When the rest of the family lived in Bozeman, Mark and I would fish the Gallatin a lot. It’s close to town, has beautiful scenery and the fishing can be pretty damn good at times. When everyone went their separate ways I didn’t fish it that much. This winter I haven’t it at all. When I decided to brave the crowds on Saturday morning I headed up there. I hadn’t been up in the canyon since last September probably, and had forgotten what a beautiful drive it is. As I mentioned yesterday, the crowds were not at all what I was expecting. When I couldn’t see any cars in one of my favorite spots, I immediately pulled in. I couldn’t help but feel lucky.
This place has several parts, beginning with an upper run that is deep, slow and clear. The kind of place that is wonderful for summer caddis hatches, but a little tough at other times. The river tumbles down a small rapid that has some nice pocket water when the river is a little higher. After that, another deeper pool that cascades into another, smaller, run. All of it fishes well at times, but today I was just after the deep and slow stuff. Even though the air was warm, the water is still pretty damn cold.
I caught the first one almost right away. It was an average Gallatin size Rainbow and he hammered a Choked Purple Lightning Bug. I’ve been tying a lot with the Bozeman Fly Good’s Bug Collars this winter and am finally getting a chance to start using them. So far, fish seem to really like them. The Sterling Silver color you can see in the picture is one of my favorites.
The water was low and clear, with only a hint of color in the deeper and faster water. There were a few midges coming off, but nothing to draw the trout to the surface. I could see another group of fishermen in the upper run, so I just started lapping the lower two pools. Make a pass with one rig, walk back up to the top, change flies or weight or depth and try again. Fishing was slow. It was almost an hour later when I caught my next fish. A golden flash in the depths of the pool meant a brown and the bend in the rod meant a good sized one. After a spirited fight, I finally brought him to hand. It was a nice fish for the Canyon and he ate another one of my ties, a Rainbow Warrior.
Catching a fish on a fly you tied is so much more rewarding. It means that even if it looks imperfect to your own eye, the fish liked it. You must have done something right.
That brown was the last fish of the day, even though I spent quite a bit more time in the area. It was such a beautiful day to be outside the lack of fish didn’t bother me. It was the first day it was warm enough to drive around without a jacket and with the windows down. You can smell spring in the air… I was also just happy to be fishing my 4-weight, a rod I haven’t spent enough time with yet. The Scott Radian really is quite incredible. I’ve fished tiny dries with it, thrown a double nymph rig on a windy day on the Lower Madison, and today I was using it for lighter duty nymphing. It has handled it all very well so far. For a 4-weight that’s pretty impressive. This summer I’ll be putting a lot more days on it.
The fact that it’s only March and things are only going to get better from here makes me pretty happy. Spring is coming. Even on the slow days, it’s something to smile about.
