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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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Last Chance Ghosts
Searching for fish to eat a dry fly on the Railroad RanchI’d spent the last several days staring at the surface of the river. I was on the Henrys Fork of the Snake at Last Chance, Idaho, and I’d been there for two weeks. The Harriman Ranch stretch of Henrys is world renowned as a dry fly fishing paradise. On opening day, June 15, you can…
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July in Montana, Broken Bikes and Brown Trout
A KTM that didn't like getting wet and dry flies on the BighornMy last post had me dreaming of dry fly action on the Henrys Fork, and sad to say, it was a two week exercise in “hope springs eternal”. Maybe tomorrow the bugs will come out and the fish will start looking up? Apart from a few nights of substantial brown drake hatches, where I at…
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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…