Autumn in Montana - September 2007
Searching for the Little Bugs
Sept. 14 - Madison River
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Your Humble Rodmaker starts the week out with a typical Madison River Rainbow. Notice the weather - the Burhart curse strikes again. Mid September and it's hot, bright and a gorgeous day for water skiing on the river! |
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Our hard working guide doing his best to imitate that special "Cheerio Lip" kinda smile that only a Rocky Mountain Whitefish can produce. |
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John gets into the action too. This rather chunky fellow put up quite a fight before his photo-op. In spite of the bright, shiny sky the "Guide Dip" did it's job on this guy - along with a few others. |
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| No caption required! | ||
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Well Done! These fellows also drove in from Michigan - Boyne Falls and Traverse City to play on the Madison. It was really nice to see the effort made to get everyone on the River. Sure hope they had a good day and get to play with the Trouts. |
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Just before the takeout and they are still at it. Didn't get a chance to talk but once again - Well Done! |
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Sept. 17 and 18 - Gibbon and Gallatin Rivers
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A very pretty spot on the Gibbon river a few miles below the falls. Caught a few smaller Bows on small Stimulators but not a whole heck of a lot of action. Was a good day exploring - seeing places we haven't been before but will sure try again another day. |
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A brief visit to a familiar place on the Gallatin. Maybe just a little late we caught the last hour of a BAETIS DRY FLY hatch with lots of noses poking through. Had a chance to land a few on a variety of 22 - 24 BWO dries, Sparkle Duns, Sprout and Foam Emergers, had a chance to snap a few off! Here Johnny brings one in a the tail of the pool. |
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Look at the head on this guy! |
Sept. 19 Madison and Gallatin Rivers
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John and Geoff working the Spey Rod - swinging wet flies for the Hebgen Lake spawners. The big fish have not shown up in any numbers yet - but we have 10 more days to go! We did manage to hook up a few of the resident rainbows that hold in this section of the river just to keep things interesting. |
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John's back to work again - this time on the Gallatin a little up from Big Sky. The Burhart curse was broken - cool, grey and just a little drizzle got the Baetis may flies hatching in force, and the trouts rose to the occasion. A frantic few hours catching trout on top, changing chewed up #20 Sparkle Duns and 6X tippet - what a great way to spend the day! |
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| A parting shot at near the end of the day. A pair of tired Rainbows and a pair of tired Anglers. | |
Sept. 22 - 24 Rainbows, Browns and Rainbows
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Fishing activities were briefly interrupted for an early Autumn storm. A view from the front porch reveals that instead of a Pot o' Gold you will find a white pick-up truck at the end of the rainbow. |
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The following morning, as the scud cleared away and the 2007-2008 snowpack begins. I'm sure it will melt away before things get serious, but it is a fun preview of coming attractions. |
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Another float down the Madison River. Notice the layers of poly, fleece and Gore-Tex! Brrrrrrr. But the if trout can take - so can we. It was a wild day of breeze and bluster interrupted by big trout chasing gnarly steamers and dinky Baetis. Anglers 10 - Trout 40! |
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| Is it Art - or just another out of focus photo? Sure is a big head. | |
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No more Cheerio lips - Geoff squeezes a fat one. |
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Another fat Rainbow who moments ago thought he was grabbing a juicy snack swimming by - Surprise! |
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| Fishing was pretty good - scenery was awesome. | |
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| You won't see this in July. Parking was not a problem today. | |
| September 27 - Final Memories | |
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| One last visit to the Gallatin - and one last chunky Cutthroat gets his picture taken. | |
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| That's All Folks - See you in April! | |