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

Thanks for a great season!

That's not Brett Favre on the tractor, it's actually good friend Tim Haslitt ponied up and thinking about working for his turns after he digs his way to freedom. love that photo Alex. Truth be told and let my lower lumbar be proof, it was actually 22" of heavy wet cement.
If this is any indication of things to come, than brace for yet another banner Winter here in Southwestern Montana. This recent dump of snow bodes well for all the reasons we live here!
As for the fishing - well, on days when your guides aren't iced up and you can actually cast a fly it's been pretty decent. Here's the skinny on Winter fly fishing.
Get a late start. No reason to race to the river. Let the water warm up. ***Remember, this is fly fishing. This whole sport revolves around insects and their life cycles. If the bugs are frozen and immobile, then too are the fish - most likely. Take the time to steep some beans and prepare a thermos of coffee in the morning. Drinking a hot cup of joe on the river might just be the highlight of your day. Enjoy the fish you do catch. It takes a special soul to be out there on the river this time of the year braving the elements. Lastly, think about the reasons why you fly fish. I rediscovered something this past season I've known for a long time but hit me upside the head. Angling for the right reasons is as personal and as real as it gets.
Thank you to those who helped make CK Outfitters 2009 season a success! It is amazing what a little bit of water, favorable conditions and cooperative fish will do for the fishing. This year was the best fishing we have had on the Jefferson to date and this river is only gaining momentum. The Madison produced some trophy trout as always and the Yellowstone fished well late into the season. The shining star in Southwestern Montana had to be the Missouri. This tailwater is a "must fish" if in the area. Since the Missouri requires a bit of traveling and a minimum 1 night/2 day stay, currently we are working on lodging options for 2010. In March, be on the lookout for our Spring special - a great way to cash in and save on some great fishing. Although the season has finally come to an end, we will continue to update our Blog as the fishing warrants. Be sure to stay up to date on all things relevant to fly fishing with CK Outfitters by visiting our Blog @ http://ckoutfittersflyfishing.blogspot.com Have a great Winter and we hope to see you this Spring!

Craig Kalpinski
Owner & Managing Outfitter
CK Outfitters

MO Rainbows

What a great time of year to be fishing the Missouri! If you are looking for solitude and great fishing, the MO is your best bet. You will experience fantastic dry fly fishing in the afternoon. Nymphing with baetis nymphs and emergers is solid before the hatch comes off. Haven't thrown any big junk - haven't had to but I suspect those big browns would take a bite.

A brief warm up!

Looks like we have seen the last of this arctic ass whooping. Predicted highs for the rest of the week should reach the mid forties to mid fifties. We'll see if the weather guy is right or just a wannabee James Span.
The weather guy said something to the effect of this being a “once in a generation” weather event. Temperatures this cold in October happened last about 25 years ago. It's certainly not global warming... maybe a global cool down.
As for the fishing, we begin to pick it back up tomorrow and will have more to report at a later time. Before this freeze, the Browns were beginning to stage up in the shallows and slow moving tail outs before they make the run to do their thing. If wade fishing ***Use caution this time of year not to disturb the redds. They are pretty obvious looking barren patches of clean gravel that the fish have pushed away. This will help protect future generations of fish. We saw a new age class of Brown trout on the Lower Madison this year. These fish were clean, bright, powerful, HOT and wild fish. Most fish had very few hook scars and some had never been hooked before - a testament to the importance of Catch & Release fishing.
On a side note and a break from fishing here in Montana: Ya'll need to check out my brothers Blog.
http://milespaddled.blogspot.com// His crew of dedicated kayaking friends are as serious about their paddling as we are about our fly fishing. Barry hooked this turtle gettin' jiggy - something I did not teach him this Summer. Turtle was unhooked safely and released back into the Wisconsin River. Way to represent CK Outfitters! I will continue to keep you updated on all thing relevant to fly fishing here in Southwestern Montana until it is just too cold.

COLD!

COLD! 4 degrees this morning and rising. We went from Summer straight into Winter bypassing fall. This cold snap is not even funny. It is too early for this bone chilling torture.
We had a couple of trips booked last week but due to the weather we pushed those into next week when the weather is supposed to warm up a bit. They are calling for a high of 51 on Tuesday. Sorry to say but I don't have much to report other than one mediocre day on the Lower Madison last week. I will amend this report after it warms up this next week.

Up and running!

After a brief sabbatical from technology, we are back! The fishng last week was good, as it should be during fall in Montana.
We have been all over the map. From the Jefferson to the Missouri and over to the Stone. Everything is fishing well! ***Word of caution*** Come prepared for foul weather. Most days will start out cold and if we are lucky, temps might reach a comfortable level.
Were getting fish on dead drifted Bugger and Bead combos. Baetis dry fly fishing has been weather dependent. If there is a ceiling, the fish are looking up in the afternoon. If that big bright ball is out and about, it's been a nymphing game.
My apologies for lack of Blog posts. Computer crashing, geeky techs, poor service, you get my point. We are up and running again and will keep you posted as the fishing continues!

On Hold...

Computer problems have me down for awhile but thanks to the very knowledgeable computer geek fixing my laptop, I should be up and running soon. In the meantime, the fishing remains very good! I will keep you updated on all things relevant to fly fishing with CK Outfitters as well as the front that is going to push through tomorrow.

Hot out of the gate...

We put in in the town of Livingston and 14 miles later got out at the Hog farm (Joey you will love that!) and had a blast. My first cast of the day was a sweet 19" Brown, about 30 minutes later we hit this neat run with a streamer and I had two break me off. Then this really nice colored up 19" Rainbow takes the fake and once stuck jumps 4 to 6 times right at the boat. It was hard to keep tight but he was hooked good and no problem landing him. Great day today landing lots of whitefish (20+) - which are still fun to hook and land, along with the two fair sized fish mentioned and a couple others that did not need the net. I sure hate to go but got to make some bread so I can come back soon. Thanks Craig! Scott

Fall Baetis just around the corner

The Fall Baetis hatch is on the brink of breaking loose. All we need is some cooler weather and some overcast skies and it will be go time around this place. In the meantime, I think we are out of the seasonal transitional funk that we experience every year. Fish are still looking for Hoppers but will inspect closely before attacking with any sort of vengeance. Nymphing has been solid all the way around but my favorite means of catching this time of year would be the streamer/bead combo. Try fishing a zonker (olive, copper or pearl) in sizes #2 - #6 trailed by a #16 - #20 beadhead flashback pheasant tail nymph.

Ritchie Family Float

This is two years in a row of great fun with the Ritchie family. The morning started slow as expected after the first freeze of the year. Sorry, grasshoppers - next season, R.I.P
The wind blew but did not deter us from catching fish!
Lana, aka Ace Ritchie boated a beautiful 20" Yell0wstone brown. Thanks and you all did a fantastic job on the water today. I'm looking forward to next year.

Everyday is Different

The day before yesterday the fish were crushing foam Hoppers. Different story today. They would not even look at a Hopper today so we nymphed until we were blue in the face. It paid off BIG! This 22" pre spawn male took a # 6 copper zonker.

New York Minute

By the looks of my fly patch, it's still Hopper time. Hard to believe the hopper fishing is still hanging around but with temps in the mid 80's and low 90's coupled with dry conditions, we may be throwing the locust into October. Weird. I think this week has been the best Hopper action I've had on the river this season. Yesterday was good on the Yellowstone. Today was epic action on top > Lower Madison. Had a great day with Ray and Steve today!