Category: General

There are three flyfishing opportunities that dominate my year. The first is Montana and the West; from April til October. Next is steelheading during the month of October and into November. Finally if I didn’t have enough addictions in flyfishing; there is Andros Island in the Bahamas where we have a flats boat and a rig to pull it around the island.

Saltwater flyfishing for bonefish and other species is great from the end of December til April. This year Dad and I spent a month; part of January and February; while Nancy came along for two weeks worth in February. Each of these three fishing seasons always starts with two weeks or more of fly tying. The creative juices start flowing with new patterns, new fly tying materials, and new ideas straight from Father time. My wife adds; that it seems like two months worth of fly tying before our Andros trips. It’s hard to correct her on things she may be right about. Anyway, the fly tying is always followed by rod building and then the trip.

I started fly tying in 1968 and building fly rods in 1975. I still think I’m very productive at age 50; maybe in my prime; would like to think so. Some of my favorite parts of going on a flyfishing adventure are: buying new clothing and gadgets; tying new fly patterns; and sometimes building a new fly rod for myself instead of others. I get the thrill and excitement of the expected trip long before I go and it becomes an important part of the adventure.

Dan

Well, Friday January 11, 2008 became a great day to start the blog; my first day out flyfishing for the new year on the Upper Madison River. I have a long tradition of winter fishing. That started in the late 1960’s for trout and steelhead. I haven’t been fishing since early November when I took my wife Nancy and my 85 year old Dad, John, steelheading. So, today was special. Montana winter fishing in December, January, and February usually means going for 2 to 4 hours during the heat of the day with temperatures between 32 and 40 degrees and hopefully the wind’s not blowing over 10 mph. Location is mainly the Upper Madison River from Hebgen Lake Dam to Ennis. I can be working at the Fly Shop where we live and by 11AM can walk out the door, check on the wind and temperature, and like today if the conditions meet the criteria of above 32 degrees and wind under 10 mph; I’m off within one hour on an afternoon flyfishing adventure. Sweet!

I rigged the fly rod with two of my Delektable™ winter nymphs: a #8 Delektable Flashback Hurless Stone Gray, up top; and a #8 Delektable Flashback Braided Stone Brown/Tan about 24″ to 30″ below the upper fly on 3X Fluorocarbon. It was cloudy today. I love the flashbacks on the dark days. I put my waders on, took one fly box, tippet, nippers, pliers, and I was out the door in a 230,000 odometer miled Blue Burb, the ultimate guide rig. While driving 8 miles up the highway to my set of fishing holes, there were 40 or more mule deer by the lodge, and over 1,000 head of elk by the river on the Wall Creek Game Range. That’s one of the reasons I’ll never leave Montana. It’s so spectacular!

Almost to my fishing spot, a 6X6 Bull Elk is across the river all by his lonesome. We have a big snow winter in Montana this year so far. Thank God! We really needed it. It did make it a little harder to get to the river from the highway but it was all downhill. Just the excitement of being able to fish took over. The associated adrenaline buzz allowed me to fish upstream through a sweet boulder field for 2 hours that resulted in over a dozen browns and rainbows hooked between 12″ and 18″. Typical winter fishing where you find one there will be more. The fish pod up in the winter.

I would like to end my conversation today with special thanks to some special people who have helped with our web site and starting this blog. To my sweet wife Nancy, none of this would have been possible without you. To our flyfishing maniac friend, Brad Harlan, who has guided and helped us through this process. Also, thank you Gregg Machel and Bill Kiene for your generous time and friendship. I am looking forward to sharing my flyfishing adventures on this site and hope it will add knowledge and enjoyment to those who visit.

Dan

Hi! All,

Dan and Nancy have been working on the preseason process which entails all sorts of projects: inventory (with 300,000 flies that takes a while); shopping (we have fun doing that); and new ideas for technology.

We ordered tons of cool new stuff including many new fly patterns. Dan will have to figure out where to locate them in our shop. Nancy ordered more clothing continuing her pursuit to find cute fishing attire for woman and adding to the men’s. Fishpond has a number of new fun items in their accessories selections for 2008. There are a number of new gadgets for vests. Somebody keeps thinking of new stuff. Dan is working on custom rods this winter and has been designing new fly patterns both for trout and for the salt.
The big project is our effort to work on our web site with fishing reports and adding an online shopping cart. We will also be installing a point of sale system in our retail store. We expect much of the work to be done by early March, sooner if we are lucky. Keep checking our site.

We had another good year and want to thank all our customers for your support and for the fun experiences we shared in the store and on the phone this year. We hope to provide more fun in 2008. Remember, if you need something you can just call us at 406-682-7525. We can walk through the shop and look for your items and ship them out to your home or business.

Have a great holiday season!

Dan and Nancy

Beartooth Flyfishing