Starting the New Year off DRY.

Finding rising trout is always a treat. Finding them in the middle of winter in Colorado is downright tasty. Tanner (AKA San Juan and Eggs AKA the Four Weight Wizard) was kind enough to share one of his small stream gems with me and it made for a damn good time.

The recipe: A YETI filled with high lifes, two dogs, some light rods, and some parachute adams.

The Meal: Small creek browns on the surface.

The day started off slow. Real slow. But, as the sun progressively warmed the creek up, the tiny creek's colorful browns started rising to our dries. Just as one would expect. It's winter after all.

During my time as fly angler, I have neglected small streams, in favor of more well known waters. It is my 2014 angling resolution to spend more time in the backcountry. More time on waters like this. They are good for the soul.

green drakes in paradise

About two weeks ago, the rivers here in western Montana were still a little bit higher than normal due to rainy weather in May and June. I went to visit Fish Creek, located 40 miles west of Missoula, a favorite stomping ground of mine that I fished quite a bit last summer while learning the basics of fly fishing. Utilizing the creek's relative solitude and lack of heavy fishing pressure, I took my time fishing familiar holes throughout the past summer measuring my progress in fish and casting accuracy. While I have frequented the more famed Rock Creek quite a bit this year, I decided to give fish creek a go. I was rewarded handsomely. With a bevy of mayflies hatching throughout the course of the day (pale morning duns in the AM, green drakes in afternoon, and pale evening duns in the PM), I fished this familiar water with fantastic results. I caught a 21'' rainbow, a 19'' cutbow, two 18'' cutbows, and two 16'' cutbows, and a handful of smaller, less engorged fish. I found success primarily with green drake dry flies in the heat of the day and I pulled a couple more out with some huge streamers. In a repeat performance of last year, the largest trout I caught to date was in my net for a couple seconds only to escape and return to the creek without being photographed. I was searching for my camera when it bucked its way out of my brodin ghost net. Stay tuned to yukon goes fishing over the next couple weeks. I have a couple of trips planned that I hope will be quite productive including a trip up to Eureka this coming weekend, to Yellowstone National Park in two weekends, and a float trip down the Yellowstone in the foreseeable future. Enjoy the video from my banner day on Fish Creek.


Green Drakes in Paradise from Ivan Orsic on Vimeo.

Another Day on the Rock

I went back up to fish upper Rock Creek yesterday. The morning fishing was spectacular. Of the ten fish I caught - ten of the fish were caught between 10 AM and 1 PM. That certainly does not mean the fish were not feeding from 1 PM to 4 PM. I hooked into several fish during the afternoon hours, but I was unable to reel them in. Additionally, I could not figure out the right combination to lure the feeding fish into taking my dry flies, nymphs, or streamers with much conviction. There were plenty of hits and misses. There were several highlights from the day and one massive low point. When pulling in an eight inch whitefish towards the bank, a massive fish flashed at it three or four times. I can only guess that it was a rock creek bull trout. It was exhilarating and confusing all at once. A part of my fishing mind was thinking, "don't lose the fish", the rest of my mind was thinking "let the beast take it." I saved the tiny whitey from doom, while hooting and hollering loud enough for neighboring anglers to take notice. At the end of the day, I was headed back to some water that I had successfully fished in the morning. While walking through willows and thick underbrush, my line caught on a branch. I stumbled shortly after it caught on the branch. Together, the stumble and the snag bent the upper piece of my rod until it shattered at the ferrule. So, without a useful rod, I hung my head and sulked back to my car. Cursing myself for getting greedy. On the bright side, I took some amazing video. Watch it in HD on vimeo. (Music: Kev Brown "Another Random Joint")


Another Day On The Rock from Ivan Orsic on Vimeo.

Fishing Rock Creek on Me Birthday

I was lucky enough to receive a flip hd video camera and a waterproof case for said camera for my birthday. I promptly headed up to upper Rock Creek to fish with my friend Brian and his dog Wilma. While Rock Creek is still flowing high, as a result of spring runoff and the recent rains we experienced in western Montana, it was clear. We found some fishable water along the banks and in side channels. I caught 11 fish including two westslope cutthroat, two cutbows, one brown trout, and six whitefish on golden stone and green drake nymphs, streamers, and on golden stone and caddis dries. Brian also eclipsed the ten fish mark for the day. A sunny day on the rock. Enjoy the video. Watch the video on youtube to see the HD version. The underwater trout release shots were a little disappointing this time 'round, but I'll get them next time. (Music: Kings Go Forth "Now We're Gone")

5 and the Hero Pose

Upper Rock Creek for the second time this week. This time I went with a friend of mine from grad school. I have learned a lot from this friend, he has helped me buy a rod, line, reel, etc. When we arrived at Gilles Bridge, it was cold and the weather was erratic. Variable sun, cloud cover, and a combination of snow and hail - lets call it snail or hailow - made for interesting conditions. The fishing started slow as all the normally productive sections of river appeared to be fishless. So, we made our way upstream to unexplored waters. After a couple more failures, my friend and I found success. Nymphing with black stoneflies and midge nymphs, both of us lost a fish before catching a fish. After catching my first fish, I posed for my first hero shots of the year. A hero shot is the classic angler with the fish photo. Being new to fly-fishing, I have had enough issues landing and releasing the fish. So, my past attempts at hero shots have been lackluster. Most of my hero shots consist of the fish, usually small, being fumbled about. Never dropped, per se, but fumbled...and always obscured. The fish never gets the exposure it deserves. Mostly Ivan hand.

Here I am fumbling a brook trout, the first fluvial trout I caught, from Rock Creek near Red Lodge, MT from summer 2009.

Here I am fumbling, hunching over, and obscuring a Flathead Lake Rainbow.

Note: that when I finally have posed for the hero shot, I am hunching over the fish. Poor form. If you read the 13 tips for a good hero shot, I have violated many rules. Including number five:  

Get in position. You want to look comfortable when you are holding the fish, so try to avoid awkward positions (such as standing hunched-over trying to hold the fish and look at the camera). The easiest position is to take a knee in about six to eight inches of water.

So, when my chance to take a hero shot came about on upper rock creek, I could only see improvement. Under the guidance of my friend, my first hero shots of the year turned out better than any of my past attempts. One more than the other.

Here I am with a 14-15'' cutthroat/cutbow from upper Rock Creek.

I probably should have removed the hat and my fingers are still looming a bit large, but, a great improvement.

After completing a good hero shot pose, I promptly stepped on a weed bed in about 8 inches of water, slipped onto my back, rolled onto my stomach, and fell into said 8 inches of water. My first fall into a MT river, after four seasons of field work and one season of fishing. I probably shouldn't have been chewing that gum. Too many things to do at once.

Oh yeah, and I caught 5 (3 cutthroat, 1 brown, and 1 cutbow) - lost 8 (including a couple large cutthroats - 18 to 19''). My friend caught  7 (including a large 18'' cutthroat) and lost 5.