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")

dreams and goals for 2010 (original and revised)

In the beginning of the year, I made a list of ten things I would like to accomplish over the course of the year 2010. I wrote the original list in a fishing log that I started in a bound, pleather, lined notebook. When compiling the list, I intentionally included reasonable and completely unreasonable goals. The original list read as follows:

1. catch a fish on a nymph
2. catch a fish in each month of the year
3. catch a bull trout (not target, which is important distinction)
4. read "The River Why", "Trout Bum", "Nymphing"
5. catch more than 10 fish in a day
6. film and capture fishing trips
7. catch a 20'' cutthroat, 24'' rainbow, 25'' brown
8. catch fish out of the Clark Fork, Blackfoot, and Bitterroot Rivers (note: when writing the list I had only caught fish out of Rock Creek (near Missoula), Fish Creek, Rock Creek (near Deer Lodge), Flathead Lake, Avalanche Lake (in Glacier NP), and Greenough Lake (near Deer Lodge))
9. fish the following bodies of water - Bitterroot River, Clark Fork River, Blackfoot River, Rock Creek, Fish Creek, Petty Creek, Ninemile Creek, Georgetown Lake, Elk River (in BC/Alberta), Trout Creek, Lolo Creek, Lochsa River, Bighole River, Lamar River, Firehole River, and Slough Creek
10. Catch a Yellowstone Cutthroat

About halfway through the year I have completed the following goals:

1. catch a fish on a nymph
2. catch a fish in each month of the year (holds true to date - through june)
3. catch a bull trout (not target, which is important distinction)
4. read "The River Why", "Trout Bum", "Nymphing"
5. catch more than 10 fish in a day
6. film and capture fishing trips
7. catch a 20'' cutthroat, 24'' rainbow, 25'' brown
8. catch fish out of the Clark Fork, Blackfoot, and Bitterroot Rivers
9. fish the following bodies of water - Bitterroot River, Clark Fork River, Blackfoot River, Rock Creek, Fish Creek, Petty Creek, Ninemile Creek, Georgetown Lake, Elk River (in BC/Alberta), Trout Creek, Lolo Creek, Lochsa River, Bighole River, Lamar River, Firehole River, and Slough Creek
10. Catch a Yellowstone Cutthroat

With prime fishing season still to come, I am pretty proud of my accomplishments to date. But, I would like to add to and/or alter my fishing goals of 2010. Here is my altered list, which will now be managed on the sidebar of the blog.

1. catch a fish on a nymph
2. catch a fish in each month of the year (jan, feb, mar, apr, may, june, july, aug, sept, oct, nov, dec)
   
3. catch a bull trout (not target, which is important distinction)
4. catch a Yellowstone Cutthroat
   
5. catch 30 or more fish in a day from a river
6. catch 40 or more fish in a day from a river
7. catch 50 or more fish in a day from a river or lake
8. catch 3 or more fish more than 20'' in length in a day
9. catch a 20'' cutthroat, 24'' rainbow, 25'' brown
10. catch fish out of the Clark Fork, Blackfoot, and Bitterroot Rivers
11. fish and catch fish out of the following bodies of water - Bitterroot River, Clark Fork River, Blackfoot River, Rock Creek, Fish Creek,  Georgetown Lake, Elk River (in BC/Alberta), Trout Creek, Lolo Creek, Lochsa River, Bighole River, Beaverhead River, Madison River, Gallatin River, Hebgen Lake, Medicine Lake (near Skalkaho Pass), Skalkaho Creek, upper Blackfoot River, Monture Creek. Flathead River, Blodgett Creek, Flint Creek, East and West Forks of the Bitterroot River, Lamar River, Firehole River, and Slough Creek
12. catch all the trout of the this is fly shirt. (see below for more description)
13. read "The River Why", "Trout Bum", "Nymphing"  

Re: Goal 12. I would like to catch and have a hero picture taken with each of the fish listed on the this is fly t-shirt that I purchased earlier this year.

When I catch a brook trout, I will position the trout in front of the species name on the shirt. This will be done for rainbow, brown, bull, and cutthroat trout in the same style. The plan is to have a five piece photographic journey through my year of fishing out here in Montana.

3 cutbows, 1 rainbow, 1 brown trout, 5 whitefish and bunch of dogs

Last Monday, I went up to upper Rock Creek with four friends and four dogs. It was the fly-fishing, "Bumpus Family" style. Enjoy the video with help from my friend Laura on the camera.


fly fishing and the bumpus dogs from Ivan Orsic on Vimeo.

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.

4 Westslope Cutties, 1 Brown Trout, 1 Cutbow, 4 Mountain Whitefish, and 1 Largescale Sucker

And boom goes the dynamite. Upper Rock Creek treated me well today. While the temperature flirted with the lower 40s and snow fell intermittently, I enjoyed great success on Upper Rock Creek. Nymphing with size 8 and size 10 black stonefly nymphs and a red bead-head san juan worm, I landed a personal best 11 fish today. The diversity of species was impressive - westslope cutthroat, brown trout, cutbow (or a cutthroat - rainbow hybrid), mountain whitefish, and (most surprising of all) a largescale sucker. It was the day of fishing I have been waiting for this winter. The action started fast and continued throughout the day. As always, it was just fun to be outside on the river. But, catching 11 fish made the 1.5 hour drive up to Upper Rock Creek a little easier. Enjoy the pictures. With this post, I think my blog has finally transitioned from a casting blog to a fishing blog.

SIDE NOTE: I talked to a fellow angler - he said he caught about 35 (of which 12 were trout). So, I have some work to do.

westslope cutthroat flashing its cut - rock creek 3.13

 westslope cutthroat closeup - rock creek 3.13

first trout of 2010 - cuttie - rock creek 3.13

brown trout - rock creek 3.13

Rock Creek cutbow/cuttie?

westslope cutthroat - rock creek 3.13

mountain whitefish - rock creek 3.13

I was confused when I pulled this into my net. Put up quite the fight.

Upper Rock Creek near Gilles

Shunning a hatch to go fishless on the Clark Fork and the Blackfoot

After a busy week of school, I was able to sneak away a wet my line in the Clark Fork and the Blackfoot rivers. With temperatures forecasted to rise into the mid 50s by the afternoon, I abandoned the Bitterroot and a potential hatch in order to seek the angling solitude I had grown accustomed to during the winter months. From the many area fishing reports, it seemed as though the skwala hatch was about to start. With pleasant, sunny weather with temperatures reaching the mid 50s, I was positive that my days of having the river to myself were over. After stopping by a local fly shop, it became apparent that the Bitterroot was going to be crowded...like "fourth busiest fishing day on the Bitterroot" crowded. "No thank you" my internal narrator noted. So, I explored my other options. The Clark Fork near Turah and the lower Blackfoot towards the end of day. I spent most of the day - from around 10am to 3pm nymphing downstream of the Turah access. I hadn't fished this stretch of water before. Not knowing what baseline conditions were like, I made irrational and uniformed opinions about its current conditions. Honestly, it seemed quite turbid. I was unable to visually confirm channel topography from the bank and wading was made more difficult as undulations of the bed were only detected when the water seemed to get closer to flowing over the tops of my waders. But, with reported "budget cuts" at the USGS, I couldn't confirm my suspicions about the suspended sediment load in the Clark Fork at Turah. Alas, they no longer publish the "real-time" suspended sediment data on the web for the Clark Fork. Based on the gage data, the river was slightly higher than its normal baseflow. I know...I know. I am laying the groundwork for excuse village. But, I must. I can't be this bad. Black Stoneflies, Blue-Wing Olives and Midges, as expected in these winter months, were hatching sporadically. I fished the sub-surface with small pheasant tails, copper johns and midge emergers. And I fished them poorly apparently. Another goose-egg for young Yukon. Waiting for the Blackfoot to creep towards 40 F, I drove over to the Marco Flat fishing access. Again I fished the subsurface. And again I failed miserably. All in all it was a good day. Did I mention the 15-20 minutes I spent watching a pair of American Dippers on the Clark Fork? I suppose I didn't. Enjoy the pictures and the videos from my day on the CF and BF Rs.

Clark Fork at Turah

The Blackfoot at Marco Flats

too much for the trusty canon to focus on - it chose ice - i wanted dipper


Casting on the Blackfoot from Ivan Orsic on Vimeo.


Singing Dipper on the Clark Fork from Ivan Orsic on Vimeo.

False Hope on the Bitterroot

I still have not finished my first full year of fly fishing. I am learning. But, I expect to be great. For no other reason than my ever growing ego. So, when I went fishing this weekend on the Bitterroot, downstream of the Florence Bridge, and I caught a 12'' whitefish on my second cast. I expected to have my first truly productive day of fishing. I have fished this reach four or five times this year and I have yet to catch a trout. Prior to that day, I had caught two whitefish. Total. That's right, two fish during five trips. My fishing production is akin to the snowpack of the Clark Fork and Bitterroot drainages, pitiful. Now, in my defense, I am learning how to fish, cast, and think at the same time. A monumental task for those who know me. Fishing the Bitterroot in winter is primarily subsurface, especially nymphing, as a trout's metabolism slows down with drops in water temperature. Needless to say, when I netted the tiny whitefish on my second cast, I thought my perfect storm of fly fishing was upon me. I thought I had finally put together everything I had learned about line management, nymphing, stacking, and the like. I was sorely mistaken. Nothing for the rest of the day. I fished that section hard. Changing flies. Changing tactics. Changing tippet length. But, save for a couple of nibbles here and there. Nothing. It was a beautiful day though. Maybe next time.