Nate O Taylor

Food, Fishing, and Outdoor Adventures

A Day with Dad

June 7, 2016 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

Rock Creek sits just outside of Missoula and is renowned for its incredible hatches and unbridled access throughout the valley that it runs through. In May the Salmonflies start moving up the river, followed by the Golden Stoneflies, Green Drakes, & Caddisflies just to name a few. We stopped at the Mercantile, where as a boy I remembered the late Doug Persico smoking a cigar on the front porch, pontificating his thoughts to all those who would listen. Doug could tie a hell of a fly pattern, and if you are in the area you should read his rants before you stop by the shop.

A Shop Recommendation

A Shop Recommendation

The Put In

The Put In

My father insisted that I take the helm to start the day and it didn’t take long for a few fish to look up toward our dries. Salmonflies were everywhere, a quick look to the sky and thousands of them were flying through the air, and millions more were hanging from the bushes. With the water clarity at mid summer quality the fish were feverishly attacking our dry fly offerings.

Salmonflies

Salmonflies

Give Me a Double Dry

Give Me a Double Dry

After a few decades of having my father row me down the rivers of Western Montana I was able to repay part of the favor, and row him down the river on one of the best days we have ever had together.

Brown

Brown

Cutthroat

Cutthroat

The War Zone is an area of the river that can act as a dividing line on the river during certain years. This year there is a particularly nasty log jam that discouraged many people from passing through it. The strainer appeared to be river wide and the consequences looked to be life threatening. We portaged the boat up and over a few logs and after a brief rest with a beer we could continue on our journey.

The War Zone

The War Zone

 

We arrived at the takeout and while our vehicle was there, the trailer that was to be attached to it was not. Lying on the ground was the hitch, the ball disconnected and a note on the dashboard.

Your Trailer is Broken

Your Trailer is Broken

Turns out years of wear had taken its toll and the unforgiving road of Rock Creek had finally defeated the hardened steel of the hitch. My father left the take out with the note and a few tools to repair the trailer. The journey was nearly 15 miles in each direction on a road that was advisable to approach at speeds less than 10 mph. I sat at the takeout talking with an old timer, a retired guide who told me stories of great fish on the legendary rivers of Montana. Despite his age he recalled days 30 years ago like they were the fresh memories of a young man. We waited together for nearly an hour as his group was running their own shuttle. They arrived just ahead of my dad and loaded their raft on a true Montana fishing vehicle.

Montana Fishing Vehicle

Montana Fishing Vehicle

I will always come back, but rarely am I fortunate enough to time my arrival with the migration of the bugs. It may be years before it happens again but for now I am glad that I was able to do it this year with my father in tow.

Filed Under: Summer Tagged With: Double Dries, Floating, Rock Creek, Salmonflies

Like Clockwork, there was Orange…

June 3, 2016 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

Rarely does it fail that Memorial Day triggers the Salmonfly hatch on the upper Colorado River up through Gore Canyon. Water temperatures need to hit the lower 50’s sure, but for whatever reason it just always seems that Memorial Day is most often the weekend that they start to come out. The sterotypical conversation happened which goes along the lines of’

“Hey, its happening and you should be here”

“Love your enthusiasm, I’ll see you tomorrow”

Then I went home, packed my things and got out of the door.

Ready to Launch

Ready to Launch

"We Should Fish That"

“We Should Fish That”

The fish wanted some salmonfly in their diet, but there were also fish looking for the caddis that were flying around. At first we overlooked them because they seemed insignificant compared to the larger insects that were available, but we soon discovered that many of the fish were keyed in on caddisflies.

This one ate Caddis

This one ate Caddis

We slapped the big dries against the banks and pulled over and fished good looking runs. Success was evenly divided amongst the two tactics for the first 6 miles of our journey.

From the Boat

From the Boat

Not From the Boat

Not From the Boat

The lower few miles of our float slowed down as the salmonflies disappeared from the river and we were exhausted from the morning activities. A few more were to hand before we rowed the last mile down the river to the takeout. We made it just as the sun was setting so that we could drive home in darkness. I came home to a sleeping house and no one to tell my stories to, but I suppose that is what we will talk about tomorrow…

Farewell Until after Runoff

Farewell Until after Runoff

Filed Under: Summer Tagged With: Colorado River, Flagella, Salmonflies

The Weekend Before “The Weekend”

May 19, 2012 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

A leisure weekend before the big Memorial Day crowds? Yes please.

This is the coolest miniature golf course I might have ever seen in my life. The entire thing was basically created from some plywood, spray paint, and spare pieces of 64 Erector Sets.

They are out in force and fish still love them. Lots of Salmonflies on the Colorado River this weekend, probably more on the downswing as the hatch was real thick last week. Colder weather definitely stalled the hatch this weekend so if you’re lucky you could hammer them tomorrow.

What is a man to do when his rod breaks stream-side? This ingenious fellow decided to nail knot the broken section back together with some fly line he cut off his reel. It worked surprisingly well but I think that was more based on how the rod broke than the actual structural support the fly line provided. Still a pretty great idea.

Filed Under: Spring Tagged With: Colorado River, Local Attractions, Salmonflies

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