Spring Runoff!

Here's how today went down. Jefferson>Upper Madison>Lower Madison is where we settled in and spent our day fishing clear water.
It fished. It fished great infact! We were looking for a different option this morning but were hosed by muddy high water. The Jeff spiked yesterday and the Westfork is churning out the mud on the Upper.
After this weekends valley rain and high country snow - runoff is full steam ahead.
*On a side note. If and when you come out this season to fish the Lower Madison, some of you may not recognize the Warm Springs access. The parking lot has been paved. Parking lines have been painted and Warm Springs now has a very Disneyesque feel to it. I'm not a huge fan of the so called improvements but I guess in time I will adjust. Refreshingly I discovered the Outfitters & Guides annual FAS fees were not used to pay for this project. Those (Fishing Access Site) fees were saved to clean the bathrooms and trash left behind by those who like to represent Montana by floating ass or belly up on inner tubes.
OK, I will keep my blood pressure in check by shortening this rant and reporting only things relevant fly fishing in Southwestern Montana. Runoff has begun but there are fishable conditions and good one's too! Give us a call to discuss your options.

In The Blink Of An Eye

In the blink of an eye our snowpack totals here in Southwestern Montana have gone from 70% to over 100% of average - all within a month. The rain and snow dance worked. As I write this Blog the rain continues to pour down outside. But then, it is Memorial Day Weekend- almost a rain guarantee. This news bodes well for our 2010 Summer outlook!
It's been a roller coaster of a Spring runoff this season. Actually, true Spring runoff has not even ignited - only a spark. The weather has remained cold enough to keep snow piling up in the high country and preserving what we already have. Our rivers have come up a bit, but that is due to a day or two of warm weather and lot's of much needed and welcomed moisture - not a true blue runoff as of yet.
As for the fishing - Epic dry fly fishing all the way around. There are still Mother's Day Caddis on the Upper Madison and a few stragglers on the lower river. The Madison, Missouri, Jefferson and Gallatin are still pumping out the bugs. Even the Yellowstone dropped a bit and cleared enough to fish this week. I don't ever remember Mother's Day Caddis hanging on until June!
This is all very exciting as we will be transitioning into Summer. CK Outfitters will be running a Summer special in the coming month so be sure to stay up to date by checking our new website www.ckoutfittersflyfishing.com and clicking on our Special Rates & Packages link. Also, new this season is a great lodging option at The Ranch At The Dearborn on the Missouri - a bed and breakfast on the Gary Cooper ranch.
Conditions are sure to change so stay tuned for updates by checking our CK Outfitters Reports link or checking our Blog. Until our next post, take care and we hope to see you this Summer for what promises to be some fantastic fly fishing!

It's Go! Time!

Epic is the only word I can use to describe the fishing. If you like floating lazily down the river in your shorts and tevas and casting dry flies, Montana is the place to be. The weather has been perfect - 75 degrees and sunny and light winds. The caddis have been erupting on both the Upper and Lower Madison, mingling with both Baetis and March Browns.
Word over on the Yellowstone tonight is MUD. Unless we have a cold snap soon, this is probably the beginning of runoff on the Stone. We'll keep you posted on current conditions on all our local rivers. Be sure to stay up to date by checking our Reports link on our new website > www.ckoutfittersflyfishing.com

Mother Natures Many Faces

It's May right? That's what my calender say's. Apparently Mother Nature has a split personality. Snow, rain, wind, sunshine, pretty much everything you would expect living in Montana. Clients flew in to fish the much anticipated Mother's Day Caddis Hatch. It's a legendary hatch - a real flyfisherman's dry fly extravaganza - if you hit it right. The 2010 MDCH may not have amounted to much thus far and if it does, we have already surpassed Mother's Day by 3 days and the estimated time of arrival for the caddis is usually a week before Mom's Day.

Even though were not straining our eyes to see our caddis imitation amidst all the naturals.... the dry fly action has been steller (wind pending)! Caddis, B.W.O's & March Browns will curb your dry fly fix. Now, when the wind does blow, it's streamer time. Some true lunker (Hate the word, but at a loss) fish have been caught recently!

Check out this book soon

Passion. Devotion. Obsession. Do those words describe your relationship with the opposite sex? Or with fly fishing? And what happens when the passion for one collides with the passion for the other?

The usual result of those collisions is tragedy. Or comedy. Or both.

The eight chapters of Till Death or Fly Fishing Do Us Part are about those collisions of passion, and even the tragic ones are pretty funny--mostly because they're happening to someone else and not to you.

The first seven chapters are written by different people (three men and four women), and are quick, easy reads. The last chapter, by Tom Pero, is long--about half the book's 168 pages--and gives you perhaps more info on Pero's love life than you wanted to know, from his encounter with a "Mrs. Robinson"-type when he was a teenager, to adult encounters with the girl (woman) next door.

Each chapter has its insights into male-female relationships and how those relationships are affected by fly fishing. Some of those insights are spelled out in the text, and others you have to dig up on your own ("Boy, was that guy clueless about women.")

Till Death or Fly Fishing Do Us Part is a well-written, enjoyable book. Although I found a few typos near the end, the production values are good. And it's not like I haven't generated one or two typos in my own writing. The eight caricuture drawings by Whitney Martin capture the often comic nature of male-female relations.

This is a good gift book, and I suspect that more fly anglers will get their copy on their birthday or for Christmas rather than buy it on their own. it would be a Valentines Day gift, however; you'd have to read the book to understand why!

Bottom Line: Good, fun read. Here's a breakdown in case you forgot and if you still cannot remember, give us a call on the trout line 406-539-6582 Until you read again, tight strings!

May	Caddis	ElK Hair Caddis, Parachute Caddis size 14
	March Brown	Adams, Dark Cahill size 10
	Baetis mayfly	Parachute Adams, Blue Wing Olive size 16