bad that a few people are ruining it for the whole group. I will now step off my soap box. I am expecting that next year you may have to take a ticket at the boat launches.