I got a call from a client a few weeks ago wanting to fish out of a hard boat. That was not a problem since I do own a 16' ClackaCraft drift boat (by the way her name is The Minnow). I was concerned however that I would be relegated to fishing on the lower portion of the Bitterroot River, in late July, with bright sunny conditions. Now don't get me wrong, the lower river can fish great, but usually you need some cloud cover for the nice fish to look up. I have had my ass handed to me on the lower Bitterroot on bright, sunny days. So, needless to say, I was not very optimistic about our chances on July 27th.
As we slid Minnow in the water at 8:00 a.m., the temperature of the air was already 70 degrees with nary a cloud in sight. Uh oh! Our only saving grace was a couple sneaky springs I knew of in this section that could possibly make our day. As we drifted down the river we had a few little fish looking at our flies. We did see one VERY large brown trout go completely airborne about 3 feet. The only thing I 
could think of is he was ambushing a small fish from below; much like Air Jaws off Seal Island, South Africa. My client Ray gave a few futile casts to this behemoth. I figured the odds of that fish eating a dry fly were slim to none, and slim had just left town. But you just never know. Unfortunately, this fish didn't even bother looking at Ray's fly. After floating a couple hours and only seeing some small fish, we pulled over to hunt one of the springs. I told Ray that these fish are pretty wary and there was little to no current. We would need to cast to a likely spot, wait for the fish to cruise by and hopefully Ray's fly would grab the fish's attention. As we walked into the spring there were three VERY large fish cruising and sipping a variety of PMD's (emergers, spinners & duns). We tried every PMD in my box, which is a lot, for about 45 minutes with no success. Every time a fish would start cruising toward his fly, something would divert it off course. In complete frustration, I decided to unmatch the hatch and tied on a size 12 hopper. I told Ray to cast it in and after it landed, give it a twitch. Ray made a great cast and as soon as he twitched the hopper, it was too much for a very large brown trout to resist. The trout opened his mouth and the hopper disappeared in a large swirl. I didn't see Ray react at all and I yelled, "There he is, there he is!" Ray came up with his rod and buried the hook into the fish's mouth. I will never forget what happened next. Feeling the pressure Ray was putting him, the fish jumped at least two feet out of the water. It was then that Ray said, "Holy shit!" I started laughing and said, "Yep, that is the one were were looking for Ray. Now remember we are on 5x, so take your time." Ray battled the large trout like a pro and about five minutes later a beautiful 22 inch brown trout was in the net. After stealing a bit of his sole, we released him back into the spring where he still resides (see the video below).
could think of is he was ambushing a small fish from below; much like Air Jaws off Seal Island, South Africa. My client Ray gave a few futile casts to this behemoth. I figured the odds of that fish eating a dry fly were slim to none, and slim had just left town. But you just never know. Unfortunately, this fish didn't even bother looking at Ray's fly. After floating a couple hours and only seeing some small fish, we pulled over to hunt one of the springs. I told Ray that these fish are pretty wary and there was little to no current. We would need to cast to a likely spot, wait for the fish to cruise by and hopefully Ray's fly would grab the fish's attention. As we walked into the spring there were three VERY large fish cruising and sipping a variety of PMD's (emergers, spinners & duns). We tried every PMD in my box, which is a lot, for about 45 minutes with no success. Every time a fish would start cruising toward his fly, something would divert it off course. In complete frustration, I decided to unmatch the hatch and tied on a size 12 hopper. I told Ray to cast it in and after it landed, give it a twitch. Ray made a great cast and as soon as he twitched the hopper, it was too much for a very large brown trout to resist. The trout opened his mouth and the hopper disappeared in a large swirl. I didn't see Ray react at all and I yelled, "There he is, there he is!" Ray came up with his rod and buried the hook into the fish's mouth. I will never forget what happened next. Feeling the pressure Ray was putting him, the fish jumped at least two feet out of the water. It was then that Ray said, "Holy shit!" I started laughing and said, "Yep, that is the one were were looking for Ray. Now remember we are on 5x, so take your time." Ray battled the large trout like a pro and about five minutes later a beautiful 22 inch brown trout was in the net. After stealing a bit of his sole, we released him back into the spring where he still resides (see the video below).
BFD!!!
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