It was a perfect spring day on the Stilly yesterday! Cold, breezy, rain changing to snow. Midges in the morning, baetis in the afternoon. As I said, perfect!
The midge hatch started about 11 am. Fish were rising to them sporadically here and there. Tail-outs and current lines, naturally. It was difficult fishing. The feeding was sporadic, they wanted a size 20 black midge emerger and the light was bad. Just how I like it. If it was easy, they’d call it “golf”.
Baetis started hatching about 2 pm. The fish started rising more regularly, but it wasn’t pandemonium. You had to find a rising pod. Then target a single riser and get several good drifts before he would eat. They wanted a size 20 parachute BWO, the light was bad and the wind came up just enough to mess with my casting accuracy. A steady rain came down. Every fish in hand was just that much more satisfying.
To top it all off, a huge river otter popped up about 15 feet from me. I got to watch him roll and play for several minutes. Haven’t seen an otter on the Stilly in quite a while , so that was a real treat!
Spring is here, go fish it!
Nice brown on a #20 midge emerger.
This cuttbow chowed on the #20 BWO.
Montana Trout Scout 