Hoppers

Big Hole River 239 cfs Beaverhead River 715 cfs

Today was the first time this season that the fish started to take a serious look at hoppers and the ones that did were big ones. It was actually cold this morning but the tricos came off like clock work around ten. We did a lot of stalking today, you would think we were after bonefish the way we were high stepping through the shallows so as not to make a wake. We didn’t see the actual fish like we do with bones but we would see a fin or a nose in that soft water. Holt make a particularly great stalk on two big brown’s. He gingerly crept within casting distance and made a perfect presentation and the big guy ate it. He let out a war hoop and the next thing you know, the fish is gone. It didn’t break off but simply pulled out. He took his cap off and filled it full of water and poured it on his head. I consoled him by saying that he did every thing perfect, the stalk, the presentation and the fish ate it. Not far away he had another chance with the same situation. This time the stalk was good but the presentation failed. He made a couple false casts and on his final one his loop opened wide and it all came down in a pile right on top of the fish — you know the rest of the story.