by Merle Ann Loman | Apr 24, 2009 | Bitterroot, i Spring
I forgot to mention in the earlier blog that we were fishing with Jack’s dry imitations of skwala and mayflies. These photos show why. We saw them on the water. The first is a photo of an Ameletus mayfly dun. It is beautiful in it’s grey color and upright profile.
The second photo is, of course, a female skwala on my wader pant leg. She stayed with us in the boat for most of the trip.
Below is a fish Jack caught while wade fishing during a mayfly hatch. I can’t tell you what fly he was using, it is too obvious.
When you fish the hatch, you will have to match the size.
Jack also caught the brown trout in an earlier post during this hatch. AND with my camera around my neck, I caught one of the biggest fish, another brown trout, right at the end of the hatch. Now that I am learning to set my hook better, it is getting a lot more fun!
by Merle Ann Loman | Apr 23, 2009 | Bitterroot, i Spring
Jack and I float fished the Bitterroot a few days ago. We caught fish, but it was a bit “off.” The water was slightly turbid and it seemed to be rising. Well, it was! It went up nearly 300 cubic feet per second (CFS) that day to become 2000 CFS in the middle-river. Today it looks like it will reach 4000 CFS. It is warm and they are expecting rain.
We caught fish, mostly in the afternoon during a mayfly hatch and the birds were extremely active. I ended up taking about 500 photos of fish we caught, scenery of course, our puppy, flowers, Hooded Mergansers, Osprey, geese, mayfies and more. Consequently, I am really busy editing them and haven’t done a post recently. Today I will post a few teaser photos. I will do more and a slideshow as soon as I can.
Check back soon to see if this osprey comes up with a fish!
by Merle Ann Loman | Apr 18, 2009 | Bitterroot, i Spring
Joe Graziano fished this beautiful day with Jack on the Bitterroot River. With the very cool nights, the river is coming up, but fairly orderly and there are fish to be caught.
The forecast for next week is for 70 degree days and nights above freezing. Those ingredients make for a rising river and possible run-off conditions.
Check back to see what happens and if the fishing turns on or off. For Bitterroot weather (ten day forecast) and local USGS streamflow data click www.wapiti-waters.com/stream.htm.
by Merle Ann Loman | Apr 15, 2009 | Bitterroot, Flies, i Spring
In early March, you can start looking for Skwala stoneflies. They are similar to salmonflies in appearance and habitat, though they are smaller.
The Skwalas are related to the little yellow stoneflies though they do not belong to the same biological family.
For more information about the Skwala hatch, give us a call.
Here are some photos of skwala we saw on the Bitterroot River a few days ago. See the slideshow below.
by Merle Ann Loman | Apr 15, 2009 | Bitterroot, i Spring
My brother, Roy, came from Whitefish to fish and float the upper Bitterroot on Sunday and were surprised that we saw only two other boats. The first of the boats was another guide but the second was Rob who had come down from the Kalispell area to fish with George. It was great to see them and introduce the northern boys (Whitefish and Kalispell are in northwest Montana) to one another, albeit while wearing fishing gear including hats and dark glasses and floating by on a fairly fast river. It is kind of like meeting someone while skiing. You might never recognize them in street clothes.
The river was up enough to be pretty fast and a little bit cloudy, especially where the tributaries flowed in. We did see skwala, but not very many. We worked hard at trying different patterns and even some nymph fishing. The morning fishing was slow, but we had better success in the afternoon.
The slideshow below will take you down the river by photographs. By the time we got to the take-out, I was busy keeping the puppy close so I stopped taking photos just above it. I did capture an old car rip-rap bank, various birds, pretty cliffs, stone outcroppings, vistas, and of course some trout.
fishing with Jack’s dry imitations of skwala and mayflies. These photos show why. We saw them on the water. The first is a photo of an Ameletus mayfly dun. It is beautiful in it’s grey color and upright profile.
