Category Archives: Montana
The Western Spruce Month Fly Fishing Blitz
The West’s New Spruce Moth Blitz NOTE: This article previously appeared in Fly Fisherman Magazine. Thought you still might glean some valuable information from these words. If I remember correctly, some people were pissed to see the spruce moth hatch … Continue reading
Posted in Flies, Idaho, Montana, Northern Rockies
Tagged Big Hole River, Gallatin River, Madison River, Spruce moth
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Montana’s South Fork Flathead River
Getting Wild on Montana’s South Fork Flathead My forest of fly-fishing friends is thinning. It’s as if some cut-and-run logging company waltzed into Montana and whacked them down at the knees. These days when I propose a fishing trip they … Continue reading
Posted in Backcountry, Montana, Northern Rockies
Tagged Dan Summerfield, South Fork Flathead, westslope cutthroat
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Big Hole River: An unplanned canyon run
Blunder on the Big Hole There are a variety of possibilities regarding why I missed a takeout on the Big Hole River last Saturday. Could have been foggyness from the night prior at Wise River Club. Or it could have … Continue reading
Posted in Absinthe Lounge, Montana, Northern Rockies
Tagged Big Hole River, Torrey Cenis, Wise River Club
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Madison River Salmonflies
Hatch Imminent. It’s stonefly time in southwest Montana and judging by the number of salmonfly and golden stonefly nymphs along the banks of the Madison River, those bugs are going to pop in the next couple days. And the river … Continue reading
Posted in Flies, Montana, Northern Rockies
Tagged Dan Delekta, Madison River, Salmonflies
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Montana’s Beaverhead River
The Only Game in Town Montana’s rivers continue to run high and mostly clouded with some, including the Jefferson, pushing out of their banks this morning. So where does a guy fish moving water when the flows are up? Judging … Continue reading
Tate Takes Second in Ennis Father’s Day Fishing Contest
Second Place at the Father’s Day Fishing Contest Ok, so the Ennis father’s day fishing contest wasn’t fly fishing, not even close. But it was important, an angling introduction for a lot of kids, a chance to catch a pile … Continue reading
Big Hole River Blowout
Riding the Waves It’s salmonfly time in Montana, but the streams are mostly blown out right now with the Madison flowing mud and the Big Hole breaking free of its banks. I found that out firsthand yesterday when I accepted a … Continue reading
Beaverhead and Big Hole rivers, Montana
Burma Madnes It had to happen. Over the past 20 years I’ve driven somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000 miles, many of them in bad weather over tricky roads and I’d never gone off the side…until Saturday. That’s when I took … Continue reading
Posted in Montana, Northern Rockies
Tagged Beaverhead River, Big Hole River, Dan Summerfield
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Massive brown trout, Yellowstone River Montana
Brownzillas of the Yellowstone If you’ve had your head in the sand you may not have seen what recently came out of the Yellowstone River— a massive 27-inch brown. The fish was taken on a white sculpin, which is a … Continue reading
Laszlo Family and O’Dell Spring Creek
Some of the most progressive and important conservation work in the country is going on right out my backdoor in Montana’s Madison Valley, courtesy of a landowner who loves fish and wildlife, a person who put together a significant team … Continue reading