The Great Salmon Fly Hunt of 2008

Photo courtesy of Jazz Hands

Ah, the salmon fly. Those lovable, hug-able, stupid, giant bugs that fatten trout and drive anglers insane (with joy or frustration). With all the snowfall that Montana received last winter, we were initially concerned that our target rivers would be blown out. As our trip neared, concern turned to optimism and then to worry. The rivers were starting to fish well, but the salmon flies were already hatching. Would we get there in time? Could we find the hatch? Would the fish be gorged already? As we learned, the answers to those questions would be, kinda, not really and who the fuck knows.


Dates: July 11-17, 2008
Location: Gallatin & Madison
Air temp: 80s
Water temp: ???
Hatches: shit loads of caddis and some salmon flies


Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

Jazz Hands
B-Chubnut
Quickdraw
Xan


Jazzy and Chubnut were the first to arrive on Friday. With some time to kill before QD and I would arrive, they hit a familiar spot on the Gallatin. Unfortunately, this area was still blown out and the fishing was poor. They picked us up from the airport, and we made our way to the motel to taunt Jazz Hands over Brett Favre's recent drama. Evidently, he inhaled too much of Chubnut's anal sulfuric discharges, as he was a basket case all night.

Photo courtesy of Quickdraw

The Madison - The Agony

Photo courtesy of B-Chubnut

The next day, we traveled to the Madison to find these damn salmon flies. Over the next three and a half days, we made our way up and down the upper Mad trying to find our Mecca. A humble philosopher might say we had already found our Mecca, by being in the beautiful state of Montana, united as friends, but that philosopher can suck my ball sack. Water levels were good, the salmon flies were around, caddis were everywhere, and we wanted fish flying out of the water with insects falling out of their gills. But, it was simply not to be. Try as we might, dry fly activity was scant, even with thousands of bugs all over the water.

Photo courtesy of B-Chubnut

We gritted it out, casting nymphs by day, streamers at night, negotiating the hordes of fellow anglers, catching our fish here and there, with a whole lot of nothing in between.

Photo courtesy of B-Chubnut

Photo courtesy of Jazz Hands

Photo courtesy of Jazz Hands

Photo courtesy of Jazz Hands

Photo courtesy of Jazz Hands

As Tuesday arrived, we gave it one last shot, before returning to Bozeman and calling an end to our Mad River adventure.

Photo courtesy of Jazz Hands

The Gallatin - The Ecstasy

We dropped off QD at the airport and had a few hours to kill before Jazzy had to leave. We went back to our familiar Gallatin spot to find the river still blown out. Fortunately, there are two channels at this spot, the main branch and a side branch, which in turn has what looks like an irrigation canal. The side branch was fairly normal in terms of flows, and Chubbers and Jazz landed some decent trout. When it was time, we took Jazz Hands to the airport and then came back, where I was able to land a few as well.

The next morning, Chubnut and I hit up a fly shop at Four Corners for some flies and advice. We were told that the Gal was flowing well and wade-able up by Big Sky. We fired up the Kia and made our way there. Neither of us had ever fished this area, and we did some scouting before selecting a spot to start our fishing.

Photo courtesy of B-Chubnut

What commenced was a full session of catching fish all day long. We were interrupted by a thunderstorm, at which time we ate some salami sandwiches and drank some beer. When we resumed, the fishing was a bit slower, but still productive. We didn't catch anything huge, but a few nice fish were brought to hand amongst the scads of bows. After days of struggling for fish amidst massive crowds on big water, we had a stretch of river all to ourselves, with every fishy run producing. We fished to exhaustion, and called it a day and trip.

Photo courtesy of B-Chubnut

The next morning, I dropped Chubnut at the airport and went back to our familiar Gal spot for the White Bite. I landed a few trout, a few whitefish, and that was that. I boarded the plane sweaty, exhausted, sore, and content, and I didn't even have to visit an airport bathroom stall. That's what Montana is all about.

Photo courtesy of B-Chubnut

Oh yeah, we went to Montana...

Here it is:

Day 1: Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner

Date: July 26, 2007
Location: Gallatin
Air temp: 80s-90s
Water temp: ???
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 3

Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

Quickdraw
Xan


After a slight delay, QD and I landed in Bozeman to begin our adventure. We had a number of hours to kill before Jazz Hands and Booter were to land, so we went fishing.

I was able to get us to a spot Jazz and I had fished and camped at last year on the Gallatin. Here, the Gal is split into two streams, one slower channel and a faster one with a huge hole.

Quickdraw introduced himself to a double digit haul of MT trout. His inaugural MT experience was slaying the beasts, dead drifting a Bitch Creek and then a bugger. I was able to pick up a few after much effort nymphing.

We departed for some food and came back to a spot Booter and I had fished. Our short time on the river flew by as we then had to depart to pick up Jazz Hands, and then Fruit Booter. Soon, the F.A.G.s were all assembled, and we cuddled up in a fancy, old school inn. It was an impressive, old structure, straight out of Booter's favorite movie, Dirty Dancing.

Highlights of the day:

- QD slaying them
- QD pouring table salt on the shuffle puck table, fucking it up good

Day 2: I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing

Date: July 27, 2007
Location: Madison
Air temp: 80s-90s
Water temp: ???
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 3

Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

Quickdraw
Jazz Hands
Fruit Booter
Xan


After a good night of sleep and dog fighting jokes, we arrived at the Madison to fish (go figure) before checking into our next inn. Please enjoy very much this eye candy.




Highlights of the day:

- 1 celebrity sighting (Mr. Bill Devane on a drift boat)
- Fruit becoming part of local lore by inhaling a Den burger (locals were actually speaking of this the next day at the Den Bar)


Day 3: $3 Dolla, Make Ya Holla

Date: July 28, 2007
Location: Madison
Air temp: 80s-90s
Water temp: ???
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 4


There is only one game in town for breakfast, and it was good.


We hit $3 Dollar to negotiate the boulders in the search of pigs. My nymphing thus far had been a disaster of unrealized drag and piddly fish. After a pep talk by Boot, I was able to start correcting my unwise ways and get some action. As I was too busy fishing to take many pictures, I offer you this photo of Boot on a rock.


Afterwards, we night fished by our lodging. The nice lady that ran the place had told us of the big browns that cruise the side channels at night. We had found two such channels and I was able to pull a couple nice fish with a Royal Wulff in the slow water.

Highlights of the day:

- 1 celebrity sighting (Mr. Bill Devane, looking at Booter and saying, "Doppler Radar!"
- Actually being able to see my dry fly on the water (and catching fish with it)


Day 4: They Mostly Come At Night, Mostly

Date: July 29, 2007
Location: Madison
Air temp: 80s-90s
Water temp: ???
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 6+?


We started the morning at a new spot near $3. I guess we didn't hike enough cause that spot sucked.

After breakfast, we decided to hit a spot near a popular boat launch. The water up from the launch was quite wade-able. A brief rain came down, and soon I was to have the fight of my trip (aside from the fistfight with Booter over him stealing my whitefish. What a dick). The weather brought strikes, and a 14" bow that I battled for what seemed like 10 minutes, as we ran up, down and across the river. My nymphing and weighting was finally starting to produce.

After din, and getting the shit scared out of me by an air horn at the Happy Hour Bar (I have a sticker to show for it), we hit another new spot. This time, we were between the lakes. If you want to catch some sweet whitefish, fish here.


I found Booter after he had wandered off into the woods with a whitey (fish).


We headed back to the lodge for some more night fishing on the channels. Nymphs, the Wulff and a bugger all brought fish to my hand. If you were wondering if we actually caught any fish, I offer you proof. This was caught by Jazzy on his second ever cast of a mouse pattern.


Highlights of the day:

- The chick working the gas station
- Jazzy's mouse pig!

Day 5: The Pool, the Rocks & Whitefish Alley

Date: July 30, 2007
Location: Gallatin
Air temp: 80s-90s
Water temp: ???
Hatches: ?
Fish landed: 3


Before boarding our flights, we hit the Gal for one final F.A.G. rod session. Once again, Quick crushed them. Jazz was having fun fishing the Munny Hole. I fed the whiteys in Whitefish Alley, while Boot ran around fishing in other people's spots.

When the clock signaled the end of the game, Fruiter tossed rocks into the Munny Hole, to the great pleasure of Jazzer. Jazz drove us to the airport, and the Upper Midwest F.A.G.s flew home. Jazz fished for a bit more, but he'll have to tell you that story.

Highlights of the day:

- QD slaying them
- Jazzy and his Munny Hole