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A Great Day with Golden Stones on the Madison River
Classic big bug action on Montana's iconic 50 Mile RiffleUnlike previous years, my summer expedition for 2026 has not been all about fly fishing, as I’ve spent more time working on this website than I have on the water. Working parked next to a river in Montana is a job that I can get behind, if only there was some actual revenue coming in.…
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The Green Drakes Came to Party at the Ranch
The fish had better things to do, I guessOpening day on the Railroad Ranch came and went, another year passing by with not much good to say. The weather was nice, and the bugs were there, but the fish? Where have the fish gone? The morning of the 15th of June, the crowd of eager anglers spread out along the banks of the…
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Bugs of Fly Fishing Seasons Past
One of the things that draws me to fly fishing is the consistently interesting topic of, “what are the fish eating today?” Sure, some people like bugs more than others, and maybe go a little too far down the rabbit hole. Some little boys that play with bugs grow up to be scientists, some grow…
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Gulpers on the South Fork Arm of Hebgen Lake
July, 2021 I caught a few fish on the first day out from the float tube, but they were on a leech pattern under the surface, and I was searching for gulpers. They are the famous Hebgen trout that methodically eat emerging and spent callibaetis mayflies over a long stretch of the summer, making this…
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The Ugliest Trout That I Have Ever Caught
I fished the San Juan river in New Mexico for two weeks last month, and I came away kinda disappointed. Not with the quality of the river, but with what results from the intense pressure it faces from the fly fishing industry. It’s the dark side of catch and release. I’ve caught plenty of trout…
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Doin’ the San Juan Shuffle
The San Juan river in New Mexico, below the Navajo Dam, is one of the more frequently mentioned tailwaters in the country when it comes to fish size and quantity. I’ve heard some people even assert that it is the best river in the whole country, if not the world! There are supposedly around 10,000…
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Big Hoppers in the Nevada Desert
A Trip to the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge On my way north from So Cal heading back to Montana, I stopped at a BLM campsite in the Owens river valley that had a tiny blue line running through it on the map. I walked for a couple of hours looking for gaps in the…
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Another June Day on the Henrys Fork in Idaho
Some Fish, Some Bugs and a Bugatti When I only have to go back three posts to find last year’s story about brown drakes on the Henrys Fork river, it’s a pretty clear indication I’ve not been keeping up with the demands of my little stake on the Internet here. Well, I’ve been busier than…
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Brown Drakes on the Henry’s Fork
A few days chasing brown drakes on the Henry’s Fork near Last Chance, ID.
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Henry’s Bugs: Opening Day at Harriman Ranch, Henry’s Fork, Idaho
I’ve turned over a lot of rocks in the knee-deep waters of the Henry’s Fork, the famous Snake River tributary that flows past Last Chance, Idaho. There are long stretches of time where there are no rising fish to be spotted, and my curiosity leads me to wonder what they are eating when they are…