YNP Magic!

October 3, 2016 By TB

Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is one of our favorite places on earth. We’ve fished in the park many times before, primarily in the northeast corner on the Lamar, Soda Butte and Slough Creek. While we’ve fished the Madison and Firehole rivers before, we’d never fished them with a guide.

We hooked up with our guide, Patrick Daigle at Blue Ribbon Flies, ready to explore a few of YNP’s gems, the Madison, Firehole and Gibbon. Patrick took me out to our first hole, totally away from any other anglers, not a soul in sight, and the “Magic” began. Swinging flies for hungry trout coming up out of Hebgen Lake into the Madison is so fun; waiting for that strike on the fly as it swings and sets off the trout. We explored a few holes, had a few tugs but no takes and then, boom!

First it was Barb who hooked into one of these incredibly beautiful rainbows and the fight was on. We learned some new techniques from Patrick, the most important one was tilting our rod down and upstream. When we did this, it caused the trout to swim upstream toward us. This made Barb’s landing of that first fish of the day so much easier.

Next it was my turn in the pool and within about 5 casts, fish on! While I was practicing the same techniques to land the fish, this trout was really ticked off at getting hooked. He jumped and then ran way downstream and around some rocks. Patrick was preparing me for the likely outcome of loosing the fish on the rocks. However, with a couple of other tips from Patrick, we were able to get the fish away from the rocks and headed back upstream to our waiting net. It was an amazing fight to hook and land this big rainbow.

Our day was made, but there was so much more to come. We went to another hole on the Madison and decided to nymph fish. Good decision! We hit into a great number of big, beautiful rainbows who hit our rubber legs, shop vacs, and prince nymphs. It was lunchtime but we didn’t want to take a break given how great the fishing had become.

Afterward, we hit the Firehole in the canyon section and then the Gibbon. However, the Madison kept calling us back. While we didn’t get back to it with Patrick, he had shown us an “epic” day in YNP and we were able to go back the next day and hook more fish.

Patrick is an outstanding guide and gave us the confidence in reading the waters, picking the right flies, putting us on fish and helping us with the techniques needed to land them in these waters. I won’t mention any of the holes where we hooked into all the fish. You’ll have to book Patrick and let him show you these pristine waters through his eyes and expertise. For now, please enjoy his interview we did along the Madison river after a magical day in YNP.

Guide Talk, Madison

Madison Mayhem

October 3, 2016 By TB

We think of the Madison as one of our “home” waters so it’s always a treat to fish it. When we stopped at Kelly Galloup’s Slide Inn to book our guide trip, Kelly said he knew the “perfect” guide for us…. Doug “Spaz” Pauline. Kelly described him as “kind of a hippie” and lots of fun, which sounded really good to us.

When we met Doug, we knew it was going to be a crazy day…. maybe even some mayhem along the way. We had a great day on the water, hooked into some beautiful rainbow, brown and, ahem, Rocky Mountain golden-hued white “tarpon”. When we got back to Slide Inn for the interview, that’s when the “mayhem” happened.

It’s always fun to do the interview in the fly shop and this was no exception. Doug’s buddies wouldn’t leave him alone as we started the interview and had us laughing constantly. You may hear a bit of their hijinks in the background. We hope you enjoy this “Guide Talk” as much as we enjoyed our day fishing with Doug. ? Cheers!

Guide Talk, Yakima

Yak Attack!

September 27, 2016 By TB

While we were in Oregon, we were told that the Yakima River was simply like the Deschutes… a mirror image, just on the Washington side of the Columbia River. What we found was “Not Exactly”. While we still felt the “high desert” climate and saw similar sights, we found the rivers to be quite different. No “Redsides” in the Yakima. A river that isn’t as wild and woolly as the Deschutes. You can fish from the boat on the Yakima, where on the Deschutes, you float from spot to spot, but have to wade to fish. So overall, for us at least, it was different.

We floated the river with Jeremy Miller of Mitchell’s Evening Hatch in Ellensburg, WA. It was a tough day on the water in terms of “catching”, but the fishing, as always, was great. We “attacked” the Yak with everything we had in the fly box. We hooked into a few good fish, landed a few, but not as many as Jeremy would have liked. It’s always true with good guides, they actually are more determined for us to catch fish than we are. What we found that day, was that we actually had a better day than other boats on the water.

When we left for the day, Jeremy left a dry/dropper rig on my rod. The next day, we went out and Barb, using my rod and Jeremy’s rig, caught a nice 16+” rainbow on a prince nymph with rubber legs that Jeremy had tied himself. Needless to say, we sent our thanks to Jeremy.

Please enjoy the interview we did with Jeremy on the banks of the Yakima River.

Crooked, Guide Talk

High Sticking the Crooked

September 23, 2016 By TB

As you drive south along Highway 27 out of Prineville, OR, you pass through pastureland filled with cattle. Soon however, the valley narrows and you find yourself in a canyon driving along the Crooked River. The section below Bowman Dam is classified a “Wild and Scenic” river; Barb and I will both vouch for that. It is a spectacular drive which luckily, is dotted with campgrounds providing easy access for anglers.

We had the pleasure of fishing the Crooked River with Eddie Mack of Fly and Field Outfitters of Bend, OR. Eddie met us at the Big Bend campground where we “wadered up” and began our trip. For some reason, there were a lot of fisherman on the river this day, so finding some spots where we could have some space proved challenging. However, one of the beauties of the Crooked, is that there is so much access; if one campground is brimming with fishermen, you just head on to the next.

Our first stop was at Castle Rock campground. Barb was a bit concerned with wading on the slippery rocks found in the Crooked, but, with Eddie’s help, we embarked on crossing the river to get to a couple of great fishing spots where we hooked into both the beautiful Redband Trout as well as some rather large whitefish. After fishing here a bit, we crossed back and went to another campground where again we crossed the river to get to the best fishing spots. Eddie was great, helping us traverse the river, making sure our rigs were set the right way and putting us on fish.

We had a blast fishing with Eddie and would encourage anyone coming to fish the Crooked to call Fly and Field Outfitters and book him for a trip. For now, please enjoy our interview with Eddie, stream side on the Crooked River.

Deschutes, Guide Talk

Sweet As the Deschutes

September 19, 2016 By TB

The first time we strolled into the Fly and Field Outfitters fly shop in Bend, Oregon, a young man named Jasper welcomed us. We needed some studs for our boots as we were about to fish a river with a very slippery bottom, as in, you’re going to fall in the river if you don’t have studs. I still fell in that river but that’s a North Umpqua Steel story.

We also needed to book a couple of guide trips and get some flies. You ALWAYS get some flies when you walk into a fly shop. For us, its an unwritten rule, no, actually a requirement I think.

As we were booking our guide for the Deschutes River, Jasper looked up and asked “Griff, can you take them?”. He hinted that he could get someone else, but, Griff told him he would take us. It turned out the exchange between Jasper and Griff was actually between a son and his father. Jasper was watching out for his dad.

We met Griff at the Warm Springs boat ramp at 7:30 and embarked on what was to be an incredible day. The weather was perfect and as it turned out, the fishing was perfect as well. We learned a great deal from Griff who struck a great balance between instruction and fishing.

We did our interview in the Deschutes River, literally in the river, after a stream side lunch of grilled chicken thighs, Asian salad, potato salad and cookies. While Griff was cooking lunch, Barb hooked into a giant steelhead which took two huge jumps and a few runs before setting loose.

If you come to fish the Deschutes, make sure to book Griff Marshall of Fly and Field Outfitters if you can. I promise you will enjoy the day and likely find a nice Redband trout or steelhead on the end of your line a few times. For now, please enjoy our Sweet As the Deschutes with Griff Marshall interview.

Guide Talk, Silver Creek

Silver Creek Schooling

September 6, 2016 By TB

Spring creeks are the most difficult to fish for many reasons… crystal clear waters, strong micro-currents, matching the exact size fly, etc… The best I’ve heard is that the fish have a Masters degree (or Ph.D.) in how NOT to get caught. Hence, you often get “schooled” when you fish a spring creek. Well… while we didn’t get “skunked” on Silver Creek, we certainly got schooled. When you put on a size 20 PMD and the fish want something even smaller, they won’t bite. When your 7x fly line gets caught by the many micro-currents making your fly float funny, the fish ignore it. Make a noise wading near a fish, forget it.

Luckily for Barb and I, we had Carl Evenson of Silver Creek Outfitters showing us around the Silver Creek Preserve which is run by The Nature Conservancy. Carl knew which kind and size of flies seemed to be on the water. He took us to where fish were rising or hanging out. It was up to us to deal with the currents which were going every which way, but, we did and we had a great day fishing.

Carl was full of knowledge about fishing Silver Creek as well as the history of the area. We hiked and fished over 4 miles along the Creek, stumbling upon a huge bull moose and seeing some huge trout. We even caught a few, even though they weren’t the humongous ones.

In this “guide talk”, Carl shares his story as well as the story of Silver Creek including its iconic hatches. We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we enjoyed our time on the water with Carl.

Blackfoot, Guide Talk

Ben DeMers on the Blackfoot

August 29, 2016 By TB

“In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing”. Thus begins the greatest novel written concerning fly fishing, “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean. If you’ve not read the book, here is the link to get a copy. If you have, you know that the book is about a family, life, religion and fly fishing along the Blackfoot River. If you’re more into movies, make sure you watch the movie directed by Robert Redford and starring Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt and Craig Sheffer. You’ll love it, I promise.

We had the distinct pleasure of taking our first trip down this legendary river with Ben DeMers who we booked out of The Missoulian Angler in Missoula (MT). Ben is a former 5th grade teacher who got called for summer work guiding along the area rivers. Ben was also a member of the 1974-75 Montana Griz basketball team who made the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, falling in a squeaker to UCLA. We could not have asked for a better guide than Ben. He kept us on fish, provided great insight into the river and its history and most importantly, kept us laughing the entire day. Make sure if you come to Missoula to get Ben to take you on a fly fishing adventure. For now, please enjoy this interview we did with Ben along the banks of the Blackfoot River.

Big Sky, Gallatin, Guide Talk

Wild Trout Outfitters

August 22, 2016 By TB

Our “go to” fly shop along the Gallatin River is Wild Trout Outfitters (WTO) in Big Sky, MT. JD Bingman is the owner/guide at WTO and has helped Barb and I find and catch fish for over 12 years.

We first got to know JD years ago when he helped out our future son-in-law Chris Drake with his fishing Suburban. I cannot remember if Chris had a name for the Suburban but if you’ve ever spent time out west near rivers, it was the poster child for a fly fishing vehicle. In one instance, it needed assistance to get going sitting right in front of WTO and JD came to the rescue.

Since then we’ve been coming to see JD and his WTO team every time we’re in the area. He knows what’s catching fish and where to find them. Just take a look at the pictures that line the wall behind where we interviewed JD. You’ll see some of the impressive fish (and fishermen) that have been landed along the Gallatin. If you stop, spend some time in the shop and listen, you might even hear about some “Nunya” spots along the Gallatin and its tributaries. You may have to hike a ways to get to them, but its worth the effort…. trust us!

We had a chance to sit down with JD this week and talk about his start in fishing as well as all things Gallatin River…. how best to fish it, what kinds of hatches to expect and what kinds of fish you’ll find. You’ll also see a cameo by his dog, Hopper! Hope you enjoy this “character” from one of the TU Top 100 trout streams, JD Bingman.

Big Sky, Gallatin, Guide Talk

Gallatin – Big Sky Highlights

August 22, 2016 By TB

The Gallatin River is our “home water” here in the Bozeman MT area. Its headwaters are in the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. It flows for nearly 120 miles before it joins two other rivers to form the Missouri River near Three Forks, MT. Along the way, it flows through the area known as Big Sky which is often our launching point for fishing, rafting, hiking and just enjoying the area. Its also home to our “go to” fly shop along the river, Wild Trout Outfitters. Owner/guide JD Bingman has been helping Barb and I for at least 12 years and continues to put us on great spots with great flies. You’ll see some of our fish from this year in the video.

Big Sky is also an area where we take friends and family who come out to visit. The easy access to fishing along the river coupled with numerous things to do at the Big Sky Resort make this a destination of vacationers worldwide. In winter, Big Sky proudly markets their ski area as having the most skiing of any resort in the US.

Whether in the canyon, the meadows or up in the Yellowstone section, the Gallatin River truly is our second home. We hope you enjoy this music video highlighting our time along the river and in the area.

Bighorn, Guide Talk

Bighorn Mothership Guide

July 29, 2016 By TB

Oh Montana! For our first stop in our adopted home state of Montana, we hit the Bighorn River near Ft. Smith. We’d heard stories and had read about how great a fishery the Bighorn is, but we’d not fished it here in the Ft. Smith area where it is most well known. What we know firsthand now is that all the stories are true.

Epic is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the fishing world so we try not to use it freely and save it for the truly amazing days. For us, epic doesn’t mean biggest fish ever, or even most fish ever (although that certainly helps) but means a day of great fishing and fun. So….. our trip on the Bighorn with Merritt Harris of Bighorn Trout Shop was truly EPIC!

We started out just below Afterbay Dam and fished our way down to the Three Mile Access takeout. In between, we fished from the boat but waded in certain holes along the way. In both cases, big wild brown and rainbow trout were fought and netted. More importantly, we had a guide, Merritt, who made the day not just productive for sure, but so much fun.

Merritt is one of the most requested and hardest to get guides on the Bighorn. Not sure how we were so lucky to have him as our guide, but we’ll definitely be back to fish with him again. I’d highly recommend that if you’re coming to fish the Bighorn, call the Bighorn Trout Shop and ask for Merritt.

For now, enjoy this interview we did with him parked in some shade along the Bighorn. If you look closely, you’ll even see a fish rise to eat a black caddis. Enjoy!