Fly Fish Chick

The Headhunters episode of ‘Adventure Guides’ airs this weekend on the Outdoor Channel with a brief fishing cameo from your truly.

Actually, it first aired this morning but I missed it because I was busy hoisting my canoe down to the water about to do an interview on Team Paddlefish for our local CBS affiliate. Can you believe I had my first ever television debut twice in one day? What are the odds?

No matter if you missed Adventure Guides this morning, because it airs again two more times this weekend on the Outdoor Channel. Here are few nuggets of info to keep in mind:

• If you have Direct TV, The Outdoor Channel is 606
• The episode airs FRIDAY Feb 26th at 11pm est / 10pm cst
• It airs again SATURDAY Feb 27th at 11.30am est / 10.30am cst
• My good buddy Mark Raisler of Headhunters in Craig MT is the total star of the episode along with the fish and the Missouri River itself. We had a good day on the water and caught a few nice fish so hopefully that’s fun to relive onscreen

That’s about it, friends. Set your TIVOs, pop some corn, and enjoy the show!

(Now I just have to find someplace with the Outdoor Channel to watch it.)

I had such fun on Saturday with my friends at Fly South here in Nashville. They rolled out a fine spread of Krispy Kremes, hot coffee, mango mimosas and bloody marys. We had a great turnout, and hopefully I didn’t bore everyone with my presentation on Montana trout fishing – heaven knows that’s a topic I like to talk and talk and talk about!

It was such fun to be with family and old friends, not to mention have the opportunity to meet new ones. I’m so grateful to everyone who trekked out. Here’s a mini slideshow of the event. Hold your cursor over each picture to read the captions:

Hopefully Fly South got a little extra ring on the register from our breakfast gathering. These guys are topnotch and deserve it after all their hard work.

Little Chick certainly had her consumer hat on wandering through the store, adding one item after the next to her xmas list. The number one item she wanted from  Fly South? A new pink flyrod. I guess Santa was watching my presentation and our little shop gathering because this appeared at our early xmas celebration yesterday morning:

THANK YOU FLY SOUTH FOR THE HOSPITALITY!!!!!

I am overwhelmed by feelings of nostalgia and memories of family traditions. Wistful, light-hearted notions of carefree days and the sound of laughter with friends. Now while I am preparing to travel to Nashville this week for the holidays, it’s not the Yule Tide season or the thought of rocking around the Christmas tree that has my head in the clouds.

I am experiencing a severe case of trout brain.

This weekend I will be at FLY SOUTH flyshop in Nashville doing a presentation on fishing Montana rivers. In preparation, I am knee-deep in fish photographs and river maps and flies…and it’s killing me. I am desperate to be in a drift boat in Montana. I wish I were in the middle of an evening caddis hatch on the Missouri with two hours of summer sunlight left and a glass of red wine and a bowl of penne waiting for me at Izaaks at about 11 pm.

Since that’s still months away and I am due to shake my tail feathers South for the winter instead of West, talking trout will have to suffice until I am catching them. Care to join me?

The guys at Fly South are the best and if you’re not on a river, I can’t think of a better place to spend a Saturday. So if you’re in the area, please do come to Fly South this weekend to say hello, score a doughnut, and see my presentation on fishing Montana rivers.

Krispy Kremes & Trout Talk

Fly Fish Chick at Fly South

1514 Demonbreun St

Saturday December 19th from 9-10am

If you’re not in Nashville, don’t think you’re off the hook. I need help with my withdrawal symptoms presentation. Send me some Big Sky fishing stories, pictures, pattern suggestions. Jump in the mix, share your trout fishing highlight reel with the rest of us. What was your best day on a Montana river? I am granting you permission to brag – not to mention an excuse to take a break from your online Christmas shopping.

1. Sunrise Flyshop, Melrose Montana

I first crossed paths with the guys at Sunrise last May in Virginia City. I was on the girls fishing trip and we ventured off the ranch one evening for dinner at Banditos and a little entertainment at the Virginia City Follies. During intermission our not-so-subtle group of nine caused quite a ruckus trying to get a group picture. Some very nice guys ventured over and offered to take it for us.

As he clicked away, I shouted out, “Are you a fishing guide?” He was just so at home with the fancy camera I knew right away he must be a fishing guide – guides are always the best photographers. Sure enough not only guide, but a partner in Sunrise Flyshop.

We have since been in & out of Sunrise several times – it’s a great shop. And not just because they are so close to the Melrose Bar. Those guys are on the water relentlessly and have excellent intel about what’s happening with hatches and fish at any given moment and they are eager to share information every time we go in for shuttles and bugs.

2. Sunrise Chicken Biscuits in Chapel Hill, NC

Let’s just say in college after a rare night (ahem) of being overserved my roommates and I would skip all of our classes and hunker down all day playing Hearts and eating chicken biscuits from Sunrise. It was inevitably an intricate negotiation process as to who would make the trip out into the world and get the grub, often bartering clothes, future rides to class and of course blackmail from the night before. But it was always worth it. Hands down the best chicken biscuit on the planet. I don’t know how they can produce so many biscuits – so well – from such a teeny little kitchen.

3. Sunrise…

Well I would say the Craneflies at sunrise on the Beaverhead over Labor Day this year but we never made it to the river in time to catch that hatch. We heard about it every where we went, apparently it was stellar. But since we merely have that lingering and punishing should-a-been there, and since it is almost sunrise here and I have to catch an early flight, I am going to have to go with the delightful Norah Jones song “Sunrise”. I am off to the keys for a few days but in the meantime, enjoy some tunes and share a good sunrise story with us…

This past summer The Professor and I were floating the Big Hole, leapfrogging section after section with another couple in a bright blue skiff. Sun was hot and fishing slowish. We cruised close enough at point for a brief exchange. He was a guide with a rare day off. We were from Texas & Alabama. Good fishing…and so on and so forth.

A few hours later we rowed around a bend to discover some anglers in a driftboat wedged on a boulder and taking on water. Not the first on the scene, a gaggle of boats were anchored up river right trying to help and/or watch the drama unfold.

The guide from the blue skiff was leading the rescue charge with another guy who was friends with the anglers in peril. We offered to help but were quickly dismissed. They were far along into their strategy – plus, the fact that we’d previously allowed we were from Texas & Alabama gained us little credibility in this setting with this crowd.

So we stayed out of the way cheering and watching as the guide from the blue skiff jumped in someone else’s higher sided driftboat, rowed across the river, and held the boat in a hydraulic behind a boulder in what was otherwise fast moving water. He was able to hold it long enough for a critical two-way exchange of gear and bailing mechanisms.

Whoa! Our jaws were on the ground. The Professor and I were blown away by his rowing skills. The anglers were able to bail just enough water to dislodge and row like hell to the slower current river right. All was well.

We saw Super Guide down river and effusively praised his rowing prowess, commended him on being the super hero for the day. He was humble and cool about it.

We were sorta hoping to catch him and his girlfriend at the takeout and treat him to a drink, but they were long gone when we pulled out.

Who was that masked man? Who was that Super Guide dressed as a regular fishing guy?

We spent the next few days asking around flyshops, describing his boat, trying to find out who he was. But we never caught up with him.

****************************************

On our recent Labor Day trip to Montana we were determined to float the Jefferson, something we’d not previously done. Admittedly we had trouble cracking the code. Trying a million things. Hoppers, streamers, crawfish. We threw all kinds of things. What was the deal? Wrong color? wrong size? Wrong stretch? Wrong day?

We were stubborn. We fished the Jeff for 3 days. The first day we were skunked. Second day we caught some on hoppers but while we were trending the right direction, it was still a very low hours-on-the-water to fish ratio. But our third day? Our third day we had the power. It unlocked for us. We were moving fish, netting fish, missing fish, losing fish, catching fish. It was a blast. Lots of action.

What changed for us? Well…..

So on that first day on the Jeff – the day we were skunked – we were floating along scratching our heads when what should appear but a guide boat. Hmm. Something was starting to seem familiar about this setup. Skiff….bright blue….young guide.

Wait a minute. The Professor poked me, you know who that was? That’s Super Guide from The Big Hole! He was right. Somewhere in our detective work we had learned his name was….what was it…his name…Joe, I think.

But where was he? Where’d they go? He vaporized like superheroes often do. Damn.

Next day we were kicking around Twin Bridges getting ready to fish and sure enough, we saw his truck and boat. Super Guide sighting again! Damn….where was he??? We kept our eye on the truck but no sighting. The river called.

After a long day we were heading home, barreling through Twin again when who should step out of the Blue Anchor bar just as we were gunning by but Super Guide and his girlfriend!! The Professor honked and waved, and somehow pulled a U-turn on the main street of Twin Bridges with a boat & trailer.

I kept a bead on Super Guide. Hey! They are turning around and walking toward us!

The Professor practically popped up on that curb and I was already hoisting myself out the passenger window to flag them down. Not worrying about the fact I was about to seem like a lunatic stalker I enthusiastically shouted, “Hey it’s you! Super Guide! Joe…..right?”

At that nanosecond it hit me. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot he is going to think we are complete freaks. I bet he is wondering who in the hell we are and why we keep popping up in his world. He opened his mouth to speak and I braced myself for him to dismiss us or ask what the….

Joe lit up and exclaimed, “You’re The Fly Fish Chick!”

Yay! Hugs for everyone!!! Lovefest on the streets of Twin. We met his girlfriend Kayla who was adorable. Lots of laughs about the multiple random encounters. Once again profuse praise for his supergalactic rowing feat on the Big Hole. The four us went to the Blue Anchor for a few drinks and lots of laughs.

Joe Willauer guides out of Stonefly Inn & Outfitters where Kalya works in the shop. We shared stories about fishing the Jefferson – mostly we told them about our challenges. Joe had some really solid insight and suggested we drop in the shop the next day.

We arrived at Stonefly the next morning – our final day of the trip – determined to make something happen on the Jeff. Joe was already long gone with clients but left Kayla with specific intel for us, including some super secret special bugs that we were not to share with anyone. We were so dutiful, we even plucked them off the cliff pad at the end of the float and off the rods so no one at the boat ramp would lay their eyeballs on them.

Kayla outlined a specific stretch of water where Joe suggested we float. She had just fished the same stretch days before and added her own data on specific rocks and banks to hit. Lottery. Needless to say they set us up bigtime.

We had a wonderful adventure on the Jefferson. The float was gorgeous, the fish were hungry, the bugs worked like a charm. Apparently Joe & Kayla aren’t trying to keep their super hero identities all that much of a secret. So if you’re in the Twin Bridges area, stop in Stonefly and meet our new friends.

MANY THANKS Joe & Kayla! Look forward to more laughs, cocktails & time on the water…

Over the years the Professor has become good friends with Nancy & Dan Delekta of Beartooth Flyfishing on the Madison River. You’ve probably heard of Dan’s fly tying legacy and his line of patterns, called Delektables. If you’ve been in the store, you definitely know Nancy, who is quick with a warm welcome and a hearty dose of spot-on fishing intel.

On our recent Labor Day trip we fished the Madison our second day which required an automatic visit to Beartooth. Fishing took a back seat while we each took a pass on the inversion table they have on the front porch.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t really get the inversion table magic. It seems like it would be great for my back and something I would love. I must have been doing it wrong, I’m not sure. If I run across another inversion table I am going to give it another try.

At any rate, with all the blood rushed into his head the Professor was charged up and ready to hit the water. He madly sped through the fly bins and assembled a collection of patterns with Nancy’s input. I was dawdling about in my own world not really involved in the process.

But right at the end when the Professor was all set to checkout, I decided to pick ONE fly that I wanted to use on the Madison. Something random that struck me out of the blue. Something out there and wild.

In a nanosecond something caught my eye and I wanted it. It was a big chunky purple and tan bushy attractor-type size 8 beast. It was the one.

The Professor felt good about his assortment and was ready to wrap things up so he sort of shook it off. But I was adamant we needed this fly. I felt so strongly about it I agreed to fish with only this fly all day long.

Our friendly adversarial conversation about the flies garnered the attention of others in the shop but no one was really taking sides. I decided to get Nancy’s endorsement to seal the deal. While she did advise I drop it down to a size 10, she agreed it was a lethal selection. Ha!

I fought beartooth and nail to add that fly into the mix and thus, the deal was struck. Let’s be honest, when Nancy gave it the nod and teamed up with me the Professor didn’t have a chance against us.

So did it work?

Let’s just say I pick out flies like I pick out songs on a jukebox.

I had two strikes on that fly right off the boat ramp. KA-POW. Granted one fish was a peanut, but this was the second one:

Not bad, eh? Thanks for the vote of confidence Nancy!

If you’re fishing in Southwest Montana right now, you are going to need plenty of terrestrials. I have just returned from a 5-day fishing trip out there, and it was all about grasshoppers, ants and beetles.

We caught a few on small dries, threw streamers with no luck (although others were doing well with them.) But we had most of our success with the terrestrials. And believe me, we tried it all and had a blast getting creative…thinking inside the flybox. After a summer of matching hatches and serving accurate dries to a pinpoint target, it was a blast to get wild on color and size and chuck big flies out there with reckless abandon, lots of floatant, and a dash of hope.

Here’s a snapshot of our Test Lab:

Day One: Big Hole

• Pretty float
• Small-to-medium sized fish
• Low water had us hoisting and heaving the boat off protruding rocks and pesky gravel bars (good training for the Water Safari!)

Day Two: Madison

• Chamber of Commerce day with no wind and plenty of sunshine
• Lots of action for about 2-3 hours on hoppers, ants, beetles and hopper-like attractors
• Then it shut off

Day Three: Jefferson

• A new adventure as we had never floated this river before
• Skunksville
• A number of peanuts hit the hopper and we missed a few decent fish, but apparently we had a better chance of catching a slimy green alien that getting a trout in the net

Day Four: Morning float on the Beaverhead, afternoon float on the Jefferson

• Beaverhead was windy windy windy
• But there were rising fish aplenty
• Professor pulled out nice one on teeny dry that was rising about a centimeter off a weed pad

• Quick picnic then we hauled over to float the Jeff with stubborn determination to see if we could find signs of life there
• After I had a few hits on my hopper on the strip, I surmised the fish wanted movement
• Started twitching and giving the hopper some action and things picked up
• Caught a few on the hopper, no luck on streamers (we later decided we were throwing wrong color streamers)

Day Five: Jefferson

• Our 3rd pass at the Jeff and our success continued to trend in the right direction
• Good intel on some specific patterns improved our chances
• More hits, bigger fish
• Magnificent takes, hot fighting fish

Bottom line? The fishing wasn’t out-of-this-world epic easy. But it felt great to grind it out hour after hour and force feed trout those meaty, crawling bugs. It was an extra special terrestrial trip with lots of hours on the water, ideal weather, copious laughter, delicious food, beer & wine, three important victories in college football, lots of eats, plenty of nice fish, a couple of bigger ones, and without question the most spectacular and dramatic takes I’ve ever seen in my life.

I know, I know. I am a very lucky girl. Don’t be jealous, I come in peace.

Or is it fish net stockings? I can see how they came up with the term.

My apologies for that mildly awkward photo and unladylike pose. Admittedly there was some chaos in the moment of that grip & grin. Heavy wind, rocks all around, and we were coming up fast on the takeout. But we wanted to document this gamechanger fish. It was a tough afternoon float on the Madison and we needed this morale boost.

But back to nets. Let’s dish. What floats your boat when it comes to fish nets:

• Giant nets with extendable handles?
• Traditional wooden net?
• Certain brand you prefer?
• You don’t fish with a net but you do wear ladies hosiery under your waders?

Trying to crack the culinary code of feeding fish is an integral part of this game we all enjoy. Better anglers than I have more knowledge of entomology, and I learn a great deal listening to their suppositions, theories and predictions. I am sure both my dad and The Professor can tell you exactly what this fish ate when I caught it and exactly what size fly I used to trick it. I can’t remember. I just recall how great it felt to get a decent cast to it after I had already offered up several marginal casts. I was damn excited about this fish.

Afterwards we eased down onto another pod of eagerly feeding fish. I was content with fishing and pretty hungry myself so I was kicked back in the back of the boat, more concerned with when I was going to have dinner than what these trout might be eating. Unlike my undiscerning fish, these trout were a great deal more particular. My dad tried and tried. The Professor tried and tried.

What the hell are they eating?

Finally the professor exclaimed to the skies, “I am such a dumbass! I know what they are eating!” He changed flies one more time…cast one more time…and voila! Like Mikey on the LIFE Cereal commercials, “He Likes It!”

Looking back on the weeks I spent in Montana this summer, I realize almost every waking hour was consumed with consumption. We were either concerned with what the fish might be eating, or what we were going to be eating. Of course there are a thousand people, blogs and flyshops who can tell you what they fish were eating, so I will spare you an outdated hatch report and instead offer something more useful should you travel the same paths in the 406.

Here’s a quick list of what we were eating out in Montana this summer:

1. Pretty much anything at Bandito’s in Virgnia City. Carne Asada, Chile Relleno and the Southwest Cobb Salad were highlights.

2. Burgers at The Melrose Bar

3. Whatever they had at The Trout Shop Cafe in Craig. I am so excited that The Trout Shop is once again open for dinner. Each night is a different lineup for the menu, and it’s all good. For the Professor’s birthday dinner we feasted on burgers, grilled sausage, chicken and Texas-style brisket that was dynamite.

4. Now on this point, I must be clear. I am not a Wing person. Sorry, I’m simply not. I see the wing craze happening in suburban strip malls all around. Upscale fast food restaurants that are dedicated to serving chicken wings. I live in Texas where gigantic cuts of bare barbecued meat speak for themselves, so I don’t really get the magic of gnawing off teeny bits of meat that are drowned in so much sauce.

That said…..given my anti-wing stance…I will say with unabashed enthusiasm that the chicken wings at Trouthunter in Island Park Idaho may have changed my mind and opened my heart to the whole wing world magic. They were really really good.

5. Chicken Fontina at Izaaks in Craig. I have pretty much worked my way through the menu at Izaaks and I usually have a favorite that I gravitate to each season. Last year I loved the pasta with the sausage in a light creamy tomato sauce. This summer the Chicken Fontina was my go-to dish.

6. The Mexican Food bus in Dillon. If you think I was harsh in my Overblown Righteous Texasness when talking about chicken wings, don’t get me started on Mexican food. In my opinion, they can’t even seem to get it right in Mexico. But I will wholeheartedly endorse the TexMex fare served in this fabulous little bus in Dillon. It’s delish.

7. The Pickle Barrel in Bozeman. Not sure what this fabulous sandwich was all about but I loved it. We were there in early June and were lucky enough to meet the proprietor who joined us for lunch and could not have been more entertaining. He even treated me to a cupcake in his bakery next door! I am a huge fan of the Pickle Barrel.

8. Turkey Sandwich with Provolone at Montana Wheat in Three Forks.

9. FFC’s Probably Never-Going-To-Be-Famous Tuna Salad. To date I think I have only shared one other recipe with yall, but I found that one on the internet. This one is a bonafide original — and quite a crowd-pleaser if I do say so myself.

It was somewhat accidental. I was in charge of packing the lunch cooler but we were running low on premium sandwich meats. And the loaf of bread I’d picked up at Montana Wheat was almost gone. So I decided the streamside lunch was going to be tuna salad in tortillas. We had eggs, so I chopped up a hard-boiled egg and added it to the tuna salad which I like with lots of pepper, no salt, and very little mayonnaise. A lot of people like chopped celery in their tuna for a little green & a little crunch, but celery makes me want to die of boredom. So I diced up jalapeno into the tuna salad instead. Deee-lightful!!

Tuna salad with a kick. We’ve made it a few times since and it really spices up an otherwise mundane classic. If you can handle a little firepower, I recommend you give it a try.

This list merely scratches the surface as I do seem to root out delicious food almost everywhere I go, whether it be the gourmet fare at Healing Waters or a corn dog at the Town Pump in Townsend. What can I say? Fishing makes me hungry. And apparently…thirsty. I like the mystery person off to the right of this picture who seems to know I likee the vino rojo.

Cin Cin!

Some of you may recall a story I told about Little Chick’s first fish on the flyrod, a cutthroat that she caught on the Blackfoot two summers ago. That event remains a bright spot in our family folklore, so in an effort to recreate fishing magic for Little Chick, my mother once again treated us to a couple of nights at PRO Outfitters lodge on the Blackfoot.

As always, our good friend and talented chef Michael Carlucci wowed us with savory meals from start to finish.

And it was a treat to catch up with our old friends Katie & Brandon who run a topnotch operation.

With copious amounts of food and laughter, we almost forgot the purpose of our mission. But fear not…when it was time to fish, we were all geared up and rarin’ to go. Little Chick’s guide, Chad, has officially earned the title of Hardest Working Fly Fishing Guide of 2009. I have never seen anyone work so hard to extend a drift. Back row, forward stroke, in the boat, out of the boat, holding the boat, walking the boat.

But in the end, Little Chick got the job done — and held the fish all by herself for her Official 2009 Grip & Grin.

I am one proud Mama Chicken.