#%&***$# Wind!

[Al Agnew]

It's like I told somebody yesterday who was questioning why I'd want to go fishing in cold, wet weather...you can prepare for cold, you can prepare for wet, you can even prepare for snow, but you can't do much of anything about wind.

I'm out here in Montana at the new place, and my long time artist friend Bruce Miller was staying with us for a couple days before his appearance at a gallery in Paradise Valley. Bruce had one full day free to fish, and we'd planned to do a float trip on the Yellowstone in the raft. I'd checked the weather forecast on the internet the night before, and it was calling for clouds and possible rain, highs in the 50s, and...10-20 mph winds from the ENE, as a cold front was moving through. Not the best weather for mid-September in Montana, but not too bad. But I should have thought a bit more about that wind direction.

Sure enough, when we got up Friday morning, the wind was coming out of the east, and looked to be about 15-20 mph. Our Montana place is on the east side of Livingston, where there is little to block an east wind for many miles, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad up in the valley south of Livingston. It was cold, in the upper 30s, and very cloudy.

Mary asked us if we really wanted to go fishing in this weather, and both of us said of course we did.

So we decided to float the Pine Creek to Carter's Bridge section of the Yellowstone, about 7 miles, at the lower end of Paradise Valley just on the other side of Livingston. It's a beautiful stretch of river with varied water from great riffles to deep runs and pools. We'd call Mary when we were near the end of the float and she'd come and pick us up, since it's only about 15 minutes from our house.

We drove through Livingston and through the "town canyon" into Paradise Valley, to find lots of blue sky and sun. It's a pretty common occurrence that the weather in the Valley is different from the weather in Livingston, and I told Bruce that Mary would never believe that we were going to be fishing in sunshine while it was still socked in at the house.

The wind was blowing about the same as at the house, though, and it was then that I realized that an ENE wind was about the worst you can get in the Valley, because it funnels right through the town canyon and straight up the valley. We were going to be bucking a head wind all day. But it was okay, because the river current was strong enough to counteract a 15-20 mph wind. In fact, it would make the fishing a little easier while drifting in the raft, because we weren't blowing through the good water so fast.

Bruce fished with nymphs while I handled the raft through the first mile or so, hooking one nice trout, and then we stopped at a good riffle and spent some time fishing it. I caught one trout and a couple of whitefish. We went on down another half mile and stopped at another riffle at the head of a long, deep run. Neither of us caught anything in a half hour of fishing it, but by that time the wind was rising steadily. We decided to eat lunch before moving on. I had the raft pulled up into the quiet shallows opposite the fast, deep water just below the riffle, 30 pound anchor thrown out into six inches of water. We retreated to the willows to get out of the cold wind to eat, and as we ate, the wind kept rising. We were talking and wrapping up lunch when I happened to look out at the river, and there was our raft, out in the deep water, perfectly balanced in the wind and the current, far from shore!

I ran down a good 200 yards to the next riffle, figuring the current would eventually win the battle with the wind and hoping I could wade out far enough into the riffle to catch the raft. But the raft simply stayed where it was. The wind was winning. Fortunately, a guide and his two clients in a driftboat happened along after we'd watched the raft for 15 minutes or so, and rescued us from our predicament. Lesson learned...throw that anchor well up onto the bank when the wind is howling!

By that time, the wind WAS howling. It had to be blowing 40 miles an hour. Did you ever try to row a raft against a 40 mph wind? Basically, you can't, unless you're in very heavy current. For five miles, I rowed with all my might, barely making headway in most places, and in some stretches we simply had to take the raft over to the gravel bar and walk, pulling it down the river. No more fish were caught because there was simply too much wind to fish effectively. I never was so happy to see the take-out as when Carter's Bridge finally came into sight.

As we drove back to the house, Bruce said we could have fished right below the house and probably done better, and I agreed. And the next morning, in the couple of hours Bruce had to fish before he went to the gallery, we waded the river right below the house and did just that, catching some nice rainbows on dry flies. Of course, as luck would have it, there wasn't any wind.

[Danoinark]

Don't you love adventures Al?

Dano

[Phil Lilley]

And here, we're praying for a breath of wind...

[flytyer57]

And here, we're praying for a breath of wind...

Actually, I'm looking for a little rain to raise the water levels a bit on Crooked Creek.

[KCRIVERRAT]

Al... you don't like wind? Hmmmmm... how ironic. Keep doing your thing. People enjoy it.

[Mitch f]

Denny Brauer loves the wind because he feels he has superior boat control to the other angers and it will give him a solid advantage. But when you are rowing, it's no fun.

I rarely float anymore since I bought my jet boat.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Hey Mitch

I am still holding that thought. Did you ever find your evidence?

[Mitch f]

Thanks for holding that thought; I had a very reliable source who read the electro-fishing report for the Meramec from the 60's or 70's until present. He said some years they only shocked a small stretch for 15 minutes. Several years they didn't shock at all. He said the report was sketchy at best. This is where I came up with that conclusion. I was trying to get an actual copy of the reports from several rivers but don't have them so I really didn't want to post something until I had all the facts in front of me...That's why I never replied.

Thanks for remembering

[Chief Grey Bear]

I agree that aint' much to go on.

[ozark trout fisher]

It's like I told somebody yesterday who was questioning why I'd want to go fishing in cold, wet weather...you can prepare for cold, you can prepare for wet, you can even prepare for snow, but you can't do much of anything about wind.

I'm out here in Montana at the new place, and my long time artist friend Bruce Miller was staying with us for a couple days before his appearance at a gallery in Paradise Valley. Bruce had one full day free to fish, and we'd planned to do a float trip on the Yellowstone in the raft. I'd checked the weather forecast on the internet the night before, and it was calling for clouds and possible rain, highs in the 50s, and...10-20 mph winds from the ENE, as a cold front was moving through. Not the best weather for mid-September in Montana, but not too bad. But I should have thought a bit more about that wind direction.

Sure enough, when we got up Friday morning, the wind was coming out of the east, and looked to be about 15-20 mph. Our Montana place is on the east side of Livingston, where there is little to block an east wind for many miles, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad up in the valley south of Livingston. It was cold, in the upper 30s, and very cloudy.

Mary asked us if we really wanted to go fishing in this weather, and both of us said of course we did.

So we decided to float the Pine Creek to Carter's Bridge section of the Yellowstone, about 7 miles, at the lower end of Paradise Valley just on the other side of Livingston. It's a beautiful stretch of river with varied water from great riffles to deep runs and pools. We'd call Mary when we were near the end of the float and she'd come and pick us up, since it's only about 15 minutes from our house.

We drove through Livingston and through the "town canyon" into Paradise Valley, to find lots of blue sky and sun. It's a pretty common occurrence that the weather in the Valley is different from the weather in Livingston, and I told Bruce that Mary would never believe that we were going to be fishing in sunshine while it was still socked in at the house.

The wind was blowing about the same as at the house, though, and it was then that I realized that an ENE wind was about the worst you can get in the Valley, because it funnels right through the town canyon and straight up the valley. We were going to be bucking a head wind all day. But it was okay, because the river current was strong enough to counteract a 15-20 mph wind. In fact, it would make the fishing a little easier while drifting in the raft, because we weren't blowing through the good water so fast.

Bruce fished with nymphs while I handled the raft through the first mile or so, hooking one nice trout, and then we stopped at a good riffle and spent some time fishing it. I caught one trout and a couple of whitefish. We went on down another half mile and stopped at another riffle at the head of a long, deep run. Neither of us caught anything in a half hour of fishing it, but by that time the wind was rising steadily. We decided to eat lunch before moving on. I had the raft pulled up into the quiet shallows opposite the fast, deep water just below the riffle, 30 pound anchor thrown out into six inches of water. We retreated to the willows to get out of the cold wind to eat, and as we ate, the wind kept rising. We were talking and wrapping up lunch when I happened to look out at the river, and there was our raft, out in the deep water, perfectly balanced in the wind and the current, far from shore!

I ran down a good 200 yards to the next riffle, figuring the current would eventually win the battle with the wind and hoping I could wade out far enough into the riffle to catch the raft. But the raft simply stayed where it was. The wind was winning. Fortunately, a guide and his two clients in a driftboat happened along after we'd watched the raft for 15 minutes or so, and rescued us from our predicament. Lesson learned...throw that anchor well up onto the bank when the wind is howling!

By that time, the wind WAS howling. It had to be blowing 40 miles an hour. Did you ever try to row a raft against a 40 mph wind? Basically, you can't, unless you're in very heavy current. For five miles, I rowed with all my might, barely making headway in most places, and in some stretches we simply had to take the raft over to the gravel bar and walk, pulling it down the river. No more fish were caught because there was simply too much wind to fish effectively. I never was so happy to see the take-out as when Carter's Bridge finally came into sight.

As we drove back to the house, Bruce said we could have fished right below the house and probably done better, and I agreed. And the next morning, in the couple of hours Bruce had to fish before he went to the gallery, we waded the river right below the house and did just that, catching some nice rainbows on dry flies. Of course, as luck would have it, there wasn't any wind.

I love that area of Montana, but the question is not whether the wind will blow, but how hard.

On the bright side,maybe the wind will blow some hoppers in the water if they're still around up there...