Anomolies

WRONG TIME AND PLACE

Wrong Bugs, Wrong Fish

what's a fisher to do ??

SIZE 20, 22, 24 - THAT'S SMALL !!!

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.. It happens. Experts may have a fancy explanation. The fish figure it out very quickly. Fishers often remain befuddled. We got lucky.
.. Early morning is not our favorite time. The Firehole River and the Madison River have their compensations at this time of day. They are quiet, there are elk and otters, bears and moose, - AND - no tour buses.
.. We weren't expecting the damn fish to ignore the early caddis hatch. We weren't expecting to have to strain the peepers to get flies on the tippet. We weren't expecting an explosion of Tricos to clog our ears. But it happened.

.. Why would any self respecting trout ignore the perfect glut of caddis and BWO's? Why, given the smorgasbord of yummy morsels so dense that even we could see them, would they be sipping daintily on flies so small that they looked like dust in a maelstrom?
.. When we finally figured it out there were tourists of the "Granny Set" chugging around the pull-outs. We had to hike back to the vehicle and grab the miniscule box of microscopic flies.
.. Happily there were several flies that still had tippet tied to them by the kind and indulgent neighbor kids. We left the car. Galumphed back to the water. And wonder of wonders caught a 12" brook trout in a place that is currently being fished for 22" Brown Trout. That may just be better than a monster Brown! We'll take it.
.. Took a nap at noon and dreamt about spots of a different color.

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P.S. A skosh more rain. Rivers up. Color in some. Big fish racing upstream with new flows. Sky becoming leaden. No snow below 7,000' asl. Get on the rivers now.

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At Our Door

Affliction is a treasure,

and scarce any man hath enough of it.

. . . John Donne

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.. Our afflictions are commonplace and numerous: dim vision, shaking hands, wobbly legs, drooping girth, fallen arches, hair migrating from head to ears and nose and shoulders, poor digestion, occasional evacuation, addled memory, fondness for Mozart - Dorsey - Morrison, and eternal optimism. EGAD, what a mess. Still we continue to flail away at mysterious waters as if we would succeed at the game.
.. Success now is just getting there and doing it. We did it yesterday. We succeed. And we walked just 15 feet from the car door to the water and caught some fish. There were no other fishers. There were a couple of teenaged kids on horses. We chatted.
.. They galloped across our favorite bridge and sent the fish scurrying to new hides and holes. We watched and stalked and caught - blessed be the exuberance of youth.
.. The midday sun drove us from the water and we sought solace in a cool dim pub. We gathered information about the best places and the best flies. All has been appropriately filed. It's impertinent. We seldom tread in others footfalls.
.. Big fish are in the Madison River System. Hmmm, happens every year about this time.  Terrestrials are working wonders on the Gallatin River. Hmmm, ditto. The cooling Firehole River is belching forth prodigious quantities of caddis and other aquatic flies. Hmmm, ditto. Nez Perce Creek is now open along the riverside trail for 5 miles. Fish are following the cooling water both up and down it's length. Hmmm, ditto.
.. There are no less than two dozen tributaries to the Madison River System above Hebgen Dam that have "Ghost Runs" of spawning fish. They seldom see a fisher. Hmmm, ditto.
.. By the way, took a 22" buck brown trout on an isolated stretch of an unnamed tributary. The water was, at best, 14" deep. Our afflictions demanded we fish here. Hmmm!
..Didn't bother to squeeze it's guts for the camera.

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