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  Here's why high water is sweet.

1.  For some reason larger fish are caught.

2.  It's okay to fish the San Juan Worm.

3.  Montana agriculture is prosperous 

4.  Encourages one to fish where they usually don't

5.  The Smith and Sun will still be fishable in August

6.  You don’t see how many fish you actually are

missing

7.  Feel less bad about having to work

8.  Fewer crowds on the river (people think the fish stop eating?)

9.  You may actually use the seat in the front of your drift boat

10.  Besides the water being higher… the rest of the experience is about the same!

 

Recipes for High Water

 

a.)     Deep Nymphing – Thingamabobber placed where fly line meets the leader; fol

lowed by 7.5 8 feet of mono tapered down to 3x; blood knot with one foot of additional 3x ; 3 split shots above the blood knot ; San Juan Worm (disco worm, wire worm, eggs n bacon, etc) ; 12-18 inches of 4x mono ; hot head ray charles (any nymph with an orange bead in a size 16, or a rainbow Czech nypmh, tailwater Charlie, flashy caddis nymphs like silvey’s or LaFontaines, etc).  Fish this set up in 3-5 feet of water, the additional leader and weight will get you down quicker.  The Thingamabobber should be teasing you in to setting the hook often by ticking the bottom.  If it’s not ticking the bottom, you’re not getting em.

b.)    Streamers off the bank – this one is simpler.  Just keep the drift boat 10-15 feet off the banks and strip streamers off of it by covering as much bank as possible.  Yes, fish are the length of the river but in high/dirty water, in our experience, more of them are found on the banks.  Once it clears however, the middle and ledges the length of the river are often overlooked.  Especially by those who are used to fishing freestone rivers.

Are these the only ways to get em' in high water?... of course not... 

 Not too many instructional videos on fly casting with fiberglass these days... so here's one.

 Here we go... we won the first round.  Tomorrow is important for the USA.  Here is a video of some national pride/passion that we often miss here in Montana for our footballers in South Africa this year.  

...and here is a video of why fly fishermen get stereotyped. 

It's a river that goes under the radar by many throughout the state, but it's a river that should be near the top of any trout angler's bucket list for Montana streams.  The Dearborn River is viewed by many as a low water, small trout stream who's sole purpose is to feed the Missouri with rich, cool mountain water.  Wrong.  I began floating the Dearborn last year and was pretty skeptical about it to be quite honest.  I've heard rumors/stories of really big brown trout that call this water home, but had only seen the water at highway 200 and 287 bridges, making me feel that the rumors I had heard were merely lies.  My first floating experience was a good one as far as taking in the scenery, but the fishing was poor to say the least.  We boated close to a dozen fish, none over 15" and tried every technique known to the sport of fly fishing (some were probably even made up).  At the time I was really upset and didn't understand why we weren't able to boat or even move a fish pushing the 20" mark.  The water looks absolutely perfect for holding big fish; that kind of riffle, pool, pocket water that makes you feel like you're floating Box Canyon on the Blackfoot.  As opening weekend came around this year, I was ready to float and was hell bent on boating a fish over 20" mark.  We had a different game plan this year, which consisted of throwing ridiculously huge streamers on sinking lines with complete confidence that a big fish would eat.  This strategy paid off in a big way, ultimately leading to seven fish that pushed to and beyond the 20" mark within two floats this year (and moved more fish than I thought were in the river).  This started to get me thinking.  Why aren't these fish eating stoneflies, caddis, pmds, and terrestrials on a regular basis and why aren't there overall more fish in this river system?  Then my analytical mind began to take over.  The river is only floatable for a short period of time beginning the third Saturday in May (opening day) until the flows get too low (usually by the middle of June).  It's prime floating level is over 350cfs, with most comfortable levels around 500cfs.  Doing a little research, I was surprised to find that the river drops down to and below 100cfs by the middle of July and throughout the rest of the summer and into autumn.  Last year the river dropped to 41cfs on September 30, which is a mere trickle.  It's flows throughout the winter are also off the charts do to ice, which tells me that the stream is at extremely low levels.  Based off the flow charts and the size differences in fish caught between years (and techniques used), I feel that the Dearborn is a major migratory fish river.  This means that larger fish do not reside in it year round, with exception to some fish.  It is documented that the Dearborn is a major site for Missouri River rainbows to spawn and that is why it is closed from December - May.  Knowing this helps with the assumption that larger brown trout will follow the push of rainbows up the river in early spring to feed on their eggs (same goes for the whitefish spawn in late fall/early winter when flows allow it).  After the bows do their thing and vacate the river, I believe that the majority of the larger fish, bows and browns alike, will migrate back to the Missouri.  As always there is an exception to a rule and in this case is no excepetion and that is some of the larger fish will stay in the river for longer than intended.  These are called hold-over fish and they will sometimes stay in the river for a week longer than intended or will call that river their new home.  This is why I consider this river one of hit or miss.  Some years, much like this year, flows will stay at a level that will allow larger fish to remain in the river longer than intended.  The larger, migratory fish will exhibit predatory instincts when they are introduced into a system filled with smaller, less aggressive fish in it; therefore, it requires techniques that trigger and initiate a predatory response.  Streamer techniques are obviously one of the most effective ways to initiate a predatory response, but other techniques including nymphing with big, leggy stonefly nymphs or fishing large salmonfly/golden/attractor patterns can initiate an aggressive response too.  Overall, the Dearborn does have fish that reach over the 20" mark, but don't expect to knock um dead every year.  This river is a major hit or miss river in Montana and will remain one of my favorites for that reason.

Saw this video via thisisfly.com of this 81cm brown trout...which converts to about 32 inches.  This dude was pretty excited upon netting this fish and it's worth watching just his reaction... I wouldn't be any different so I'm not judging.

I am not one to follow to much on disaster's for the sheer fact that it is what it is. It is never a good thing when something like this happens but their isn't much to be done that isn't already being done now that it has happened. Although last night, while sitting at a, well lets just say an establishment, I was visiting a doctor who lives on an island off the coast of Pensicola, FL. Talking with him about the current situations and long term severity of this event brought me in a more life like reality of what is going on. He spoke about where he lives and what has become of where he is at. He is located on the North side of the island away from the in-flow of the slick, but it has still wrapped around the island and has come up on the shores of the north side of the island. He said that he isn't one to think to much into things like this either until he realized that he cannot go off the dock and catch speckled trout, jacks, etc anymore. He also spoke how within the days of the oil coming up on the shores, he expierenced itchy watery eyes, runny nose, etc. Since he has been up in Montana, the symptoms have subsided. Tells you how just the presence of the oil has many health side effects. As I sat their and thought about it for awhile, even if he wanted to move, no one will buy his house, and if everyone moves.....Quite the predicament that people are in.

Right now we have on sale a product that I have used for the last ten years as a dubbing brush. (Sounds like a dude from an info-mercial). You can pick up a rifle bore brush/ dubbing brush for $2 in the rifle cleaning section. I think I snagged mine out of my dads .22 cleaning kit when I was starting out tying. The best thing about these brushes are you can gauge them out. Starting from a .22 for your #16 shrimpies or a .44 for your leechy stuff or angora goat on steelhead bugs. So whether you have an old bore brush that you don't mind getting some fur matted in or you just need a new brush. Here it is, an easy solution.
KK

Every year around this time I experience a phenomenon that one would call a "learning" experience, but for some reason I haven't learned anything about this subject in the last 23 years; the sun can burn you.  Yesterday KK and I were on the river and it was one of those days where there wasn't a cloud in the sky and absolutely no wind whatsoever.  So what did we do?  We took our shirts off to soak in some rays and of course didn't put any sunscreen on.  You gotta burn it to earn it right?  Wrong.  This is a sloagan that I am no longer living by, saying, or even thinking.  Lets just say I learned my lesson about sunscreen and I think KK did too. 

Something a lot of people forget about when spending time on the water is that the sun's rays reflect off the water much like a mirror, which can insensify the rays' effects by 80%.  Currently, we carry two different brands of sunscreen, both of which work great.  Sol sunguard is our newest brand and my favorite.  Sol BlueWater is a sunguard developed for those like us who enjoy spending summers on the water.  It is a non-water soluble (water resistant) , low chemical active, unscented spf 36 UVA-UVB protectant.  Our second brand of sunscreen is Simms Angler Sunscreen Lotion by Dermatone.  This spf 30 UVA-UVB protectant is waterproof, sweatproof, non-greasy, and is enriched with aloe and vitamins A & E.  The main difference between these two products is the active ingredients used to block the sun.  Another item that has become a staple in my fish bag for a few years now is a buff.  Some people make fun of me for wearing one, but at the end of the day I am usually the one laughing at them when they're complaining about a sunburnt, mosquito biten neck and I think they're cool so whatever.  The UV buffs block up to 95% of the suns' harmful rays and comes in many cool colors.  Buffs also work well to cool yourself by dunking them in the water and putting them around your head and/or around your neck.

Another major nuisance we ran into where mosquitoes and man there were A LOT of them.  This breed of mosquitoes seems to be much worse than those of the past few years.  I mean these things eat the mosquitoes in Alaska.  Thankfully Sam had some old mosquito repellent stashed in the boat, otherwise we would've been burnt and itchin today.  We carry several products ranging from repellent to clothing with built in repellent in the fabric that will save you from these nuisances.  This year Simms had the great idea to make clothing with built in "no fly zones."  What they did was incorporated a scentless, inert chemical, Permethrin, into the fabric which repels mosquitoes, ants, ticks, chiggers, flies, and midges.  These shirts also utilize UPF 30 technology which goes with my sun rant from above.  Another cool product we carry is the mosquito annoyer from William Joseph.  This is a small electronic device repels mosquitoes without using chemicals.  It uses a frequency of sound that is undetectable to humans, but can be heard by mosquitoes and drives them nuts.  It works, trust me.  Then there's the old stand by mosquito spray repellents.  We have a few different brands including: OFF, Natrapel, and Ben's.  In my opinion, Ben's 100% DEET is the way to go to repel anything from bugs to your girlfriend, but you probably don't want to apply this to you growing children too often.  So I hope that you can learn from my lessons and be prepared for it all when you're on the water enjoying your summer.      

Apparently its time to start carpin.  Here is another pic. from team LaBrel.  They have landed more carp this season than I have made casts to (it's ok I haven't made a cast to any yet).  This year's carp classic is gonna be a tight race.  I think it's time for team Big R to chase some golden bones.