Madison River Outing, Day 2
Today—9/17/14—found us back on the Madison for a second day. The weather was a bit brighter, but there were still willing fish. Of course there were whitefish, as always. But today, there were more trout for me. In the early part of the day, I took several 10 to 13 inch rainbows. Tom Juergens found several of the same size and a couple up to 17 inches. Alan Johnson, fishing with us today, took a very fine 20 inch rainbow.
Then, later in the day. I caught an 18 inch brown on a size 18 flash-back caddis pupa, and shortly thereafter hooked a larger one on a big dark sculpin imitation. It was 20 inches or longer. I had it close enough a couple of times to see it clearly, in the heavy current and rock field I was in. I had my hands full keeping the fish clear of sheltering lies. It pulled off after a few minutes of twisting and bumping against numerous boulders.
The little Hardy 1003 (10 foot 3-weight) performed admirably, easily casting the nymphs or big sculpin imitation with two split shot. It has plenty of butt strength to handle fish of the 20 inch class, and plenty of reach to hold the line off the current while nymphing. Overall, it was a fine day.
The Madison is in great fall conditions, with very clear water and good levels.
The smaller rainbows were very cooperative.
It always seems that the fish flops just as you shoot. So, this is belly of an 18 inch brown.