Exploration Works

If you're familiar with Central Montana, you might recognize this area. If you're not, well, let's just say it's a body of water I've never floated before but was always curious what it might look like and how it might fish. This is a big part of fly fishing for me and what I try to offer people that come out fishing with Montana Dream Fishing Outfitters. I like exploring. I like feeling like I'm fishing or hunting in a place nobody has either stepped foot on or thrown a line over before. At least not on that particular day. 

The reality is, those places that haven't been touched by another angler don't exist anymore in the States. However, with a little work, an angler can feel like they're the only ones that have been on a stretch of water in quite a while. It ads mystery. It allows for solitude. It gives the impression that you're going after trout that have never seen a fly before. They are unsullied and untamed. They are also not very educated. All these things contribute to anticipation and the excitement of a day that may quite literally be the most amazing fishing experience in a person's life. It also might set a person up for failing to reach some pretty high expectations.  

Within the first half-hour or so, Johnny LaRue stuck this pig. This is literally, the first fish we hooked. We were just getting out of the gates and getting familiar with the type of water we were fishing and Johnny pretty much shot the bar up to a height where they only way to go now was down.

One way to look at it though, is the pressure was off. Johnny landed a great fish and the rest would be gravy. Besides, we were floating one of the most scenic and beautiful stretches of water in the country so we were already ahead of the game. 

We didn't catch a ton of fish but we did get some good ones for this river. We also saw some fish come up to dry flies, which is something I haven't seen in a while given the condition of the rivers right now. Run-off in most areas is still pretty crazy so any opportunity to throw big dries is worth the effort--not the most productive but definitely a nice change of pace from watching bobbers and dragging wire worms, watching them get stuck in drowning willow saplings.

And all of this on a Sunday in early June. No other anglers. Just a group a kayak'res. A gorgeous day fishing with a couple good dudes. It really doesn't get any better than this.

Keep 'em where they live...