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Woke up had a great breakfast, packed our lunches and went off to meet our guide.  The lodge reserved our guide from Blue Ribbon Flies.  Our guide was newly hired Brian Wurley.  Brian used to work for Madison River Fishing and has been guiding this part of Montana for about 12 years.  Brian took us down to Lyons Bridge and got us ready to head out for the day.  The Lyons Bridge boat launch is an interesting place in the morning.  A lot of the guides and their patrons spend time talking about what happened the previous day.  There is also a lot of funny story telling.

Brian started our drift off by anchoring the boat and giving us some instruction.  It wasn’t long and we were off and fishing.  My father-in-law, Al, was in the bow of the boat and me in the back.  Initially we spent a lot of time tangling our lines but Brian was very patient with us and got us working together casting to the right spots on the river.  Al was the first one to hook a fish.  It was a nice 17″ Mountain Whitefish.  Shortly after that he hooked another whitefish on a caddis emerger.  After that he caught his first Rainbow on a Fly Rod. It was a lot of fun to be there for that one.  We were nymphing and I was not having any success so Brian switched me over to a Trude dry fly with a caddis emerger.  When I did that I started to catch some Browns.  They were all at or under 12″ but fun to catch.

Overall it was a good day but I was expecting a bit more from the Madison.  My hope is for a better day tomorrow. 

Well I finally made it to Montana.  The flight was pretty easy from Rochester to Chicago then to Bozeman.  Flying into Bozeman I could see all the mountains but I could also see a few rivers that looked very muddy.  I began to dread picking a date so early in June to fish Montana.  I was wondering if the Rivers were really ready to fish.  Once we arrived one of the first people I ran into was a guide (Salmon Fly in his hat ) who reassured me that the fishing would be okay and that the Madison would be fine.

After getting the rental car, a Jeep Wrangler, my father-in-law and I made our way to Ennis.  After getting lost for a short period of time we found our bearings and made our scenic way to Ennis.  When you go down route 84 to Ennis you go through some beautiful countryside and then you come across the northern part of the Madison River that is above Ennis Lake.  What a beauty!  It is really exciting to see everyone fishing.  You really feel like you have entered a special place for Fly Fishermen.

Once we got to Ennis we were both pretty hungry.  We went to the local diner and had an okay lunch but found out later that the Ennis Pharmacy was really the place to eat.  Oh well, maybe next time.  After eating we took a manditory stop at the Madison River Fishing Company.  They have anyting a fly fisherman could want.  After dropping some coin here we hopped back in the Wrangler and made our way down the valley to our final destination.

About 45 minutes later we arrived at Papoose Creek Lodge.  We were greeted by Madeline Alkire who helped us book our trip.  She gave us a tour of this beautiful place and introduced us to the staff and some guests.  She made us feel right at home.

After some futile attempts to hook a trout in the lodge pond, my father-in-law and I had a great dinner prepared by Chef Michael Showers and then were off to bed.

Four more days until I am in Montana.  My father-in-law and I have been planning a trip to the Madison for a number of months.  We have never been to Montana so we are both very excited and are looking forward to the experience.  We are going to stay at a place called the Papoose Creek Lodge.  It looks like an amazing place, but most importantly they use fly fishing guides from the Blue Ribbon Fly Shop in Yellowstone.  I have heard nothing but good things about the Blue Ribbon guides from all my friends.  I will let you know how everything went when I get back.

Lastly I would like to thank Josi Etter for letting me use one of her beautiful pictures of a rainbow trout for the header of my blog.  I really like the concept of her business, Sketch & Release.  If you send her a picture of a fish that you caught, Josi will create a wonderful watercolor painting of your fish.  The paintings make a special gift and a really nice addition to your office, den, or showcase.

That is all for now.  I will make another entry when I get back from Montana.

This is my first post and I am hoping this blog will be interesting and informative.  Well, here we go. 

Last weekend I took my yearly trip to the West Branch of the Delaware River.  I love this trip every year because I always learn so much from my friends from our our Canandaigua Trout Unlimited Chapter.  My friend Craig always does such a great job organizing this trip to the West Branch Angler every year.

I arrived Thursday night and only had time to get my gear ready to fish the next day.  We stayed at the “White House” at the West Branch Angler.  There were eleven of us and most of the guys got there Thursday morning.  WBA has done a nice job renovating the White House.  They blew out the wall that divided the house which created a big common area with some nice couches and chairs and a big TV.  I think it is a much better configuration.  Once I got settled in the guys got back from their day of fishing.  A couple of the more experienced guys caught some nice fish.  I do think they were all under 20″ though.

Friday morning we got up and had a great WBA breakfast to fuel up for the day.  When we got ready to go fishing I ran into a small problem.  My car wouldn’t start.  It is a Volkwagon Passat with only 20,000 miles on it and could not imagine what could be wrong with it.  Like any dedicated Fly Fisherman I hopped into another car and left my troubles behind.  We fished the “Main Stem” of the Delware past Hancock NY.  We found some nice water.  The water levels had been low but this location showed some promise.  After fishing there for a few hours none of the four of us had success.  No rises, nothing.  After this, my friend Wil was kind enough to go back to the White House and hang out with me while I called AAA.  After some confusion about my location,  AAA was able to send someone to try to jump my car.  While we waited Wil and I decided to fish in the pond next to the White House.  What fun!  I think we each caught 15 twelve inch rainbows.  About an hour later the mechanic showed up and said that I blew a cell in my battery because I left my Sirius Satellite radio on all night.  He said that I would needto get a new battery.  He didn’t have one for my car so he told me to call NAPA Auto Parts in Deposit NY.  They did a great job and help get my car running again.

Now that I got all of this nonsense out of the way I could concentrate on fishing again.  On Saturday we decided to fish the West Branch Gamelands and I had much more success.  When we got to our location I decided to put on a sparkle pupa with a trailing pheasant tail nymph.  After a few casts I hooked a nice brown trout.  I played him for several minutes.  He ended up being a 17″ brown with shoulders.  Unfortunately he flopped out of my hands just as my friend Wil was about to take the picture so you will have to take my word for it. 

Not long after this I landed a fiesty rainbow.  This fish was not big but for those of you who fish the Delaware know what I am talking about when I say fiesty.  I also hooked up and lost one after my tippet broke.  Something that I should have replaced after catching the rainbow.  Delaware River wild trout will always put your tippet and hooks to the test.  After loosing a few fish to poorly tied knots, weak tippets, and stressed hooks, I have learned to always check and replace my setup after catching fish.