On Saturday, our fly fishing class finally got out on the river to put into practice some principles discussed in the classroom. We hit the water about 10AM - not exactly prime fishing hours - but the weather was absolutely perfect (60F, climbing to mid-70s) and we had a great time.
I wound up fishing a side channel by myself - classmates and instructor took the main channel. That worked out well - I ultimately landed a 16" Brown on a Parachute Adams dry fly. I also had a Copper John (nymph) on my rig, but the fish actually took the dry fly. It was a rush - definitely the biggest trout I've caught yet - and I had a big smile on my face as I released him back into the Gallatin. Awesome!
No other action during the day - I finally wound her up around 2.30PM. I was amazed that I'd been fishing for over four hours when I got back to the truck - apparently, you lose all sense of time when you're on the river.
I still had plenty of time Saturday afternoon to get in nine holes at Bridger Creek. I golfed with three brothers - two of whom will be re-opening a bar in the old Bacchus in downtown Bozeman. They were nice guys; none of us tore up the course, but we had a good time. Looks like Fall has returned for a few days here in the valley...
