In late June we took a father and son down to the Madison River during the world-famous salmon fly hatch. The clouds of orange salmon flies (as large as your finger) were so thick that birds were snatching them out of the air. For the first hour we fished #6 orange stimulators and then switched to a #4 sunken stone. We spent 4 hours landing monsterous Browns on dry flies. We kept casting into the evening, until we couldn't see our flies.

It was a beautiful day when we packed into the back country, the third meadow of Slough Creek, with 4 clients and 20 horses. In mid-morning we had a bright yellow PMD hatch followed in the afternoon by green drakes. As we moved from hole to hole always finding hungry fish, the sun set behind blue hills and we saw a massive spinner fall. Cast after cast yielded gorgeous 15-20 inch Yellowstone Cutthroats, surely a full day of fishing in Montana.

Last fall, I enjoyed floating the Green River with a long time friend. As the morning fog lifted we hooked our first Silvers. Mergansers flew overhead as we drifted from hole to hole. We found a good school and after getting our flies down we hooked into an 18 pound Chum. He felt like a ton of bricks on my St. Croix 8-weight. We endured several tail-walks and long runs with him, but eventually got him in the net. At the take-out we shared photos and laughs with other fishermen.