Montana Moments pt 2

[mems]

http://i.imgur.com/k2o6Z3C.jpg (http://imgur.com/k2o6Z3C)
Then we headed to Rock creek for a couple of days.
http://i.imgur.com/diVztBa.jpg (http://imgur.com/diVztBa)
Got some nice browns.
http://i.imgur.com/wBbQspv.jpg (http://imgur.com/wBbQspv)
http://i.imgur.com/owF1pwX.jpg (http://imgur.com/owF1pwX)
My wife got a brookie!
http://i.imgur.com/Hy0TzDE.jpg (http://imgur.com/Hy0TzDE)
I found some nice fat cutties as well/
http://i.imgur.com/E5sId0m.jpg (http://imgur.com/E5sId0m)
Released to fight another day.
http://i.imgur.com/PToUFkI.jpg (http://imgur.com/PToUFkI)
Last day we did a float with Wildcat on the Blackfoot.
http://i.imgur.com/V1DXcos.jpg (http://imgur.com/V1DXcos)
I gave my wife the bow and she got to work. She landed 9 fish, it was her best day.
http://i.imgur.com/XCD0fbN.jpg (http://imgur.com/XCD0fbN)
We took a break for lunch and I hooked into a nice bull trout.
http://i.imgur.com/9NZaBOK.jpg (http://imgur.com/9NZaBOK)
He was quickly released. He actually ate two flies, must have been hungry.
http://i.imgur.com/llieRNK.jpg (http://imgur.com/llieRNK)
Then I hooked my largest fish on a streamer.
http://i.imgur.com/GBRiap6.jpg (http://imgur.com/GBRiap6)
Got the doodoo brown in the net and i was pretty stoked.
http://i.imgur.com/EJLlmly.jpg (http://imgur.com/EJLlmly)
My wife captured the moment.
http://i.imgur.com/EjOgxos.jpg (http://imgur.com/EjOgxos)
I got the hero shot and even Wildcat was impressed.
http://i.imgur.com/XnR8bZK.jpg (http://imgur.com/XnR8bZK)
It was a great trip and we even survived a 5.9 earthquake, thought I was back on the Big Island.
I am home now with great memories and the smell of pine still fresh in my memory, Mems.

[EricO]

Hi Don,

Just a killer report. Were the purple haze and buggers the majority of flies you used?
What kind of hatches did you see?

That brown is a beast. Truckee-esque. :)

I gotta get up there sometime. Nice beer choice too.

Eric

[cdevine]

Awesome pics! Looks like you guys had a great trip. Thanks for sharing. Makes me really want to plan a trip to the big sky.

[mems]

Thanks Guys, Eric there were some hatches, but it was after stones and goldens were out. They didn't really key in on anything like green drakes or yellow sallies, although we did see them flying around. Purple Hazes caught most fish on top and small crystal buggers worked during the day for larger fish. The bull trout ate a Luna Negra and a nymph. Guess he was hungry.
If you want to go to Montana, I would wait for later in the summer when it cools off. It looks like they are going to go into Hoot Owl pretty soon, it was 100 degrees the day we left. They were hoping for a better season with all the snow. Fall fishing there is awesome with the big browns heading up stream to spawn. It was a fun trip, Don.

[EricO]

Wow, Hoot Owl again.

Glad you had fun....love the colors of the cutties!

Eric

[Fly Guy Dave]

I'm on my way back from the same vicinity right now. Air temps have cooled and the water temps were still in the mid sixties in the early evening, so no talk of hoot owl that I heard of. Perhaps in August or if the air temps climb again.

[mems]

Yeah I just got an update from TU and they said the Madison and Jefferson were on Hoot Owl, but not that area of Rock Creek, Blackfoot, Clark Fork. My guide warned me the water temps got too high for three days in a row and they were considering it. Glad it cooled down. Hoped you got into the spruce moths, Mems.