Anyone doing any fishing lately?

My size 18 Copper John nymph briefly found the corner of this rainbow trout’s mouth last week before I gently released him and sent him on his way.

The blue ribbon rivers outside Bozeman, Montana were blown out last week due to high runoff from a large snow pack this year. I turned my attention to small lakes and spring creeks to get away from the muddy waters.

This fat trout lives in a perfect little food funnel in a heavily wooded creek. There is a long riffle above his home, with a quick drop over some boulders to a place where a 2 foot wide log has fallen over the stream. Hundreds of small pieces of driftwood are packed in around the log, and the water is forced into a deep, dark channel that slinks underneath the log jam. I snuck up from the downstream side and cast a few feet upstream and let my fly float naturally with the current down into the slot. I almost lost him as he darted for cover in the snags but I managed to turn him.

It was a great moment, and after letting him go, I did not feel the need to make another cast, so I walked up to the trail and silently made my way back to the car.