Fishing the Land of the Giants

Tuesday was the first of 2 days with local angler, Jim, over on the Land of the Giants in the jet boat. Jim was able to put two days together and after the fishing at LOG last week it was the best option around.

It was a big weather change today. We had clouds, some rain, and highs in the 70’s. It was a refreshing change for the heat and bright sun, but I wasn’t sure what it would do for the fishing. We started out up by the dam and it proved to be one of our most consistent spots.

Jim was hooking into solid rainbows on every other drift or so. That was par for the course with several fat 18-20″ bows. We moved down into a faster run that was productive last week, but we only hooked one and had to deal with a lot of weeds.

It is interesting how quickly things can change in this fishery. We fished our way down to another good section, and Jim picked up a pair of hot fish in deep water. The next run was my favorite from last week with big fish on both nymphs and dries but we didn’t touch a fish in there today.

Cloudy, cool weather is usually a great thing for the bug hatches but there were no bugs today and no rising fish. We stopped for lunch to see if the bugs would come a little later with the cooler weather. In the afternoon we slid down toward Beaver Creek for a long drift in the middle river.

That produced 3 quality rainbows and then we motored back above to fish a spot we hadn’t hit yet. That little run was loaded as Jim hooked up every time we drifted through and the trout were a little bigger than average. Jim finished up with his best fish of the day, a slab 22″ rainbow.

That big weather change definitely affected the fishing, we had to work some different water but Jim still put plenty of big rainbows in the net.

A refreshingly cool and wet start to the day - Fishing the Land of the Giants — A refreshingly cool and wet start to the day – Fishing the Land of the Giants

Hard to argue with the "average" fish at LOG - Fishing the Land of the Giants — Hard to argue with the “average” fish at LOG – Fishing the Land of the Giants

Fishing the Land of the Giants

Wednesday Jim and I were back at it at LOG with an early start under sunny skies. Jim’s second cast of the day produced a fat rainbow from the middle of a riffle. Then we motored up to the dam and added to the body count.

Much like yesterday we were averaging a fish to the net every other drift or so. Some of those fish made hard charging runs nearly to the backing and we had to chase them around with the boat. When that felt played out we moved downstream to our best spot from yesterday afternoon. That run was a consistent producer again today with one or two solid hookups every pass from hot, hard fighting rainbows.

It was sunny, but still cool and not bugs hatching again today. In the afternoon we moved down to Beaver Creek where Jim tagged a big bow right away and then with a little breeze kicking up we decided to finish the day out on the lake. We set up near a big weed bed and in less than 10 minutes Jim was tight to a good fish.

Even though there isn’t much for current in the lake this proved to be the hardest fighting fish in the last 2 days. Jim did a great job keeping the fish out of the weeds and eventually slid another big, slab rainbow in the net. At that point Jim was satisfied, and his arm was a little sore from pulling on big fish for 2 days so we hit the ramp and made the drive back over to the westside.

Jim has fished LOG plenty in the spring, but this was his first trip in the summer. I’m glad he was able to put the two days together and get out of town for some fun fishing.

Fishing the Land of the Giants

Friday I was able to get Dan Shepherd over to LOG for his first time. Dan was the managing partner at the Grizzly Hackle fly shop when I guided there and we still work together on hosted travel for Wild on the Fly. I always enjoy fishing with Dan and I was excited to show him LOG.

I was also looking forward to doing some experimenting. I’ve been guiding this fishery for 4 years but I have not spent a lot of time there in the summer so I wanted to play around with some different techniques to see if they would work. We started out deep nymphing up by the dam. The first couple of drifts didn’t produce a fish which made me a little concerned, but we stuck with it and before long Dan had 3 nice rainbows in the net.

With some fish to the boat it was time to play around so I had Dan grab the short leash nymph rod for some fast water. He hooked up on our first pass and we both got a good look at a massive rainbow that just came unbuttoned for some reason. We made another drift and Dan picked off a feisty rainbow. Then I handed him the streamer rod to see what that would produce.

The first fly didn’t move a fish through some good water so he changed patterns and immediately had a follow on the next cast. A few casts later he had a solid grab that just didn’t come tight. Then we had some more fast water and went back to the short leash rod. Dan went 2 for 2 to prove that short leashing is a viable option. While we were fishing that run we both noticed a couple of rising fish.

That was enough to string up the 4 weight and put on a small dry fly. Dan managed to fool on of those risers and then did a good job fighting that fish through a bunch of submerged boulders on 5x. Dan put that 4 weight to the test with a thick 21″ rainbow on a dry. Then I fished the short leash rod through a spot I have been curious about and picked up a decent rainbow before we tucked into the shade for lunch.

Dan insisted that I take a shot at those rising fish in the afternoon so after getting the boat into position I grabbed the dry fly rod. There was a very large trout rising out off a rock and after several drifts I managed to get the timing right and the fish ate, but I missed on the hook set and that fish spooked. I was bummed about that, but noticed a good number of PMD spinners on the water and knew we would find more risers downstream.

We motored down and quickly found a good pod of fish rising. The boat wasn’t in the best position for those fish, but Dan made some great casts and it wasn’t long before we watched a big rainbow suck down his spinner. I took some shots at them after that, but they were a little snottier and I couldn’t fool one so we floated downstream to another group of fish rising off a big rock.

Dan worked on those fish for a while. We made several fly changes and couldn’t seem to crack the code. After yet another fly change and a couple casts I suggested we move down to some other risers. Dan wanted one more cast and then we would move. His fly landed perfect, we watched the fish eat two naturals right before his bug and then he sipped Dan’s fly down.

The set was good and the fight was on. The fish turned out to be bigger than I originally thought. I knew it was a good one, but when it hit the net I realized it was a fat 22″ rainbow. With that victory we decided to call it a day. Who would have thought we would have great dry fly fishing on a sunny 100 degree day? I had a blast fishing with Dan and it was great to figure out some different techniques today.

Fishing the Land of the Giants

It looks like we may be turning the corner on this endless heat in Missoula this summer. The 10 day forecast is showing highs in the 80s with lows in the mid 50s.

That will certainly help cool off our freestone rivers. Hoppers and ants are making their way onto the menu and fishing should pick up around Missoula in the weeks to come.

I am off for a mid-season break with family next week but then it will be back to the rivers.