Rick Grassett

I hosted a group of anglers for our annual trip to Crane Meadow Lodge in Twin Bridges, MT last week. Nick Reding, Bob Harness, Bob Reynolds, Jim Ewoldt, Howard Curtis and Dick Callaway, all from St. Louis, MO, Mike Perez and Dennis Kinley, from IN and I all met up in Bozeman on Friday, 8/27. I have been planning, organizing and hosting groups of anglers to fishing destinations in Montana, Belize, Venezuela and the Bahamas since 1998 and this was our 9th year at Crane Meadow Lodge.

The weather was cool and wet, with lows in the high 30's to low 40's and highs in the 50's, for the first few days of our trip. Conditions improved towards the end of our trip as the sun peeked out a little and warmed the air to the low 60's. Due to high water on the Ruby and Jefferson Rivers this year, we mostly fished the Beaverhead and Big Hole rivers as well as a couple of spring creeks and had good action with brown and rainbow trout.

Mike Perez and I fished several days with guide, Dave King, and had a couple of great days on "the Beav". We skated Crane flies, stripped streamers and drifted nymphs and caught and released brown and rainbow trout to 23". We also fished a spring creek one afternoon and had some action with browns on streamers. Nick Reding, Bob Reynolds and Howard Curtis had good action on the Beaverhead dry fly fishing with PMD's. Howard and Dennis Kinley each fished a day with guide, Dave, and Mike Perez, skating Crane flies on the Beaverhead and also had good action.

Dennis Kinley, Jim Ewoldt, Bob Harness and Bob Reynolds all fished the Big Hole and had action with dry flies. Dick Callaway and I had steady action one day floating the lower end of Beaverhead Canyon with guide, Brandon. On the last day, in the last hour of the trip, while fishing with Mike Perez and guide, Dave King, I caught my personal best rainbow, a fat 26" fish estimated at more than 8-pounds. We had a couple of big fish take a swing at our streamers but didn't hook up. We could see several big fish feeding in a lane and I finally got one to eat a nymph. We watched the fish move on the fly and eat, very cool!

The scenery is awesome in southwest Montana this time of year. The weather can get cool at any time in late summer in Montana and this year many mountain peaks were covered with fresh snow. We saw lots of big whitetail deer, several moose and a black bear in addition to numerous eagles, hawks and waterfowl. If you are interested in a quality western trout fishing experience, you should check out Crane Meadow Lodge (www.cranemeadow.com) or contact me for more info.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Rick Grassett

Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.

FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor

(941) 923-7799

E-mail snookfin@aol.com

www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com

Fish Species: Brown & Rainbow trout
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Guide Dave King witrh a nice Montana spring creek trout caught on a hopper fly.
Guide Dave King witrh a nice Montana spring creek trout caught on a hopper fly.

Capt. Rick Grassett with an 8-lb Montana rainbow caught and released on a nymph.
Capt. Rick Grassett with an 8-lb Montana rainbow caught and released on a nymph.


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Rick Grassett

About The Author: Captain Rick Grassett

Company: Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.

Area Reporting: Soutwest Florida

Bio: Capt. Rick Grassett, owner of Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc., is a full time fishing guide and outdoor writer based in Sarasota, FL. He has been guiding since 1990 and is an Orvis Endorsed Outfitter fly fishing guide at CB's Saltwater Outfitters in Sarasota. Specializing in fishing with flies and lures on light spinning tackle, Capt. Rick fishes the bays, back country and coastal gulf waters from Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor in his 18' Action Craft flats boat. He is a Federation of Fly Fishers certified fly casting instructor. Destination fishing trips are another specialty of Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service. Capt. Rick has lead groups of fly anglers to remote fishing locations around the world. Crane Meadow Lodge, MT, Los Roques, Venezuela, Andros Island Bonefish Club and Bonefish Bay Club in the Bahamas are several destinations where he has hosted groups in the past. Capt. Rick is a field editor for Saltwater Angler magazine and a monthly columnist for the Tampa Tribune. He has written articles for The Fisherman magazine and Orvis News. In addition to writing for these publications, he has been featured in articles in Florida Sportsman, Sportfishing, The Fisherman and Fly Fishing in Saltwater magazines. Capt. rick's web site, www.snookfin-addict.com features weekly fishing reports, current photos and and monthly fishing forecasts. He also maintains a second website that is specific to fly fishing and fly casting instruction, www.flyfishingflorida.net.

941-923-7799
Click Here For Past Fishing Reports by Captain Rick Grassett