As soon as we crested the steep ridge and made our way along one of the old logging roads, I had spotted a black figure below us.  A large black bear was feeding on the lush grass below.  We made it to 100yards of this bear, waiting for the bruin to feed along the road to our position.  The bear different plans and bumped off the road and bedded down in a thick patch of trees below.

That evening we attempted to relocate the large black bear.  While waiting for the large bear Zack spotted another bear in the distance.  We watch the bear settle into some dark timber and bed down.  We setup our spotting scope and located the bedded bear in the trees.  I decided to put in a stalk and hope the wind would hold its current direction.  Zack and I snuck to 30 yards of the sleeping ball of fur.  I ranged the bear, and came to full draw as the bear stood.  Too small.  The bear was tough to judge while sleeping, but now that the bear was standing I knew it was too young for my arrow.

That night we glassed until dark, not seeing the big boar we were after.  The next morning I inhaled my granola breakfast, anxious to glass the grassy roads just over the ridge.  Almost like clockwork I spotted the bear directly on the old logging road where I had stalked the smaller bear the evening before.

We were having some issues putting together a game plan on how we were going to get close to this bear.  The wind was going to be blowing directly towards the bear from the only location we could get a shot at the bear.  We decided to work to a better vantage point and see if the thermals would change.  The bear worked behind a group of trees, and I took my eyes off the bear to close the distance.  Next thing I know, I can’t find the bear anywhere!  So frustrating, I sat there in disbelief.  The bear had to have seen or smelled me.  Blackie was gone for good and it was time to head back down the mountain to prepare for Zack’s upcoming bear hunt.

It has started, Zack’s road to redemption.  He will arrow a nice bear this spring, and he has been almost too close for comfort.  We will have a full blog post of Zack’s spring bear hunt, but here is a quick rundown on what we have been experiencing.  We picked our location, grabbed our cameras, packed our Mystery Ranch packs and loaded our bikes.  Oh wait…. My bike got stolen, lock cut off and all two days before leaving on our trip.  Karma is a b*&$% and whoever took it is hopefully enjoying my Specialized mountain bike.  Thankfully I have great friends that loaned me a bike for my trip.

We spotted 8 bears on the trip, 1 blonde, 4 chocolate, and 3 black.  Zack got full draw on three bears, two were passed up because they were too small.  One monster black bear was called into a fawn decoy at 25 yards within 3 minutes!!  It was amazing seeing a black bear full on sprint to a decoy, only to not present Zack with enough time for a shot.  Can’t wait for the footage to come out in 2014.  We are excited and anxious to get back out there.

After experiencing a broken water filter, along with 80 degree temperatures, we decided that melting snow for our water intake was not going to be our best option to survive the backcountry.  We made one last attempt to locate a mature black bear, but the temperatures had the bear activity to a minimum.  We shortly thereafter received the memo that the Snowy Mountain Rifle 300WSM was finished and ready for test firing.   Making our way back to town, we were anxious to check out the finished rifle.

The guys over there at Snowy Mountain did an outstanding job on the 300wsm!  One of the best looking long range hunting rifles I have ever seen.  The day had finally arrived.  Sighting in the new long-range cannon.

The rifle blistered the targets downrange!  Tight groups, sniper optics, jewel trigger, alongside the lightest kick I have ever felt from a large caliber rifle, made this one sweet rifle.  We will have a full write up and permanent page with the specifics on the custom SMR 300wsm in the near future.

We will be back in the mountains soon.  Zack is still looking to arrow a mature bear after four encounters at 30yards or less.  Have a great Memorial weekend!

-Travis

We made quick work on the range as we sighted in and then took a few shots over on the 600 yard range.  It was go time, now we just had to wait a few weeks until our schedules meshed and we could get up in the mountains.  After two long months of waiting the call finally came.  Zack and Travis would have a few days to get out after a win at the Simm’s Shoot Out competition.  They were on the road back to Missoula and it was time to load up the pack.  On Friday afternoon I met up with Zack, Travis, and Brandon to get ready for our hunt.  Before long, the bikes were loaded into the back of the truck and we were off to the trailhead.  After an uphill ride we reached the base of a steep ridge where we stowed the bikes and took off on foot.  The hike was steep but it felt good to be back in the mountains.

After a couple of miles we rounded a corner and entered what looked like bear heaven, there were clear cuts separated by dark timber and a creek running through the middle of it all.  We soon spotted fresh bear sign and our excitement levels rose.  It was still pretty brown and seeing some sign definitely took a little bit of the edge off us all.  We continued hiking and stopped to glass every time the trees opened up enough for us to get a clear view of the opposing ridge and basin.   As we hiked single file along the ridge I heard the unmistakable voice of Travis saying “Bear!!…………I gotta bear!”  I turned to see Travis looking up the drainage through his Vortex binos.  Zack quickly set up the camera and got some footage as we discussed the game plan.  Everyone agreed that the bear was big and worth a stalk, but he was over a mile away and there was only about an hour and a half of daylight left.  The race was on and we busted ass up the ridge.  Once we reached where we had planned to camp we dropped our packs and continued towards the spot we last saw the bear.  Forty-five minutes after Travis spotted the bear we came to the corner where we had last seen him.  Zack and Travis turned the cameras on, I checked the wind and it was go time.  We crept around the corner as slowly and quietly as possible while keeping our eyes peeled for the bear.  We rounded the corner and the bear was no place to be seen; we decided to keep moving.  We didn’t go another 10 yards and I spotted the bear in a dip below us not 80 yards away.  I quickly dropped to the ground and everyone else followed suit.  We sat there and discussed the next move.  From where we were located I didn’t have a clear shot at the bear and we weren’t sure if the bear was heading towards us or away.  We decided that we needed to get to a high spot 15 yards in front of us if we were going to get the shot on film.  Travis and Brandon stayed back and filmed from their location as Zack followed me forward.   At that instance I felt what every hunter dreads……..the wind at the back of my neck.  I thought for sure the stalk was blown and the bear would be gone.  As we continued forward the wind switched back and was once again blowing in our face, but the bear was nowhere to be seen.  Still we crept forward until we could see the entire dip that the bear was in….still no bear.   My heart sank as I looked around.  At that point I was sure he had winded us and took off.  I turned and shrugged my shoulders to Travis and Brandon and figured the hunt was over for the evening.  When I looked back over my shoulder there he was, standing 90 away with his head down feeding.  I swung my pack off and sat down; quickly I rested the rifle on the pack and waited for him to come up on the road.  Adrenaline was now strongly surging through my veins and moments later he appeared back on the side of the logging road.  I turned to Zack and he gave me the green light.  I settled the cross hairs and squeezed the trigger.  A few seconds later and my first bear was dead not 50 yards from where I shot him.

Congratulations and high fives were shared between us all as we headed downhill to the bear.  As I approached him I saw his gray face, split ears and large paws; the sure sign of an old bear.

I was overcome with excitement to have killed such a big mature boar as my first bear and it was a surreal moment kneeling beside an old warrior of a bear who had seen many hunters in his time.

I punched my tag and we raced to get as many pictures as we could before dark.  Soon we were all working away to get the bear skinned and quartered.

Before we knew it the Mystery Ranch was loaded down with meat and hide and we were headed to camp.  The 3/4 of a mile back uphill to camp was grueling.  It’s a lot of work in the backcountry and the four of us all teamed up to pump enough water for 4 meals and gather wood for a fire.  The moon was out and it was all laughs around the campfire.

Needless to say a warm fire and some freeze dried food put us to bed quickly.  The next morning we were up and heading down the hill with our packs heavier than the trip up.  Though the weight of the bear was a burden on my shoulders I couldn’t help but smile knowing I had killed my first bear with good friends in the backcountry.

Finally we rolled around the last Forest Service gate and quickly dumped our packs and took a well deserved rest.  We unloaded the meat and threw it in the YETI.  The end of an amazing hunt was here and it had only been one day!

I can’t thank Zack, Travis and Brandon enough! I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.  The next week will be spent finishing school and then we will be back in the mountains searching for a bear in hopes of sneaking close enough to let an arrow loose.

-Stan Spoharski

We finally arrived at the Simms headquarters, and met with the rest of the filmmakers.  All of the filmmakers were super friendly and cold PBRs were spread throughout the room.  After a half an hour of chatting and waiting for the guides to finish piling in, it was time to get to business.  The guides drew names out of a hat to decide who they would be filming with and we were paired up with Dan “Rooster” Leavens.  Zack and I didn’t have the slightest clue who Rooster was, but we would spend the next 3 days filming his every move and learning the ways of the Rooster.

The next morning our 4:50AM alarm rang out, ducks quacking for me to awake.  Zack and I gathered our gear scattered on the hotel floor and headed out into the cold, windy, snowy weather.  Our destination was Twin Bridges, and we hoped we could get some early morning shots before meeting with the Rooster.

After a bitter cold morning of filming, we threw our frozen boots into the truck to de-thaw and finally made it to our destination, the Stonefly Inn & Outfitters.  Rooster had coffee ready for us, and we sat down and talked for a good hour about hunting and fly fishing.  We soon found out that Rooster had been sick throwing up all night.  He blamed the pizza he ate the evening before and to compound the issue, his wife was also sick.  A bug was going around, and we crossed our fingers that we wouldn’t be hit with the unfriendly sickness.  Rooster was feeling better fortunately, and decided that not the weather nor the sickness would stop him from fishing. We grabbed Willy the chocolate lab, loaded the truck with camera gear, and finally made it to the river.

The morning consisted of a bunch of small browns and frozen fingers, leading us to move locations.  That afternoon, the sun finally started to peak through the clouds.  We got back onto the river and it wasn’t long before Rooster hooked his first nice brown trout of the trip.  About an hour later and a few fly selection switches and a boss trout was hooked up.  At first we didn’t know what it was, but as the fish came to the net, it was a nice 2-foot rainbow!

The rest of the day Rooster reeled in multiple nice fish and the vibe quickly began to swing into our favor.  With a couple browns weighing in around the 20″ mark and a rainbow pushing 24 we called it a wrap for the day as Rooster had to go home and take care of his wife and children who had been fighting the sickness.  Family comes first, and we had no objections to Rooster heading home before sundown.  Zack and I spent the rest of the evening filming around town and captured some late afternoon timelapses.

Zack and myself stayed up until 2:30AM organizing our clips from Day 1, making sure we were on top of our game and ready to start editing the film the following evening.  We got a few short hours of sleep and immediately were back up and firing up the cameras.  We finalized our storyline with Rooster and moved over to the fly shop.  After a broken fly rod, an obnoxious customer call, a spilled box of flies, and a flat tire, it was finally go time.  Rooster started the morning drive to the river by saying, “can’t show the lions on the first day boys”.  Little did we know he was not lying about “showing the lions”.  Rooster proceeded to catch fish after fish consisting of large browns and chromed out rainbows.  The footage was stacking and the shots were being logged.  Rooster was starting to put on a show that any fisherman would appreciate.  Helping us for the day were Rooster’s guides Gray, Bubba and Dave who added more punch to the fish fight.

With plenty of solid shots stored in the camera, we decided to hit some new water to finish the day.  Rooster made his way below a small bridge and proceeded to catch fish after fish, throwing low, precise casts into the money spot.  It was a truly remarkable sight, with the Stonefly guide peanut gallery watching the show go down from the bridge above.

We wrapped up the day with dry fly eats on chernobyls, brown trout to the face, and an amazing steak dinner.  From here on out it was coffee, Monsters, and no sleep.  This was a chance that we had to take full advantage of.  You are not given opportunities like the Simms Shoot Out very often and we were here to win.  This was our chance to show that we can run with the best in the biz and we began the long process of crushing two days worth of fish into a 6 minute film.

Before we knew it the film was in its final stages of production.  The sun was rising and Rooster was waiting to check out the latest cut of video.  Rooster gave us some final input and before we knew it the video was exported and we were driving to the Simm’s headquarters to turn in our film.

We relaxed the rest of the day and fished a local river the following morning with our friend Tom Urell.  The streamer fishing was hot, with fish attacking the streamers most of the day.  No monsters were brought to the net, but we had a blast fishing the local Bozeman holes.  Later that evening we watched all four submissions of the Simms Shoot Out at the Ellen theater.

After the films kicked off it was a nervous half an hour before I saw the Montana Wild logo flash up on the backdrop and the rest is history.  We had won the Shoot Out!!!!

We spent the rest of the night celebrating with new friends and somehow managed to not spend all $2,000 at the bars.  We woke the next morning, packed our bags and headed back to Missoula.  That evening we found ourselves hiking 6 miles back into the backcountry…. Be looking for our next blog post about Stan’s amazing bear hunt.

I wanted to give a big shoutout to Dan “Rooster” Leavens for being such an amazing guide and host, and Dana Leavens for letting us steal Rooster for a couple days and allowing us to sleep at the Stonefly Inn.  Dan  loves to fish and he has a great family and group of guides.  Thanks Bubba, Dave, and Grey for your antics and not so helpful music suggestions.  We hope we can work with Dan in the future and hopefully the friendship we made will last for a very long time.

Below is our winning submission to the 2013 Simms Shoot Out!!!

-Travis

The next morning we headed back to Missoula to meet up with Stan for a 3-day bear hunt.  That evening we packed into the backcountry, spotting a large bear about a mile off.  We closed the distance, and watched as Stan took his very first black bear ever.

On Sunday Brandon and myself decided to do a little fishing, since we already had a bear down.  The fishing was absolutely jaw dropping!!

Be looking for a bunch of blog posts over the next couple of weeks.  We will be giving the low-down of our very exciting week!

Also a heads up to those who were planning on attending the Hunting Film Tour.  The event dates have been moved back to August.  Be checking back for updated information.

-Travis

Zack and I are dedicated to putting together an amazing video.  The competition requires us to film with one Simms guide for 2 days, and then 24 hours to put the video together.  The interesting part is we will not know who we are filming with until the night before our first filming day.  We are excited and cannot wait for the event to start!

We head out for Bozeman this morning.  Make sure to follow our daily behind the scenes SHOOT OUT photos on Instagram @montanawild!  We will be giving our viewers a behind the scenes look at what is going on so everyone can stay in the loop.  Also you will get your chance on Thursday/Friday April 25th & 26th to vote for your favorite SHOOT OUT film via text message.  Stay tuned!!!

-Travis

As we started our drive, the rain splattered against my windshield consistently reminding me that it was once again spring in Montana.  It was going to be a full blown day of Gore-tex and streamers.  We crossed our fingers as we made our trek to the first hole…. hopefully the chub hatch was going off today.

I shook the cobwebs off my fly rod and it wasn’t long before I felt my my line go tight after a couple slow twitches with my streamer.  A little brown ball of fire had latched onto my fly, and I had my first fish of the day.  I continued to hammer the banks, bouncing my streamer off the pale grass on the adjacent bank.  Bam!  I detected another tug, and once again felt that head shake that I have come to love.

Zack and I hooked into a couple small German browns, before we were hit with a Montana rain storm.  The weather didn’t stop us from dropping streamer bombs.  I found a grassy bank that overlooked a good stretch of deep, calm water.  I made a perfect cast, landing my streamer on the bank and stripping it back into the water.  Three strips and I felt my line stop dead in my hand.  I strip-set and had a beautiful brown running for cover.

This year has really been my break through year with streamers.  I have finally mastered some really productive patterns, and today these patterns were really getting the trout’s attention.  Zack and I continued another 200 yards downriver.  I brushed the drops of water off my pack, only to notice Zack had a sizable fish hooked downriver.  Another beautiful brown trout, hungry for the home-grown streamer.

We moved on, throwing casts into holes that were now deep enough to fish with the rising water.  We managed a couple more nice fish, and finally a rainbow decided to eat.

Green, purple, white, black, and tan streamers were producing fish.  The rainbows were finally putting streamers on their list of preferred foods, but the browns were truly on the prowl.  Once again Zack hooked into a flying brown trout.  To see an +18in brown trout jump four times is pretty remarkable.  This fish did just that and did not want to spend any downtime in our Larkin Works net.  Too bad the trout didn’t have a choice.

All this action boosted our confidence, and Zack released this amazing brown, only to call out “I’m going to catch another one out of this same hole”.  I grabbed the camera, and 1st cast Zack had another respectable brown trout.

We made the long walk back to the truck.  What an amazing day!  Our spring has been outstanding, and the fishing has been phenomenal.  We have a big week coming up.  We hope to see everyone at the Orvis “Down the Hatch” film event here in Missoula, Montana at the Wilma on Friday.  The films start at 7pm and there are tickets available at Grizzly Hackle.  All of the proceeds will go to Montana Trout Unlimited.  We hope to see you all there!!

-Travis

As water levels rise from run-off, it creates new challenges for the individual in pursuit of fish.  It signifies the transition to stalking an entirely different species, one that has lain dormant at the headwaters of our rivers for months. The hibernating bear is tired no longer and emerges from its den. The fresh blossoms and new leaves seen while commuting are not the only entities welcoming the return of spring. This is the time of year that brings life out from every corner.

The number of days to be spent waiting for the new hunting seasons are now gone.  In the great state of Montana the years first big game hunting opportunity is marked by the opening of Spring Bear. This will be our first chance to re-enter the wilderness with a goal that is not focused on wild trout. The excitement towards this opportunity is not something that is rhetorically justified.

As the opportunity to hunt presents itself closer and closer, our preparation takes a new form. Out of the closet comes our pack, camouflage, and optics. Our practice tips are replaced with broadheads.  Our weapons are checked time and time again for functionality and consistency. The term “overkill” has no place or meaning to those who strive for excellence. Focus and determination has been placed on our goal of harvesting a spring black bear.

As the bear awakens from its slumber, it does so with one thing on its mind, that being food. As you can imagine, after months of fast these animals are hungry. They operate opportunistically in constant search of a viable food source. This principle is the basis for a hunter’s tactics.  Since it is early in the season, food is somewhat limited, therefore requiring the animal to travel more so than it would later in the year. To the hunter this creates an opportunistic time to spot the animal as traverses the countryside. One can only hope that when you do spot the animal you are looking for, that is it in a huntable area that provides means for a stalk.

Many variables go into the equation that results in a successful stalk.  The time of day, the distance separating the hunter from the prey, and the wind are all effects that are mandatory for consideration.  Over the years I have spent hunting black bear in the alpine lakes of the Pacific North West, I learned many things about the animal. Through trial and error, I feel at this stage confident as a hunter in my knowledge of bear behavior and tendency. The saying, “They didn’t get that big for no reason” applies enormously to the bear species. Trust me when I tell you that I have had multiple exceptional bears pull a spin on me, never to be seen again.

This leads me to bring forth a consideration that took years for me to recognize. If one can implement the following into their method of operation I am sure they will find a higher percentage of success in the field. But first I will explain the situation.

It was my first hunting season out of high school. My father and I had found an area that many bears funneled in and out of. To validate this statement I will tell you that a friend of ours took the number 4 bear in the state of Washington out of this area. This particular area was an old mountain top clear cut, the habitat had grown up, making the hunting more difficult. It was not uncommon to spot a bear that was in an area that was unhuntable. We had to be very critical on when we would and would not enter the country. It seemed to blow up easily, scattering the animals in the area.

One morning after reaching the spot we used to glass we spotted a bear that is still to this date the biggest black bear I have ever witnessed. Unfortunately he was in an area that was unreachable. Patiently we waited. After years of watching bears I have gathered that they do not move much between roughly 10:00 in the morning and 3:00 in the afternoon. This bear fell right into that category.

We put the spotter on the boar and watched him eat berries in same general proximity for hours. At about 9:30 I got restless, went against my father’s advice, and entered the country. My plan was to sit above the bear a couple hundred yards on a spine that paralleled where he was feeding. After an hour of bushwhacking I had carefully made my way to the destination I had in mind.

It was now around 11:00 and here is where the consideration comes into play. You see at this time I had no knowledge of how thermals work. If by chance you are like I was, I will explain. A thermal is a moving column of air; it acts as a supplement to wind. Dictated by the ambient temperature it carries your scent either up or down the countryside. Since the heat of the day had not yet taken its effect the thermals were essentially dropping my scent directly on top on that bear. Needless to say I never got another look at that boar. I often wonder how it would have transpired if I had listened to my dad and had just waited a couple more hours for the thermals to change.

This all plays into the education one acquires when you put in time and effort towards hunting. It is a big game of learning from your past experiences.  I have not made that mistake since nor do I plan on making it again. As you begin to prepare for your upcoming adventure let me encourage you to draw back upon your past experiences. Ask yourself why you were or were not successful. Look for the areas that need improvement and strive to better yourself as an outdoorsman.  We should all strive to be the best we can be at anything we partake in.

Once bear season starts here in Montana you will find us in the woods, on top of mountains, glassing for an opportunity at one of the magnificent animals our good Lord has created. We have evolved as hunters and are not the same as we were last season. We have learned from our failure just as much as we have learned from our success. Our expectations are high and we feel that the sky is the limit.

Written by Brandon Smith

Elk hunting takes you to some of the most amazing locations in the world. Many times elk hunting is more about the experience than it is chasing the elk themselves. Watch as we travel across Montana going from the desolate dry desert to the dark timber in search of lifelong memories in the outdoors.

Ambush shows you how two young hunters adapted to the conditions at hand to arrow two mature bulls over the course of Montana’s archery season. To see the whole film please attend one of the many stops of this years Hunting Film Tour.  For more information on tickets and tour dates check out www.huntingfilmtour.com

The Hunting Film Tour will be making a stop here in Missoula, Montana on May 3rd at The Wilma.  All of us here at Montana Wild will be there!  Thanks to everyone for their support over the past year.  We truly appreciate our fans that share the same passion for the outdoors as us.  We have some really amazing projects planned for 2013!

-Travis

We pushed on knowing we’d have to keep the pace moving to get through all 3 miles before dark.  Of course the day we make it out the weather was the typical Montana spring weather; sun one minute and snow the next.

I couldn’t complain though, just being able to fish is a blessing so you just take the weather you get and go.  Also it just so happens to make things interesting for photos and video.  We did bring the camera along that day and shot a decent amount of video so hopefully we can get to it in the next few weeks and have a little more fish porn to get you through runoff.  We again moved downstream searching for the next big one.  About half an hour later Travis went into his bag of flies and threw on a chunky little steamer.  About five casts later and a hungry rainbow slashed up off the bottom and slammed into Travis’ steamer.

We now were both content for the day with a few nice fish on the board and we casually fished out the day without any other remarkable occurrences.  The next chance we had to fish was this last Saturday when we met up with our good buddy Anthony Von Ruden who you’ll be seeing more of in the near future.  He’s spent to much time over in North Dakota and was eager to hit the river.

Quickly I had to try to remind myself why I’m friends with such a good looking dude.  We rigged up and proceeded to chat with the fellow Washington anglers who were camped at the spot.  They asked if we’d fished here before and seemed to be searching for any information they could get.  I told them a bit and said we were headed downstream.  The guy said cool we’ll probably fish here for a bit and then head that way then.  He walked off with his monstrous chew in cheek and proceeded to immediately walk and fish downsteam.  Great.  Well looks like were going to explore upstream today boys!  We all loaded the truck back up and quietly drove upstream.  Initially the fishing didn’t produce, but after beating enough water with a steamer the river began to come alive as a healthy brown hammered my steamer just off the bank near a fallen tree.

The group emotion slowly began to shift back to the positive vibes and it wasn’t long until the wig came out and spring break was in full effect.

Anthony proceeded to land a very respectable brown on a very ugly wooly bugger.  I had had enough camera time at the moment and I grabbed his rod and began to beat the back end of the pool with that damn bugger.  Of course about ten casts in a I hooked into a hefty trout.

It was quickly apparent that I’d hooked a healthy bull trout.  After a short battle and a handy net job by Travis and another solid fish was in hand.

Apparently a solid mustache is the key ingredient to slightly above average fishing.  We moved on exploring new waters that seemed to be quite nice on the eye and the fly rod.  About another half mile up the river and Anthony stumbled into a mule deer buck that had seen his last days in the river.  It was truly an epic sight and we got a few amazing photos.

After a short photo session we moved upstream where we met a young buck out fishing for “some of dem pike minnows!”.  He was a pretty chill dude and we immediately adopted him.

That essentially wrapped up the day for us and we haven’t been back out since.  I’d love to post more photos but it’s getting to lengthy already and it’s 1AM.  If you’d like to see more of our photos on a more regular basis please follow us on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/Montana.Wild.Productions and on Instagram @ montanawild.  Over the course of the rest of our spring break we’ve just been wrapping up a film which will be playing in this years Hunting Film Tour.

It’s going to be an awesome tour hitting 25+ cities across America and it’s put on by the same dudes that run the Fly Fishing Film Tour so please head over to their website @ www.huntingfilmtour.com to see the teasers and tour stops and dates.  There will be a stop in Missoula, MT on May 3rd which we will be going to, and we want to get as many people there as we can.  There are going to be some amazing films played and showing support for these types of events just grows the sport and helps people like us get more funding from sponsors so we can keep creating free content to hopefully stoke people out on the outdoors.  It’s a win-win for everyone and it’s going to be a damn good time and a solid way to meet some fellow hunters.

And lastly we’ve been gearing up for spring bear and turkey seasons.  It’s only a few weeks away and once May hits were going to be spending some serious time in the mountains so get ready to see some fur showing up here in the next couple months.

Until next time God bless and don’t forget to give thanks to the man upstairs for all the blessings that we get to enjoy each and every day.

-Zack

Upon receiving the fly rods, the first thing I noticed was the beautifully crafted carbon fiber tube that safe guards each rod.  I could now safely run over my fly rods tubes with a monster truck.  Both rods are 4 piece, 9ft fly rods.  Zack and myself feel that in order to truly fish Montana rivers to the fullest, you need a dry fly/nymph rod and a streamer rod, hence the 5wt & 7wt selection.  Some holes are just too tasty to not have a streamer rod ready to go, and we find ourselves leaning towards the addicting streamer game more and more.  We assembled the Mirage reels into the beautiful Helios 2 reel seats.  Now these setups are sexy to say the least and not only perform great, but look badass.  We are far from gear snobs.  If it doesn’t function then I don’t want it, but I’m always ok with an upgrade.  The setups we are rocking are as follows:

-Helios 2 7wt tip-flex w/ Mirage III Reel (black nickel) strung up with Orvis’ Hydros Power Taper Fly Line

-Helios 2 5wt tip-flex w/ Mirage II Reel (black nickel) strung up with Orvis’ Hydros 3D Trout Fly Line

As soon as I strung out my first cast with the 5wt, the whizz I could hear of the line shooting through the guides put a smile of my face.  These rods can shoot some line!  Not to mention the swing weight of the 5wt makes casting effortless.  Either that or I have been hitting the gym way too frequently.  The tip flex, fast action suits my fly fishing style well, allowing me to cast extremely accurate and makes mending line a breeze.  I have never felt like I have had this much control over my fly line.

Now on to the 7wt.  Over the past year we have realized our addiction to streamer fishing, even more so when your swinging your own hand tied flies.  The tug truly is the drug for us.  Most people don’t know the caliber of trout we have here in Montana.  There are some large fish that can really pull some serious weight.

The 7wt is a streamer chucking beast.  One back cast and you can send a streamer across the entire river.  Power, finesse, and control all come to mind while handling the Helios 2 7wt.  Bull trout, big rainbows, and angry browns are the target fish when stripping streamers, and the 7wt got to test its strength against all these trout species during our test.  With the 7wt you can handle everything from light to heavy streamers.  Not to mention you can really move large fish and keep them from downfall when needed.  Below are some of the fish taken via the Helios 2 on just the first day out.

Both the 5wt & 7wt were outfitted with black Mirage II & III reels.  The light-weight aluminum Mirage reel uses the same technology as the brakes on fighter jets.  Is it absolutely neccessary? No, but it’s damn nice if your in the market for a new reel and they look so good your bound to get a few numbers when the bikini hatch hits.  It also has a positive click system which  I thoroughly enjoy.  Being able to set my drag accordingly and quickly is a great function of this reel.  The Mirage is unaffected by saltwater, dirt, garb, and grime, making it an all-around bomb proof large arbor reel.

If your looking to upgrade your fly rod, make sure to at the least test a Helios 2 if there’s one at your local shop.  I’m sure you’ll fall in love.  Also be looking for the Orvis Helio 2 & Mirage reels in our upcoming short films.  We recently filmed an all-streamer video, but unfortunately our SD card failed on us and the data was unrecoverable which totally blew.  We’ll be out with the camera in tow soon and be sure to follow us over on Facebook and if your on Instagram look us up @montanawild.  Cheers!

-Travis