Montana 2009 - Day 2
There is something just flat out awesome when the bite is "on" while you are fishing one of your favorite rivers. It is extremely hard to explain all the fishy factors that turn the bite "on" as it seems most of those fishy factors you have little control over. But when it's "on" like it was during the second day of our Montana Trip, confidence with a fly rod in your hand abounds as it feels like you can do no wrong with the little hook dressed up as a trout's favorite insect and you cannot stop the smile on your face.
Mom and Dad teamed up with Todd for their adventure down the Missouri River...
...and they got into some real nice fish during their float.
Mom landed a beast of brown trout that put a smile on every one's face...
And as they continued down the river...
...Dad got into the nice rainbow that got away from him last year.
As for Liz and I, we got into our fair share of fish with Coach K-style leadership from Mitch K. There were a lot of firsts on our adventure but the most exciting first for me was watching Liz hook into a trout and landing herself a nice rainbow...
It was our first time to share a drift boat on the Missouri and her fly fishing skills really developed throughout the day where she knew what she had to do to trick trout and land'em!
Another first for me was a dry fly take from a brown trout feeding along the bank of the river and fighting him into Mitch's net.
Mom landed a beast of brown trout that put a smile on every one's face...
And as they continued down the river...
...Dad got into the nice rainbow that got away from him last year.
As for Liz and I, we got into our fair share of fish with Coach K-style leadership from Mitch K. There were a lot of firsts on our adventure but the most exciting first for me was watching Liz hook into a trout and landing herself a nice rainbow...
It was our first time to share a drift boat on the Missouri and her fly fishing skills really developed throughout the day where she knew what she had to do to trick trout and land'em!
Another first for me was a dry fly take from a brown trout feeding along the bank of the river and fighting him into Mitch's net.
Mitch has been coaching me on the proper techniques to fool a feeding trout and for it all to come together with this brown trout was a wonderful feeling for me.
The entire trip down the Missouri was a blast and with the warm summer temperatures of Montana, the cool waters of the river, and trout cooperating the way they should this bunch of fly fishing friends could not have been happier...
We were even fortunate enough to land some of the coolest looking brown trout I had ever seen on hopper patterns that made me chuckle to myself the more I realized on what had happened when I replayed the show stopping takes in my head.
The exciting day was long and much appreciated for all the work Todd and Mitch put in for us as we fished the Missouri for the first time as a family. Liz was so jazzed she looked like she was ready to take on the world with a fly rod as she walked up from the take out point.
And the smiling fly fishing team of family and friends knew it was quite a day with all the heart racing takes, epic fights with muscle bound wild trout that beat us in some of the rounds, and the very much appreciated feast lurking Rainbows & Browns that were willing to turn their bite "on" so they could play our game as we brought them to the confines of a net and a sweet release.
River being the MO that is!
Thanks Todd, Mitch, and PRO for the incredible time on the water during the second day of the Montana trip. It will always be a day of memories tough to beat.
The entire trip down the Missouri was a blast and with the warm summer temperatures of Montana, the cool waters of the river, and trout cooperating the way they should this bunch of fly fishing friends could not have been happier...
We were even fortunate enough to land some of the coolest looking brown trout I had ever seen on hopper patterns that made me chuckle to myself the more I realized on what had happened when I replayed the show stopping takes in my head.
The exciting day was long and much appreciated for all the work Todd and Mitch put in for us as we fished the Missouri for the first time as a family. Liz was so jazzed she looked like she was ready to take on the world with a fly rod as she walked up from the take out point.
And the smiling fly fishing team of family and friends knew it was quite a day with all the heart racing takes, epic fights with muscle bound wild trout that beat us in some of the rounds, and the very much appreciated feast lurking Rainbows & Browns that were willing to turn their bite "on" so they could play our game as we brought them to the confines of a net and a sweet release.
"Yes...Quite a day."
- A River Runs Through It
River being the MO that is!
Thanks Todd, Mitch, and PRO for the incredible time on the water during the second day of the Montana trip. It will always be a day of memories tough to beat.
-Parker
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2 comments:
nice story and some nice fish, unfortunately as anyone with a passing knowledge of fish know that you simply cannot handle fish and keep them out of water that long and expect a very high success rate of recovery. Granted the fish may swim away and look fine, however the chance for delayed mortality is fairly substantial after handling a fish that much, even on a tailwater like the Mo. As much fun as it is to take pics for memories and show off on a blog, the best option for the fish is quick removal of the hook and a quick pic snapped in the net near the water surface. Unless of course you were planning on eating some of those fish (which I do on occasion) so don't get me wrong I DO in fact kill a fish on a rare occasion to eat, it's just that if catch and release is what you're going after better care should be taken to ensure the chances of survival. PS if that is a guide in some of the pictures HE should definitely know better...... thanks for allowing me time on the soap box. tight lines
Thanks for the comments Craig. I understand your points fully. This blog has always been about the fun experience of learning to fly fish properly more than it has been about showing off. I think my excitement about fly fishing comes across sometimes as boastful, but my family, friends and I are very humble with appreciation for the places fly fishing is fortunate to take you, the experience w/ family/friends that is had, and the fish you sometimes land. In the excitement I can get carried away w/ the picture taking and photo posting forgetting what's right for the fish and the power of the Internet. I don't ever expect too many folks to actually tune into this site or leave helpful comments but I appreciate positive-constructive comments like this as it will only make me and anybody else better at fishing. I'll work on respecting the aspect of catch/release more for the fish and always feel free to leave comments.
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