We Fish the Gaula

Classic salmon water in Norway. Beautiful.

We Fish The Gaula from Inwaders Media on Vimeo.
Come to the Gaula, it´s a tough place to fish! People who appreciate that, they understand it, so you meet a lot of those likeminded people! And thats about right, then try filming Atlantic salmon fishing, but I think it was a succes, with this short piece on fishing the NFC beats of the Gaula. - Per Arneberg

Bucknasty Browns -- Full Film from the 2015 F3T

Take a break and watch if you haven't seen this before--it's well worth the time. Some beautiful shots and great action including some mousing toward the end. 

BUCKNASTY BROWNS // Full Film from Montana Wild on Vimeo.

Rocky Ford Creek Report: Un-Black Friday

It was an Un-Black Friday. After a relaxing Thanksgiving Day with family I was eager to get outside and fish.

On Thanksgiving Day the river was flowing free. On Friday morning it was iced over. Time to hit the road.

There were three people fishing near the parking area when I arrived at Rocky Ford Creek. I would see three more the rest of the day, all from a distance.

It was cold, but the sun was bright and the wind was mostly calm. I didn't feel the cold until the sun went down.

It was more of a Blue Friday: blue sky, blue water. The creek was up a little, limiting the shoreline access. I found a narrow spot to stand on. It felt a little like fishing from a diving board.

The fish were there, lined up and looking for something to strike their fancy.

I stripped a bead-head nymph, and drifted a few nymphs under an indicator. I got some bumps, but I also had a couple of fish come up and nose the indicator.

So I went dry, starting with a small muddler. The fish nosed it, and swirled under it, but they didn't grab it.

I went to an old, sparse Adams, maybe a #14. More swirls, and a brief hookup before the fly was soaked through.

I found a beautiful little #12 Callibaetis that I had tied up for the Henry's Fork. I tied it on. I gave it a drift, and after five feet a fish came up and ate it, no mistake. I missed it, feeling the grate of the hook against its jaw. I cast again, and after another five foot drift got another lunging take. This time I hooked up.

It felt good to have a fish on again. It fought hard, churning the shallows. I finally worked it in to the shoreline. I got down on my knees with the net, but I couldn't reach the fish. The tip top guide was frozen and I couldn't bring any more line in. So I grabbed the leader to slide the fish into the net--and it gave one more thrash and broke off. It was gone in the blink of an eye--and it took the fly with it.

The sun was down now and it was getting cold, dropping toward a forecast low of 15.

I tied on a #18 BWO, thinking I should probably have used it first. But the fish didn't like it as much as they had liked that Callibaetis. But after some patient casting to rises and wakes I managed another hookup. This time I got it in the net. Not the biggest that Rocky Ford Creek has to offer, but just what I was looking for, nonetheless.

I was feeling the bite of the cold, but I stayed longer than I thought I would, tempting the fish with a muddler again. They seemed to enjoy playing with the fly as much as I did, bumping it, chasing it, swirling under and around it, but never taking it.

I finally reeled in and walked back to the truck through the early dusk. Two cars pulled out before I got to the parking area. Another fisherman was putting things in his pickup when I got there. He wished me safe travels, I wished him the same, and he pulled out and was gone. I was the only one there.

I packed up and began the liesurely drive home under the un-black moon.

Two More Years Gone

One-on-one with prime Montana trout.

2 years gone from Bryce McLean on Vimeo.
A look back at some of our best moments while fly fishing in Western Montana. We had a great time filming this and we hope you enjoy watching it!

Season Delivery

More hard-fishing Norwegians and the season that was...

SEASON DELIVERY. FLYFISHING RECAP 2015 from MAGICRIVER on Vimeo.
Flyfishing with dryfly after wild trout in Norway. A small summary of a trip we had this july.
Tørrfluefiske etter ørret i Norge. En liten oppsummering av juli i år.

November: How Did We Get Here?

November. Already half over. How did we get here?

I haven't fished since Trout Lake closed. I needed some quiet time to process and adjust. What usually happens when you put something on hold for awhile is that other things step forward and demand attention. That happened.

That means I've been busy. Good stuff, enjoyable stuff. Just not fishing.

So I need to fish. The river is up, and it's gray and rainy. That could mean steelhead are moving, and more could be here now waiting for me.

At the same time weather reports call for temps dropping into the teens at night next week. I know that story. One day the river is there, the next day you get up and it's hiding under a foot of ice.

So this is called a "window" --that fleeting opening between now and when the ice comes.

I'll be trying to hit that opening. Soon.

Scandanavie 2015

Go north, young man, go north.

Scandinavie 2015 from Thias on Vimeo.
Une semaine de pêche à la mouche entre Suède et Norvège - Juin 2015 / A fly fishing week in Sweden and Norway - Juin 2015

River Report: October Light

I got back to the river on Friday. It was the same drill as last time. I covered as much water as I could, and tried to cover it with a fine-toothed comb. I moved nothing. But I enjoyed it immensely. What better way to spend a beautiful afternoon and evening than outside on the river in the rich October light.

This week is the last week of the trout season, so I will put the river on hold and spend as much time as I can at Trout Lake. Don't want those browns to feel neglected.

Tortflyfishing Promo

It's a commercial, but hey, I wish all commercials could be like this. Grayling that will swim through your dreams.

TORTFLYFISHING.COM PROMO HD from Tørt Fly Fishing on Vimeo.

Postcards From the Delaware

Photos by John Albright of a recent trip to the upper Delaware River.

River Report: The Salmon Return, and It's Time for a Steel Comb

The salmon season on the river (sockeye and chinook) has been closed since July 18 because of low water and high temperatures. Still, I'm hoping that some salmon make it up to spawn. October is usually when I first see them, but I went early to see how things looked--and to see what else I might catch while there.

The Bridge Run is still long and wide and waist deep. Not bad, considering the low flows. But that's a good news, bad news thing for me. There's a leak in the crotch of my waders that always gets me wet at the lake. I thought with the river so low I'd stay dry this time. But no.

There have been midges swarming in our yard for the last few weeks, and they were much in evidence on the river. I also saw a mix of mayflies and caddis. I watched for October caddis but didn't see any yet.

The Bridge Run usually gives up a trout or two, or a couple of smallmouth.

This time the best I could do was one whitefish. 

It was an easy wade across. I made my way upstream to the Glide. It was good to be on the river again.

The Glide, too, is waist deep. I walked all the way to the upstream end and began to fish my way down. Back at the tail out a big fish splashed and swirled. A few minutes later I saw the unmistakable dorsal and tail of a chinook. That's the last I saw or heard, but at least one salmon has made it this far.

I worked the Glide twice, once with a big deceiver-type fly and once with a bead head nymph. I didn't get a bump. There were rises at the downstream end, and I tied on a caddis dry and had fun with that for awhile. I got many hits and one hookup, but didn't bring anything in. I'm pretty sure they were whitefish.

If there are salmon there's a good chance there are some steelhead, too. So far there are no restrictions on steelhead. The day time temps are now mostly in the 70's and night time temps are dipping into the 40's--and last Sunday some folks were registering in the mid-30's when they got up. So the water will be cooling down and conditions will be improving. I'll be back to work those deep runs with a fine-toothed steel comb.

Terrace Chrome

Salmon run

A beautiful look at the miracle of salmon runs.

I don't know whether the local river will support the run this fall.

2014

The river all the way down to the Columbia has been closed to salmon fishing for a month now because of extremely low flows and high water temperatures.

Recent rains and cooler temperatures may make it possible for the run to make it all the way up here. I hope so. They should be rolling in here by early October if conditions are right.

BC Fly Fishing

Sweet.

BC Fly Fishing from RIVER & SALT on Vimeo.

Henry's Fork Report: Fourth Day

Our last planned day of fishing found us once again on the Teton. John would fish the Henry's the next day before heading to Idaho Falls for a flight out the following morning. I, however, would leave in the morning as soon as I could get packed up. It seemed I would have to wait to fish the Henry's until my next trip, whenever that would be.

It was a day of shifting light and shadows, intermittent showers, and distant thunder.

Our plan was simple: to bust upstream as far as we could get, fishing every inch of water there and back.

Every bend revealed new sweeping banks, tumbling riffles, and tantalizing runs.

We discovered that bead head nymphs drifted deep would bring up the fish. Prince nymphs couldn't miss.

There were also occasional risers, and an Elk Hair caddis would elicit enthusiastic and entertaining takes.

I finished fishing this section downstream, turned, and saw the moose standing in the river ten yards upriver from me. This time he bent down, took another drink, then waded to the four foot bank, stepped over it like it was a mere curb, and wandered off into the riparian meadows. That's the last we saw of him.

While we fished, we soaked in the view of the Tetons. Every time you looked, the view was different.

We finally turned and fished our way back downstream. We continued to catch small trout all the way back. The last trout I caught was another brilliant cutthroat.

Then it was time to pack up and start the drive back to the campground. We would stop in Driggs, we decided, for a farewell Mexican dinner.

As we made our way down the gravel roads leading to the pavement that would take us into town, the sun broke low out of the clouds and a double rainbow filled the sky.

And so we said our goodbyes to the Teton River under a cutthroat sky.