I guess I was the only person crazy enough to try hoofing it today, as I didn’t see a single other wade fisherman, but encountered numerous fishermen on boats and rafts. The water is running high, and the entire ground has become a sea of fast flowing braids, making it difficult to move anywhere without being swept away. Eventually, and painstakingly, I made it to the stretch of river that I had wanted to fish, but it had completely changed. Searching the newly formed channels, I noticed a fallen ponderosa that was normally on land, but now looked like an ideal spot for fish to hide in the middle of fast flowing water. However, the submerged branches and sticks of fallen trees are also notorious for exacting a heavy river tax in the form of lost flies and frustrating tangles, like a siren call to the fly fisherman. You know are going to lose your fly, but you try every time anyways. I carefully drifted my fly past the root system and along the edge of the log, trying to avoid submerged branches as best I could, but of course, I quickly snagged a branch and ended up losing my fly and half of my leader. Frustrated, I started over and began reconstructing my entire rig to try again. By now the day was half over and a storm was blowing in, but it didn’t matter because that’s when I hooked into a fish with some serious weight to it. I decided it must be a large, and spirited whitefish, because it was heavy and kept diving straight to the bottom. As the fight continued, I saw a flash of silver and red and realized that it was in fact a very large trout. It turned out to be a 21” cutthroat, the biggest I have caught on this river.In an instant, the fatigue and frustrations of the day no longer mattered, nor did the ordeal hike back in the rain that was still ahead of me. I thought about how awesome I felt in that moment, even when compared to smoother days when the fishing seemed easier. I guess our lives are the same. The greatest moments in my life often seem to come during the worst times: an unexpected act of kindness, your child doing something unexpected, or even just the opportunity to help someone else for a minute, instead of just focusing on your own problems. Perhaps it’s just that the good moments feel that much better during hard times. In any case, the reality is that life is one big storm full of challenges, but the real challenge is learning to focus on the good moments going on all around us, even in the middle of a storm.

As mentioned, the Bitterroot is running very high, but quite clear still, making for some great fishing if you can get your fly to the fish. I got into a bit of surface action with march browns, but most fish were caught on small stonefly nymphs. The weather was typical Rocky Mountain spring style, and included rain, extreme wind, the hot sun, and even a bit of snow.