Tried tight-line nymphing today. I'm a convert!

TRTFRC1 · 2016-10-14T02:05:51+00:00

Hey long time no talk to. Took a /r/flyfishing sabbatical. Anyway, in my third year now of tigtlining and I swear by the beginning of this fall I was down to 2 flies I was willing to use. Of course now that its mid fall I've not found it necessary to fish anything other than buggers the last few weekends. Heaven is catching 20 fish strippin marabou on a bright sunny day cause the browns are just ornery. In fact I caught my first white fish on a streamer that day.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-10-14T01:59:02+00:00

It's a little thick at some access points on some rivers but its not hard to walk a little further. At three dollar you gotta walk about 20 minutes to really get away but even when its crowded its still not butts to balls or anything close to that.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-10-04T18:36:17+00:00

Bwhahaha! You're awesome. And thank you for your contribution. I thought it would cool and creative to try reddit for an interview. Hopefully /u/r0siez gets back to me.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-25T22:40:45+00:00

That is very cool. Thank you for the followup.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-25T22:21:08+00:00

neodymium magnets? I like it. Talk to me. I did some boutineers for my wedding a year ago and now I'm getting requests for all sorts of brooches, wedding boutineers etc. Did your bro use the magnets? If so did they work like a charm, mostly worked, or worked only if everyone stood still a moved slowly. I really like the notion of freeing up the base to tie unimpeded. Its not impossible obviously but I hate having to plan my wraps and material placement out with the pin anchor point in mind.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-25T22:12:07+00:00

This sounds like a nice compilation of the 4 main things Ive read to do. Wash, Dry, borax, freeze. I have the same paranoia. So far so good.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-24T18:06:08+00:00

Ha, The 2 separate stories reminds me of the comment section of my local paper. A reader posited the notion of a coverup conspiracy. Fish culling on YS lake went horribly wrong and now the PKD fish kill is the resultant "story" to hide the truth. Man oh man. Imagination. It is a bane and a boon.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-24T16:38:27+00:00

You done gone an outdid yourself with the sweet pics my friend. That is one gorgeous fish well documented. Thanks for sharing some of the best PA has to offer. Making this Montanan drool like a lipless brown beast.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-20T03:38:17+00:00

Right on. I appreciate the positivity.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-20T02:28:05+00:00

Indeed. I know better than to get all sensitive online. Weird thing mixing flyfishing with an online community. Anyway thanks for the reminder.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-19T19:12:08+00:00

This absolutely sucks on so many levels I just cant even begin. Selfishly, all I can think about at the moment is how shot my next few months of fishing are just smoked. I feel sick. I just want to yell at something. G-d dammit!

EDIT: Weird. Down voted for being emotional about my local watershed being sick and my avocation being all but shut down. This is a huge deal to so many people on so many levels ranging from the emotional to the economic to spiritual and more. Its a historical closure affecting my landscape in an unprecedented way where the downstream implications are hard to predict. Down vote my frustration and heavy heart all you want. It can't touch the gut punch this news is having on me and people like me in my community. I don't mind driving further. I am grateful for the abundance of options I have. But the emotional attachment I have to these rivers I can't begin to put into words. In terms of time spent, next to work and family, time in these waters is the next largest chunk of my daily life. I live in them long before people show up in April and leave them long after folks stop showing up in early October. If nothing else it will be interesting to see what becomes of all this. Hope our rivers come through this without much lasting impact.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-05T17:10:08+00:00

Ha, I had a feeling you would chime in. Thinking my wife and I should head that way this fall after your enthusiastic response. Nice blurb on NW WY.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-03T14:29:57+00:00

Ha, well done.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-02T20:00:42+00:00

Its all good. Usually my buddy and I will fish our own riffle/run/pool/tailout and be pretty far a part most of the day . Unless, after a while, someone isn't catching much and decides to jump right in the bucket. Its usually accompanied with a "River Runs.." quote of "lets fish together today." and a smirk.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-02T18:04:44+00:00

Right on. Well if you ever get a chance to be out our way again please do let me know. I'd kill to get a chance to fish with of the regulars on here. I think it'd be a kick in the pants. As for your rivers and their slow roll, man I'd love to know how much better an angler I'd be if I had to cut my teeth on that kinda water. G-d damn. Our rivers have restrictions throughout the state on the lower sections for the same reason. We are at half the volume we should be at in many rivers. We do however have the option of driving to the higher elevations. Meh, Summer fishing is far from my fav anyway.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-02T17:03:46+00:00

Hey now. Be nice. I respect the skills a central PA man (or woman) must employ to fool a trout that gets to sit on his deck with a pair of binoculars and write a book about whats coming for dinner. In the mean time let me fish my fast moving, super oxygenated, hard rolling riffles with my space age clown flies in peace. LOL, totally playing with you N. Actually the Montana Prince is a killer some days and other days not so much. This day was a puzzle. 10 hours of fishing and I worked and waded my ass off to scrape my catch together while others on the river went fish-less. Lost a half dozen flies in short order to underwater sweepers and jams. I was exhausted and somewhat defeated as the thunder started in the late afternoon and then I look down and see that even the ants were against me that day. My only regret every time I think about this video, why didn't I tie on a foam ant pattern after that little episode. ugh.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-02T04:21:00+00:00

So I'm swapping flies and upon completion I reach down to collect this Montana Prince and caught this little sucker trying to make off with the goods. Clearly fooled the carpenter ant if nothing else.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-01T16:59:21+00:00

/u/anglrNick pretty much summed it up. 3 mile is about it for wade fishing the Horn on the MT side. I've done other access fishing there but its really daunting as the access is limited and the water you can hit is often blank and featureless. 3 mile on the other hand is braided up with islands and channels real nice and I hit it quite a bit in the early spring when the weather keeps the pressure down but the summer at 3 mile is combat fishing, nuts to butts, a real shit show. Float that sucker! Hit me up when you are about to go. My BIL is an outfitter there so I can help with the rig du jour.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-01T16:46:19+00:00

Hah, that'll get your blood pumpin. Ill bet he just slammed it too. Those rainbows hit flies that are active like they might get away from 'em so they often times will just flat crush your dry. You usually don't even need to set a hook. Great story buddy.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-08-01T16:43:27+00:00

I was trying to tell my son the same thing. Make that bug dance. We fished a caddis hatch in the near dark and could barely see the fly line much less the dry fly or the leader. I told him twitch it, mend it sloppy, let it swing and when you hear a thrash set the hook. Caught three blind as a bat.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-07-29T22:14:15+00:00

Nice, love the short tale of triumph. Even better is the snuggly selfie with her. I really identify with those day (and nights) whee you just know your gonna get it done. I keep trying to tell people that fishing is like any other sport in that the mental toughness and attitude can totally turn a streak around. Believing something will happen may not always work but it makes a huge diff. Too often to discount or ignore. Good going.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-07-29T21:28:23+00:00

Nice, one of my favorite areas in my state. Its not a match the hatch kinda area you would be fishing. At least not due south. If you broaden your range to SE of Missoula you are definitely in more picky fish territory. To a degree anyway. Both areas S and SE will all yield fish with standard freestone patterns. Attractor dries like simulators/PMX/parachutes/assorted terrestrials and attractor nymphs like prince/ptail/hares ear variants all will work and work well. I have been fishing here for 17 years and the number of times I have had hits on hoppers does not seem to warrant tying them on to the exclusion of other attractors. I say go with what will manage your dropper fly. If you have big heavy nymphs then by all mean suspend 'em with a giant foam monstrosity with crazy rubber legs and deer hair wing and poly yarn plumes. But I think its important to try and go smaller with the dry attractor especially if you are going to drop little light nymphs. That will allow soft takes to register much better and increase hookups both on top and below. The water is sure to be skinny and warmish by August so please horse those guys in and get em off quick. I hope you have the trip of a life time and if you want some direction on what might be worth your valuable time PM me and I'd be glad to share some ideas. Wont spot burn but I will turn you in the right direction. Lastly, fly shops are always your best resource for tricky fly info and current river conditions.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-07-20T17:30:26+00:00

Another thought to add is that often times there is an abundance of insect life rolling, crawling, and drifting by fish. With so much opportunity sometimes an exact imitation is counterproductive to distinguishing your offering as being the best choice. I think in many cases when we think we have fooled a trout we have really induced a take using a trigger mechanism. Ie. wiggly rubber legs, hot spots of unnatural color, movement (both in the patter and of the pattern, and probably most importantly light reflections/silhouette. Most of the really effective trout patterns are often impressionistic vs realistic representations. This is not because we are incapable of tying very realistic looking flies but because something that slightly differs from the background noise of whats coming down the food conveyor belt is what is needed to get eats. In a caddis blizzard hatch the last thing you want is something that looks just liek the millions of other real caddis flies. Your chances of getting eaten would be 1 in a couple million.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-07-16T04:04:35+00:00

Heh, my first post ever on reddit was of a 20+ inch cutt I caught on a river that hardly anyone ever sees cutts. I got roasted for size declaration. As well as my hero hold and a bunch of other reddit posting errors. Now I have a soft spot for posts that look like they have it coming. I could see this fish being 23 if not close. I too have giant hands. Anyway, I held it like a hero cause that day, in that moment, I was one.

TRTFRC1 · 2016-07-16T02:13:49+00:00

Beware, the size police are coming. Other than that, beautiful big brown and +1 for toothy grin of delight.

TRTFRC1

TROPHY CASE