August 5th-11th, 2019
Can you guess the fly of the week? Good job! Hoppers! They are flooding the valley. It is getting ridiculous. The fly bins of hoppers in the fly shops are getting low everywhere but the Beartooth! If you are wondering what the best hopper pattern is… look no further, we have the answer; it is the one on the end of your line! We have Yetis, White Clouds, Tony the Tigers, Fat Alberts, Fat Franks, Hippie Stompers, Mongos, Slammers, Yeagers, Triple Deckers, Super Dave’s, even a Joe or two and a slough of parachute hoppers to beat all. The colors vary as to what is really being eaten though; yellow, green, pink, brown, purple, red, tan, black, cream….you know, all of them. I would just ‘hop’ around from pattern to pattern if I were you. But, turns out I’m not you, so do what you will. As far as the timing goes for when they are eating them the best, the hopper bite seems to be most of the early to mid-day and really good on into the afternoon. That’s seems kind of broad as far as time goes, but every guide that is coming back in the shop is saying it has been lights out on the dry from put-in to take-out. And like I have said already this year, if you are the dry or die guy, then this is your time to shine. Some folks who are just learning are experiencing plenty of visual action, drive by trout, missed takes, and and plenty of bites. Make sure you take the time and watch what is going on to see the take. The action is fun! Enjoy!
So that is enough about the hopper and his 6 little springy legs. We have other little multi-legged creatures of the grass that are out and about…the flying ant, the bee, the beetles and spiders. The flying ant is a little bit bigger than your average ant and well, has wings. We have plenty of choices when it comes to ants also! One of the house favorites is Dan’s Delektable Flying Ant in the cinnamon and red. We have black ants, purple ants, red ants, rootbeer ants, brown ants, red and black ants, pink ants, plastic ants, epoxy ants, balsa wood ants, and even real ants in the shop We have the bugs and now the back orders are starting to come in and help out the ever so dwindling bin population situation. We recently had a nice guy in the shop just a few days ago grabbing all the bees he could get his hands on, he gave me this little smirk and said, “that’s all I need, thank you”. So, whatever your drug to get the tug is, be sure to check us out up here on Hwy 287 south of the post office about 10 minutes. We have got the flies and the means to fix your fly dis-function. And you just can’t find the right bug you are looking for, then why not give it your try at the vice? We have all the natural materials and synthetics to get the job done! We are your one stop shop! Anyways, I hope you are having a great summer out there on the river or wherever you may be spending it. Happy Fishing!!!