fishing report

[Ray Zee]

the only fishing i am doing currently is floating the flathead river most nice days. from lake mcdonald in glacier national park to kalispell. the river is in great shape and i am catching very many rainbows and cutts. not alot of big ones this year but plenty of fish. lately using grasshoppers or a bead head nymph in deeper pools.

[M2d]

what size hoppers and how many? enough to make the hawgs become diurnal for a time?

[whiskeytown]

I'll be up in Kalispell from the 14th to the 24th - maybe I'll see ya there.

RB

P.S. - my stepdad caught some massive fish on a fishing trip to Hungry Horse Resivoir

[Zeno]

Do afternoon winds ever put a damper on the fishing?

Familar patterns?

Nymph pattern (http://www.flyline.com/1flys/bh_prince.htm)

Another Nymph pattern (http://www.fishusa.com/tackleshop/catalog_product.asp?ProductFamilyID=%7BE1DE97E3%2D C36E%2D4A65%2D96C7%2D047406B63DAF%7D&i=FDD9C0F19D7 4401F9171373818246F6B&fx=1)


I hope you keep at least a few of these tasty fish and cook them up for dinner.

-Zeno

[Ed I]

How are the crowds on the Flathead? I've never fished it. Salmon flies and hoppers are two of the least used flies for me. No real good reason. This yearI've had some good days on Georgetown with damsel dries, I haven't fished them before, fun.

[Ed I]

I've started using prince nymphs a bit lately. I do well with them but do not like the look. Not buggy enough, must be the attraction of peacock that makes them so deadly. Pheasant tails are great. I'm one of the nut cases that has not kept a trout from running water in almost 30 yrs. Spending much time on the water?

[M2d]

which recipe for the damsel dry? I've seen some real pretty ones with the thorax attached to the shank and the rest of the body free. looks good, but I can't see spending either the time to tie one or the money to buy one. looks like they'd come apart after one good take. I't really fun to fish damsels, though. the take is very exciting compared to, say a BWO take.

[M2d]

Ed, have you tried the Andre Puyans AP nymphs? real buggy looking general patterns. They're supposedly mayfly imitations, but I've used them as case building larvae, mayfly nymphs, and general attractors. the black AP is real nice in turbulant or cloudy water, as the color stands out, but the fly still looks buggy enough to eat.

[Zeno]

Unfortunately not much time on any rivers or streams. Only three times this spring and not at all since the summer started. Kind of a work related thing. Glad Mr. Zee got this thread going. It may get me off my butt and out on a stream. I miss the sound of water and the smell of the air right at dusk, with the fading light glancing off tree tops.

-Zeno

[Ray Zee]

since i am floating and rowing myself. i use what is easiest to cast and see. for floaters i like the hopper about an ince long. catches the smaller ones and big ones alike. also use beadhead prince and bead head pheasant tails and hares ear.
the fish arent real selective as they have to hit what goes by if they want to eat.

[Ray Zee]

get going, life goes by quickly and then its gone.
not too bad of winds, and the flow is enough to keep you going downstream.
the flathead is about the best floating river i have seen. as its slow enough to fish easily and the runs can be fished from pulling over on the gravel bars.
for most of its 100 or so floatable miles near me you really dont see many houses at all.

[Ray Zee]

ill be around rb. above hungry horse res. the fishing is real good now. they are allowing them to catch bulls again up there. it is such a long drive up that crappy road i dont go much. but do fly into spotted bear and fish the river around the field. only 20 minutes by plane.

[Ed I]

I flew into Spotted Bear in the mid 70s. That was the one and only time I have been in a small plane. It felt like we fell out of the sky to make the short grass runway.

[Ed I]

I fish a pattern tied by a local. Its as you describe, has foam wing case and 3/4 grizzley parachute. No problem holding together. AP nymphs look great but I haven't fished them. I look to fish dry the majoritiy of the time. I like to tie simple nymphs. A pinkie, which is nothing more than a bit of pink dubbing with red head. Ugly but catches fish.