We left STL at 6 am on a Tuesday and the wheels were down in Jackson, WY by 9:45 am. I love getting an early start. We had plenty of time to drive to the Madison for our first day of wade fishing. If you've ever flown in to Jackson Airport, you remember the view from the runway as you step off the plane. It's truly amazing and we had a beautiful clear morning to soak in the Tetons. It had been a year since I'd been in Jackson. Last July Sara and I were married there. The place was more beautiful than I remembered.
Dodging hoards of passengers snapping photographs on the runway, we moved swiftly toward the baggage claim. JD and I took care of the luggage while Joe arranged for the truck. Joe, a regular to the Jackson area and a former fishing guide for South Fork Lodge, keeps a bad-ass Ford Excursion in Jackson. He also has a drift boat and tons of fishing gear in storage. We made good use of everything.
The baggage / car pick up could not have been smoother. The bags were basically waiting for us by the time we got to the baggage claim (gotta love small airports!) and the truck started on the first try. We had been a little concerned that the cold winter would have taken its toll on the battery but luckily she fired up immediately and we were off toward Montana.
The drive was pretty cool because we followed world famous trout rivers the whole way. We first drove over the Snake River in Jackson. Next, we headed over the pass into Victor, Idaho and paralleled the South Fork of the Snake for a few miles until merging slightly north along the the Henry's Fork. Once we hit MT, we followed the Madison all the way to Ennis and to the channels where we would wade fish.
The view from the backside of the Tetons was not bad at all on the drive up.
Not counting our numerous stops for lunch, gas, beer, groceries, flies, and just about everything else you can imagine, we were stepping into the river right at prime hatch time. We had caddis, rusty spinners, and all sorts of terrestrials. Dry fly fishing for trophy Madison River browns was not a bad way to close out a Tuesday. All three of us ripped a few lips but John and I connected with the two healthiest fish.
I saw the brown below rise in a long tail out where a riffle slowly tapered off into deeper water along a cut bank. After watching some smaller fish rise, I saw this guy eat an emerger where he barely exposed his nose and tail. The tail was big and I knew he was worth a cast or two. The first cast proved successful and this brown ate an olive caddis emerger. We estimated he was about 19. Long and skinny.
JD's fish was much bigger but unfortunately, due to a netting error by yours truly, we do not have a photograph of his big rainbow which probably could have eaten the brown above. It was getting dark and JD and I had teamed up on a similar tail out where fish were actively rising. The only difference between JD's hole and the run where I stuck my brown was depth. His hole was 3 times as deep as mine and I'm sure was home to a couple very large fish.
JD and I studied the run, watching several fish rise prior to throwing the first cast. We threw all sorts of different dries and stuck a couple little fish as the sun fell behind the mountains. The final cast was with a #16 rusty spinner. JD made a nice presentation and we watched a large nose rise and sip the fly. Once Johnny set the hook, we knew it was big as the fish bolted through the deep channel for the faster water below the hole. JD began the chase and I dropped my rod and sprinted to get below the fish with the net. I'm not terribly fast, especially in wading boots, and the fish was winning the race. I kept running but this big bow was in the lead. After 100 yards or so I knew we were running out of time. The fish was sprinting and rolling through a fast riffle no deeper than a foot. He was sure to throw the hook if we didn't act soon. Figuring we were losing the battle, I took a hail mary shot with the net. With the low light I couldn't really see the fish and simply aimed at where I thought he'd be based on the position of John's fly line. I swiped and saw a 24+ inch flash of silver just beyond the reach of my net. John's line curved around the net bucket and suddenly recoiled back toward him. With no weight in the net, I knew he was gone. Great story but unfortunately no picture. Sorry JD. This would have been one of the bigger fish of trip, if not the biggest.
I really felt bad that I missed the net job but I wouldn't exactly call it an error. It would be similar to a third baseman missing a short-hop ground ball ripped down the third base line. You shouldn't be penalized for it but it's certainly a makeable play and sometimes it separates AAA from the big show. Looks like I'll be stuck in the minors for a while. Karma is a bitch too because later on in the trip I would lose a hog of a brown on the South Fork that dodged the net as well. Stay tuned.
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