Welcome to June in SW Montana

We made it.

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Yesterday was a soaker. Today, for the most part, was spectacular.

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Streamer bite was insane good. Many days we might scratch out one or two. Today I probably landed 20. Put the nymphs away. So much fun when they are eating the big stuff. I'm not sure it even mattered what pattern or color...they were on it.

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Yeah, I love this time of year. More to come.
 
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I can't wait to get there and fish my favorite runs. Wolf Trap, Bear Run, Tick Bowl, and Rattler Riffle!
 
swimmy said:
We made it.

DSC_0982(2).jpg


Yesterday was a soaker. Today, for the most part, was spectacular.

DSC_1008.jpg


Streamer bite was insane good. Many days we might scratch out one or two. Today I probably landed 20. Put the nymphs away. So much fun when they are eating the big stuff. I'm not sure it even mattered what pattern or color...they were on it.

FullSizeRender(38).jpg


Yeah, I love this time of year. More to come.
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Wow. The river is low right now, like 40% of normal. There's got to be a big flush coming...
 
creekx said:
Wow. The river is low right now, like 40% of normal. There's got to be a big flush coming...
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As of last Friday the reservoir was at 80% and they were holding back water until full pool. That was before the massive snow event last weekend when we picked up another 2" of SWE. When that thing is full "runoff" will be big.

Severe thunderstorms in the forecast for this afternoon so decided to do a wade session this morning and leave the boat at camp.

Even if you accidentally forgot your rod, it is cool spot to just go for a walk.

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But I brought my rod so Tis the season

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Streamer bite picked right back up where it left off yesterday. This one got the dog's attention. Must have been the interesting spotting pattern (or lack thereof.)

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Maybe I should've brought purple streamers?

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Winds really started to pick up and looks like more weather is moving in. I got what I need so packing up in the morning. Awesome couple of days though...I just love it up here.

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swimmy said:
But I brought my rod so Tis the season

FullSizeRender(45).jpg


Streamer bite picked right back up where it left off yesterday. This one got the dog's attention. Must have been the interesting spotting pattern (or lack thereof.)

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Really diggin' that fly.

You're fishing an 8wt, no?

It looks like a sink tip of some sorts as well, I'm curious as to the reasoning with a sink tip plus a heavily weighted fly? Are you having to really get down that much? I've always gone with an unweighted fly when fishing fast sinking tips/shooting heads....even for Bull Trout in deep pools.
 
clarkman said:
Really diggin' that fly.

You're fishing an 8wt, no?

It looks like a sink tip of some sorts as well, I'm curious as to the reasoning with a sink tip plus a heavily weighted fly? Are you having to really get down that much? I've always gone with an unweighted fly when fishing fast sinking tips/shooting heads....even for Bull Trout in deep pools.
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Not really fishing a bunch of pools. Most of the water is riffle/run, pockets, cut banks, etc. Usually you are making a cast to a specific spot, make a few strips, then move to the next target. So it is not so much about getting the fly deep as it is getting the fly to bite as soon as it hits the water and avoid skating.

I will fish both a 7 and 8. The 7 has 15' of 200 grain (or maybe it is 250?,) the 8 has 15' of 300. Generally I prefer a 7 weight for normal flows when I'm fishing 1-3' of water and unweighted or lightly weighted flies. I also like that set up for slow moving tailwaters. I like the 8 wt for weighted flies, freestones, and fast moving water.

Yesterday I fished the 7 wt and while I could fish a heavier fly, after my 5 thousandth cast my arm starting annoying me.
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Rained off and on last night. Brief clearing this morning before more rain moves in today-tomorrow. Managed to catch what little sunrise there was.

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clarkman said:
Really diggin' that fly.

You're fishing an 8wt, no?

It looks like a sink tip of some sorts as well, I'm curious as to the reasoning with a sink tip plus a heavily weighted fly? Are you having to really get down that much? I've always gone with an unweighted fly when fishing fast sinking tips/shooting heads....even for Bull Trout in deep pools.
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A weighted fly lands and sinks nose first and is fishing immediately even before the first strip which can be crucial when the soft water is against the willows and after 3 strips it’s already getting ripped out of there by the main flow and needs to be picked up and re cast. It makes a difference on my homewaters and was something I learned years ago on the Big Hole in June and I’m thankful for it. An unweighted fly may wiggle better but it doesn’t matter when you are basically looking for a quick reaction from the fish. Sometimes it’s not even a strip, I’ll just wiggle the rod tip while the main current pushes on the fly line and drags it out of there and then pick it up and splat it back down. Anything to let the fly hang in there a second longer may be what it takes to get blown up.This applies to boat fishing, although it can be useful on a small walk and wade river.
 
that makes sense....especially if it's only a couple of strips, then back to casting. Since I never do that type of fishing, I was curious.
 
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