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Exiting Montana…
…Without winning the big fish lottery, AKA, fishing the Madison River in the Fall for lake-run browns and rainbows. This year, I picked a losing ticket. I caught a few nice average fish, but nothing special. Last year wasn’t great, but it felt better than this year. A guy I chatted with at Barnes Hole…
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Dear Diary, a Madison Update
Sometimes things just don’t go the way you expect them to. A couple of days ago, I thought everything was coming together nicely for my last days on the Madison river in 2021. The following day however, saw no fish. Not for me, and not for the dozens of other anglers lined up to take…
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Paydirt
I could not have asked for a better start back on the water, after a two week break. The second stretch of water I swung produced a really beautifully colored rainbow and the third seam had a nice brown eat the soft hackle I tied yesterday. The winning fly I tied was a variant of…
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Fishing Masochists
The plan continues to play out… It’s the middle of October in West Yellowstone, and the RV park has shut down for the season. I’m off to fish the Madison from Bakers Hole upstream a mile or so. The sun is finally out and all the roadside trailheads are rammed with anglers’ vehicles. But still…
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The Best Laid Plans…
“The fishing was great! The catching, not so much.” So I overheard as an angler came off the water back at Bakers Hole a while back. Yuk yuk yuk. He was so pleased with his joke, I heard him repeat it to another tourist a few minutes later. So it was. My plan was to…
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Mangled Madison Mandibles
I fished the Madison between Raynolds Pass and Three Dollar Bridge yesterday, focusing on a group of rising fish in a big slick behind a series of boulders. There were no observable bugs on the water, apart from the odd caddis or two. The reliable hatch of the moment is supposed to be blue winged…
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October in Montana
Well, the ten days that I was based out of Bakers Hole campground was kind of a letdown, as far as the fishing goes. I think in total I netted five adult fish, with the last day accounting for two of them. My Fall visit in previous years have always produced at least one fish…
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Slow Going on the Madison River
Well, I’ve been shacked up next to the Madison River here in West Yellowstone for six days now and I have only one adult fish to the net to show for my efforts. Four or five hours a day on the water, afternoon to after dark. Maybe I just need to man up and go…
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Last Days of Summer
The first day of fall is approaching fast, Wednesday the 22nd. I’ve spent the last days of Summer 2021 around the northern part of Yellowstone National Park. Yesterday the weather took a marked turn and this morning the hills and mountain peaks are all frosted with snow. The overcast skies and and push of fresh…
