Mid Winter Montana Fishing Report

We have been blessed with some very mild weather the last couple of weeks here in Montana. With that we have been taking advatage of some of the great winter fishing we have here in SW Montana. It's a nice break from the typically frigid Jan temps.

During this time of year when the daytime highs hover around 40 degrees or more we head to the river. Focusing on the tailwater fisheries this time of the year will give you the most productive fishing. Due the nature of a tailwater the water temps stay fairly consistant. Our best tailwaters are the Upper and Lower Madison. The Big Horn and The Missouri rivers.

Last Weekend we spent sometime fishing the Madison below Ennis Lake the fishing was excellent landing atleast 40 fish in 3 hours. We caught most of our fish on Scud Bugs and Midge Patters and took a few on the egg. Not many big fish but still fun and close to home.

This past weekend I spent two days fishing the MO. The fishing was incredible. Warm days and big fishing crewing hard. Same basic fly patterns were working. Scud Bugs and Midge Larva. This time of the year its all about finding the fish, and when you do look out!

To rig up for this type of fishing I like to use a 9 1/2 6 weight rod with a 9 foot 4x leader. Then drop 4x and 5x from ther to your two nymps. Your total leader length will be 13 or 14 feet. You need these long leaders to get the fly down and to get the correct drift. I tend to fish a small amount of deep soft lead and use either a Yarn indiactor or a thingamabobber.

Make long cast and big mends try not wade on top of the fish. When caught handle them with care!.... snap a few pics and get them back in the water quickly.Always remember to pinch your barbs! Protect the resource so our kids can enjoy it too.

How to Deal with Bad Weather on your next fishing trip

If you go on enough fishing trips you will be dealt the weather card eventually. I have been on lots of fishing trips around the World, and some are banner trips and others the weather gets in the way. So what do you do? Well for me I have spent a lot of money and time to get to my destination, air fare, lodge fees etc. Most fishing lodges throught out the world do not refund your money if the weather is bad. So rather than sit in the room I go fishing.

Often times you go on a trip in search of a specific species of fish and typically they are quite hard to catch even in ideal conditons. So for me its very important to have an open mind and a plan B. I never go on a fly fishing trip without some spinning tackle. If conditions arent right to fly fish I would still rather have a fun day on the water pursuing what ever is available with spinning tackle. You pay top dollar for a good guide so let them take you fishing, for what ever they feal is the best option on that given day. So what if you have to spend the day hidding against the mangroves catching snapper and grouper. It still is a lot of fun! And a whole lot better than spending the day in your hotel room watching the weather channel.

A prime example of this is a few years back I had a client come to fish with me for 3 days to try to catch his first Permit on fly. We picked the best tides for the best month and set the dates. When my angler showed up we were greeted by less than favorable conditions for permit fishing. It was glass calm and unseasonably hot for early March. Although there were lots of permit around getting close enough to make a cast with fly tackle was all but impossible. We spent the first day trying our best to get a shot at the extremely spooky permit, with out making a single cast. All through the day I was seeing huge schools of early season tarpon everywhere. They were enjoying the early summer like weather. My angler how ever had no interest in trying to pursue the the silver king. I tried everything I could to get him to change gears and fish for the species I felt like we had a really good chance of catching. He was paying for the trip and permit was what he wanted, so we kept permit fishing for two more days as I watched the tarpon swimming and rolling around the boat. At the end of three day trip we had made less than a half dozen casts to permit with out a single hook up and my angler left feeling fustrated and probaly ripped off. But the choice was his.

So on your next fishing trip where ever that may be, keep an open mind and let your guide do his job and enjoy the day no matter what the wheather throws at you. It may be extremely windy, or a cold front has moved trough or possibly a tropical strom, but I bet you will have a great trip with fond memories. With some great catches that you probaly didnt expect.