Timing

I took my last three days of the season last week. I bet these guys wished they had come a couple days earlier. It started off innocent enough on Wednesday; winds were a bit up but temps were in the fifties and it was sunny for the most part. We caught plenty of fish on nymphs and I'd say we had a pretty good day. As luck/fate/Montana weather would have it, the next couple days were definitely a reminder of how things can change day-to-day in November.

On Thursday a storm blew in and dumped snow from about 10 o'clock am until sometime Saturday. My guys were not only troupers but they made the most of the opportunity. Of the four boats in the group, we were the only boat not to go up to the dam. We started at Craig and pulled out at the Dearborn. We stopped for lunch at the lodge, which gave us the chance to warm up and dry clothes in the clothes dryer. The wind never really was that bad and in the afternoon, it completely laid down. We had fish rising all over the river and got many to eat on top as well has with streamers. Although it never got above freezing, we were comfortable and my guys were happy. The guys up top caught fish as well but the wind howled all day and they ran for cover early.

On Friday, four of the eight guys decided to call it and headed for home. Since I live in Wolf Creek, I was one of the dudes to fish along with Chris Strainer. I chose to put in at Craig again with the hopes of doing lunch at the lodge and then pull out a little earlier at Spite Hill. (The night before I got stuck on the Dearborn Ramp and had to Call Bloomquist for a tug. I wasn't going to do that again.) Chris decided to not put the boat in but to drive up and down the river and do some wade fishing and then warm up in the truck as they went from spot to spot. I never heard how they did but we had an epic few hours.

We hooked a few right out of the gates on streamers but when we started seeing heads up, we short leashed the crap out of them. By the time we got to the lodge, my dudes were more than happy with the amount of fish they caught and decided not to go out again to finish so I rowed myself out and was off the river early. It never got above 17 degrees on Friday but we still roped them and still had a lot of fun.

As we were fishing all I could think about was throwing some decoys out though because the weather brought a ton of ducks and geese to the river. On Saturday I called John LaRue and the boys up and introduced Jill to what duck hunting is all about. We had an awesome day with the boys shooting their first ducks and goose. Nice work boys.

Keep 'em where they live....