We have finally reached the time of year when the majority of yak amongst fishing guides revolves around uncertain predictions on the future state of our water supply in Montana. As we ponder the ambiguous outlook of our season, it’s both exciting and worrying looking at what lies ahead. Will we have good hatches? Will the timing of run-off match the fishing we promised our anglers in June? Early season dry flies or hoot-owl restrictions in August? The answer to all these questions is actually quite simple: we don’t exactly know. We can only predict what might happen in the fishing season that lies ahead.

I am drawn to fly fishing for many reasons, but the thing that keeps my passion level perked is this; you never peak and every day on the water offers new lessons to be learned. The education spectrum continues with endless rungs on the ladder of knowledge when it comes to things like fish and insect behavior, casting, presentation, knots and rigging, fly patterns, and learning the rhythm of the water you are fishing. As soon as you think you have something figured out, you will be reminded soon enough that you know nothing. Being humbled and learning from that experience is part of the growth process of an accomplished angler.

Being outside in the middle of January without gloves on is a bonus, floating the Missouri River holding a fly rod in a gloveless hand almost feels like cheating. In a way, it probably is; but it’s hard to pass up a few nice days on the river. Especially with last year’s epically long and brisk winter season.

As we near the end of August there is still some summer left in our season, but fall is definitely creeping into the picture. The days are shorter, the mornings are chilly, and some wet weather patterns are starting to appear (high of 52 degrees and 90% chance of precip on Monday, snow accumulation above 7,500 feet, for example). But with afternoon highs in the 70s and 80s most days, it is still flip-flop and sunscreen season in Montana, and we will soak it in as long as it lasts.

Most days the fishing is as good as you are, especially when you're throwing small dryflies at rising fish on our home water, the Missouri River. But wherever you go in Montana nowadays, you are likely fishing to fish that have seen a fly or two already this season, so you need to be better than the last person who tried to fool that trout. As a general rule of thumb, it is not the fly, or the rod, or the sun, or the wind, or the leader, or the arrow that catches the trout. It's you, the angler, the Indian. Shoot your arrows straight at the target and you'll definitely catch more trout.      

When your Smith River crew consists of seven adults and six kids between the ages of 5 and 9, but you already have over 100 trips down the canyon combined, you know you are ready for an exciting adventure. The match of youthful exuberance and experienced moderation finds it's sweet spot on a 60 mile river float. 

Our weather and water conditions continue to be pretty interesting this year in Montanaland, and the big news is that run-off is tapering down more quickly than expected on many of our blue-ribbon rivers are they are coming into excellent shape for some of our most exciting hatch cycles of the season. This is great news for all our anglers who will be arriving in the next few weeks to fish in the Helena, Missoula and Bozeman areas.

Here's a quick breakdown of what we're seeing and hope to expect for the rest of June in Troutopia:   

It has been an epic start to our early season and the front end of our annual run-off here in troutopia. Some rivers have already seen near record-breaking flows, while the high water destiny of other watersheds remain unknown. One river in particular, the Blackfoot, already topped out at 19,000cfs; which nearly missed the historical record set in 1964. At this time, we are currently looking forward to the dropping flows and the fantastic fishing ahead. Eventually the bobbers will come off and we will be spending the majority of our time fastening dry flies to the end of our line.

Beware the Ides of March in Montana, when your fishing guide's English degree collides with his passion for trout. 

In related news, winter has returned after a brief but glorious taste of spring.

With our first guide trip of the season under the belt it's time to give a report on the status of our favorite tailwater fishery, the Missouri River. Usually by the second week of March the Missouri is open for business, albeit early season business. On Friday I found four inches of slush blanketing the Craig boat ramp parking lot, about half of the boat launches unusable due to snow and ice, and a day that started sunny and warm but brought us a couple of snow squalls that produced some heavy snow and wind. This pretty much sums up our winter in Montana - serious and unrelenting.

One of my early fishing guide mentors had a favorite saying, usually issued while witnessing the belabored acts of an obvious nitwit. "Amateurs teaching amateurs to be amateurs", Johnny would say, with a slight head shake. It was always good for a laugh and made of distinct point of whatever knuckleheaded thing they happened to be doing; jack-knifing trailers down the boat ramp, high centering a loaded raft on the only exposed rock in the river, flailing away with a bird's nest tangle in their flyline. It was always amateurs teaching amateurs to be amateurs.

I'm always looking for new ways to get the word out about our business. We rely on repeat and direct referral clients to provide the bulk of our angler base, and the magic of the internet connects us with most of the rest, but I am always searching for new ways to connect.

One drove up to my house this fall. It was an open bed pick-up truck with a few empty beer kegs rolling around. Our friend Dash from MAP Brewing had stopped by after one of the many, many beer festivals these micro-brew types like to attend. So I slapped a sticker on a keg or two and off they went back to Bozeman. 

In reflecting on last year's fishing season, there was one particular window of time on the Missouri River that stood out for me. It was special. It was magical. It wasn't supposed to be happening but it was anyway, and the folks who were in the right place at the right time got to see some absolutely troutstanding fishing. I have been telling tales about it most days since.

I read an article recently that used an acronym I had not seen before; T.O.W. Time On the Water. It immediately resonated with me. In a life of fishing and guiding, your time spent on the water is the defining characteristic of your existence. In other spheres they call it field time, and at NASA I imagine they call it space time. It's about immersion to the point of heightened observation. Maybe pure observation. 

As some of you may or may not know, I spent the last month of 2017 deeply entangled in one of the seven natural wonders of the world-The Grand Canyon. At times it's hard to describe this river trip with words, so here are a dozen of my favorite photos that might help paint a picture of what 25 days of adventure in the wilderness is like.

The majority of what we do as a fishing guide service is connecting anglers with great fishing guides, usually here in Montanaland, but sometimes in other fishy places as well. Like New Zealand. On the south island. In Nelson, our favorite Kiwi fishing town.

When my cousin Drew contacted me last week asking about the fishing opportunities near Nelson, since he just happened to be there for a week, my response was clear and concise; it's awesome and there's only one guy you need to talk to about it. Tony Entwistle.

When you are a hunter in Montana and your phone rings during the fall moths, and your friend who is calling starts with these words - "Whatcha doin' right now?" - 99 out of 100 times it means one thing; he or she has a big dead animal on their hands and needs help. It is a call I look forward to and try to build my schedule loosely so I can usually answer, "Waitin' for you to call so I can help get yer elk out."

This is the weather forecast that Montanans have been dreaming about for the last 2 months, which is about how long it has been since it last rained here. As you may have heard among reports on hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the rocky mountain west has been having some natural disaster issues of our own, namely severe drought and major wildfires in Montana and across areas of the pacific northwest. Somehow we went from a big snowpack year with a nice wet spring to one of the driest and warmest runs of weather we have ever seen before, and it has led to a summer of way to many hot and smoky afternoons in Montana.

We are exactly one month away from the Autumnal Equinox, but in Montana the 1st of September usually announces the end of summer and the start to our favorite season, the Fall. Archery hunters are already afield chasing pronghorn antelope, upland bird hunting opens next week, elk will be in full rut within a month, and some of our best fishing of the season is still to come.

Summer roared in like a blast furnace bringing a string of days with highs in the 90s to most of Montana. It has been H-O-T Hot. Too hot. Melt in your driftboat about about 3PM hot. Can't drink enough ice water hot. It has not been awesome. You know what has been awesome though? The morning and evening trout bite, that's what. It's our saving grace in the short sweaty season in Big Sky Country. 

Here's the secret short list to get through the next 6 weeks of the fishing season:

Make no mistake about it, the future of fishing lies in the hands of impressionable youngsters like these two hardcore fish-heads, and our mentorship of them. There may be no greater way to teach trout and river life skills than a 60 mile float down Montana's fabled Smith River. It is a full immersion experience in a fully captivating environment - Montana's Disney World. 

If you are the kind of angler who tracks snowpack and streamflow reporting, then you know the scoop; it was a big snow year in Montana, with dumps of low elevation snow falling as recently as last week, and we've had plenty of spring rain along with a couple short periods of warmth and sun. What has that all added up to currently? Lots of blue-ribbon rivers in some state of run-off and most are unfishable.

That's my driftboat anchor on the right. The one on the left belongs to some other deadbeat fishing guide who hasn't been around quite as long. His is pretty new and mine is certainly not. I've been dragging this particular anchor around Montana for at least a decade now and I've become fairly emotionally attached to it.

We have some great news from the Montana FWP about our beloved Missouri River. According to a presentation given from biologist Jason Mullen earlier this week, our fishery below Holter Dam is in great shape. The fish are in good health which not only bodes well for our current fishing season, but for the future of the river as well. Read below for some of the highlights from Jason's presentation, it is interesting to compare our notes and thoughts as anglers to the scientific research that is done by the biologist gurus from the state.