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While fishing back at home has been tough, fishing abroad has remained good.

This is a combination report for Montana and Minnesota.

I was fortunate enough to have a booked guided trip on the Yellowstone river with my dad, something that We've never done before. Speaking of never done before, this was my dad's first time fly fishing. We met Chris Fleck of Stillwater Anglers in Columbus and were treated to an amazing day on the water. Chris was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and a put us right on fish with expert water knowledge and drift boat maneuvering. He is also very conscious of fish safety, keeping the fish in the water as much as possible to avoid over-stressing them during warm water temps.

My dad got the first fish, a chunky 14-15" 'bow, and a struck soon after with my first Brown, a 9" beaut. I managed to catch 7 more fish on a variety of presentations (streamers, dries and nymphs) including two really nice browns. I missed several more strikes, as did my dad, and we both had an absolute blast. Big shoutouts to Chris for such an amazing day!

Minnesota was phenomenal as well. Our family cabin and neighboring waters provide excellent cover for bass, panfish and pike. I left my heavy bass rods in the cabin and grabbed my 5wt and a bunch of flies and managed to catch probably close to 100-120 sunfish and perch and 20-25 nice bass off of a couple docks. The panfish were caught on dry/dropper rigs and the bass on crawfish flies. Included were some big smallies. What a hoot it was to bring in these fish on light tackle! Tournament guys are missing out....

I'm soon to be headed back home to probe our rivers and lakes once again.

Give it to 'em.

Strawdog13

8/8/2016 4:48:00 PM

Nice looking fish! What fly do you use for a dropper for pan fish? Do you just chuck it out and let it sit or move it around? Thanks!

Ian Horning

8/10/2016 8:44:00 PM

I was using a pheasant tail nymph. Anything would work probably. My nymph got shredded (I only used one for all those fish) and by the end it was literally just the thorax and like two tail pieces. I would let it sit, and if it didn't get attention, would give it a strip or two to make the fly skate and the nymph pop up. When they'd get close (clear water- zebra mussels) you could see them all frenzy around the nymph, or race to smack the dry. Also just an indicator and nymph would work.

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