I spent the last 10 days at Crane Meadow Lodge in Twin Bridges, MT. There is nothing like cool, mountain air at the end of a long, hot summer in Florida and cool mountain air is what we had. We experienced a variety of weather conditions from frost, rain, snow, hail and even a thunderstorm. My wife, Karen, joined me for the first week and the weather started off great; crisp mornings and warm, sunny afternoons. Our timing was perfect, as we had planned to fish the first two days and then do a couple of days of sightseeing.
Karen is an experienced angler, although not with a fly rod, but she did great. We fished the Ruby River and several ponds on the Kennedy Ranch, an 8,000-acre ranch where the lodge is located. Although we weren't counting, we probably caught 30 or 40 trout on nymphs and streamers with several in the 18" class. The next day we floated the Beaverhead River and also had good action. The fish weren't as big, but in the fast current, the fight was good.
We spent the next day in Yellowstone National Park viewing some spectacular scenery. We took in most of the geysers, including Old Faithful, thermals, hot springs and the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone. We also saw lots of deer, elk and buffalo. The next day we took a scenic drive on the Pioneer Mountain Scenic Byway, parts of it a gravel road, through the Beaverhead National Forest. As we climbed to about 10,000 feet, it snowed hard for about 3 hours, a treat for Florida folks.
I took Karen to the airport in Bozeman last Saturday and picked up Mike Perez and Jeff Hanna, from Richmond, IN, Dennis Kinley, from NJ and Bill King, from Sarasota. Nick Reding, Sr., Bob Harness and Bob Reynolds, all from St. Louis, MO,
flew into Butte and we all rendezvoused back at the lodge.
We had great action from Sunday through Thursday fishing the Ruby, Beaverhead, Madison and Jefferson Rivers. Of course, some days were better than others, but the beauty of this place is the variety that they have. In any given day you may choose to float or wade and you could fish different water every day. Anglers in the group caught brown trout as big as 25" weighing more than 6-pounds.
Dennis Kinley and Bob Reynolds each caught browns of 24", Mike Perez and Jeff Hanna had several good days on the Jefferson and Beaverhead catching and releasing several trout in the 5 to 6-pound class. Just like most fishing there were smaller fish, too, but most everyone in the group caught and released browns and a few rainbows in the 16" to 18" class along with the larger ones mentioned. The largest fish were caught with large streamers, Yuks, Pepperonis and similar flies, but we also had some action with hoppers and dry flies. We sometimes drifted a hopper with a nymph under it and caught fish both ways. The Big Hole was closed due to low water flow, but was due to reopen this weekend.
The scenery and wildlife there is phenomenal. On a daily basis we saw deer, ducks, geese, sandhill cranes and eagles. We also saw elk, antelope and moose. The stars at night are so bright (the lodge is at about 4200 feet) that it's like being in a planetarium. If you are looking for a western trout destination that has it all, Crane Meadow Lodge may be the place for you. They can be reached at www.cranemeadow.com or at (406) 684-5773.
Next week's tides in the Sarasota should be favorable for snook before dawn or reds, snook and trout on the flats. There are reports of reds schooling from north Sarasota Bay to lower Tampa Bay and in Gasparilla sound in Charlotte Harbor. In addition, you may still find some large tarpon in upper Charlotte Harbor and tarpon from 15 to 30-pounds in canals.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com
