Category: Fishing Reports

Opening Day on the Upper Madison….

Dan, Grandpa, and Nancy had a great opening day. It was a warm day with beautiful scenary. Tthe mountains had more snow on them and the sun was in and out. The valley is starting to show signs of green. There was a small amount of the "W" factor. Nancy started off catching more pretty large whitefish and Grandpa was getting jealous. He loves those native whitefish. We floated from Ruby to Storey Ditch because we had to be finished in time for a social outing in Virginia City in the early evening. Not too long after we started, the trout started to feed and we were all catching trout, both Rainbows and Browns and nice sizes.

The flies of choice included the Delektable>™ Olive Mega Prince, Delektable Brown/Orange Stoner, and the Delektable EH Twisted Wire Brown/Amber.

For Grandpa and Dan this has been a tradition for many, many years. Grandpa will be 88 this year and still really loves to fish. The boys and I had lots of fun and smiles. Thanks for rowing Dan.

Nancy

Dan and Marty, along with four other local guides, Mike, Jim, Bill, and Shad, volunteered in the annual river float of the Ennis High School Science Club. Participants included Science teachers, Wes, a biologist, and the science students. The trip is a highlight of the club’s activities, and combines educational activities with a leisurely float trip on the Madison River.

The day began with an entomology presentation by Dan at the Beartooth Fly Shop. He explained the types and life-cycles of the various insect life in the Madison River. The lessons continued at the boat launch, as the students received another presentation by Mark about the fish of the river, including the fish shocking/counting process conducted by the state biologists and regulators. On the float, the students kept journals of the birds and other wildlife spotted while traveling down the river. This information, along with the presentations, was later compiled in written reports by the students.

An added highlight for some of the students was catching a few fish while floating down the river and spotting wildlife. It didn’t take much time to enjoy some great fishing as the fish were eating fast and furious! The young anglers quickly caught a lot of quality fish before returning to their club assignments.

Important lessons and time on the river, mixing education, the natural beauty of the river, and some fish thrown in … What a great day!

It was, as always, a fun time for everyone involved.

Dan and Marty, along with four other local guides, Mike, Jim, Bill, and Shad, volunteered in the annual river float of the Ennis High School Science Club. Participants included Science teachers, Wes, a biologist, and the science students. The trip is a highlight of the club’s activities, and combines educational activities with a leisurely float trip on the Madison River.

The day began with an entomology presentation by Dan at the Beartooth Fly Shop. He explained the types and life-cycles of the various insect life in the Madison River. The lessons continued at the boat launch, as the students received another presentation by Mark about the fish of the river, including the fish shocking/counting process conducted by the state biologists and regulators. On the float, the students kept journals of the birds and other wildlife spotted while traveling down the river. This information, along with the presentations, was later compiled in written reports by the students.

An added highlight for some of the students was catching a few fish while floating down the river and spotting wildlife. It didn’t take much time to enjoy some great fishing as the fish were eating fast and furious! The young anglers quickly caught a lot of quality fish before returning to their club assignments.

Important lessons and time on the river, mixing education, the natural beauty of the river, and some fish thrown in … What a great day!

It was, as always, a fun time for everyone involved.

One Crazy Weather Day on the Madison….

Two of our favorite fishermen, Michael and Travis, joined Dan for a 12-mile float on Wednesday. A true "deep end diver", Michael was determined to fish even though he was sporting a fracture boot to secure his broken leg from the same week. The day brought temps in the 40s and 50s until about 4 p.m. Then a storm moved in from the north with 30 mph-plus winds and snow. For the next two and a half hours, it was rowing the raft hard, backwards, just to get downstream.

Now for the good news….

The fishing was Kick-Ass, using #8 and #10 Delektable™ Flashback Olive Hurless Stones, #14 Delektable™ Lime Juice and #14 Delektable™ Egghead Twisted Wire nymphs.

Delektable Flies Gallery

One pool was briefly fished during the snowstorm, which produced a nice brown trout, but hypothermia and frostbite were threatening, so wisdom and good judgment ended the trip around 7:00 PM..

Dan

One Crazy Weather Day on the Madison….

Two of our favorite fishermen, Michael and Travis, joined Dan for a 12-mile float on Wednesday. A true "deep end diver", Michael was determined to fish even though he was sporting a fracture boot to secure his broken leg from the same week. The day brought temps in the 40s and 50s until about 4 p.m. Then a storm moved in from the north with 30 mph-plus winds and snow. For the next two and a half hours, it was rowing the raft hard, backwards, just to get downstream.

Now for the good news….

The fishing was Kick-Ass, using #8 and #10 Delektable™ Flashback Olive Hurless Stones, #14 Delektable™ Lime Juice and #14 Delektable™ Egghead Twisted Wire nymphs.

Delektable Flies Gallery

One pool was briefly fished during the snowstorm, which produced a nice brown trout, but hypothermia and frostbite were threatening, so wisdom and good judgment ended the trip around 7:00 PM..

Dan

Dan escaped for the day with Ty Webb of the Bozeman Angler after completing multiple work projects.

We picked the section from Mac to Varney mainly for the solitude. The browns, rainbows, and whitefish co-operated by chomping the #8 Delektable Olive Hurless Stones and some of my new Egghead Twisted Wires in a #14: Delektable Flies Gallery. Great weather, fishing, and company with Ty. Springtime in the Rockies is my favorite time of the year.

Dan

Dan escaped for the day with Ty Webb of the Bozeman Angler after completing multiple work projects.

We picked the section from Mac to Varney mainly for the solitude. The browns, rainbows, and whitefish co-operated by chomping the #8 Delektable Olive Hurless Stones and some of my new Egghead Twisted Wires in a #14: Delektable Flies Gallery. Great weather, fishing, and company with Ty. Springtime in the Rockies is my favorite time of the year.

Dan

April 18, 2010

This was an eventful day for sure. I had cervical spine surgery just over four weeks ago. After seeing the doctor last week I was given the go ahead to cautiously fish from a raft, no hard sides, no rowing, and no wading unless with arm support and great caution. I am healing pretty well. The major pain has subsided but the fingers are still experiencing numbness which is expected to hopefully heal with time. We planned for a short afternoon. It was nice and warm with light "W". Of course, more than once, Dan pulled his usual, while retrieving my fly, he caught multiple fish in the bucket I was working.

We launched at McAtee and finished at Storey Ditch. We had a great time and had plenty of nice fish on. The scenary was really nice.

I was not able to land the bigger fish without assistance from Dan. Normally, I would do both the landing and the netting at once but my strength isn’t there yet. I needed to be cautious about lifting too much.

We did see redds along the way, but the rainbows were mostly gone from the redds and done with their spawning. Fish were biting in the deeper waters and riffles and near the bank. Some were taking it in the middle river riffles where there was nice structure. The flies of choice for me were double #8’s using the Delektable Olive Hurless, Gray Hurless, Mega Pince Standard and Olive: Delektable Flies Gallery. Dan was getting good action on the #14 Delektable EH Twisted Wire in Chartreuse as a trailer fly with one of the #8’s on top.

We watched a huge Bald Eagle leave his perch and fly away.

I was very excited to get outside and catch some fish. It was fun and I am alive!

Nancy

…….The Boys!

This was an eventful day for sure. I had cervical spine surgery just over four weeks ago. After seeing the doctor last week I was given the go ahead to cautiously fish from a raft, no hard sides, no rowing, and no wading unless with arm support and great caution. I am healing pretty well. The major pain has subsided but the fingers are still experiencing numbness which is expected to hopefully heal with time. We planned for a short afternoon. It was nice and warm with light "W". Of course, more than once, Dan pulled his usual, while retrieving my fly, he caught multiple fish in the bucket I was working.

We launched at McAtee and finished at Storey Ditch. We had a great time and had plenty of nice fish on. The scenary was really nice.

I was not able to land the bigger fish without assistance from Dan. Normally, I would do both the landing and the netting at once but my strength isn’t there yet. I needed to be cautious about lifting too much.

We did see redds along the way, but the rainbows were mostly gone from the redds and done with their spawning. Fish were biting in the deeper waters and riffles and near the bank. Some were taking it in the middle river riffles where there was nice structure. The flies of choice for me were double #8’s using the Delektable Olive Hurless, Gray Hurless, Mega Pince Standard and Olive: Delektable Flies Gallery. Dan was getting good action on the #14 Delektable EH Twisted Wire in Chartreuse as a trailer fly with one of the #8’s on top.

We watched a huge Bald Eagle leave his perch and fly away.

I was very excited to get outside and catch some fish. It was fun and I am alive!

Nancy

Yes, it is snowing at Beartooth Flyfishing.

September 26, 2009

Madison River, Montana. A day of float fishing on the Madison River with my partner (we shared the float) Brian and myself, "Grandpa" John, Chairman of the Board of Beartooth Flyfishing Shop and Lodge, one of the finest fly shops in Montana with some of the best guides on the planet and one of the best fly tyers and designers of flies, my son, Dan Delekta, owner of Beartooth Fly Shop and Lodge with his wife Nancy, also an excellent fly fisher.Only a proud father and trout slayer could write this report.This Nov. will be my 87th year on the planet and I still feel like a kid fishing.

Enough of the talk and back to the float trip with our excellent guide Marty. We had a great day fishing. Grandpa John caught the biggest of the day, a huge 20" Brown Trout. We also caught a bunch of Rainbows, Browns, and Whitefish in all sizes up to 18". The flies that worked included Shiela’s Sculpin #4, Pat Rubberlegs Brown #10, and the Delektable™ Lil’ Spanker in Silver #18. All in all it was a great fishing day on the Madison River.

Grandpa