Doc's in Paradise

Saturday's trip was a nice way to get back in the saddle of the guide season and I was certain that Sunday would be a much different experience with three anglers hitting Depuy's for a day of fishing. Saturday's trip with Rod was quick and to the point, he wanted to get some ideas of places to fish on his own and his only real concern was getting back in time to hit Bridger for a half day of skiing. The prospect of chasing around three guys on the spring creeks was a bit daunting and I knew that I would be dead tired at the end of the day. Fortunately when I arrived at the lodge I found out that two of the clients for the day were very experienced anglers who lived over the divide in Missoula. Running back and forth between three novice anglers can typically is like trying to compete in an Iron Man Triathlon.

When I arrived at the lodge I found out that Kent was the only one there and the other two were already in Livingston at the Super 8 hotel. Kent needed to stop by his house and pick up his license so we planned on meeting back up in Livingston with the other two. It was nice to make the drive by myself, especially since the truck ride to and from the river is usually the part of the day that I dislike the most. When we arrived in Livingston the weather was ideal with clouds hanging low in the valley and not a breath of wind. We made a quick stop at the Yellowstone Angler to pick up a pair of flip mitts for Kent. Luckily George was at the shop taking care of a few things and he had the door open. After shooting the breeze with George for a moment and the clients picking up a few things we headed for the creek.

Betty was in great spirits and the typical oddities of the house and the property were discussed with the clients. For those of you who have never been to Depuy's Spring Creek, I can tell you that the tour of the Southern style plantation Mansion is as much of a highlight as the day of fishing can be. The home was built by Betty's father who had mimicked a Plantation home he saw on a Calender from South Carolina. He built a fountain in the front that has two howling wolves and in it's hay day water spouted out of the wolves mouths. Inside the home there are some very interesting photo's that are about 6 feet wide and 4 feet tall. One of them is of Betty's sister fishing on the creek and the other one is a photo of a mid 1960's Miss Montana fishing on the creek as well. They also have some local travertine walls and a Pun ta Fan from India in the living room. First time visitors are always amazed with the place and you really need to see it to believe it.

We got all the paper work and payments made so we headed for the Lower Hut to get the day started. Bob Fry was there and he got a fire going for us in the hut so that we could come in and warm up when we got cold. Everyone got their waders on and rods rigged. I handed out an assortment of flies to the two Doc's from Missoula and sent them on down to fish below the hut. We rigged Kent's rod and headed down to fish below them. Matt took up the prime spot on the corner and Sam was fishing just above him. Sam was fast to his second fish by the time that we made it to the deep run below Matt. Apparently the flies I dissed out were working pretty well. As I got Kent into position Matt hooked up with a very nice rainbow. I gave Kent a quick idea of where he wanted to cast and I ran off to net Matt's fish. Matt surfed a healthy Yellowstone River male rainbow right into my net and I mentioned that there must be some fish starting to move in from the river to get ready for the spawning activity that should start up in the next few weeks. We released the fish and I set back to help Kent with the spot I had chosen for him. Before I could get back to Kent Matt was into another nice fish and he told me to stay there, he could handle the fish without me. By this time Sam was on the move and looking for another spot to fish. I gave Kent the rundown on where the fish hold and how to read the different colors of the bottom to determine the trenches to run his flies down. I walked Sam down to the slot below the log wing dam and showed him how to approach the spot. He mentioned to me that this type of water doesn't interest him much so I pointed out how he could wade downstream a bit and cross over to the riffle below. He said that looked much more appealing and I headed back to help Kent some more. Sam did give the first spot a try and he hooked up within a few cast. Matt was also landing his fourth fish of the day and it appeared we were in for some good fishing. Matt was running a Grey Spring Creek Scud # 16 trailed with a # 18 Heathen and I had Sam setup with # 18 Barr Emerger with a # 18 Big Ugly trailing off the back.

Kent was struggling a bit and I had to adjust his weight so that he didn't hang up on each cast. Kent had a good spot in the run but when the clouds are over head it can be a bit more difficult to fish the spot he is in. There are not a lot of occasions when the bright sunshine helps you out but for the spot Kent was in the sun does give you the ability to spot the fish and see what depth and where they are feeding the most actively. Matt kept roping in one fish after another with the majority of the fish falling prey to the heathen. A few fish ate the scud as well but it was obvious what the fish were really looking for. Sam was around the corner by this time and Matt had pretty much put a hurtin on the corner hole. He landed 8 fish and lost a couple of more so we decided to head downstream a bit.

I put Kent in the best hole on the creek and sent the other two on a trek to the bottom of the creek where the culvert lets the creek flow into the Yellowstone. Kent and I waded across to the deep hole below the slough and I gave him the rundown on where to cast and how to make the right presentation. He blew the first two fish because he was not used to the small movement of the indicator and set the hook a bit late. Finally he got on the board with a nice 18 inch bow. He managed to land a half dozen fish from this spot and I we decided to see how the other's were doing. My stomach was starting to growl a bit from all the running back and forth so I also wanted to see if they were getting ready for some lunch.

I rounded the corner expecting to see them fishing the two deep runs above the culvert but they were both standing about 20 feet upstream of the culvert drifting their flies into the culvert. They were hooking a fish every couple of drifts so I headed down to investigate what they were doing. I set Kent up in the deep run below the log and headed for the two Doc's to see what was going on, and to see if they were hungry yet. There was a ton of fish stacked in the culvert trying to get into the creek and the two of them were in a mess of trout. It was pretty amazing to watch the number of fish that were migrating past them as they fished. Kent hooked a couple of fish above and after the two of them landed a dozen or so fish a piece I brought up the subject of lunch. They said they would be right up and we stopped to fish some fish that I spotted on the way down. Matt hooked and landed another 5 fish from the Beaver Hut hole and then we all headed for the hut and some lunch.

Sam wanted a shot at the hole I put Kent in earlier so I told him to head up in ten minutes or so and I would have lunch ready. The hut was like a sauna when I arrived and I had to open the door and let it cool off a bit. I set up lunch and all three of them hit the hut ready for some food. Julie had made some great Sandwich's that were complemented by some good ole fashioned Chicken Noodle soup, chips, grapes and a pasta salad. We ate lunch and shoot the shit for a while. After lunch we decided to head up the creek to see if there were any bugs hatching closer to the spring. We drove up through the middle of the creek and there was not much going on. After getting to the upper hut we decided to give the top of the creek a try and after an hour and one fish between the three of them it was obvious that most of the fish were in the lower end of the creek right now. Kent also needed to get home to pack for a trip to Dallas so we headed back to the cars and the lower hut. Sam and Matt wanted to give the plunge pool below the pond a try so we fished up the creek to the plunge pool. By this time it was getting close to 4 o'clock and the fishing was shutting down. Sam had one strike in the plunge pool and by the time Matt and I got up to the sheep bridge he was heading back to the car. Matt wanted a shot at the plunge as well so we walked up and fished below a group of trumpeter swans that watched intently as we fished the hole. Matt got one take in the plunge pool and then he decided he had enough. They also had to drive all the way back to Missoula that night so getting on the road sounded good to them. The day was a lot of fun and the fish were really keyed in on the midge pupae more than anything else. I packed up the truck and I sent the two heart Doc's back to Missoula, I told them to keep an eye out for my light blue Super Puma in the coming weeks on the Bitteroot.