Mother’s Day Caddis Update 5-12-2019
Being Mother's Day on the calendar we should update what is going on with the Mother's Day Caddis Hatch. Are there caddis on the Upper Madison River? Absolutely they showed up about two days ago and are popping off at a good pace. Have we seen the rafts of caddis that is so popular with this hatch this time of year? Nope not yet. Is is t a dry fly all day thing? Not even close. We have been picking some up on dry flies in the evenings once the sun has gone behind the horizo...
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Madison River Fishing 2-9-2018
The Madison river remains ice free still and boat ramps are still accessible even after the snow we got the past couple of day. Fish have been holding in their typical winter lays concentrate your efforts in the slower deeper pools right now.
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My Orvis Guide Day 4-7-2016
Guiding may be a job, complete with responsibilities and frustrations, just like any other. However, it has moments that have me actually questioning, “I actually get paid for this?†Days I actually wish could last a little longer, where fish, weather, clients actually cooperate. Today was one of those days. I met my clients, Amelia and Jen, in front of The Holiday Inn Parkside in Missoula. The Orvis Rendezvous is in town and we usually get to guide some pretty spectacular angler...
Read MoreNet Flicks Video from the Madison River 6-14-2015
A great short video from the Madison River of a nice rainbow release.
Read MoreTackle Shop Newsletter 6-2-15
Dear Friends, June is here and with that comes the busy summer season we all know and love. Most of you are getting done with school, getting the yard cleaned up, planning your summer trip to Montana. We have had our hands full with the busiest May we have seen. The fishing has been great with the lower than expected water. We have been getting a bunch of calls recently asking about the state of the water especially in the Madison for the coming season. So, if your planning a trip to th...
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Bitterroot River Skwala Hatch 4-8-2015
Fishing with John Stewart from Ennis again today. The night time temps did not dip as low today as they have been in the past days. This kept the water temps slightly raised from what we have been seeing and produced good action right from the put in. We caught our first fish within sight of the put in. We also caught a dandy westslope on a dropper nymph in the first 10 minutes of being on the water. The fish were eating the same stuff they have the past few days. A dry skwala with a...
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Bitterroot River Skwala Hatch 4-7-2015
Today I got to fish with a long time Tackle Shop friend John Stewart from Ennis. This is the fourth year in a row that John has traveled to the Bitterroot with me to chased the skwala hatch. Today started off much like yesterday with a cold night and low water temps first thing in the morning. We did manage to find a few nice fish before lunch and in fact the first fish of the day was on the dry fly. After that first fish they were on mostly the dropper nymph all morning. A small rubber...
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Bitterroot River Skwala Hatch 4-6-2015
Even with the cold weather we have been having the world famous skwala hatch on the Bitterroot River is going strong. We are over in the Missoula Area chasing the skwala hatch and guiding. Today we decided to try the Bitterroot River on one of it upper stretches hoping the smaller water would warm quicker and also the large population of west slope cuts would play nice with the dry fly. Today started cold with frequent light snow showers and no fish looking up for the dry fly. We did ...
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