OT - don't drive an electric car, take the bus instead

[rbowman]

Full disclosure: the only trout I ever caught I shot with a .22. I'm strictly of the still water and bobber school of fishing, with worms or cheese balls for bait. I'm a few miles from some blue ribbon trout streams but never learned to fish running water. Further truth, I'm not that crazy about trout.

What I really like are bullheads (horned pout, mud cat). I've been told there is excellent fishing for them in Ninepipe Reservoir. The rub is that requires both a Montana fishing license and a Flathead Reservation permit.

I live on the river and probably could fish the sloughs and backwaters but Fish & Wildlife recommends not eating the fish very regularly and to skip the pike entirely. The actual Superfund site is upstream but it trickles down.

The north end of Flathead Lake is not in the rez and is teeming with lake trout.

The general idea is to get rid of the invasive species but it's a losing battle. They feed on the native bull trout.

That was another great idea gone off the rails. Macks had been around since the early 20th century but were rare. Then kokanee salmon were introduced for sport fishing. Kokanee mainly eat zooplankton but some genius decided mysis shrimp would be a good food source. Seems the shrimp are a lot more efficient at eating zooplankton than the kokanees so the kokanees died out. The young lake trout, on the other hand, found the shrimp nutritious and delicious and the population exploded to the detriment of the other native species.

They did the same thing at Tahoe:

That's why attempts to meddle with the climate worry me a hell of a lot more than any potential climate change.

[rbowman]

No thanks. I knew a man who would go out in a rowboat and feel around for turtles in the shallow water. His theory was snappers wouldn't bite underwater. He still had ten fingers so maybe he was right but I had no interest in testing the hypothesis.

[T]

Hi R,

On the other hand, I am obsessed with Trout. Blue Ribbon Trout stream? Oh man!!!

For about the last eight years, I have fished exclusively with wet flies dating back to the start of the sport.

I may be a heretic here, but I think "matching the hatch" is bull shit.

Rule #5: Flies do not look the same dry as the do wet. Flies do not look the same to humans as they do to trout. When choosing a fly, imagine it wet as viewed above you from under the ?Film?. Even at that, what a trout sees is not what you see. What may look like a perfect imitation to you ? jump backwards, oh my gosh a bug ? may look like detritus to a trout; what looks like a yummy meal to a trout may look like dryer lint to you.

One thing I like about flies is that you do not constantly have to re-bait your hook and if you release the fish in the water, their survival rate is almost 100%

I also do not fish with barbless hooks after I watched the second trout shake/vibrate after I removed the hook and bleed out all over the place. Upon researching the problem, I discovered that there is a major artery to the side of their tongue and that a barbless hook penetrate to it. When you remove the fish bleeds out rather rapidly. It is heart breaking to see such a proud animal die like that.

Other fly fisherman soon forget their outrage over my heresies when they discover I do not use a fly rod or fly real. Chuckle

"Superfund site"!!! Do the fish have three eyes?!?!?!

Tahoe is just over the mountain from me. They have charter fishing boats for mac's. It is like deep sea fishing. I really do not care for it.

And Tahoe is still trying to reintroduce the native Lahatton Cutthroats with little success.

Running water is my favorite, but will fish still water too.

I have not fished for food for years. Especially since kids typically fish where I fish, so I want them to have the joy and get addicted.

There is nothing like hearing a young boy across the pond yell out "He caught another one!" Life is good!

A friend gave me a tip on a still water fishing hole that I could go by between customers. I had

30 minutes to kill. A strike on every cast. Sometimes multiples.

I landed (and released) three. And I have a rematch in the making for the one that stripped 20 feet of my line and did an LDR (Long Distance Release) with a spectacular jump.

First strike. The flies no longer bother me, it is not too hot or too cold, my back no longer hurts, can't figure out why a customer annoyed me, life comes into perspective.

"When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain." --Mark Twain

-T

[T]

Uhhhh...