9 PIPES
So today we traveled again in search of some fishing. River levels are at or around historic levels right now and the fishing is sure to be off for maybe even a month longer. This time of year is always a bust as the weather isn’t quite nice enough to hit the lake and the fishing is non-existent unless your on a lake or pond. We decided to test the waters at Ninepipes outside Ronan, MT. There’s some nice bass fishing there and we hoped to hook up on a few.
- The Missions
Well we got there and found out that the water in the main pond was way up. We waded through waist deep water and overhead reeds just to make it to the edge, and by then we were in so deep it was difficult to cast anywhere. I had hoped to film some bass but it just didn’t happen. I did throw together a little preview edit that should give you a feel of what’s to come throughout the summer.
Be sure to watch in HD.
With our limited time we decided to save it for another day and we headed into Ronan for a quick snack break. After filling ourselves with some delicious Hutterite cinnamon rolls we headed south to a stocked pond and knew it was only a matter of time before we had ourselves a fish.
- Always a watchful eye
We finally made it to “the pond” and got set up. This pond holds up to 15 pound rainbows. They are fed daily and it gets pretty intense when they all swarm the fish food.
- A rainbow lurks
- Keyed in on the fish food
Fortunately we came prepared with fish food imitation flies. The trout would endlessly come up and almost nose our flies before swimming off. We finally tricked a few and landed some nice fish. Travis switched over to a streamer and caught this average size rainbow.
- This trout succumbed to the streamer
Shortly after the fish were fed and they went ballistic. Soon I tricked a great cutbow on my fish food fly and landed the largest trout of my life. Travis was slightly brain dead and the camera was way overexposed but you can get an idea for the size of fish still. I figured he was a good 5 pounds and he wasn’t even close to the big ones we saw.
- A large cutbow
Eventually we left as we both had to work that night but it was good to feel a fish on the end of the line again. We also put together some shots of us behind the scenes when were just being us.
That wraps it up for today. We might be trying some predator hunting soon if the weather and rivers don’t shape up so be sure to check back.
- Stay classy Montana
-Zack
Failure on Fish Creek
Well today we thought we’d head on up to Fish Creek which flows into the Clarkfork west of Missoula. This was our first time fishing this and we left empty handed. The water was high but clear. Even though the water had great clarity it was pushing real fast and finding good holding water proved to be difficult. The spots we did find didn’t seem to hold an fish or we just did entice them enough with our fly selection.
- I go after the 1st hole of the day
Early on I was showing Travis a few features of the new camera and without knowing it happened to catch this cow moose on the opposite bank. We were messing with exposures and this pictures way blown out and out of focus but you can see the moose on the far bank.
- Moose spotting
There was plenty of fresh moose sign all along the river. We kept on scoping the river for fishable holes and worked nymphs and streamers around some bends and log jams with no success.
- My only catch was some bark
- A mossy log jam
- Drifting in search of a fish
We ended up stopping in 3-4 spots along the creek and we never saw a soul on the river that day. With the water as high as it was moving up and down stream was a real bushwack.
- Travis wondering where the fish are
It was nice to get out on the river again and the weather was amazing. After not fishing for 7 weeks I was just happy to be closer to being back on the river on a consistent basis. Hopefully soon we can land some fishies soon.
-Zack