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 17, 2009 | Bitterroot, Friends, i Spring
Last week I got a call from an old guide friend, Jeff Levert.
He wanted to fish with me. It is always good to get on the water with incredible casters, professional oarsmen and genuinely good people. For a decade, mid-80s to 90s, Jeff and I were part of a team of about 6 other guides at the Complete Fly fisher on the Big Hole River. We all shared the resource, the clients, the expertise, and the fun. This was a really good time in our lives.
Jeff has since gotten out of guiding and works in the oil fields of Wyoming. He and his wife, Lisa, and their two beautiful young daughters live in Butte.
As you can see by these photos in the slideshow below, his passion for angling has not diminished.
Jeff came to fish today with his close friend, Patrick Botzet, now from Missoula, but raised on the Front Range near Cutbank, MT. Patrick and Jeff were extraordinary river companions and I learned a lot about the energy development in Wyoming. See Patrick’s website at Teton Exploration.
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.
by Merle Ann Loman | Apr 14, 2009 | Bitterroot, i Spring
I am editing some skwala photos, but wanted to post a few photos from our fishing on Sunday. It was surprisingly good. More photos, including skwala, will be in the next post.
To throw in some drama, I will post a photo of geese flying over and an osprey on that same stretch of the Bitterroot River.
by Merle Ann Loman | Apr 9, 2009 | Bitterroot, i Spring
Doc Bolton is up from California again. He has a small house on the Bitterroot now and comes up at least a couple of times a year. He is fishing about four days with Jack and today, Terry Nobles is in the boat. I will pick them up at the take out. I can’t wait to get some more photos of Terry. Click Terry Nobles for more blog entries about him.
Here is a slideshow of Doc’s fishing. You will see different days, different sections of the Bitterroot River.
