I met our own Joel Thompson and fellow fly fishing guide Tony Marino on the river about 9:00 am. Joel you already know and some of you know and have had the opportunity to fish with Tony. He has been guiding a long time and has worked with us on several, multi-boat float trips. Great guy. Expert fisherman.
We shoved Tony's skiff into the river 5.3 road miles upstream from our takeout. I'm guessing the float was 6 river miles or so. Joel was the first to hook up with a large sucker. No photos of that one but it tried to devour his streamer like it hadn't eaten all winter. Nice fight and the skunk was off of the boat.
Not too much later, while I was taking a turn on the oars, Tony tied into this nice Cutthroat.
While Joel and Tony took turns catching fish, I caught nothing but some casting practice. I was too stubborn to switch flies. I kept hoping a hatch would turn on and while we did see a few dries, we never saw a fish rise to one.
After Tony and Joel each boated 3 or 4 fish, I couldn't stand it any longer. I re-rigged with streamers and finally got a chance to hook up. Pretty nice Brown.
Here is a photo of a stonefly nymph that Joel found. The bugs are healthy looking for sure.
The weather was great. Our low temperature this morning was 19F with a high of 58F and mostly clear skies. Water temperature at the launch was 40F and the barometer rose slowly today from a low of 30.32 to 30.47. Weather data from Circle H Growers in Deer Lodge.
Thanks to Tony for bringing the boat and thanks to Joel for taking the pictures today. Great day on the river.
Sharp Hooks and Tight Lines,
Ron
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