On this day however, the river gods would not be so kind.  The snow storm that hit on Thursday had dropped way more snow on the area than I had guessed.   The warmer temperature on Saturday was melting the freshly fallen snow and this was adding new snow melt water to the river raising the water level slightly, dropping the water temperature and adding color to the water.  This triple whammy spelled doom for me and my two fishing partners.   If it were not for Minori’s persistence and a deftly fished BH Red Copper John this threesome would have gone home completely shut out.   Not that that would have been such a bad thing.  Us so called experts need a good ass kicking once in awhile to keep us honest.  As the day wore on and I could not buy a fish no matter what I tried all I could think about was how people come into the fly shop and expect me to have all the answers.  And, after 30 plus years in the business and 40 plus years of fly fishing experience I begin to believe I do have all the answers.  Then a day like Saturday comes along and abruptly brings me back to planet earth.

• New redesigned Simms Women’s GoreTex Guide Jacket
• New redesigned Simms Guide Jacket for Men
• All new Simms Big Sky Shirts in short and long sleeve
• Women’s Simms Cocona Henley Shirts
• Limited Edition Simms G3 Guide waders with Camo Trim

These are just a few on the new items so if you are in the area, stop by and have a look or take a look at our webstore at http://www.theriversedge.com/store/home.php .

More to come…

http://www.hook.tv/player.php?key=7104d7d96dc9651e416518e6e587ca90

Let us know what you think!

p.s. If you have not had a chance to fish McCoys Spring Creek, you need to do that. It is an excellent small spring creek experience. For more information and guides for McCoys, you can contact us at The River’s Edge at 406-586-5373 or call Steve Bielenberg at McCoys in Dillon at 406-683-6508.

Thursday * December 3rd * 6:00 – 9:00 PM * at The River’s Edge!

Come All Ye Faithful…fly fishers!  Get in the “Fish”mas spirit and join The River’s Edge and Simms Fishing Products for a Holiday Spectacular.  This is a perfect evening to do some Christmas shopping for that special fly fisher in your life.  Joining us for the night will be local guests, photographer Brian Grossenbacher, Livingston artist Derek DeYoung, and Simms Rep Jon Yousko.  There will be special pricing on Simms products for this evening only and the first 25 people get a free Derek DeYoung t-shirt!  Refreshments, prizes and an abundance of holiday cheer will be also provided. 

This event is free and open to the public.

This limited time offer is designed to help with your Holiday shopping and is a great opportunity to purchase a new fly rod for the friend or child you want to get started fly fishing, and, better yet, buy a new Winston for yourself. Winston’s Ascent rods are designed by Winston in Twin Bridges as a great way for entry-level or intermediate anglers to become part of the Winston family at exceptional value.  These 4-piece rods have a smooth fast action and are designed to be very easy to cast.  This promotion is good for an Ascent in the following length/weights:

• 8′  3 wt
• 9′  4 wt
• 9′  5 wt
• 9′  6 wt
• 9′  8 wt

After you purchase your Winston premium rod, we will give you the form needed to take advantage of this offer.  Just send in your completed form with the receipt (dated no later than 12/31/09), your warranty card and a check, money order or your credit card information to Winston with the order information for your new Ascent rod. For information to help you decide which Ascent rod to get, send us an email at info@theriversedge.com or call us at 406-586-5373.

Top 10 Fly Fishing Desinations of the World ~ Presentation

Thursday, November 19th at 7:00 PM

Been dreaming about your next fly fishing adventure?  Come out for a night of fishing around the world at The River’s Edge Fly Shop in Bozeman.  Jim Klug and Ian Davis – owners of Yellow Dog Fly fishing Adventures – have both fished extensively throughout the globe.  They will be at the River’s Edge on Thursday night to present a slideshow on some of the top fly fishing destinations around the world.  Ian will also be available for questions as he ties up some saltwater flies throughout the night.  Whether to entice your fly fishing palette, see some amazing photography, or just to learn more about great places to fish – you won’t want to miss out on this fun evening. 

*This event is free and open to the public. 

The River’s Edge is located at 2012 North 7^th Ave, Bozeman, Montana.  Phone 406.586.5373 for further information.

Happy to be Buff

 I remember when I started working at River’s Edge last summer and noticing the shop carried these things called “Buffs”.   I also remember scoffing at them and thinking you’d have to be a serious dork to wear one of those.  Come on, a good hat is all a person needs.  That stated, fast forward to this past May when I took my first saltwater fly fishing trip to Mexico.   When we stepped off the plane, the air was so hot and thick, my Bozeman conditioned lungs could hardly breathe.  Fortunately, I quickly adjusted to the heat and immersed myself into the culture and experience.  Day 1, we set out with our well-respected guide “Beto” to fish Chetamul Bay and spent much of the day combing the flats in search of bonefish.   Boy it was hot, but doused in sunscreen and well-covered in superlight clothing I survived and even landed my first bonefish – fun success!   Day 2, we set out again to a new area of the bay for another 8 hours of the hunt for more bonefish and even some permit.  Son-uva-biscuit it was hot!  Despite the great fireball in the sky starting to mess with my head, I was determined to be tough.  Needless to say, my sunscreen was beginning to fall short and by the end of the day I was pretty wilted, over-heated and an icy margarita back at the non-air conditioned lodge never tasted so good.  Day 3, I was a little leery to hit it again for another 8 hours considering how I had felt the prior afternoon.  Fortunately, Beto being a well seasoned guide sensed my apprehension and I remember well the moment he said to me “Sah-da, you need Booof”.  Translation: “Sarah, you need a Buff”, such as he was wearing each day.  These pieces of fabric I had once laughed at on a regular basis, were now coming back to haunt me and I knew Beto was right.  Absolute full coverage was going to be key for my thin skin.  At this point, three good things happened:  1) I had no pride, 2) I said “Yes! Where can I get one?”, and 3) the remote lodge actually did have one available for purchase! Phew!  It was an easy sale.  And so, the third day started off with me rockin’ the Buff and within hours singing its praises.  Who would’ve thought a mocker and doubter could become such a believer?  Hallelujah, praise Jesus!   I owed Beto a few beers for my salvation.

Well, you can mostly figure out the rest of the story.  The next few days of saltwater fishing were still hot, but I was managing the heat situation much better.  The Booof protected my ears which were previously frying in sunscreen and helped me stay dry and cooler.  In sum, we caught some more fish, had a great trip, and I came back to Montana officially on the Buff train. 

Of course, I now own more than one Buff and use it on occasion for more local adventures.  The Buff is very appropriate for many situations and outdoor activities and even has 12 different ways it can be worn…see chart.

 My personal favorite look for the Mexico trip was the “bank robber” look – which is not on the above list.  It’s similar to the ‘Balaclava’ look, except the covering the chin and lips as well, only exposing the eyes; a bit creepy, but effective.  Here’s an example:

The Bank Robber ....Stick 'em up!

Here in Montana, I like to keep my neck cool and sport the Neckerchief look on those hot summer days out on the river.  

The neckerchief

There are many designs, fabrics, and styles for Buffers to pick from.  You can go big or Buffer your style as needed.   I have yet to try the “polar Buff” to keep me warm and dry in my winter angling, but I’m no skeptic to their benefits.

In closing, I just have one question for you: Are you buff enough?

Sarah Shelley, The River’s Edge

On Sunday, I spent the day with some fishy women at our Women’s Intermediate class.   We spent the entire day on and around a section of the East Gallatin.  The morning was mostly spent answering questions, reading water, roll casting, and talking “bugs”.  To take the “bug” thing a step further, I dunked a seine in the river and kicked up a few rocks for a nice sample of aquatic insects.   If you’ve never done such thing, I highly recommend it as you will be amazed at the amount and diversity of nymphs that can be found in any local stream.   Seeing all these trout-food options really makes you wonder how a trout could ever be fooled by an artificial fly…………………………(long thoughtful pause)…………………………………  In sum, the morning couldn’t have been more picture-perfect with May flies sailing all about and trout rising occasionally in our periphery…then came the afternoon.    

I was both nervous and hopeful about the actual fishing portion of the afternoon as I really wanted the ladies to get some practice “landing trout” as well as the chance to see some of the quality trout this river can produce.   As is with every day of fishing, one never knows what to expect or what will happen.  It is this fact combined with possibility that keeps so many of us returning to our favorite streams.  So, with bugs and river reading knowledge in the mind, everyone rigged up their rods with a slightly different set up (bugger-tiny nymph, small nymph x2, single dry, dry-dropper, my favorite rig for this river, etc.) and we set out to put our knowledge to action on the water…only to experience what every fisherman and fisherwoman must experience from time to time:  a good ‘ol fashioned trout spanking!   Beautiful drifts to rising trout were shunned, money holes were bankrupt, and the trout even ignored the “works-almost-every time” flies of choice.  Ah yes, a humbling reminder of how unpredictable trout and rivers can be, despite one’s best attempts.   Much to our credit, it was a mosquito slappin’, HOT-as (fill in the blank) mid-summer afternoon – probably not the best time-of-day to be fishing.   But, the afternoon did include one student landing a nice brown on an olive caddis home-tie type fly (nice work Pika!).       

Trout numbers aside, it was overall a really fun day.  I am looking forward to another one of these classes (coming soon!).   I am really proud of these four women for immersing themselves in the water   and the whole fly fishing learning experience with me.   Great job ladies!  

Sarah Shelley

Call 406-586-5373 or email at info@theriversedge.com for more information.

We have two types of rivers in our area:  Freestones and tailwaters.  For those of you who may not know the difference, freestone rivers are not controlled by a dam like tailwaters.  In our immediate area, rivers such as the Gallatin River and the Yellowstone River are freestone rivers and the Upper and Lower Madison and Missouri are tailwaters. 

As of today, June 10th 2009, many of our tailwater rivers are beginning to fish very well.  We have had recent guide trips to both the Upper and Lower Madison rivers in which the fishing has been very good and the flows are beginning to fall.  Does this mean the rivers are clear and runoff is over?  Not exactly.  While these tailwaters have the majority of their flows controlled by dams, they also have tributaries which will add water, and sometimes dirty water, to their flows.  For instance, the Upper Madison is currently very fishable but still has a bit of color in it.  The color comes from several small tributaries that dump into the river at various points with the most prominent being the West Fork of the Madison.  The West Fork is a small stream that is not dam controlled and is affected by spring snow melt and rain and can cause almost the entire floatable stretches of the Upper Madison to get dirty.  Currently, the West Fork is still dumping in a bit of off color water, but once it mixes with the rest of the river, the visibility improves and it is fishable.

As for the Lower Madison, it is also beginning to fish very well.  We have had guided trips on it almost every day for the past week or so and the visibility is beginning to improve each day.  We are also starting to see a few Pale Morning Duns on the surface of the water making for some great nymph fishing with small PMD emergers.  For now, it looks like the powers that be are trying to fill Hebgen Dam so they have actually dropped the flows on the Lower Madison making it not only great for float fishing, but also good for wade fishing.  This is a great option for now and I don’t see much changing on it for the next couple of weeks.

Now on to the freestone rivers.  In our area, we are mostly talking about the Gallatin and the Yellowstone.  The Yellowstone looks like it may have peaked sometime last week at around 21000 cfs (cubic feet per second).  Since that time, it has continued to drop at a fairly rapid rate down to about 13000 cfs today.  While it has been cold and I think that it may come back up again if we get warm weather here soon, I think that the bulk of the big runoff may be over and although our first guesses as to when we might be fishing on it were well into July, our new gut feeling is that we may be on it closer to the beginning of July if not late June.  For now, it is still pretty high to safely float it and it will still have that big “heaving” feel to it.  Once it gets down below 9000 to 10000 cfs, it is still big, but we begin to take a look at clarity.  If the clarity is more than a foot or so, we start to get the itch to head over there.  Hopefully, this is sooner than we think.

The Gallatin has a little different story.  It is a freestone river as well, but the bulk of the dirty water in the Gallatin is typically caused by a  tributary called the Taylor’s Fork.  The Taylor’s Fork is very affected by both spring snow melt and rain.  Both can cause that river to become very dirty and in turn, make the rest of the Gallatin dirty and unfishable.  The Taylor’s Fork is, for now, the main culprit making the Gallatin dirty and seem unfishable.  I say that hesitantly becuase while the river is off color, there are a few brave soles fishing some of the back eddies and slower runs and catching some fish, and typically nice fish during this high water.  That fishing can only be described as down and dirty, but is effective.  Like the Yellowstone, I feel the Gallatin has peaked as well, but on a river that is 99% wade fishing, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to be able to wade safely on this one. 

Above the Taylor’s Fork on the Gallatin is a little different story.  Most of this fishing here is done inside of Yellowstone National Park with the exception of about a mile between the Park boundary and the Taylor’s Fork.  For now, this stretch has cleaned up nicely boasting about 2 feet of visibility with only a little color left in the river.  I would call this water very fishable today and in fact, we have had several good reports from anglers up in that stretch having great nymph fishing.  The river is still up and wading is not easy, but since the river has less volume up there, it is a little easier to get around.  This is a great option for a nymph fisherman looking for great scenery and no people.

Back to the “big question” of when will things clear up and be fishable?  Hopefully I have answered that with some degree of certainty.  For now, there are several places to fish and in the coming weeks, there will be many more.  A great place to keep track of our fishing conditions in the Bozeman and surrounding area is our fishing report.  At The River’s Edge we always try to keep it up to date and keep you informed and if you don’t find the information on our site, give us a call.