TTFFT Week 2: The Gallatin (Chapter 2)

Day 2 on the Gallatin was diametrically opposed to day one.  The previous day we had fished in shirt sleeves with temperatures in the high 70's.  This day, as Randall and I drove out of Bozeman and climbed higher into the Gallatin Mountains, the skies were slate gray and the temperature inside Randy's SUV read 39 degrees.  We stopped at Wolf Creek Campground and donned the fleece, waders and raingear, the skies started spitting sleet.  I was not deterred in the least, and much to my delight, neither was Randall.  Randall is a true tailwater tribesman and I am proud to have him as a member of my tribe.  As I mentioned in my last post, Randall won't back down from temperature extremes, weather events, grizzly bears, or whatever mother nature dishes out. 
Once again, we started at Swan Creek access and hit all the spots we'd hit the day before.  As the weather improved, so did the fishing.  We were particularly pleased to see numerous Salmonflies and Golden Stones coming off and were encouraged that we might actually get in some dry fly action.  With this in mind we went in search of "soft water."  Randall stayed with his nymphing and I got optimistic and started floating some big foam Salmonflies and Golden Stones.  Raised a couple fish, but didn't take one on the dries--only on the nymphs.  I chalked it up to the fact that the water was still stained and the fish, despite wanting to "look up" could not see what they were looking for. 
The southernmost part of the trip terminated at Durnam Meadow, where I raised a huge brown, but had no further luck with him despite changing flies several times.  We caught several fish that day, but the signature fish was a 20" brown Randall caught slamming girdle bugs in the rip-rap. 
All-in-all, day two on the Gallatin was a great success despite weather swings and high flows.  But as I found out quickly, if you don't like the weather in Montana, just wait a few minutes and it'll change.  Maybe even into something you like.  Randall's fishing the Madison tomorrow, taking a float trip with the Bozeman Angler.  I think I'll explore the Madison tomorrow, myself.  On Wednesday, Randall and I are supposed to do some spring creek fishing.  Another day, another adventure...

Comments

  1. Impersuit39507March 5, 2012 at 7:30 PM

    Nice fish! The Gallatin sounds like a awesome place to do some fly fishing.

    ReplyDelete

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