BACKWATER ANGLER - Page 171 of 337 - A full service flyshop just steps from the Gunpowder River

Fly Fishing Winston Fly Rods in Montana

July 22, 2010July 17, 2010

Thanks to Fred for the stream report from Montana! Theaux, Matt and I had a great week of fishing in the Missoula, MT area last week. We fished the Blackfoot, Rock Creek and the West Fork of the Bitterroot. All dry-flies, catching the tail end of the Salmon fly hatch, stone flies and some green Drakes. Lots of Rainbows, Browns and Cutthroats, mostly 12″ to 15″. Matt caught a 19′ Brown. -90% of the fishing was from float boats. The water, for this time of year, was high, fast and a bit muddy, not conducive to wading, but we had very good results from the …

Tricos, Higher Flows and Sight Fishing On The Gunpowder River

July 15, 2010

The Gunpowder River spiked at the Falls Road Bridge to 40 CFs after the heavy rains caused some spillover at the dam. The increase is also due to blow outs in the smaller tributaries above the Falls Road bridge. Aside from the initial rise in levels after the storms, the upper miles of the Gunpowder remained clear. The tributaries that blow out farther downriver are still dropping, so anglers can find slightly higher flows in the sections below major tributaries. The shop was notified that there will be an increase in flow from Prettyboy Dam in time for the weekend. The volume will increase from …

Holiday Fishing Reports

July 22, 2010July 15, 2010

Thanks to Bill for the stream report. Hi Theaux, nice to chat with you Wednesday. I had a good couple hours on the river after I left the shop. I went to the upper Fall Road lot and walked down to the bend before the canyon section. After working my way across the river with a series of casts I picked up a Rainbow on one of the snowshoe cream midge patterns dropped from one of Jason’s beetles. This is the first Rainbow I’ve caught on the riverin a long time. In the right light he had really noticable parr markings and the stripe along …

Watch Your Step Out There!

July 15, 2010July 15, 2010

I know that many anglers don’t like seeing snakes, let alone venomous ones, but I think the bigger problem is NOT seeing them. The copperhead above, that I almost walked within striking range of on Tuesday, was cooling down on the river’s edge. Fortunately I was guiding, and stopped to take the time to point out some important things in the water in front of us. This snake certainly topped the list of things to be aware of when it caught my eye. During the hottest weather it is not uncommon for snakes to move toward water, either helping them better regulate body temps, or …

Crayfish In The Gunpowder River

July 12, 2010

The sweltering heatwave of last week was an ideal time to test out my underwater camera housing. The view finder requires the person filming to be underwater, but I just tried to point-and-shoot from the knee. I was filming below the C & R section where the water wasn’t as cold as the upper river. When I got home to review the footage, it was interesting to see the variety of life under the water’s surface. Black nose dace, chubs and sculpins swam around, as I panned the camera over the bottom. Crayfish of all sizes were everywhere on the bottom. I even found two …

Trico Mayflies On The Gunpowder River

July 10, 2010July 10, 2010

Rain brought some relief today from the heat wave that we experienced this past week. The river is still low and clear at 35 CFs at the Falls Road Bridge. The water temperature on the Gunpowder is a frigid 50 degrees, and despite the hot weather most anglers are still wearing waders. The fishing on the Gunpowder during mornings is good for the Trico hatch, which has finally started to get the trout’s attention. Tricos in small numbers over the past few weeks have grown into the typical morning event we experienced in previous years. I noticed small numbers of Tricos in the Monkton stretch …

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