The Week In Review Continued

 After moving a few car loads to our new apartment the wife and I admired our view. We have the Swan range to the east, the Whitefish to the north, and a few brief peaks at Glacier.

These pics were taken from our deck. The sight of Glacier and high temps forecast in the upper 70's made a trip to the park too appealing to pass up.

Lake McDonald was so calm today! We were able to park at the crowded Lake McDonald Lodge where the road was closed to vehicle traffic. We hike for four hours up the road and down a few little trails taking pictures.

 I was itching to cast some size 18 stonefly patterns at willing cutties but I'm not sure when the season opens or what regulations apply. I'll check before we get back up there.

In summer this river yields plenty of small westslope cutthroat trout.

We didn't quite make it to Avalanche Lake but we still got to see some great scenery. Glacier was a great way to spend the day!

 

The Week In Review

The weather has been improving steadily and run off is off and running. I fished a few lakes this week and found a couple hungry rainbows. This guy ate a zebra midge emerger.

After switching to a hares ear the fish really took notice.

 While I was towing these hefty lil buggers in I overheard a few kids talking like my bro and I used to talk. They were talking loudly about one of the kids first times out fishing. The loudest kid got all excited and shouted, "Do you remember the time that Mikey stepped on the fish and it farted?" The kids had a great laugh and I stood on the other side of the lake snickering.

I took a short hike to explore some new water earlier in the week. Conditions were right but no fish were caught or even spotted.

 This spot reminds me of fishing back in Wisconsin in the inner city, although this tunnel was thoroughly tagged by christian artists.

I also managed to find time to paddle around Foys Lake.

 This midge hatch escaped the fishes attention. Maybe if the water was a little less choppy...

So I used a big ol spinner. I missed a couple short nips but managed to connect with this one. I think she was ready to pop with eggs so I fought her quickly and released her to produce more fishies!

An Osprey Grabbing ATrout

The initial splash zone was around ten feet from where it exited the water. I wasn't quick enough on the camera to get it when it splashed but it dove hard for that little rainbow!

Trip Report: Another Beautiful Spring Day

With the sun high in the sky and temperatures in the upper 60's I took a short lunch today so I could get fishin' early. After tossing the kayak in the trunk and driving a short distance to the lake I decided to paddle the full circumference of the lake, casting intermittently. With polarized sun glasses you can see to the bottom in over 20 feet of water. I never spot many fish except on follow ups. Today I spotted three bigguns and around the same number of average sized ones. 

 This guy hit in about a foot of water. He fought as well as he could in such shallow water but came to hand after only a short battle. I had one other fish on for just a second. He sucked down my lure about five feet from the kayak, I set the hook and he ran, leaping strait out of the water and shaking loose the treble hook... Maybe next time.

Trip Report: A Beautiful Spring Day

Today was a beautiful spring day...

...so I went fishing!!!

The water level on this lake is quite a bit higher than when I fished it last December.  When I fished here in winter I fished out of the 'yak I only caught a skinny 16 inch rainbow trout. This time, again in the kayak, I managed to pull in two decent bows.

I cast the super duper toward shore and pulled it back in at varying speeds. The water was incredibly clear so I paddled paying special attention to the sandy and rocky bottom searching for trout. Paddling over 16+ inch trout is frustrating but happened a few times today. One 20+ was spotted!

This lake is over 200 feet deep and up in the mountains. Fishing in this lake is fishing above the valley.

Trip Report: The Wife and I

Today the wife and I stopped at a local fishin' hole after work for a short walk. Of course my rod was in the car and so came with us! The weather was sunny and windy with temperatures in the upper 40's. As soon as we stepped out of the car a very friendly pup came to greet us.

We played fetch for a little while and she ended up following us around the lake. We later found out that somebody left her there and there was already a call in to animal control. If we could have a pup at our apartment I would have scooped her up!

Casting was difficult but I managed to land a few good ones. I missed a few hook sets but I managed a few fish.

One fish put up a huge fight but snapped me off before showing himself. Maybe next time!

Trip Report: Back At It

After a little shopping this afternoon I decided to head to my new go to spot.

It got pretty windy but I managed to sink a brown hares ear deep enough to get this guy. 

This one hit the rainbow warrior in size 20 twitched along the bottom. He looks an awful lot like one of the ones I caught earlier today, but I caught this guy far from where I got the other.

 This guys markings looks like a rainbow trout version of a tiger trout. He also hit down deep on the rainbow warrior. These fish were the bigguns of the evening. I did hook into and roll a huge beast but he shook loose after a short battle.

This season is starting off well!

Trip Report: A Break In The Weather

After a week or so of rain I felt the itch to get out and fish. I stopped at the Flathead near town yesterday but the river was a good five feet higher than when I left it last Sunday. With the Flathead out of the picture and no other immediate options I headed to a small spring pond. I immediately missed a few little rainbows on a deer hair skittering caddis and after a few minutes the fish began surfacing less frequently, so I switched to a gray hares ear. I immediately began catching small stocker rainbows. 

After catching these only a few feet off the bank I set my rig deeper and started dredging for monsters.

This bow has beautiful colors. As I dragged this one in I spotted 3 good sized fish chasing it around! I cast in the direction of where they scurried off to and watched my indicator immediately dart under.

 Rainbows are fast becoming my favorite prey. I may still try to get out to another spot in town after I eat lunch so stay tuned!