By MATT DEVLIN
Picture the river as it lays in wait. In perfect veiled darkness, our finned friends hold like sails in the wind, controlling with every pitch and pull, their own place in the world.
Don’t think of it like sleep, but like rest. Rest from the toils of weeks without rain or cloud in sight. In this our 2013 midsummer we all need rest. It’s been hot out there folks, and our brains reduce to some former shadow of themselves after awhile.
Going to the grocery store feels like climbing a mountain, the thought of anything else besides putting the time in out there seems impossible. The clerk asks you two or three times if you would like cash back from your debit transaction and eventually you offer a half-assed “What? Um, no.” And then a sideways “Sorry” as you collect your things. You did what you could that day, and fishing trips embark earlier and earlier but what thing remains…in the darkness we all hold lithely in the current, waiting actively or passively for the dawn of a new day.
Hopper fishing is great right now on the Blackfoot River–in Griz Nation.
I heard a SUP (stand up paddleboard) commercial on the radio the other day urging those who do not fish for a living to stay home and rest the rivers for awhile until things improve (hoot owl hours–closed after two pm on the Clark and Root) and I appreciate this, but should I catch anyone doing Yoga on a SUP in an area river I will contemplate very sternly the premise of throwing rocks. I’m just saying.
As a parting word, the hopper fishing is really good right now on the Blackfoot, in some ways too good, meaning big fish eating hard in pretty warm water, but alas the midsummer stream may be cooled a bit with a little smile from the weather. We are actually going to see 80s and even 70s for the next bit. Keep your fingers crossed and don’t hang up your gear just yet.
Cooler temperatures bring a smile to the face of fish and fishermen alike.
–The Fish It Crew
****************
Read more about Fishing the Bitteroot River, the Clark Fork River, Rock Creek, and western Montana Lakes.
Like this blog? Check out the entire Fish It archive. And be sure to visit the Make it Missoula fishing page.
*********************************
Matt Devlin is a fishing guide in Missoula MT. He enjoys dry flies, “floating with the bros”, attempting to get his labradoodle to chase tennis balls, and writing.
Like this blog? Don’t miss another one. Sign up for our E-Newsletter. It provides you with a list of all the week’s stories/blogs and is delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning.