Beaverhead Craziness! 9/27-10/3 (124-30cfs)

As if it wasn't good enough, here came the cold front.  With it, lots of clouds, showers, and long periods of rain.  Most importantly, swarms of little mayflies!  All day hatches for 3 days.  I mean, enough to bring up nearly every trout in the river.  It really was too easy at times, stuff dreams are made of.  Big, fat Beaverhead browns and rainbows.  The sweetest part of "bittersweet" fall fishing.  The river flows were being reduced daily, but it took several days to get down to the trickle of winter flows.  Perfect timing for the best fall dry fly fishing days of the season.  Even the local guides said so!

These Little Guys Make it All Possible

In Spots Like This

Fairly Close Match?

This Little Mayfly Apparently Thinks So!

This 24-Incher Thought So

Evenings Were All Magic

What All The Weeds Looked Like in the Aftermath

Unusually Short Leaders to Cast in The Narrow Feeding Lanes

Then The Water Was Dropped Significantly to "Winter Flows" of 30 cfs.

Getting Skinny

 The "bitter" part of bittersweet fall is that the sun comes out, the nights get cold, and the hatches peter out.  That's what happened.  Still fish to be caught daily, and the evenings are still really good, but its sad knowing I probably have seen the best of the fall hatches, and the best of any hatches until early next summer on this river.  There is no next month. There is only June, 8 1/2 months and a long winter away.  But the past few days sure were sweet.

Last Day Down River

Home For A Week, But Time to Move On.  I Shall Return.