“Something to think about: If you fish the wrong fly long and hard enough, it will sooner or later become the right fly.” - John Gierarch 

No offense to you Pink Albert fans - I’ve got ‘em in my box too…. 

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We’re pleased as punch to announce the formal launch of Dry Fly Media today.  Several of us affiliated with this site have teamed up with some skilled local folks here in Bozeman to put together a media group focused on fly fishing and rivers. 

We have several projects cooking right now with conservation groups (local and national) and several foundations supporting great western rivers, and will be sharing more about those as they develop.

We’ve probably most excited right now about the first installment of a nifty series we’re calling our Rivers in Motion series.  Rivers is Motion series is a video record of five (for now) of the great Montana Rivers - the Madison, the Henry’s Fork, the Yellowstone, the Missouri, and the Gallatin.  Our team has spent hundreds of hours this late summer and fall capturing the sights and sounds of these waters in high quality video.  Each river’s DVD contains anywhere from eight to twelve river scenes, shot from the perspective of a fly fisherman either in the river, or scouting from a key bank side location.  The DVDs average around 80 minutes in length. 

Very intentionally few fisherfolk are included in the scenes – we wanted the stars of the show to be the rivers themselves and the sweeping riverside vistas of Montana.  You can see sample clips of the DVDs here (download times for the Quicktime clips can be up to a minute, and the clips are programmed to pop in a separate box). 

We’re going to offer our friends on Best Fly Fishing Yellowstone a significant discount on the DVDs next Monday – we’ll provide a discount code right here in the blog. 

It’s been pretty interesting to see how friends have been using the DVDs so far – we’ve heard stories ranging from playing the DVDs in the background during dinner with family and friends, at parties, unwinding after work, as background on work station computers, commuting laptops, and in the classroom.  One friend claims he flies with them and judges flight length by how many rivers he can doze to on the plane.  Much to our surprise we’ve had a very strong demand from the yoga and fitness crowd, as well as in the health care field.   Heck, after a busy day working in the real world several buddies have been just coming home, opening a cold one, and watching the river run for a while. 

It’s probably the closest you can come to standing in the river without getting your boots wet.  Our tag line is “Run to the River.  Anytime.  Anywhere.” 

Yes, we have a very large Yellowstone project in the works, as well as a couple of still photography projects cooking that should be of interest to Yellowstone and Montana river addicts. 

We’re open to suggestions for other projects as well, one of our main goals is to very strongly support the river conservation, river foundations, and fly fishing organizations out there.  Give us a yell if you have a story you need to tell about your river or organization – we’d like to help. 

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Early evening light on the Bridgers yesterday, with a little new snow blowing off the ridge.  Yes, that’s the huge campus of MSU in the foreground. 

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Wow – another week has flown by and it’s time for our Friday Food Roundup post – the last couple we’ve done have been amazingly popular reads.  Hey man – everyone loves to eat great food and it’s tough to great food hot off the grill. 

Today’s recipe is for Spicy Citrus Grilled Chicken Thighs – I’m doing this one again tonight even if today’s high is supposed to be 39.  They’re great with a spunky white wine and grilled green onions and fresh corn. 

1 cup lime juice (fresh is exponentially better)
2/3 cup orange juice (ditto)
½ cup olive oil
½ cup chopped cilantro, stems ok, fresh
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
3 teaspoons hot pepper sauce of your choice
1-2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper flakes (adjust to your heat tolerance)
16 large chicken thighs, bone in, and skin if you dare
16 large green onions
8 fresh ears of corn

Combine the first seven ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly.  Adjust marinade with coarse salt and fresh ground pepper.  Grab two large resealable plastic bags – place chicken in one and corn / green onions in the other.  Whisk marinade one more time, and divide between the chicken and vegetable bags, seal well, and chill for four hours, turning every hour. 

When you’re ready to cook, drain chicken and vegetables discarding marinade.  Preheat grill to medium, and grill chicken until done – around 20 to 25 minutes.  Grill the green onions for 5 to 6 and the corn for 12 to 13 as the chicken is finishing.  Try this with your favorite Sauvignon Blanc. 

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Jake and I had to run up to Moonlight Basin yesterday afternoon to see a guy – it was blustery, spitting snow, with a surprising amount of snow cover on Lone Mountain and the nifty peaks to the north (pic above). 

By now those of you with an interest in the area have no doubt heard that the uber-exclusive Yellowstone Club at Big Sky at has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  The YC is now owned by Edra Blixseth; Edra is a never-ending source of entertainment for the locals around; she and her husband Tim battled over ownership of the YC during their recent divorce. 

News reporters (here’s a link to an AP story from the 11th) have outlined somewhat differing numbers, but it appears the YC owes somewhere in the range of $343 million to creditors and local contractors.  Attorneys for the YC asked a federal court judge in Missoula to approve a $4.5 million loan so the resort can operate this winter – the season is scheduled to open on the 28th pending snow. 

As often happens in resort areas experiencing extravagant development, the YC and Big Sky concept is viewed in less than favorable terms by the majority of the local crowd.  The complaint we hear most often is that many (not all by any means) of those who visit Big Sky and the YC view locals as largely consisting of the great unwashed, driving old pickups with dead animals and empty adult beverage containers in the bed. 

While that may be true to some extent, there are a lot of us with fishing gear in the bed of the truck instead of a gutted elk, and some of us can even read and carry on a decent conversation on a good day. 

Some of us would like to see the YC and Big Sky remain functional and viable – it does keep a hoard of local contractors working (though they do need to get paid), and the mountain offers some very nice terrain to ski.  Heck, we like to ski there in our oldest gear with duct tape covering the rips and tears and chat with folks on the lift; sometimes being considered a member of the great unwashed can be very interesting indeed…..

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As we turn to winter (there was a dusting of snow on the ground in Bozeman this morning!) fishing on the Bighorn is only getting better.  The weeds are dying and pulling up, and the water has settled a bit after the recent lake inversion.  Things should only get better in the next few weeks, although the Bighorn is most certainly worth your time today.

Try the traditional Bighorn rig of a scud with worm trailing behind; the fish are responding nicely to this rig while the river is still clearing.  There are still a few BWO hatches coming off – if you are lucky enough to catch one, pull out a dry and get to it.  Streamer action is decent and will only pick up as the weather gets worse and the water clears.  Try dark streamers in dirty water or for cloudy days and lighter streamers for clearer water or sunny days.

If the fish aren’t biting on the fly you are using, don’t be afraid to switch it up and try something different.  There are nice fish in the Bighorn, all it takes is a little patience and persistence. 

River flows on the Bighorn are currently (0600) at 2,430 cfs, with the average for today 2,800 cfs.  Measurements are taken on the gage near St. Xavier, Montana.

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“Most fishermen swiftly learn that it’s a pretty good rule never to show a favorite spot to any fisherman you wouldn’t trust with your wife”   - John Voelker

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From the Island Park River cam show above, this morning looks a bit cloudy and cool on HF.  We had planned to run down this past week and have been so tied up with our film company launch that we haven’t been down.  Hunting down a report we’ve talked to some folks who have done very well in the past few days, particularly chasing big fish on the lower river. 

Though it may not look like it this morning, the area is probably due for some weather in the next few days.  There’s been a winter storm warning issued for the Park, and temps should be cooling today.  Make sure you’re equipped for both the river and the road. 

This morning at Island Park (0630) flows were 207 cfs with today’s average 414 cfs; flows have been steady pretty much all week.

The Box Canyon – nymphing is still productive for the bulk of the day, run a double rig with something big and ugly up front.  Streamers early and late just like last week, watch the weather for the next couple of days. 

Last Chance to Harriman – we’re still hearing reports of midges and BWOs on the right kind of days; clearly not the easiest fishing, but for Last Chance addicts it can be very rewarding but technical fishing. 

Riverside CG to Ashton – nymphing the canyon, with midges and BWOs.  Streamers come more into play the further downstream you travel. 

Ashton and Points Downstream – from Warm River down seems to be the brown trout kingdom this time of year.  Take care not to disturb redds.  Streamers are the obvious play; egg flies in the riffle tails if you’re so inclined (we’re actually not, but it is tempting some days). 

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“Often I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand have I been less than in a place that was less than beautiful.”  - Charles Kuralt

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