August Fly Fishing

Greetings from Western Montana

These days of August, a few hoppers are still around, but the trout just look at them and smile. Fooled once already, I imagine. The river will be quiet as it recovers from the hopper-dropper season. License plates from many states have been filling all the spots for 6 weeks now, but now only a few smart people are still fishing. Quiet isolation is easy to find.

My best fly selection for the recent past has been a red dot wet fly, trailed off a hair's ear bead head nymph. The swing and the hookup has been really successful. Beetles and ants were performers for a while, but the larger trout were looking for something special. That was the spruce moth! The forest provided an abundance of these moths and the trout lined up each morning to consume as many as possible. Quite a great opportunity to hook a large fish.

The Blackfoot River in August

Westslope Cut Throat Trout

My fishing spots are many and varied, Some are great for catching big trout, others are for isolation from outsiders that flock to the river to fly fish in the summer. I haven't fished some spots since springtime. Montanan's also fly fish and because big named waters are crowded, the Blackfoot becomes attractive. 

The native species of cut throat have many subspecies, defined by isolated pockets living in the Western side of the continental divide. The Blackfoot seems to be a salad bowl of strains and in cross breeding of the "cut-bow". Catching these trout lets me see the variations from green to bright yellow  with silver in between. Added to the mix are the brown trout. The German Brown is a survivor of poor water, but here the fish are smaller than most. Hooking an 18"is possible, but more rare than finding a large Cut throat.

This strain has a lighter body with only a few head spots

A greenback cut throat.

Smiles mean good catch! Fishing with a friend.

Freestone River

Fishing with a friend

More spots on the head

Brown Trout 

Action with a nice wild trout

        

Peace and tranquility                                                                                     

West slope Colors

Pure gold, the cut throat tugged at my fly! Instantly I knew I had a huge fish on my line. The pleasure only becomes euphoria when the net captures the trout. My choice of flies had worked and luck would have this creature in position to strike.