Here at Home

This has been an incredibly good year here at home. (You're probably getting tired of me saying that!) But with the exception of about a week of low water, our stream really has been good all season. We've had plenty of water, seldom too much, usually just about right, good hatches and good fishing. And it continues to be so. If the rain keeps up, we could fish right through summer and into fall. Last night Barry and I fished until after dark and had a late evening hatch of Light Cahills and lots of fish up feeding. At the end of July, it is pretty amazing. Here are a few shots from this week.

Alaska, Here We Come

We're off to Alaska in a couple days for a week at Reel Action Camp on the Kanektok River, located a mile from tide water with the Bering Sea. The lodge provides guests a front row seat to the freshest chrome bright fly fishing in Alaska. We are there for silver salmon and rainbows, but there's always a few other species around – pinks, chum, grayling, and char.  

The camp is outfitted with 2-handed rods and reels for anyone who wants to catch silvers this way and it's a wonderful opportunity to get comfortable with a spey rod. It's a fun week which always concludes with tired, sore arms, achy muscles, big fish stories and great memories.

Next up is the Bighorn

It feels good to be on the road again, as Willie would say. We're home for a week and we leave for two weeks on the Bighorn River in Montana. While much of Montana is in a sad predicament with fish kills, warm water, and forest fires, there are pockets of good fishing here and there. That doesn't mean that the situation is less severe, it is very very bad, and we pray for our friends in those popular areas that are affected by these conditions and hope that it rectifies itself soon.

The word is that we will be okay on the Bighorn because it's a tail water fishery. The water is coming out cold, clear, and low – which is good for the 'Horn at this time of year.

Midge Fishing with a Sighter Fly

https://www.rioproducts.com/learn/midge-fishing-with-a-sighter
In this RIO Fly Fishing Tip, Chris Walker shows how to use a larger, visible “sighter” type dry fly when fishing tiny dries. This will give you a great visual of the area to look in for your microscopic dry fly. Chris is using this technique for winter fishing, but it works in the summer when fish are feeding on midges just as well. Enjoy. Thanks Chris for bring us this tip.