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RETURN to Putah Creek Trout -> Putah Creek Fly Fishing Forum -> Other Rivers, Streams and Lakes -> 5-week Fly Fishing Road Trip Begins
Post Info TOPIC: 5-week Fly Fishing Road Trip Begins
keith bigelow


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5-week Fly Fishing Road Trip Begins
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Last Saturday I began my 5-week fly fishing road trip. I'm beginning in British Columbia and then Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Home.

My first stop was Castlegar, British Columbia where I fished the Columbia River with Chris Dawson of Dave Brown Outfitters. We fished two different sections of the Columbia, the first right near Castlegar and the 2nd spot was down near the USA border at Washington.

The Columbia is big water but Chris was able to find pod's of rainbows sipping caddis that we fished to from 2:00 to 10:00 PM. In 2 days I landed 30 fish, ranging in size from 16" to 23", with over half of them at 20" or larger.  These were very hard fighting rainbows. Out of the 30 fish that I landed they got me into my backing 8 times, once I only had about a dozen coils left on my spool.

I was amazed that we didn't see another fly fisherman in 2 days.

My next stop is the Elk River in Fernie, British Columbia, also with Chris Dawson of Dave Brown Outfitters.


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Report from the Elk River in a day or two.



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Matt R


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5 weeks wow! now that's a vacation way to do it keith. Looks like your off to a very sweet start. beautiful trout. yeah keep those reports coming we enjoy them.

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Flying Dutchman


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Mercy! Five weeks and great looking fish to begin...Sure beats my stay-cation. Yeah, like Matt said, keep the reports coming!!!

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Bugger


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Wow, nice fish, and what a vacation. Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip. And don't forget the pics!



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brian clemens


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thats the way to do it. 5 weeks nothing but fishing. wow. great looking what, backdrop, and dont forget great looking fish. thats what you would call PRICELESS!

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Packrat


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Can't wait to hear about The Elk River. I've look into staying at The Lizard Creek Lodge in Fernie for a family vacation, have to do it one of these days.

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keith bigelow


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I finally got a couple more photos of my 2nd day on the Columbia River. The largest fish today was 23".

The photo of the outboard motor shows how thick the caddis were. This was taken at about 9:15PM just as we decided to got back in. The caddis were so thick that you could hardly keep your eyes open.

The photos from Fernie and the Elk River should be posted in a day or so. The fishing was even better there...


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brian clemens


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that merk pic is sick.

those fish and just pics in general remind me of the yuba.
"ABSOLUTLY BREATH TAKING"

-- Edited by brian clemens at 16:46, 2008-08-04

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Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
shon42073


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Sounds and looks like an amazing trip so far Keith. Lots of people go there whole life just dreaming of a trip like that.

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keith bigelow


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The Elk River turned out to be Fly Fishing paradise !!  It is so green and lush and the fishing was phenomenal!!  The first day I caught 76 fish, which worked to be 72 Westslope Cutthroat, 1 Whitefish, and 3 Bull Trout. These were the first Bull Trout I'd ever caught. I didn't realize they are on the endangered species list.  The 2nd day I caught somewhere between 35 and 40 fish.  I began both days nymphing until the water warmed up and then the dry fly fishing exploded.  I spent most of the day casting my 4-weight and let me tell you that an 18" cutthroat on a 4-weight was a blast!!

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Here's one of the Bull Trout

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Flying Dutchman


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Beautiful scenery and cutthroats--It appears you had the place to yourself, again?!

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AC22


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hey Kieth great pics where in wyoming you gonna be?

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Matt R


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NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

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windknots


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Killer trip, keep the pics coming! I'm really digging all the pics people are posting lately. That two fisted cutt you're holding a few pics up looks more like a basketball with fins. Looks like you've got a pro photographer following you around.

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keith bigelow


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Tuesday, August 5, Boulder River Montana
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I'm finally back with my next report. Fished the Boulder River near Big Timber, MT, about 45 miles from Bozeman. Put in the river where the West Boulder River meets the Boulder River. This river was named appropriately, it was very skinny water with lot's of obstacles and some white water. The fishing was very fast and furious because of the terrain. We floated the river in a very small raft throwing hoppers at the banks.  These fish were VERY aggressive and grabbed the hoppers liked they hadn't eaten in months.


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keith bigelow


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Thursday, August 7, Yellowstone River
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Today I floated the Yellowstone River. We put in at Tom Miner, west of Livingston, MT. The river was flowing higher than I'd ever seen it. It seems they had a huge snowfall which led to higher than normal flows and fishing that didn't improve until a couple weeks ago.  Caught about 15 or 20 Yellowstone Cuthroat and Rainbows today. Most of the fish grabbed hoppers thrown at the banks.  I also had the ultimate guide who cooked Antelope steaks for lunch!!

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-- Edited by keith bigelow at 09:34, 2008-08-10

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keith bigelow


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Friday, August 8, Stillwater River, MT
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Fished the Stillwater River today. It's located about 95 miles east of Bozeman at the base of the BearTooth Mountains.  The river was a lot like the Boulder River with lot's of obstacles, some white water and a lot of Brown Trout.  Again we floated this river in a very small raft which made the fishing fast and furious. These Browns were even more aggressive than the fish on the Boulder. Started out with a Hopper/dropper but quickly switched to just a hooper since these browns were taking them so aggressively.

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Flying Dutchman


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RE: 5-week Fly Fishing Road Trip Begins
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Keith--Now I'm really getting jealous! STEAK and FISHING!!! Beautiful fish.

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cole


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Daaammmn!  I guess it's go big or go home huh?  Or go big for five weeks then go home completely spent.  Awesome.  You haven't even finished yet, jeaz.  That pic of the brown is incredible, look at all the red markings on that fish.  I'm jealous  I admit it.

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dtp916


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keith bigelow wrote:


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NICE BROWNS, BUDDY!!!   beer.gif



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brian clemens


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those flys are high, and sweet looking fish bro. cant wait for you to get back and do some steelhead fishing with me. i look foward to it.

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shon42073


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And I thought i have had a great summer of sierra fishing. It pales in comparison to the epic trip you have embarked upon.Bueatiful fish. Antalope steaks huh, Ok now I'm getting jealous smile. Way to go Keith.

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keith bigelow


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Monday, August 11
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Fished the Jefferson River out of Twin Bridges, MT.  This is an amazing area with several major rivers converging within just a few miles of town. You can easily hit the Big Hole, Beaverhead, Jefferson and Ruby within the same day. The Jefferson was running warm and the fishing was slow. Even though managed 12 nice fish.


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keith bigelow


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Tuesday, August 12
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Fished the Big Hole River. This was a very nice river, much nicer scenery than the Jefferson.  The fish were very agressive, grabbing hoppers.  I landed 15 nice fish, but lost many, many more. My hook set was way off today, I had trouble landing quite a few.


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keith bigelow


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Thursday, August 14
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Spent 2 days at Kelly Galloup's Slide Inn in Cameron, MT. It's right on the banks of the Madison River.  What an awesome place and group of people. They are located on the 16 mile stretch of river that is walk and wade only. You can literally fish out the back door for big fish.

I wanted to learn more about throwing streamers and after seeing Kelly Galloups DVD and "Streamers for Trophy Trout" I knew that this was the place to come.

Kelly Galloup is famous for his huge articulated streamers. This streamers are 3 to 6 inches long.

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I spent 2 days floating with Steve (Skinny) and Scott from the Slide Inn.  These guys were great guides, excellent teachers and down right nice guys. I would highly recommend these guys for fishing the Madison, either nymphing, dry flies or streamers.

The first day with Steve I turned 40 fish and had a blast!!  There is nothing like a big brown trout chasing that streamer in clear water so you can you the entire thing as it unfolds.

Here's one of the fish with the streamer in his mouth.


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Here's another fish I caught.  As we boated the fish we realized that he had a 4" sculpin half way down his throat.  If you look carefully you can see the tail of the sculpin sticking out of his mouth, as well as the streamer still in his mouth.  What a greedy pig!  I can't believe he chased my streamer with a sculpin half swallowed.


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Kelly Galloup's philosophy about streamer fishing is to fish big streamers to trophy size trout.  Trout that are large enough to no longer eat bugs but instead have become carnivorous.  I didn't catch a trophy trout but I had a blast doing this !!!!



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keith bigelow


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Friday, August 15
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Spent a 2nd day throwing streamers on the Madison, this time with Scott.  Scott taught me a lot more about throwing streamers.  Fishing was a bit slower today but I still managed to turn about 25 fish.


Here's a picture of another brown trout with the streamer in his mouth.


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-- Edited by keith bigelow at 09:01, 2008-08-18

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live2fish888


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RE: 5-week Fly Fishing Road Trip Begins
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WOW! Sounds like your on an adventure of a lifetime!

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SuperFlyGuy


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i am completely and utterly jealous...... Great pics!!!! WOW!

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conefish


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beautiful fish! I can only imagine doing what you're doing right now

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keith bigelow


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Wednesday, August 20th, South Fork of the Snake
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Today I floated the South Fork of the Snake with Tim Smith of World Cast Anglers located in Victor, Idaho and Jackson, Wyoming. We floated the top section, also called #1. I had a awesome day fishing the South Fork. Keith was a great guide and taught me a lot. Most people were either nymphing or throwing hoppers. We threw hoppers for awhile and caught a few fish. Then we found a group of fish feeding and began to throw an #18 PMD with a #20 PMD Emerger as a trailer. This was definitely the hot fly combination for the day and we continued with this for the rest of the day. Most of the fish took the #20 PMD Emerger. I caught two dozen large trout, rainbows, cutthroat and browns, and lost at least a dozen more.  This was difficult but very exciting casting to sipping fish. What a rush!!!!  My largest fish was a 20" brown, I made sure that Keith measured him !!




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-- Edited by keith bigelow at 11:12, 2008-08-21

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