In A Good Place

NEW VARIATION

Old Style

just up the road

THE THUNDER STONE

-------

.. It's not rare but it is an ephemeral event. Right now and for a day or four more there are three kinds of big bugs hatching on a stream that's "too cold to fish." Just ask the local experts - they are fishing elsewhere.

Thunder Creek

.. Hie thee up to the mountains. Take the dusty road to the turnaround where the horse trailers are. Park out of the way and walk a spell into a small canyon.
.. Carry bear spray in your hand and make all manner of noise. Take a fishing buddy that can't run quite as fast as you can. Stop at the friendly little stream that is being ignored by most fishers and catch buckets of large angry fish that are gobbling groceries.

TURN HERE

.. Use a simple fly that is found only in the boxes of the neighbors. Or, use a variation on the old theme and knock 'em dead.
.. While the pros and experts are concentrating on the big bugs 30 or 60 or more miles away, the neighbors are driving up the road to a little fished stretch of the Gallatin River.
.. The stream cuts through some poorly sorted glacial till and outwash. The boulders are small, the cobbles are large, the sands are coarse and fill the interstices of the sub rounded pebbles. The stream has excavated the perfect home for stoneflies. The neighbors know it. The fish know it.
.. There are fully 2 miles of exceptional fishing and catching to be had by those that are not afraid to fish out of sight of their vehicle.
.. Fish all day. Catch all day. Start early with something big and ugly and underwater. Have an early lunch and watch the hopper nymphs dry their new wings and scurry away from the hoards of marauding ants. Poke your nose in the grasses at streamside and look for ungainly bugs crawling from the water.

.. Keep your big and ugly fly on the tippet but make it float for another hour or three. Take a break, sip some, and wipe your brow - it's way too hot. Then about 3:00 PM put on a Thunder Stone and see what happens. Hope that your arms can take it. Even experienced catchers are growing arm weary from pulling the finest fish in the river out of this thin, cold, clear, and twinkling water.
.. We are pleased to let you know about this aquatic event. There will be only a few folks willing to fish where the water is too cold, the trail is too faint, and the too shiny vehicle is out of sight.
.. Should that not be you, we suggest that you join the maddening crowd and drive 35 miles or more and fish the slide. Better yet drive 50 miles and hope to find the bugs. Or call a local feather merchant for advice on where to go and with what to fish.

-------

GOOD CATCHING LOCATION