How Sweet It Is

Big Hole 170 cfs

As we were getting ready to put in the river I thought this was going to be a tough day as I had a novice with me and I figured we would have to throw streamers all day–tough duty for a novice. It was raining and cool and just before we launched I noticed a couple fish rising. I stood there for a few minutes and just watched and more and more fish started rising. As I scanned the water, sure enough the baetis were happening. I switched to dry’s and we stayed on them all day. It took some time until we boated a fish, I think after an hour or so the score was, fish 20, Josh 0. He was having a bit of a problem setting the hook. He couldn’t believe how fast they were. Later in the day after considerable coaching he started to stick them. He kept track and his record was two in a row. At times during the day there would literally be a feeding frenzy. We floated all day and did not see one other boat or fisherman on the river. Conditions were a bit cool and wet but for an experienced fly fisherman this could have easily been a +50 day.