Yesterday I completed my portion of teaching for The School of Trout. This was my third time instructing for this in-depth program and it was fun and as always, rewarding. The students that enroll are truly dedicated in learning fly fishing and are a pleasure to be with.
While our first full day and a half was in the classroom and on the Trout Hunter lawn casting, our last afternoon was on the Riverside section of the Henry’s Fork. I got to demonstrate dry fly presentations on the water for about 45 minutes. Following that, we turned our pupils loose to practice what they learned so far. There were only two fish caught over two hours’ time but Rhett managed this beautiful rainbow.
While I’m done teaching for the week, the five-day school continues through Friday. Today, I got to go fishing before flying home tomorrow. I fished with longtime buddy and Trout Hunter guide, Ben Smith, on a place that I spent more time on than any other during my 34-year tenure in the Yellowstone Region, the Harriman Ranch of the Henry’s Fork.
It’s been since 2021 so I was damn excited. The air was crisp and the sky was a brilliant blue when Ben and I wadered up around 9 am. Things started calm but by days end the western winds were howling. The day was similar to the more than 100 days I’ve experienced here in past Octobers. I tied on an old favorite, a Lawson’s Thorax Mahogany Dun.
The water levels on the Ranch are concerningly low. It was a reminder of one of the reasons I left this beautiful area. Water is always an issue these days. It’s so low that weeds are chocking out all my fishy spots. Ben and I did far more sitting around catching up rather than casting. We didn’t see our first rise until noon and the next wasn’t until 3 pm.
That first rise belonged to a fish I’d estimate to be 16”. It wasn’t one of the fat 19 inchers the Ranch is famous for. They weren’t around today. I convinced the 16 incher to eat my Mahogany and he jumped once and buried in the weeds so bad I lost him.
It was hours before the next fish sighting. Numbers seem to be low in the Ranch. But at 3 pm when a good Baetis hatch started at least we had consistent chances till around 5. I landed two body guards (smaller 13 inchers) and jumped another nice one and got weeded again.
We had to pack it in at 5 because I had a ride back to Bozeman leaving at 5:30. The Cubs playoff game started too. That was tough because the wind was dying and there were still fish rising. It was gorgeous. Stunning with the Tetons on the eastern horizon and Aspen trees all wearing their gold leaves.
But what a day. I’m now in Bozeman. Tomorrow morning I need to be at Yellow Dog Flyfishing headquarters to shoot a half day of short films before I fly home. Life is busy. Just the way I like it!