Winter Dayz

This past Sunday, as a crew of three, we headed out in search of some winter trout.  Stan came along to help film second angles during this one day film mission.

The sun was breaking through the clouds when we arrived, bringing the daily temp to 33degrees.  Perfect for January winter fishing!  The river looked promising, flowing with ice cold blue water.  The first hole was definitely holding fish, but there were no takers for the streamer setup.  The nymph gang quickly produced a nice jumping rainbow, instantly  re-energizing my passion for fly fishing.

We moved upriver, to the next series of curvy banks.  Once again the holes looked like a breeding pool for large trout, but nothing wanted to bite. We picked up again and moved to the next section of slowly churning pools.  I dropped in a cast, which was hit mid-drift.  A nice cutthroat tore through the water.  The fishing was starting to pick up.

Another couple casts and I hooked into my biggest fish of the day.  This fish wasn’t going to get airborne, but he had a couple good power boosts throughout the fight, proving he wanted nothing to do with my net.

Zack and Stan recorded the usual Hollywood fish shots, putting our day to rest, as the sun started to sink over the horizon.  Another day in solitude.  Film mission was a WRAP!  If you missed our post highlighting our video be sure to watch it now.

The following day we once again met up with Stan.  The sun looked like it was going to make a strong appearance for the day.

The fishing once again started slow, but soon was heating up as we pushed into the afternoon hours.  Stan pulled multiple healthy fish to the net.  Proving the pat’s rubber leg was the fly of choice.

At one point we pulled +8 fish out of a single hole.   We would occasionally hook into a nasty white dog, but for the most part the trout were feeding.

We shot hundreds of photos throughout the day, hoping to capture at least a few quality images to share and help spread the winter fishing stoke.

This last week we were again itching to hit the river.  Our friend Anthony just got back from the nasty weather in N. Dakota, and we decided to let him in on the fishing we have been experiencing.

The brush in the river really makes for difficult making good drifts with nymph rigs, but that didn’t stop Anthony from pulling in fish.  We all landed our share of fish, making the cold hands warm once again.

Most holes during the day were productive, with multiple fish wanting to take a subsurface fly.

It was yet again, another great day on the river.  Being able to enjoy this caliber of fishing in January is amazing and one of the reasons I’m glad to call Montana home.

-Travis