rfong
Well-known member
I have spend most of the summer on the Big Hole River in Montana fishing every day. This year there was a brief heat wave, a steady smoke out from the California fires and as usual, great fishing.
The Home Riffle Hole right in front of the house ran through the cycles of the river with high water, slowly decreasing in flow everyday. The insect hatches bloomed on a predictable time clock and now in late summer, the Trico hatch offers some of the best fishing of the year.
Now the water flow is wading friendly and I can forge across the river in almost every run. I do use a wading staff as those watermelon size rocks are nature’s hazards for a cold plunge.
This morning the Tricos were late in making their appearance. Normally they start flying at 10am, but I walked down to the river and the air was clear with no winds and blue skies, but no Tricos?
I wading out to my strategic command center, an exposed rock right in the middle of the river. From there I can cast 360 degrees in every direction. I’ve fished this honey hole so many years, I’ve grided out every section of the river and know the distances to the banks. It is 70 feet to either bank, 150 feet across the entire river and the hole is 250 feet long. This is important data as you shall see later on.
Today, the Tricos did not appear until 11am, but then it snowed Tricos. It was a blizzard of tiny fuzzy flying bugs. Within 10 minutes the fish sensed the activity and they too became active.
Snouts, splashes, and leaps erupted like popcorn all around me. The majority of the rises were at the tail of the run, so I shifted my position and waded down from my command rock about 50 feet.
There were Whitefish mixed among the trout but as my friend’s bumper sticker says, “Whitefish Matter.” I hooked some tremendous size Whtiefish that put up a good fight. I also landed some decent Rainbows and Browns while fishing downstream toward the tail out of the run.
But then I heard a toilet flush in back of me, upstream of me. I turned in time to see the tsunami wave of a huge fish. It was right behind my command rock, an area I rarely fish because I’m standing there.
All this time I was using an Emerger and a Spent Wing Trico catching fish on both flies.
I cast the 50 feet back upstream to the rock and then the water erupted. I could see the huge fish zip underwater at blinding speed to the right bank, then upstream to the head of the riffle. He continued across the entire river, then came downstream past my position and down to the tail out of the pool. Then he zig zagged back and forth until he came to my net.
A heavy 21” Rainbow that put up a worthy fight equal to any Bonefish that I have caught.
I documented the path of his fight to calculate just how far this fish took me before landing it. 70 feet across, 50 feet up river, 70 feet to left bank, 150 feet down to the tail out and 200 feet back to me and the net. A total of 540 feet of fight!
This was truly a healthy specimen of a Rainbow. We had a long talk while he rested in my net, then I sent him back to fight another day.
What a wonderful way to say goodbye to another great summer in Montana.
The Home Riffle Hole right in front of the house ran through the cycles of the river with high water, slowly decreasing in flow everyday. The insect hatches bloomed on a predictable time clock and now in late summer, the Trico hatch offers some of the best fishing of the year.
Now the water flow is wading friendly and I can forge across the river in almost every run. I do use a wading staff as those watermelon size rocks are nature’s hazards for a cold plunge.
This morning the Tricos were late in making their appearance. Normally they start flying at 10am, but I walked down to the river and the air was clear with no winds and blue skies, but no Tricos?
I wading out to my strategic command center, an exposed rock right in the middle of the river. From there I can cast 360 degrees in every direction. I’ve fished this honey hole so many years, I’ve grided out every section of the river and know the distances to the banks. It is 70 feet to either bank, 150 feet across the entire river and the hole is 250 feet long. This is important data as you shall see later on.
Today, the Tricos did not appear until 11am, but then it snowed Tricos. It was a blizzard of tiny fuzzy flying bugs. Within 10 minutes the fish sensed the activity and they too became active.
Snouts, splashes, and leaps erupted like popcorn all around me. The majority of the rises were at the tail of the run, so I shifted my position and waded down from my command rock about 50 feet.
There were Whitefish mixed among the trout but as my friend’s bumper sticker says, “Whitefish Matter.” I hooked some tremendous size Whtiefish that put up a good fight. I also landed some decent Rainbows and Browns while fishing downstream toward the tail out of the run.
But then I heard a toilet flush in back of me, upstream of me. I turned in time to see the tsunami wave of a huge fish. It was right behind my command rock, an area I rarely fish because I’m standing there.
All this time I was using an Emerger and a Spent Wing Trico catching fish on both flies.
I cast the 50 feet back upstream to the rock and then the water erupted. I could see the huge fish zip underwater at blinding speed to the right bank, then upstream to the head of the riffle. He continued across the entire river, then came downstream past my position and down to the tail out of the pool. Then he zig zagged back and forth until he came to my net.
A heavy 21” Rainbow that put up a worthy fight equal to any Bonefish that I have caught.
I documented the path of his fight to calculate just how far this fish took me before landing it. 70 feet across, 50 feet up river, 70 feet to left bank, 150 feet down to the tail out and 200 feet back to me and the net. A total of 540 feet of fight!
This was truly a healthy specimen of a Rainbow. We had a long talk while he rested in my net, then I sent him back to fight another day.
What a wonderful way to say goodbye to another great summer in Montana.
