Yeah, that is my super duper secret spot somewhere in SW Montana.
Went musky hunting today.
River X has high water temps, so we headed to the legendary Chippewa. Had multiple Muskys follow the fly back to the boat and follow the figure-8, but no bites. Also had several violent strikes, but no eats. Big day, 12 hours, had fun.
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"Zee damn fat skis are ruining zee piste !" -Oscar Schevlin
"Hike up your skirt and grow a dick you fucking crybaby" -what Bunion said to Harry at the top of The Headwaters
As a wise shop proprietor once told me, “I ain’t got no interest in a type of fishing where you get excited about fish not eating.”
Jesus loves musky but that guy doesn’t.
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swing your fucking sword.
Smallmouth on the Flambeau
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"Zee damn fat skis are ruining zee piste !" -Oscar Schevlin
"Hike up your skirt and grow a dick you fucking crybaby" -what Bunion said to Harry at the top of The Headwaters
Some North Eastern Ontario/ Western Quebec stoke.
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Well, after a couple decades of living in Montana, surrounded by what is arguably the best trout fishing in the world, I recently decided to pull out the fly rod my dad gave me for my birthday seven years ago, and see how badly I suck at fishing, since I really haven't fished much in the past 35 years.
My first four outings in the lower Bitterroot (which is a five minute drive), yielded an exceptional amount of profoundly tangled leaders, and many lost flies. All I managed to catch was a four inch Whitefish, which had the distinction of being the smallest fish I've caught on rod and reel.
However, today I went elsewhere, to a smaller stream, lost fewer flies, tangled up somewhat less often, and landed the biggest trout fish (a stunningly bright cutthroat on a bumble bee pattern) I've ever had the pleasure to hook. I had no camera with me, and was more concerned to get the fish back in the water than measuring it.
I think I'll be going again often.
^^^ Nice work!
Don’t look at it as fishing; look at it as practicing your casting. Much less frustrating. ;-)
Hell yeah! It's really addicting, isn't it?
I'm in the same boat. SFB was kind enough to take me out and teach me the basics earlier this year ("Joan Wulf called and she said put more fucking line out" | "Ten o'clock and two o'clock"), as well as a few other super kind mags and friends.
It took me a minute to get into the groove (get my shit together, set up my rigs, find my local go-to spots) - and I still suck - but today I practiced casting and hauling, and I managed to hook up a few times (one was right before I roll casted up river and the fish threw my hook pretty quickly).
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Nice. I did a bit of fly fishing as a kid (and a ton of conventional fishing on fresh and salt water). Just started fly fishing again this summer and I'm obsessed. The (re)learning curve was steep at first, but it has gotten much better. The tangles are much less common, the flies generally go where I want them to (with plenty of room for improvement) and it turns out that casting into the wind is possible. Practicing on grass, when I wasn't actually trying to catch fish, helped me a lot.
Fishing was a huge part of the 1st 20 years of my life. Now that I'm back at it I can't believe I ever gave it up. Especially today, when I was lucky to be on the river for three separate mayfly hatches. It was my best day of fishing since the late 90's. It was so good that I didn't notice that my feet had gone completely numb from 5 hours of wet wading. The 1st mile of the hike back to my car felt like I was walking on someone else's feet.
Casting to a big brown and watching it sip my fly is the most religious experience I have ever had.
Fast forward about a decade with a few hiatuses interspersed and I'm leaving most of my life behind, on my way back across the country to the middle of nowhere to build fly poles. And, if the rivers get some fkn water in em, i might even get to fish!
swing your fucking sword.
^^ tomorrow I’m going to introduce you to the other religion, the satanic world of Musky fishing.
And Mister Musky won’t “sip” your fly, he will take a sledgehammer to your fly.
Really looking forward to fishing with you tomorrow. It’s gonna be fun.
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"Zee damn fat skis are ruining zee piste !" -Oscar Schevlin
"Hike up your skirt and grow a dick you fucking crybaby" -what Bunion said to Harry at the top of The Headwaters
FKNA.
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swing your fucking sword.
I did that as a kid with a buddy of mine. We'd buy two dry flies each (and candy) at the general store. Then we'd hike up to tiny creek in the hills above his house and use our Swiss army knives to cut 4 foot poles (long enough to reach the opposite side of the creek). If we crawled up to the edge of the bigger (but tiny) pools and dabbed the flies on the surface we'd catch brook trout. The biggest we ever caught was probably 8 inches. I remember setting the hook on a tiny little fish and sending it flying off into the woods. We found it by the sound of it flapping on the ground.Quite possibly the highlight of summer, kiddo catching trout on dries using a willow as a rod. Tied on some 4x. It held, and he was stoked!!! Warms my heart!
+1 on the willow rod stoke!
You're a great dad stapes
X3 gg stapes! Nice!!!!
And @ISBD, I’ve no idear why but I heard that more than once called a “moonshot” lol. Funny, I can totally picture it.
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If we're gonna wear uniforms, we should all wear somethin' different!
Met up with StealYurFace today and introduced him to Musky fishing in the north woods of Wisconsin. River X was our preferred spot, but high water temps and a massive algae bloom took that off the table. Backup plan was the legendary Flambeau River. Great day with a great maggot. SyF is built like a linebacker, but his arm got toasted by the big rod with heavy sink line. I think I created a new Musky addict today, and he is welcome in my boat anytime.
Also today was the maiden voyage of my new Stealthcraft 2-person drift boat. It performed flawlessly and is perfect for my needs.
Hooking up my boat stored at my Grampa’s cabin.
Musky net vs Trout net
HUGE callout issued to Telee
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"Zee damn fat skis are ruining zee piste !" -Oscar Schevlin
"Hike up your skirt and grow a dick you fucking crybaby" -what Bunion said to Harry at the top of The Headwaters
Hell of a time. Best day of fishing all summer and didn’t even hook up.
Seeing those gills flare was something else. Still kicking myself for not letting him eat. I’ll be back for redemption before long. Thanks again for an awesome day on the water. Hopefully I can procure watercraft of my own and return the favor on the beaverhead next spring.
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swing your fucking sword.
Oh yeah, forgot to add that we saw far and away the 3 biggest freshwater fish I have ever seen. The first one looked every bit of 60”. Truly massive dinosaurs. Make me think twice when I waded in to get a fly off a snag.
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swing your fucking sword.
Sixty Five.
Awesome!
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If we're gonna wear uniforms, we should all wear somethin' different!
Sometimes it's the one that got away that haunts you. One day I will fish for alligator bass with Harry.
Jumped into a local creek and found something else... Ted Bundies cave!
And a couple small wild browns.
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Bunny Don't Surf
Have you seen a one armed man around here?
Goddamn Harry and SUF, this is the best stoke I've seen on the board all summer. Well done guys!
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Nothing as cool as mags fishing for dinosaurs, but I'm taking my girlfriend to the winds for a quick backpacking mission to Cirque of the Towers. I asked her if she was cool if I brought a rod and fished and she said only if I taught her. Last year we had incredible dry fly action up there, I'm stoked to go back. Wish me luck!
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