Summer Time in Montana

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, too busy working on my thesis or fishing, not enough blogging. I suppose I would rather be fishing than blogging though. I have been spending a great deal of time going down to the Big Hole, fishing Fish Creek, one trip to Yellowstone National Park, and one trip to Rock Creek (which produced a teeny tiny 12'' bull trout - or a steer trout, as one of my friends called it). Here are the videos from a trip to Fish Creek, a trip to Soda Butte Creek in Yellowstone National Park (the weekend after that bear attack), and a trip to Glacier National Park and Fish Creek (where I took a friend fly fishing for the first time).


yukon goes fishing for westslopes and cuttbows from Ivan Orsic on Vimeo.



yukon goes to yellowstone from Ivan Orsic on Vimeo.

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")

45 fish in a day and 15 minutes

That's right. I pulled 45 fish out of Georgetown Lake in a day and 15 minutes worth of fishing. I caught most of the fish out of a boat trolling, but I also had some success from the shore. While on shore, I was amused by what appeared to be a muskrat. The muskrat curiously patrolled the shores coming to check out my fishing activities several times. Most of the fish I caught from shore were of the tiny variety. I had fun catching these 6 inchers on a beetle that I stripped towards shore. This action would produce five or more hits each time the beetle hit the water. I think these hatchery fish may have been reminded of the pellets they were most likely fed back in their youth. Another highlight of the day was getting Ms. Yukon onto her first trout on the fly. Enjoy the video and pictures from our day on Georgetown Lake in early June.


georgetown lake 6.7.10 from Ivan Orsic on Vimeo.

 georgetown lake brook trout

itty bitty georgetown lake rainbow

Ms. Yukon reeling in the big one

miss yukon's first trout on the fly (she refuses to hold it though)

miss yukon's first trout on the fly