Sunday, September 07, 2014

Try The Madison

BRIGHT WARMER DAYS
Scenic Views & Hungry Fish
even the hoppers are working
WALLPAPER:  OBSERVING FISHER FOLK - MADISON RIVER
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DARK CADDIS [CDC]
.. We are now having a gentle episode of Fall weather. The nights have dipped into the low 20's and the days have climbed to the mid 70's. The rains have been absent and the clouds have been scarce. It's what the neighbors call "Tourist Weather."
.. Along the Madison River the bugs with feet on the ground are scurrying in the near warmth and doing buggy things. They are also active enough to find the water of our streams. The trout enjoy this bit of buggy catastrophe. The bugs are rewarded with death by fish. It's all good.
.. It's not too early to start swinging some streamers in the darker water: along the shady banks, in deep holes, under sweepers and snags.
.. Try a mouse in the late afternoon. Try a caddis of your choice at the end of a sunny day. Or, by all means, ask at your favorite feather merchant just what and where to fish. Ask when they last fished the river and just where. Record the answer for posterity.
BRINDLE AND HEN
.. You are going to need two fly boxes for the upcoming fishing at the end of this season in Yellowstone National Park.
.. The standard FALL FLY BOX with fluff for all occasions and the BIG-N-UGLY FLY BOX with flies, (and other stuff,) for the headhunter.
.. This is also a good time of year to pick up some pointers about fishing with a two-handed rod. These rods dragged out each Fall by folks that need two hands to cast and are impressive indeed. Some of the rods are longer than the rivers are wide where they are used.
.. There has got to be a reason for this display, other than: style or fad or peer pressure. We wonder at the reasons when we see a gentle fisher landing a 16" trout with an 8',  5-weight rod standing just down stream from the whistling line from a 14', 11-weight rod. We're bewildered. Something about strokes and folks !!
.. We're watching for the Tenkara fishers. They make their appearance this time of year as well. Wispy rods without reels and flies tied backwards are making their appearance next to the super macho double hander's.
.. We may ask if one is more effective at catching and landing a fish than the other. We suspect that as soon as every fisher has been sold both of these sorts of rods that kites with fly rigging will make their appearance on the feather merchants must sell list. Maybe puttees and Seal Dry waders will come back.
.. We're thinking that Fall must bring about a congenial madness in both fishers and fish in this part of the world. It's a small amount of entertainment for many of us.
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WALLPAPER:  AIRBORNE TROUT FOOD