Friend Winston is making a run tomorrow from the arid desert of central Texas to fish a few days with Jake in Bozeman and around the neighborhood.
As jealous as I am of the boys having some time to run and play, duty calls in Washington I’ll be unable to crash the party, even though my truck and raft pulling capacity will be sorely missed.
Unable to dispense sage advice in person, the following pearls of wisdom are offered digitally today and worth far more than you’ve paid for them:
Bring a streamer rig. Any doubts, see this. And this.
Bring a small stream rig. There should still be adequate flows where these came from, though you’ll want to check the fishers that day and make sure you’re not the slowest guy in the group.
Bring the sunscreen, good shades and an alarm clock. It’s been sunny and hot (so the story goes) for weeks now, making prime time fishing an early and late day game. While not as blistering hot as hell (central Texas), without the protective pollution layer and given the higher elevations, you find the sun actually bright and hot. The one advantage is that you’ll see the fleeting bikini hatch in Montana, a somewhat rare phenomenon.
That said, hydrate. I hear Big Sky Brewing’s variety pack is on sale at Rosauers. You’ll also be amazed to find that water from the tap actually tastes like water in Bozeman, unlike whatever it is that emanates from the tap in Austin.
Don’t know if yall are planning a Yellowstone day; the NE corner (I’d hit the Lamar personally) is probably the place to go, though head hunting on the Yellowstone River between the Lake and the Falls is a kick and in play right now.
Regardless of what you’re going to be told, there is not a law in Montana that non-residents must row 75% or more of any given river float in a private watercraft. The law actually mandates only 60%.
Speaking of rowing, for your big water float day I hear hoppers are the game on the upper Yellowstone. There be nice fish there.
As to food, breakfast at Main Street Overeasy is mandatory, probably more than once. A burger at The Garage should be on the list as should a poor boy at Cafe Zydeco (it’s ironic as hell that a cajun place in Bozeman is just as good or actually better than Austin, but it is…). You guys will probably be fishing evenings, though a prime rib dinner at Sir Scott’s in Manhattan is worth missing the caddis hatch one evening for.
Make sure your tetanus immunizations are up to date; I hear Jake hasn’t cleaned much around the apartment.
Good hunting.
