Dries on the Horizon!

The phone rang and it was Jason who needed some help taking a load of trash to the dump before 30 members of his family embark on the lodge for the annual family reunion. He also wanted to go check out the Whispering Winds shooting preserve for possible cast and blast opportunities for the clients this coming fall. Since the preserve is located along the Lower Madison I also suggested we bring along a rod and check out the river to see if the midges are getting strong enough to bring some fish up to the surface.

After dropping Benedickt off at the airport for his flight to Denver I met Jason at Fins and Feathers so that I could drop of my fly invoice and pick up a few spools of thread to finish up the order later this week. I loaded Trico up into the back of the truck and off we set for the trip to the Logan Landfill. After dropping off the pallets in the wood pile and the house hold trash in the main dump area we headed for the Lower. When we got to the Buffalo Jump the wind was calm and I started to get a little excited about the prospects of catching a few fish on a dry. I showed him where the Bird Preserve is and off we set for the river.

There was not much going on at the High Bank headgate so I mentioned driving upstream to check out the one spot that they would be rising in if they were rising at all. We turned off the highway and headed up the dirt road that leads to the trailhead for hiking into the Bear Trap Canyon Wilderness area. We rounded the corner below the old bridge pilon and I spot a fish rise right next to the bank. This really got the juices flowing and as we passed through the rock slide the wind started to gust a bit. We pulled into the "Ice Shelf" hole and before we came to a stop I saw a half dozen noses poking up to sip a midge cluster off the surface.

I am not sure if I was more excited or if Trico was because she knew that she got to get out and run around while we fished. The wind was still gusting a bit but it was only occassionally and I fiqured I could get away with pulling out the 4 wt instead of the 6 wt. We did not need to put on our waders because the fish were close enough to the shore and there is enough casting room behind you to stay on the bank. I rigged the rod with a Griffith's Gnat trailed with a Big Ugly in hopes of catching a few of the fish that were rising in front of us. The rig was set and I turned from the truck and headed down the bank to the ice shelf. Like clock work "old Murphy" showed up and the wind went from gusty to a consistent steady breeze. I made my first few cast without any mishaps and then one huge gust put the flies in the weeds behind me and I broke off the two fly setup. The fish were rising only on occassion now but I was determined to try and get at least one to eat. I tied on another gnat and set my sights on the fish. I watched for about 2 or 3 minutes and there was not a head to be seen. The wind steadily increased and the cold air started to make the prospect of fishing a lot less appetizing. The guides were iced up and my hands were getting cold so we decided to call it quits for the day.

The good news was the midges are starting to hatch strong enough that they are clustering and the dry fly season will be upon us very soon. The bug to go fishing was definetly aroused with seeing a few fish on the surface. I can't wait to get lucky and have a day with no wind, some clouds and rising fish on the lower.