The weather has finally brought us a couple of warm days. These are the kind of warm days that bring massive changes to the freestone rivers in our area. I have been bouncing around, guiding different water bodies everyday, in search of something different than worms and turds. I spent 2 days this week on the Big Hole with decent fishing (20 fish) days. The sun has definitely been playing a part in how well the fish are eating. Even with the cold the fish certainly preferred to eat in the clouds. The bugs have not changed much. Still using the purple haze for the BWO’s and March Browns, and still using black and purple chubby’s for the Skwalla (#12,10). The hard part has been finding those big boys so far. Breaking 16 inches has been the challenge of the month.
I have also recently visited Ennis Lake and the upper Madison. With news that the mothers day caddis hatch was on its way up the river, the lake and upper river were empty of guide boats. And when the Madison is left alone, the big fish come out to play. I was working for my good friends and outfitters, Todd and JT France, out of Ennis and we managed to pull together a decent day. Dan was in the front of the boat and we started off with the intention of finding one fish over 18 (they had been here all week, and that seemed to be a reasonable goal). I set the boys up with the typical “I’m not from here” set up for the Madison, with a streamer under an indicator, followed by a big shiny nymph, or a turd. In this case I do not have to make a long story short because the first fish was the biggest, and we landed it. BOOM!
The caddis will be here in a day or two, so if you want any of the Divide miracle caddis you better get to the shop quick, they are going fast!!