Madison river Part 2

Yesterday's fishing was tough overall. The hike in to the mouth of Quake lake wasn't too bad, but the snow is getting deeper everyday. Most of the way it was about ankle deep, but this is due to following either old tire trails or previous snow shoe prints. Once you get in there towards the ghost town it quickly escalates to shin/knee deep. Anyhow the river still looked to be in great shape, but the fish didn't want to bite. Even in holes that had previously yielded upwards of ten fish only gave up one or two at most. It was great to be out on the river and have it all to myself on this day. It snowed some, but with the lack of wind it was quite pleasant. The only reason I could see that the fish are reacting differently today is that the flows have decreased and the river level was down about four inch's from the day before. Parking here is getting tougher with the deeper snows and drifts, on this day I had to put the chains on to get back out to the main highway.
Today, December 23, is blistering cold. I made it down to the parking spot at three dollar bridge and almost didn't get out of the truck. The temperature may be around 18 degrees, but the wind is howling from the north which of course knocks it down a few more degrees. So I tell myself, I just go slow and if it gets too cold then I can come back. The walk in isn't bad and by the time I get the big house at the second fence it actually seems like the wind has backed off. It was just a lull. The wind picked right back up, the snow stopped and the sun came out, now it gets really cold. Today I stayed on the bank for the most part. It took about a half hour before the first fish bit one of the pair of stones I was working. In that same hole came two more rainbows and two fish that came off. Right on, all of a sudden I feel much warmer and now am feeling hopeful for the rest of the day. Its really tough to fish in this wind, I have to use an indicator and my guides are literally freezing by every third cast. No pictures of fish today due to the fact that I don't want to lift them from the water, hence they will freeze in a matter of seconds, my wet fingers prove this point all too well. Every few minutes I have to stop and warm up my stinging fingers. Up to the next hole, which is a good one. Second cast in the tail of the pool and I hang one that comes off, then another that comes off. I move a few steps up, make the cast and watch as the bobber starts it float back towards me, it dosen't take long before it jiggles and goes under. This one is a slab, maybe 19 inch's, on the next cast another. The day continues with more fish and more ice in the guides until its just too much and I call it an early day. The day ended with a count of an even dozen fish, mostly rainbows, a couple of browns and one gigantic whitefish. Still this part of the river is amazing to me, there were plenty of fish up shallow that I spooked from the bank, if the conditions were better I am sure it would have been another excellent day of catching. So be it, I am happy that I was able to get out, catch some fish, make it home in one piece and now sit and write this in front of the fire. I keep writing about the stoneflys that I have been using and have come to the conclusion that, yes they do work and well, but it was more because I had the river to myself and was able to get away with using such big flies. If there had been more angling pressure to contend with then I am sure other techniques would have had to been applied.

BigFishHappen,
BAS