Why Missoula?

I thought it was finally time to tackle the subject. So you are booking your dream trip finally coming out west. Where do you go? There is the so called (golden triangle) around southwestern Montana. What you have here is Yellowstone, Famous Rivers and awesome nymphing if that's your game. I have guided and fished here extensively. If you wanna bang triple digit whitefish in a day , this is THE place. Don't get me wrong I have caught huge Browns here and on dries, But outside of hopper season its just not a consistent thing on top. The scenery is awesome, the dry fly fishing isn't. plain and simple. When I was guiding on the Madison and the Yellowstone, I was in a core group of people who pushed dries....but its just not the place to do it. Throw in all the Mcmansions, wanna-be cowboys, and tourist traps and it isn't my scene. Oh I forgot the absolute traffic jam on these "pristine" streams. I have pulled in to boat ramps on the upper Madison and saw 60 boat trailers....around here I go elsewhere if i see five. Not exactly what I would call solitude. I'm not saying I don't fish in these places, but it all seems just a little to hectic and fake. I prefer my backyard. We have awesome scenery, big fish, solitude, and most importantly we whack em on dries. Nymphing to me is like going home with that kinda ugly girl at the bar at 2 am. We've all done it , but we'd prefer not to. Which is why Missoula was and still is the Mecca for headhunters. I have fished all over the west, south America and Canada and this is hands down the best dry fly fishery there is. For the majority of the year you can reasonably expect to catch fish on dries. For five months if you can't you may need to go see a doctor. When you throw in the laid back college town atmosphere and friendly people its hard to beat. At this junction I am not so sure it can be. So if you get a chance come out and see what you have been missing. Big trout,big dries and one of the coolest places on the planet. There is a reason it's called misSOULa. Tight lines. www.fivevalleysfishing.com

Fly Selection... Nature vs. New Age Kinda?

I was thinking the other day about what makes people select certain flies. Even more importantly, why? I will apologize in advance for some slightly hippy sounding ramblings that may follow.......(I must admit I once owned more Dead records than fly rods.) I am a firm believer in what works and if you find it by all means use it. I do however like to experiment. There is something about certain flies that just screams bugginess. Which is kinda misleading I think because some of my favorites don't look much like any particular bug at all. This is where it gets kinda metaphysical, but all those flies have one thing in common. They have Mojo. Its almost as if they could catch a fish all by themselves. That silhouette, that wing, that wierd yarn you ganked from your ex girlfriends sweater makes it everything a trout could want in a meal. Oh, if it has CDC it gets an instant Mojo boost. (CDC is like a spiritual trek to the Himilayas for flies.) The point is somethings can't be explained, they just are. When you find them hold on for dear life.

mo-jo any object, as an amulet or charm, that is believed to carry a magic spell

Tight Lines, Brandon

www.fivevalleysfishing.com

alarm clock

The season is almost on us. You can hear spring creaking its way through the door. Clean the fly lines, organize the boxes, get the oil changed, take the snow tires off. In this yearly ritual I find my sanity, finally it IS all going to be ok again. Sure there will be snow storms but they will not linger. Nymphs and streamers will be thrown but only in the morning. Gods great order will be restored to all its glory (at least in the trout world.) They will eat a dry and they will eat it with a reckless abandon not seen since hopper season. I think of the winter, and it wasnt all bad I managed to land the biggest Redfish of my life on a fly, caught up with the famdamily, and generally escaped northern latitudes unless it was necessary. It wasnt so terrible after all, but come March its on like donkey kong.............www.fivevalleysfishing.com

Tying.......

It always seems I never tie enough bugs. Take an average of 120 days x 2 clients per day, for the math impaired thats 240. Take that 240 and multiply that by 20 flies a day that comes out to be 4800 bugs! I may not need this many but you can't be too prepared. Then throw in the other 100 or so days I fish for fun, and dont forget those tarpon and permit flies, and you see where Im going with this. Thats a ton of flies. Those of you who have fished with me know I prefer certain styles of flies. I like to think outside the box and so far its treated me very well. There is a favorite fly of mine that is commercially available that just says bugginess, with a capitol B. When i run out of my own I am sometimes forced to buy them and I know of only one fly shop in the area that has them. The first couple of seasons the owner would comment "you're the only person that ever buys those things. Do they work?" I just smiled and said "they make a great strike indicator for your second fly." What they don't know won't hurt them..........Tight Lines, Brandon

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Spring Fishing only weeks away

When you hear the term "spring fishing" in most places out west it means it's finally warm enough to dunk nymphs or dredge streamers, without spending the majority of your fishing time chipping ice out of the guides. This is not the case in the Missoula area. This means Big Fat dry flies and the biggest fish in the river on the hunt for them. I have seen 2 ft. + browns absolutely crush a skwala dry. I am in the business of selling fly fishing trips, but I can honestly say if you want huge trout on dry flies there may be no better time than mid March to May 1st. It must be the fish waking up after just hanging on all winter. In most places its a Bwo hatch and we get that too. Here its a different critter, a big protein packed stonefly, and the fish go absolutely ape shit for them. Throw in March browns, grey drakes and bwo's and what you have is a buffet they simply can't turn down. When the fish Gods are smiling I have heard its "Stupid" "Sick" "Ridiculous" and a thousand other adjectives. I have always liked "epic." That my friends says it all...................

Booking

This is the time of year when the phone starts to ring again. It always turns my thoughts to the upcoming season. Its hard to believe that were only 6 wks out from pushing dries again! There is something truly special about spring fishing around missoula. Big fish on big dries while the rest of the rockies are still in the grips of winter. It doesnt get much better than that... We still have spring dates open so give us a call. Once you experience a true skwala day you won't forget it.................

Change

Fall is here in a big way. The temps dropped 40 degrees in two days, there is rumor of snow and some of the most fantastic fishing of the entire year. I was on the MO yesterday the baetis are back along with the fish in a big way. Some of our biggest fish are caught this time of year. I can't help but get a little sentimental this time of year. So many awesome people my guides and I have fished with over the season...........After a while you become friends and it's one of my favorite things about this lifestyle. It's far from over yet though, so think about a delicate rise to a well presented BWO, and winter still seems so far away. See you on the water, Brandon