February Friday Foto Snowing Again!

Snow Showers this morning yielding to fabulous fishing weather this weekend.

We would prefer a longer snow session as just a couple inches falling from the not so generous skies today. Looks like another hit of precipitation in th form of snow coming mid week. Bring it. We certainly need to stack up bunches of snow to push our way out of this current drought.

Nothing like we endured in the mid 2000’s. 7 years of low water. Many do not remember, but it is true. Thankfully anglers have short memories. Or the constant fly fishing failures would discourage us from engaging in this lifetime passion.

A couple spikes in the chart above with a push of spring water in ’03. Flirting with some goodness as well in mid ’05, ’06, ’07. But short pushes do not make a great water season(s). No. A great dry fly season, yes. A great overall season? Sort of. Analogous to the world wide strange weather patterns the Missouri driver mirrors those trends. And watching, looking, living the Mighty Mo daily here in Craig it seems to be magnified. Looking through that lens daily warps our perspective for sure.

The health of the resource is paramount to continued Missouri River fishing excellence.

But if you do remember the early and mid 2000’s you will remember that the fishing held up quite well. Pretty spectacular mayfly hatches coupled with unreal caddis hatches. I do believe that the caddis population has suffered since about that period. I arrived in 1992 and do remember mind-blowing thick caddis explosions. And lots of ’em. Have we lost a substantial portion of the caddis activity in the last 20 years? You bet. Will it come back? Mother Nature is a wonderful being. And some things on this earth are cyclical. Others are not. What will the caddis be? Play the Lotto and tell me how lucky you are?

But I have not given up hope. Bring ’em on back.

As the years pass by we all remember the past as rosier than the present. Youth has a nice glow about it. Innocence and wonder. In my mind the caddis were considerably more prolific in that period.

Boy I wandered off there for a moment. I personally enjoyed it. I fondly remember commonly fishing a 2 fly rig during the emergence. An X-Caddis followed buy an ugly soft hackled caddis pattern. You know, brown or olive or tan or black or something.

Successful on the dead drift. Successful on the swing. A successful combo, no doubt.

During monumental c Addis emergences. Man, following a thunderstorm in the early afternoon, the bugs would rocket from the post event darkness like a scene from a Hitchcock flick.

Frightening.

And somewhat active. Riffles and soft hackle and X-Caddis.

Snow today. Spring on the way. I bet after a few more moths of winter like weather. More snow please. Back to work. I’m gonna go into my garage, put a nice Anejo over some rocks, and practice casting with a practice rod.

Enjoy your weekend. Big stuff. Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day. Mid February blues pushed aside for this weekend at least…