Sight fishing Easter Weekend

Posted on April 7, 2015 by troutondries.com

After a winter of fishing blind with a two handed rod it was a real pleasure to sight fish with a light 4wt rod and dry flies this past weekend. I spent two days walking and wading the Missouri river in Montana. I tossed midges all weekend and on a couple of occasions a small beetle. Most fish were on emergers (bulging the surface). A few could be found eating dries, especially when the wind died down in the flat water sections of the river. Some bulging fish could even be enticed to eat on top; however, many would not. A lot of the midges were clustering in the mid afternoon so cluster fly patterns worked fairly well. A few Blue Winged Olives were out but not many. This hatch should be developing soon which will make the dry fly angling easier. All of the fish below were caught on dries. I spent my time fishing flat, shallow sections; slow wading ankle deep water. Some great fish landed; many more missed. Some humbling moments. Trout fishing doesn’t get much more challenging or better. If you love dry fly fishing you owe it to yourself to one day visit this river.

misty late day leaving the river

brown trout on dry fly, beetle

beetle fly, chewed

craig, scene

rainbow trout on dry fly

craig fly shop

shallow side channel

rainbow on dry fly

easter eggs on river island (goose eggs)

rainbow trout on dry fly

craig, montana

caught on dry fly

horse shoe pit at local fly shop

side channel

another pic of brown trout

Rural Western Scenes, Alberta

Posted on March 22, 2015 by troutondries.com

Some small town pictures and a few out on the open plains. Alberta is considered the richest province in Canada…however, the oil money doesn’t trickle everywhere.

riders on the storm, pincher station, ab

blairmore, ab

blairmore, ab

abandoned building, coleman,ab

roxy (abandoned), coleman, ab

summerview bridge, oldman river, ab

big trucks, bellevue, ab

On the Way to Trout Streams

Posted on March 15, 2015 by troutondries.com

“Oh, I wish I lived in a caravan! ‘ said Jimmy longingly. ‘ How lovely it must be to live in a house that has wheels and can go down lanes and through towns, and stand still in fields at night!”

– Enid Blyton, Mr Gilliano’s Circus

Some western scenes while driving or walking to some of my favorite trout streams somewhere out in the fields…

sw alberta cabin

Patagonia, chile

field path to river, idaho

coleman, alberta

coleman, alberta

near waterton, alberta

shreddies

a little religion, sw alberta

rodeo stands

Idaho field

glenwood goats, alberta

Creekside Grass

Posted on February 19, 2015 by troutondries.com

Most of the streams I fish flow through arid sun baked terrain. The edges however are often lined with tall grass growth. They shoot skyward with the summer warmth, stream moisture and nutrients. These edges are places of life: waterfowl, insects, eggs, feathers, even the odd golden retriever…

Trout prowl the aquatic side of these edges. I often sit hidden in the grass and watch the water for movement; for trout. If you sit still long enough the flowing water and swaying grass become mesmerizing. Then a soft rise or flash of a feeding trout wakes you up.

Here are some pictures of soothing creekside grass taken along the rivers I fish.

creekside grass

smelling creekside grass

feather found in streamside grass

trout caught next to creek grass

found along grass bank

creekside trail

goose eggs in creekside grass

Between Casts

Posted on February 16, 2015 by troutondries.com

The wading boots are hanging in the shed. Instead, I’ve been hiking on weekends. Next week I’ll toss flies again. The local ski hill is closed for the season and it’s only Feb 16th; no snow; go figure. They’ve tons of it back east; none here…yet.

On the Way to a Creek

Posted on January 25, 2015 by troutondries.com

Two or three times I’ve driven a great distance across a high plains desert to fish dry flies on a wonderful spring creek. It’s just miles and miles of sagebrush, the odd cow, then an unexpected crystal clear serpentine creek. Kind of a mirage.

I grew up in an eastern region with a lot of precipitation; green and lush three seasons of the year and where many small trout streams are canopied; and yet my favorite rivers in the west are out on the dry alkaline flats or ones that flow through barren rolling windswept hills. Go figure. I like the openness and the light, and that the trout are where it seems they shouldn’t be.

Here are some high-speed car shots on the way to the creek from several years ago…and the creek.

sagebrush

glimpse of creek

the creek

A Winter Brown Trout

Posted on January 20, 2015 by troutondries.com

“Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe”.

-Voltaire

brown trout

MID-WEEK I CHECKED THE WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEKEND. It predicted temperatures around zero or slightly above for Saturday and Sunday. Next I looked at the wind chart as mild temperatures usually mean a big blow along the eastern slopes. That’s what was in the cards: a wind warning. Saturday looked a bit sunnier and seemed like my best opportunity to fish. Besides on Sunday there were two good football games scheduled.

side channel

I never really watch a complete NFL game. I just kind of listen to it, do other things and then pay close attention when there is a big play. I’ve learnt that the Championship games are often better than the Super Bowl. Last year the Seattle versus San Francisco game was a classic. In comparison the Super Bowl was anti-climatic.

So, Saturday it would be. I was into it as I hadn’t been out since before Christmas as the weather had been arctic like.

side channel

I went to my local tailwater river as it doesn’t ice over, and swung flies real slow near the bottom while the wind whistled in my ears. The fish weren’t active. I’d often get a slight “tap” but with no hook up. I did best by swinging my fly back to the spot where I had found some life. Sometimes I had to pass the fly through several times before getting another “hit” and the occasional hook up. I caught some rainbows this way.

rainbow trout

In a side channel I got my first good aggressive strike but no hook up. I kept tossing my fly through the same spot hoping for a repeat hit. After a dozen or so swings, “fish on”; I had made a connection. This one didn’t make the standard run. Instead it tugged a lot, shook its head, stayed deep and zig-zagged. I thought ” brown trout”.

brown trout

When winter fly fishing you gotta have faith.

brown trout

Blur Photos

Posted on January 13, 2015 by troutondries.com

It has been too cold around here to put on felt sole boots. I’ve traded them in for snowshoes this weekend. Here are some pictures taken while driving to and chugging along the snow trail.

wind generator in the valley

x-country tracks

snowshoe tracks

ribs along the trail

high above valley

portable corral

portable corral

entrance gate to acreage

“Go And Catch a Trout”

Posted on January 10, 2015 by troutondries.com

“At one stage I fished the Yellow Breeches Creek, along which I lived, almost eight evenings a week.”

Charles K. Fox – This Wonderful World of Trout

photo r dewey

GETTING GOOD PHOTOS OF TROUT IS ALWAYS CHALLENGING especially when you fish alone, which is what I do most of the time. Fish aren’t cooperative. After you land one you have to do a number of things in order to get a picture. All seem easy but aren’t, especially when you’re kneeling in moving water, and often in imperfect weather conditions. You have to gently control the fish; keep it in the water and unhook it; dig your camera out of a deep pocket; turn it on without dropping it into the river; focus the shot; ensure there is no water on the lens (I still have trouble with that one); check where the sun is in order to avoid shadow; etc. And you want to do all of this fast so that you can safely release the trout. I have had many great fish bolt on me before I got all of the aforementioned tasks done, and therefore missed a wanted image.

photo r dewey

I was lucky this past August to have a photographer with me for part of an afternoon. I felt no pressure when I was directed to, “Go and catch a trout…I’m all set up to shoot”.

photo r dewey

photo r dewey

Although SW Alberta has great rivers, quite a few people fish here (angling pressure) and the trout are wild, wary and usually not easy. The river that I was sight fishing is especially challenging. It is a quality not quantity fishery. It runs through wide open terrain where it is often sunny and there are few places for an angler to hide. The trout are spooky; some even seem clairvoyant. In order to have a “crack” at a great fish you generally have to do things well. In mid summer when the water is low and clear the resident rainbows simply don’t tolerate mistakes and catching one on a dry-fly in my mind is always an accomplishment. Usually each good fish takes some time.

photo r dewey

Well, shortly after being directed to, “Go and catch a trout”, I caught one! If you fish a lot you know that it doesn’t usually work out this way. I was lucky, things just came together. Having a photographer nearby made getting some nice shots so much easier. It simplified things. I just had to focus on safely handling the trout.

photo r dewey

What I like best about some of the images taken is that they show the girth of the trout. That’s something I have trouble capturing when I’m taking pictures by myself. The rainbow is quite representative of the ones I catch there. I have caught more large trout on small dries there than on any other river along the continental divide, either side of the Medicine Line. The place is an ace.

photo r dewey

phoro r dewey

Prairie Scenes and a Few Winter Trout

Posted on December 27, 2014 by troutondries.com

Some photos from the past two weeks while out winter fly fishing and windshield shots while driving to rivers…temperatures cool, river traffic low, trout kind of sleepy, prairie towns also sleepy.