Land of Giants

Sometimes life deals you a second chance. After returning from an abruptly truncated fishing vacation, I got the chance to return to Montana for short break at the end of September. I met my sister for a brief family reunion at Craig, MT where her son, Mike, guides on the Missouri River. A few of the prostaffers probably remember Mike from our epic western summit adventure to the Bob Marshall Wilderness a few years ago. Mike was busy with clients most days so he had one of his guide buddies, Norm, take me on a section of the Missouri between upper Holter lake (near Gates of the Mountains) and Hauser dam.

Gray cliffs of Madison limestone rose steeply on each side of the river creating a sense of splendid isolation as Norm took us six miles above the lake on his jet boat to a place called Land of Giants.

A section where the Madison limestone has folded

Norm taking my sister and I to Land of Giants. Norm divides his time
 between Craig, MT in summer and Santa Barbara, CA in winter
 where he is a commercial diver for abalone

Norm rigged me up with a Czech nymph followed by a small caddis dropper all suspended beneath a small balloon indicator. I didn’t have to stare at the indicator long before it quivered and disappeared below the surface. I landed several fat 15-18 inch rainbows before the football-sized hen bow in the pic below nearly took me to the backing. We measured it at 20 inches and guessed the weight at about 4 lb. That's why they call this Land of Giants!

20-inch hen rainbow. Thanks for great net work Norm.

Norm helping Agrontrutta with another fine LOG rainbow

And that’s the way the day went, staring at that little balloon and reeling in big fish. I broke off several like the one in the pic above. My last fish was a perfect end to the day, a 21-inch male bow with a hint of a kype. Land of Giants indeed.

21-inch missle-shaped buck bow

I also got to fish a bit with Mike and we pulled in several good fish on the Missouri just below Holter dam. And, no trip to Craig is complete without burgers and beer (plenty of Blackfoot IPA during this trip) at Isaaks. Sadly, however, the Trout Shop Café is no longer in business. They expanded the lodge space to include more rooms for flyfishers (including yours truly).

Where the elite (flyfishers) meet to eat - Isaaks, downtown Craig

I also explored a small bit of Little Prickly Pear creek in the canyon section above some large private ranches. I hope to get back sometime to thoroughly check out that lovely little stream.

Little Prickly Pear Creek

Sometimes life gives you second chances. Don't pass them up!

 

Paradise (valley) Postponed

It has been a while since I’ve had anything worthy of an RBF Pro Staffer to post. And, despite some fun fishing for small mouth bass on the McLusky Canal (a remnant of one of the last pork barrel big water projects here in the west) this summer, I’ve not done any significant fishing since last September. So, I looked forward to my September vacation in Paradise Valley, MT as eagerly as the Chief looks forward to a fresh keg at the eternal tap in St. Marys.

My wife, Cricket the flyfishing beagle, and I set out for Livingston via Red Lodge on Labor Day weekend. Late summer was very dry here in central ND but nothing like the crispy conditions in the Treasure State. Smoke from the Mustang complex fire on the MT-ID border hung thick in the air from Red Lodge to Livingston. The beartooth plateau was a dusty khaki color as we made our way along highway 212 to the Park where the bison were bunched up along the Lamar river riparian edges, the only source of green grass in the northeast corner. We stopped at the upper end of Soda Butte to fish for part of the afternoon and I picked up a few feisty browns on brown drakes. The Lamar was the color of the café au lait at the Café Du Monde in New Orleans so I diverted to Slough Creek and pounded the banks with no luck. No matter, it was a gorgeous day and we were on vacation.


The Better Half and Cricket the Flyfishing Beagle in the Beartooths

Soda Butte, NE Corner of YNP

We stayed at the Yellowstone Valley Lodge (http://www.yellowstonevalleylodge.com/) just south of Livingston for the week. The Pine Creek fire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqk_90cq2gs&feature=related) just across the river had burned about a thousand acres a few days before we arrived and each night we watched the flare ups on the mountainside from our back porch.

I spent the next day on DePuy’s spring creek. When I called about availability the guy said “Come on over, stop at the big house, and ring the doorbell.” “Big house” was an understatement. This place was straight out of Gone with the Wind—an imposing structure of pure white with massive front columns. I rang the doorbell and a spritely elderly woman greeted me and asked me to sign in and pay the fee. The inside of the house was just as imposing (and shocking) with a massive red-carpeted grand staircase and decorative swans on each step. It took a while on the stream to reorient after experiencing the antebellum time warp. I fished the middle section near the angler’s hut (next to hwy 89) for most of the day and took a number of fish on everything from a #20 baetis to #8 Dave’s hoppers. It was a good day and I returned to the lodge tired but wired.

DePuy Spring Creek Cutt on Baetis

DePuy Cutt on Dave's Hopper

I had a plan for the rest of the week: a day meandering around Paradise Valley with my wife and beagle and then a day or two of hard fishing in the Park. It was not to be.

The next morning, feeling a bit stiff and tired from pounding the water at DePuy’s I looked forward to lazily exploring some of the sights in the valley. We stopped at Knoll’s flyshop near Pray where Pat Knoll spent about an hour explaining the history and rationale of the shop. Then, after another stop and short hike by the bridge near Emigrant, every muscle in my lower back began to twitch, then stiffen, and finally completely seize up. I was immobile. We returned to the lodge where I gulped a handful of Advil and crawled into bed for the next two days. Realizing that my condition was not improving (much) we simply packed up and my wife drove us home.

Well, the point of this interminable post was not to solicit sympathy (my back finally loosened up at home and I wallowed enough in self-pity—just ask my wife and dog), but to set up the next post wherein I describe a last-minute consolation trip and a journey to the Land of the Giants on the Missouri River. Stay tuned Pro Staffers.

Trout nose cells follow magnetic fields

I can see it now: Chief's new RBF magnetic hooks!


"Michael Winklhofer of the University of Munich led a team that found magnetosensory cells from a rainbow trout's nose, which contained iron. The finding may shed light on how animals sense the magnetic field of the Earth."

http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dLltCjrbAWCdxImBCidmoiBWcNVbkI?format=multipart

Too Hot to Fish

It's just too hot to fish.  Might as well enjoy one of the wonderful sights of summer...a Potter County Babe.  

P.S.  The tricos started on Spring Creek.

This Gentlemen is a BUFFALO!

Did you sneak up on him or did you stop him on a deadly charge?  Yikes!

Big Woods Summit as Witnessed by the Chief

Mike "Sleeps with Bison" Bowhunter, VP of Culinary Affairs

The best ever, despite not having Yucca.  The omission of Yucca, the Official Cocktail of the Pro Staff, on Saturday before the Paella Feast will never happen again on my watch.  We did however enjoy that damn deadly apple drink that Sleeps with Bison prepares.  I mostly enjoyed the fellowship, especially with our military members.  We are very thankful for their continued service.  Thank you Midger for arriving after 6 PM on Friday so that I could win the 2 Fly Contest.  "Judgment Day" was read before our annual awards ceremony.  Award winners will be announced later.  The food this year was simply incredible.  The only thing Mike's Deluxe Burgers needed was your mouth.  If you went to bed hungry, it was your own damn fault.  Hell, Bunyan woke up hungry; stuffing himself with a chunk of Lasagna the size of a car battery covered with leftover American Fries for breakfast. I had to look away.  I pray that God pardons our gluttony.  Midger and I spent most of Saturday preparing the Paella Feast.  We insured that we were sufficiently libated with bourbon shots during the process.  Hours later, I experienced a port wine blackout shortly after instructing Midger to put the paella fire in simmer.  I must admit that the Paella was one of the best I have ever prepared over the fire.  The Pro Staff enjoyed fishing a Brown Drake Spinner fall after the Paella Feast catching many trout.  After fishing, I rested peacefully in the Mobile Command Unit while the others closed up the Old Tanner Inn.  GlenG and I spent a quiet Sunday morning sitting and talking on the Rossiter Lodge porch drinking freshly brewed coffee from our coveted  RBF mugs. The others were recovering from shuffleboard, Potter Co. babes and beer.  Sunday night was very peaceful.  Sleeps with Bison and I casually fished the First Fork  Many dumb trout were caught and released on the RBF Gum Wrapper.  Monday morning was quite different.  The fish would not cooperate, as their bellies were full.  I even tried spinning tackle.  The RBF Girl sure looked good in those cutoff jeans.  Sleeps with Bison and I vowed to keep this annual passage going so that Agrontrutta will have an opportunity to visit with us possibly in his retirement.  This event would never be possible without the outstanding men that attend this ungodly affair.  We all should be thankful that we have such humans in our lives.  As time goes on, I will add to this blog things that are noteworthy and things that are not.

Brown Drake Spinner Falls at the Big Woods Summit

The Brown Drake Spinner

The Brown Drake is a true ephemera.  You will only meet a Brown Drake Spinner Fall on two to three nights in early June.  We were lucky this year.  I have chased the Brown Drake Spinner on Big Pine Creek for many years in the 1980's.  I only got lucky three times including one time during mid-day before a mighty storm.  You see, Brown Drake duns hatch sporadically in the afternoon and evening.  The duns are of little importance as they get airborne almost immediately.  Fishing a #10 2XL nymph during the day and evening will catch trout as they are focused on this prolific food source.  That explains why Jonny Ranger netted 21 trout on Wednesday using a #10 Hare's Ear Nymph.  The large spinners will gather in the late evening over the water.  They may get as low as head high.  Then without any explanation, they will return to the trees and later fall in the wee hours of the night when you are asleep.  This year on the First Fork, they fell on three nights around 9 PM!  On two of the nights, they fell through an incredible caddis flight.  The number of bugs can not be explained.  Best estimate is 100 billion caddis per minute flying at break-neck speed up the creek.  This went on for nearly an hour.  Bowhunter thought that the Brown Drakes were emerging because he saw "duns" floating with upright wings.  They were in fact spinners, not quite yet spent.  The spinners have clear, well marked wings with very long tails.  They were spinners and the trout took as many as they could.

RBF Gum Wrapper

RBF's Gum Wrapper proved to be very effective.  The Brown Drake version is tied with two hanks of white poly yarn and 10-12 strands of Micro Silver Crystal Flash for wings and coc de leon fibers for tails.  Bowhunter and the Chief enjoyed great fishing Sunday night as the spinner fall was not as dense as previous nights, giving the trout a better chance of finding our flies.  Often times, the morning after a Brown Drake Spinner Fall can produce good fishing.

Nice wild brown taken during the morning hours with a RBF Gum Wrapper

Memorial Day at the Big Woods Summit

BWS Summary

This year’s summit was one of the best one’s yet. We encountered coffin flies early in the week and a tremendous Brown Drake hatch and spinner fall later in the week. Throw in caddis, olives, Cahill’s and any other bug you can think of and that sums up the fishing.  RBF Gumwrapper was a killer

So let’s move on to the high lights of the weekend ½ pound burgers with bacon and cheese and Saturday night Paella, moved up to afternoon because of the Brown Drakes.

Top it off with Hydrotherapy and that gives you an idea of what you missed.

P.S. Next year look forward to a Hydrotherapy Fishing Contest

2 Fly Contest

Chief does it again.... winning the 2 fly contest held Friday from 6-7:30

Big Woods - Saturday nite Paella

If its Saturday nite at the Big Woods Summit then they must be enjoying the Chief's outstanding paella. The pic from above was from the 2008 summit. Here is the sequence of events that usually precedes the final product: First, there is a Yucca making session at about 4 p.m. Yucca is a frozen concoction that lulls you with its sweet and smooth taste and then knocks you out when you aren't looking. After the yucca, Chief is usually sufficiently lubed to prepare the paella fire and gather all the fixins. Everyone mostly sits around and watches the Chief do his magic with rice, saffron, mussells, onions, shrimp, etc. that eventually results in the delicious fare in the photo above. After pounding down several plates of paella, the prostaffers ruminate over the events of the day and stare at the camp fire. Round about midnite the hardiest of the bunch make their way down the road to the Old Tannery Inn for some after dinner aperatifs, shuffle board, and ogling the big woods belles. Presently, everyone makes their way back to Rossiter Lodge and some shut eye. At least thats the way I remember it. Heres hoping everyone murdered those dumb trout in Potter County this weekend and no one set themself on fire (I'm looking at you Chief). Go ahead and laugh! Agrontrutta

Big Woods Summit 2012

The Annual Big Woods Summit will be held from May 23rd - 28th.  Plan on a week of fishing and eating.  The menu is currently being prepared by Chief and Bowhunter and will include meatloaf, Deluxe Burgers and Paella.

Guide Catches Large Trout

Costello, PA Bowhunter, Head Guide at the Rossiter Lodge, caught this rather heavy Orange Trout with Berkley Powerbait over the weekend.

Behind the Leader Board.

Check out troutlegend article on Pat.
http://troutlegend.com/player/behind-the-leader-board-pat-weiss/

Baetis Roll Call

Time for roll call for this years Baetis Summit.
Also don't forget to mark your calendar for the BWS May 23rd-28th
Breakfast this year will be at Rony's in Pleastant Gap, I will need an idea of how many will be attending for breakfast.
If the RBF command unit is coming then I recommend parking at the lot above the first bridge at Paradise. Or we could go for less crowded water at fish the McCoy dam section, very little pressure and lots of room. I do not recommend the Benner Springs area, but it does have the most parking.
I wouldn't expect great Baetis action as things have been hot the last 2 weekends, with this past weekend being the best I've seen in years. I would expect the suckers to be spawning if the weather continues.
So who's coming and who isn't

BWO's

Well, the polls have closed and it looks like the 24th is the clear winner. Someone should have picked this weekend. I had one of my best days ever as fish after fish hit from 1-3PM.

The lower parts of the steam have been receiving little pressure. I had a good mile of stream and never saw another fisherman. The Beatis are really coming off and the fish are looking up. If you head up drop me a line. I’ll be out each weekend except next Saturday Chief and I am going to go watch Pat in the tournament.

Gold for Midger

He really can catch trout in a sewer:

http://troutlegend.com/team/?p=897

I'm Dreaming of Baetis

Days are slowly getting longer here on the northern plains. It plays out first with slightly more light after 5:30 p.m. The dark still hangs around in the morning but after mid February we hit that exponential upswing in daylength.

I'm ready for winter to be over, despite the mild open winter we have had here on the plains. The Sandusky mess has had me in a funk all winter. JoePa's passing weighed heavy on my heart.

I'm dreaming of Baetis. Those harbingers of hatches to come. I'm dreaming of overcast days on Spring and Penn's Creeks in late February and early March when the trout carelessly sip small sailboats of slate and olive. I'm dreaming of Baetis. I'm dreaming of spring.

News

Pop with his muzzleoader doe

I apologize for the lack of activity here.  This Fall has been very trying for the Chief.  One damn thing after another...most notably losing some eye sight in the right eye making it difficult to do computer work.  Also Pop has been in the hospital nearly this whole month.  Started with pneumonia and progressed into the dreadful infection C. diff.  He finally turned the corner and will be moved soon to a rehab unit to get his strength back.  Pop has always been a fighter but this bout has been difficult.  He told me that his hunting is over but I bet when he starts feeling better he'll be planning on spring gobbler!  I hope.

Waffle Shop

The yearly X-mas outing (Dec 17th) is just around the corner. I just wanted to see who is up for breakfast at the waffle shop. I’ll be sure to have a nice hot bowl of chili for everyone fishing later in the day. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
Good luck.