The winds have laid down and the temperatures have soared to above freezing and fishing the last few days has me really jazzed. I’ve been out on the river every day for the better part of two weeks scoping it out, walking up and down it, and the dredging the bottoms. The browns have pretty much wrapped up their spawn as I’m not seeing any trout, not even egg sucking rainbows, on or near the gravel, with the exception of the buckets and troughs behind the redds and the nests located in slower deeper water. The water temperatures are down to 38-40 degrees.I fished the Hotdog Hole the other day and it was
absolutely silly. I fished that left side all the way down the Red Cliffs to the Barrel. The fish are definitely stacking up in the slower water; inside seams, tailouts, deep pools and troughs. I must have ruined the day for about thirty or so trout on that little walk. I continued all the way down to the Gravel-Pit with the intention of fishing the Snag. I ran into another guide I know and the TroutBeads guy chuckin’ streamers in the flats there, just below 3 Mile. Paul was wielding his double-hander. He said they’re liking it slow. I asked him if I could get a ride across the river, and I told him about how I crossed just above the braids the other day and got a dose of icy water down my front side. I told him I’d meet him back up here around dark, they railed four fish as we talked. The Snag fished great. So did slowly stripped streamers.
The past few days I’ve just been out hucking the big ugly stuff. I’ve been running ‘em deep and slow through the troughs and working ‘em off ledges in the slow water. A lot of takes have been on the swing too. The mornings have been pretty good with olive and white, white and yellow, and olive and yellow. Black and blue did really well for me on the lower river. It could’ve been an afternoon thing too. I haven’t seen a fish over 22 inches, but I plan on floating Bighorn to Mallards this weekend in search of a river pig.
And holy shit, can you believe it… I got a couple trips next week. I’ve had some good time off and am really looking forward to getting back to work and the fishing season, but it seems it gets earlier every year. And to tell you the truth, I’m kind of nervous. The temperatures are going to be in the forties, thank god. I’m going to try to get a couple more days on the water before I take out some random Joes just to get my confidence level up a bit.
